Hector drove through the quiet highway, his heart thudding away, unable to believe their luck. They'd got away from Brady and that too in such a way. Ha!

In fact, Hector was high on adrenaline when Devi's cry for help poked his happy bubble. "Hector? HECTOR!"

Thinking something untoward had happened, he pulled over on the shoulder and got out of the van, just as lightning flashed momentarily in the night sky, heralding a storm. A cool front was coming, and after the sweltering day they'd had, Hector was keen for some rain.

He threw open the back doors as the rain drops pattered on his back like tiny little thumps of pride: one drop, two drops, three...well done, Heck! But when he noted Devi clawing at the bag like a zombie come to life, his joy was squashed.

He jumped up into the van and quickly unzipped the body bag enough to peer at her panicked face. "What? What? Are you hurt?"

Devi gasped for air, gripping the front of his shirt with her sprained hand. "I just need a moment... I lost the oxygen tube... when you moved me into... the van... I'm feeling a little woozy..."

"It's okay, just breathe." Hector let her hold his shirt as long as she needed. Outside the van, the heavens opened up, and rain pelted down in curtains. The road shimmered with wetness.

Devi's grip tightened on his shirt and pulled Hector closer to her on the gurney. She grunted in pain, biting down on her lips till the wave subsided. "You got any morphine... on you, inspector? Fuck I can feel my ribs..." for they were pretty broken, some of them.

'Her meds and a saline, Heck. You might need some tonight and I'll get the rest to you tomorrow morning or later...' He recalled Hilde's words. She'd even put them in a large Ziploc bag and handed them to him before they had wheeled Devi out. Where had he put them?

He patted himself down, though he knew he hadn't placed them in his pocket. They weren't exactly a fit. "Shit... I'm sorry. I think I forgot them back at the hospital..."

"Just my luck..." Devi's hand flew to his thigh next and lanced into his flesh. Her nails dug in as she suppressed another bout of pain. "Argh... Did the guy buy it though?"

"Your death?" Hector grunted, trying not to cry in pain from Devi's death grip. "Yeah, I think so."

She let go and gulped another breath. "Unzip me, please. It's so hot in here..."

Hector nodded, glad to move away from her reach. He unzipped the entire length of the body bag and stared at Devi's leg. "You're not gonna make it through the night like this, are you?"

Devi wiped the perspiration from her brows and groaned again, shaking her head. "I'm feeling everything..." Hector made a move for the door when she grabbed him. "Where're you going?"

"To call Hilde... she'll have to bring supplies..."

"But the guy will know... if she follows you with supplies."

Hector couldn't believe what he heard. "You need painkillers, Devi."

"What I need"—she gripped a wad of her hospital gown— "is for you to take me to your Ma's before we're found..."

"You sure?"

"Like you said, it's only an h... hour... I can handle it..."

"Till the morning..."

"I've been in labour longer than this mate... I can take it. Just go. Get us out of here..."

"But..." Hector stared at the woman as she silently gritted her jaw and turned away, barely a moan escaping her lips. "If you're sure. I'll call Hilde when we get there... and maybe she can come early morning... and I'm sure Ma has some Panadol."

"I'll need about a dozen," Devi chuckled through her pain.

"I'm sorry." He ducked out of the back of the van and closed the doors shut once more, hearing a small groan of, "Shit," from her.

He scrambled back to the driver's seat, hopped in, and floored it, despite the rain. This late at night, there was hardly any traffic, and he knew these dark roads well.

"Hector, talk to me," Devi called out from the back. "Please. Distract me."

"What do you want me to talk about?"

"Anything ... fuck ... talk about your love life ... or lack of ... Why don't you have someone? Or rather, why are you so scared of having one?"

"I'm not scared of having one." Hector glanced in the mirror.

"Eyes up the front, Inspector. We are not dying tonight ... ."

"I know these roads better than you think."

"At night?"

"Especially at night."

"Why?" Devi met his gaze in the rear-view mirror.

"Sometimes, I can't sleep," Hector said after some time. "So I go on these long drives ... check the neighbourhood, pop in on the elderly... see if all is okay..."

"Insomnia...?" Devi grunted faintly.

"Something like that." Hector felt bad that every minute was a minute further away from the hospital and what Devi needed. "You sure you don't need meds right away?"

Devi shook her head. "I'm an insomniac too ... Some days I barely sleep an hour ... What's your reason?"

Hector shook his head and watched the line markings disappear beneath them. "I don't know. It started when Dad died."

"How did he die?" He heard Devi breathing out in a measured way like she was in a Lamaze class.

Hector felt a knot form in his throat. He'd never talked about how his father died, not with anyone, not even with Eve. And he really didn't want to start now ... talking about it with a virtual stranger would make it that much more real.

But then, Devi's efforts of squashing her pain down like a champion sounded in his ears and her begging for distraction came to mind.

Fuck it. Who's she gonna tell?

"Uh ..." Hector began, his hands slightly trembling on the steering wheel. He gripped it tighter. "On a night similar to this few years ago, he crashed into a tree ..." and suddenly, the force of the rain hitting the van grew louder in his ears and his vision blurred. He eased up a little on the accelerator. "He was driving home from the annual writer's retreat he did with his writing pals ... had a bit to drink ... It devastated Ma."

So he lied. Devi didn't need to know that his dad died of a heart attack caused by the arousal experienced while driving home on the very day of his thirtieth wedding anniversary. A bright and sunny day. But yes, he'd lost control of the car, distracted by a message on his phone. A message that was for his eyes only...

It was not the way Eve Martinez had wanted nor deserved to learn of her husband's infidelity, not the husband she'd idolised, given up her life and career for, one who'd been cheating on her annually. The message had been from his lover, who'd already begun missing him and his bed ... rather graphically. It was still a message seared into Hector's mind, unfortunately.

Hector cleared his throat, his heart wrenching at the memories. His perfect father ... had been anything but. But he also didn't blame his father for living the life he wanted at least once a year.

"I'm so sorry ..." Devi's voice sounded harsh as she groaned in pain. "So tell me why you're scared to be vulnerable around the doctor? You should know, women love that shit. The more vulnerable you are, the more they can take care of you ... they like that shit ... Especially Dr Chen, I bet... she even became a doctor, didn't she? She loves taking care of people. So, stop being chicken shit around her and ask her on a date tomorrow ... and do it nicely, none of this, pulling-a-Hector bullshit ... "

"I'm not chicken shit around her." Hector nearly slammed the brake.

"Bullshit. Every time you talk to her you look like you're shitting your pants ..." Devi laughed through another bout of pain. "Ow... ow ... and remind me not to laugh at you until I get a dose of morphine ..."

"That's called karma."

"And ain't she a bitch?"

Hector glanced back at Devi again. "Why do you say that?"

"I'm not exactly Miss Congeniality," Devi said through another cry of pain. "I probably deserve all this ... "

"That's it!" Hector pulled the van over once more. "I'm calling Hilde."

"No, don't. I'm fine."

Hector ignored Devi's shouting and crying—or rather he couldn't ignore it anymore—and dialled Hilde's personal phone from his mobile. A thing he rarely used other than to browse shit on the net at the end of the month just to make sure he used up all his data before the new month began.

When he hung up, Devi glared at him in the rear-view; her head up like a viper ready to strike. "Why did you do that? What if this Brady guy follows her?"

"Hilde said Brady left soon after we did. She'll bring some supplies for you. Shall we wait here or should I continue onto Ma's?"

"I hate you!"

"I'll take that as we wait." Hector turned off the van and came around the back again, and sat across from where she lay. He even offered her his hand, with an "In case you need something to squeeze," and peered at the tough-as-nails woman with awe. "So tell me how I should go about this date thing ... I haven't asked a girl out in years, and I don't want to poop it entirely."

Devi smiled, squeezing his hand with restraint. "And here I thought you didn't like her."

"I never said that. I just don't see how she'd go for me..."

Devi let out a staggered, controlled breath. "Let's fix that then, shall we?"

Hilde jumped out of Hector's station wagon, threw an umbrella open, grabbed the meds from the back seat and ran towards them. "Sorry, I'm a little late. I had trouble starting it ... but I got the meds."

Hector felt a splash of heat on his cheek. Yeah, his car was on its last legs and Hilde didn't really know how to wrangle her to life.

"By the way, I'm coming with you!" She handed the umbrella to Hector, clearly telling him to get out. Once he cleared the space next to Devi, she jumped into the van to check on her patient.

"Why?" Hector stood on the road, holding her umbrella dumbfounded, while she pulled a dose of morphine into a syringe.

"I figure you'll have trouble setting her up with all these for the night, and with her running that fever earlier, I'm worried about sepsis ..."

"Yo–You're coming with us?" Hector pulled at his collar, aware that rain was seeping through the soles of his shoes, which he hadn't noticed were cracked until then. "What about Brady?"

"Brady went home!" she threw back. "I told him if he wants some info, he can come see me tomorrow and I'll give him something to put in his paper."

"What will you tell him?"

Hilde shrugged, injecting Devi with the med the poor woman desperately needed. "Shut that door before she catches pneumonia and get us to your Ma's so I can set up her IV and drip properly and plug the monitor."

"The monitor?" Hector couldn't help but ask. "I thought we left that at the hospital."

"We did ... but since I was coming anyway, I brought it with me. It's in the boot of your car."

Hilde pulled another medication into a new syringe and addressed Devi. "This is a sedative. I can give it to you so you sleep through all this transfer if you like. I know it can't be easy."

"No!" Devi held the Doctor's hand in place. "I don't want to fall asleep yet ..."

"Sure." With that Hilde closed the door behind her and rushed to help Hector take the monitor out of his car.

Soon, the trio bustled down the highway in the dark, silent. No more talks of insomnia or accidents, or why Hector was scared of making small talk with Hilde.

Though, knowing all this, for the first time that day, Devi smiled, watching the two silhouettes in front of her. They could easily be two characters in her book.

Eventually, the light rocking of the van lulled her to sleep.

At the front, however, Hilde fished something out of her bag. "I also brought this," she said, holding a large, dark object, in a plastic Ziploc, out to Hector.

"What's this?" He glanced at her hand.

"The ceremonial dagger or knife that was used to ... stab her ..." Hilde turned the plastic bag in her hand. "I did a little research on it. It's a khukuri. A national weapon of Nepal, capable of decapitating in one strike, or so the websites claim. " She chewed the inside of her cheek as that dark thought lingered in the van for a bit. "Somebody could have" —she glanced back at Devi, asleep— "killed her."

Hector too glanced at Devi, still prone and passed out in the body bag. "Somebody meant to kill her."

"No. You don't understand, Heck. I say somebody could have killed her with one swipe, but they didn't."

Hector felt a prickle rush down his spine. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying" —Hilde traced a gemstone beneath the plastic with her index finger— "they could have killed her, but they didn't. They stabbed her, but didn't go for any vital organs. Yes, she's going to have issues with her left shoulder for life, and it nearly punctured a lung, but I just ..."

"You just, what?" Hector gripped the steering wheel harder.

"I just..." Hilde glanced at Devi, softly snoring. "I can't help but think, they had this weapon" —she hefted it in her hand like she was weighing it— "they could have killed her in one fell sweep, yet, the angle the knife was in ... I don't know. What if they weren't trying to kill her? They could have, but they weren't ..."

Hector slowed on the accelerator and studied Hilde a moment. "Or they knew nothing about the potential of that knife?"

Hilde shrugged. "Maybe..."

"Because if they weren't trying to kill her, why attack her at all?" Hector asked, peering into the night as if it held the answers they sought.

"I don't know. I just don't get it, is all. Anyone familiar with this knife would know it's deadly. Armies around the world carry them for that purpose ..." Hilde cleared her throat, placed the knife in the cup holder near the gearbox, and looked ahead at the road. "You should keep it. It's evidence."

"Thank you." Hector glanced at the cold, curved knife with an intricate hilt, bejewelled with some sort of gemstone, recalling Hilde's chilling words. Anyone familiar with this knife would know it's deadly. He'd almost forgotten about it. The knife that had been in Devi Dhungel's back, the almost-murder weapon of choice. "I'll send it off for forensics tomorrow."

"You mean you'll drop it off?" Hilde smiled.

Hector answered with a smile of his own. "Yes."

"Would you mind picking up some medical supplies for me too?"

Hector nodded, concentrating on the dark road ahead. A moment later, out of nowhere, he asked, "Do you have any photos of the knife, before you pulled it out?"

Hilde shook her head, biting down on her bottom lip. "No, sorry."

"That's okay. I'll just use the photos Hunter took of the wound..." I'm a terrible cop. Why didn't I ask Hilde to take photos?

"Hope you'll catch whoever did this to the poor woman. Whether or not they tried to kill her, someone out there wants to hurt her," Hilde murmured next to him, but Hector was too busy swallowing the words bubbling up in his chest like lava.

I hope so too...

(Chapter 9 continues in the next part...)