Nikki

That look as he passed me in the car park – the same look he gave me when I was collecting his DNA. I'd like to say that I wasn't scared, but I was.

That look was menacing.

I should have known. He'd just been arrested on suspicion and then released due to lack of evidence – by DI Kate Warren – or rather because her father told her there was a case against Roly Henderson. Jack's already spoken to her about that and swung her attitude back in my favour. I don't know what he said to her – he won't tell me, but here we are at the police station. Jack is back at the Lyell centre and Kate has gone off on her own trail again because Daddy had words.

I know this man is guilty as sin and as dangerous as a 20 foot steep cliff edge, and I don't like the way he looked at me. I should have run back into the police station.

Having said that he's just been released after professing his innocence and has seemingly tried to keep his tracks covered before, so why would he come out to the car park and prove his guilt in broad daylight? How was I to know that he was going to break his MO – especially in the police station car park, in full view of the CCTV and where anyone could run out and catch him. I wasn't to know what his next move was going to be.

I wasn't to know that he was going to stop his van in the middle of the car park and approach me with that hunting knife he had hidden away in his van. He didn't kill me or try to abduct me as I expected. He was angry and wanted to punish me, before scarpering in his van. A quick swipe of his hunting knife did that and away the coward went with part of my being.

So here I am on the ground by my car with blood spurting. I'm in pain but the overwhelming feeling at that moment is disgust. I'm absolutely revolted by the thought of that creep physically having a piece of me and the adrenaline hits.

There is no one in the car park at present so shouting for help won't get me anywhere. The most sensible thing to do would be to ring an ambulance, but I don't want to make a fuss. Usually in this kind of situation, I would be entirely focused on making sure my wound was in the best state possible, but there is little chance of me coming out of this completely unscathed. Still I'm alive, unlike Joanne Henderson. I'll make the best of the situation I'm in and if it means we end up with more evidence from this, which puts that man away for good, then I can live with it.

I have a towel in my car boot from when I went running earlier. I wrap my hand in it tightly, empty my trainers out of the plastic bag, also in the boot and wrap that over it too. I stick the make-shift bandage together tightly with surgical tape out of my forensic case. It does come in handy sometimes. Managing to get in my car, I fumble about to take some painkillers with my bottled water – having to stop every now and then as a wave of pain briefly overcomes me. The painkillers should kick soon I hope and that will have to do for now. Like I said, I don't want an ambulance.

I don't want the fuss – and I should have run.

It's not a life-threatening injury – though I can feel my energy being sapped and the pain still overcomes me occasionally. Knowing fine well that I need to get to hospital, but that I'm also not in a fit state to drive, I ring for a taxi. I direct them to the edge of the car park and then manage to remove my coat before getting my handbag and wrapping my coat around my arm. It looks a little less conspicuous now. Almost as though I'm just carrying my coat over my arm instead of wearing it.

I fully intend to ask the driver to take me to the hospital, but when he arrives, I'm thinking about this situation as evidence and automatically ask him to take me to the Lyell instead. Oh well.

Luckily for me it's not far – I don't think I could have coped with a long drive – the pain is increasing and I don't dare to look at the damage, I suspect there will be blood everywhere if I unwrap it. I'm glad for contactless when I arrive. Having already separated my card from my purse whilst the driver's eyes were focused on the road, I wave my card at his machine and he drives off.

Upon reaching mine and Jack's office, I find no one there and my adrenaline rush is nearing its end. Judging by the voices as I came in, they're in a meeting – or at least Jack is. His voice tends to carry. I don't have the energy to shout for him, but I manage to drag my feet over to the wall and collapse against it.

Jack

"Nikki!" I yell, after coming back from the meeting with Clarissa. "Shit!"

We've been talking over the case while Leo is in full swing with a post-mortem and Nikki, we thought, was with DI Warren at the police station. I was hoping for full co-operation from the DI after our earlier conversation.

We thought Nikki was at the police station. It turns out she's not.

The first thing I see upon entering the office I share with her is Nikki slumped against the back wall, barely conscious. Her hand seems to be wrapped in a make-shift bandage with blood starting to creep through.

"Nikki?" I drop down next to her and try to prop her head against my shoulder.

"Jack" She mumbles, "finger...hurts..."

"Take her to Leo's office, Jack" Clarissa instructs. "I'll get Leo."

Nikki leans on me heavily as I manage to get her to her feet, though I have to half carry her into Leo's office. Once there I attempt to find out where the blood is coming from exactly. Most of what Nikki has said up to now has been mumblings, but she does manage to pull herself more or less awake briefly, once she's sat on Leo's sofa.

"I'm ok, Jack" she mutters. "Just the pain...took painkillers but...they're not working..."

She partially loses consciousness again and the occasion mumbling resumes, but that's all the sense I can get out of her.

Leo, still suited up, rushes in with Clarissa, to find me holding Nikki's arm in the air, her head periodically lolling against me, and me not getting very far when it comes to explanations.

She keeps mentioning one name in her mumbling so I can more or less guess – though how he was able to get near to her like this I don't know. DI Warren was supposed to have him in custody and Nikki should not have been alone with him.

Leo drops an armful of bandages and the like onto the table. Clearly, he's going to attempt to clean the wound at least in the interim. He perches next to her on the sofa.

"No, no" Nikki mumbles as he starts trying to wrap her hand.

"Nikki I need to look at it." Leo insists firmly with all the care of a father. "Clarissa, ring an ambulance please, there's only so much I can do here."

"No! No ambulance" Nikki snaps with a sudden conviction I didn't think she possessed in her current state.

Nikki can be stubborn when she wants to be.

Leo sighs, but reluctantly agrees, not wanting to stress Nikki out any further. "Fine, Nikki. But you have to let me look at it – and if I say you need hospital, I'll take you there myself!"

After discarding Nikki's now blood-stained coat, a plastic bag and an even bloodier towel, her mumblings start to become clear. Part of her finger is missing. The bastard! But at least he didn't kill her.

"Did she say anything, Jack?" Clarissa presses me anxiously, as Leo does his best to clean, dress and bandage Nikki's hand.

Nikki's head falls repeatedly against my shoulder as he does so and she continues to mumble incoherently mostly with just the odd word intelligible: 'hurts'.

"She kept mentioning something about Lane" I tell them through gritted teeth. "And she said that she took some painkillers but they aren't working."

Leo looks up briefly. "Lane?! I thought she was with Kate. How did he get close enough to her to do this." He stands up. "Right, I can't do any more here, we have to hope that's enough until we get to the hospital. Take her to my car, Jack. Clarissa, can you ring Kate please."

"DI Warren is not doing her job properly." I growl, gently scooping Nikki up.

"Alright, Jack! – let's just focus on Nikki now" Leo hurriedly interrupts, perhaps sensing my anger boiling away.

Anger isn't helpful to Nikki right now.