CHAPTER ONE

      ‘YOU cannot be serious!’

      ‘You can’t stop me. I won’t let you stop me.’ Jessica McPhail drew herself up to her full height of five feet six inches. The extra couple of inches provided by the heels on the heavy steel-capped boots she wore and the curve that the safety helmet added meant that she wasn’t unduly disadvantaged by her stature. She put all her energy into the assertive glare she was directing at the man confronting her. She had to.

      She was fighting for her life here.

      ‘Just watch me, lady.’ The man wasn’t about to have his authority undermined. The glance he flicked towards Jessica’s right arm was confident. ‘You’re hardly in a position to argue the toss.’

      Jessica could feel the band of fingers trapping her upper arm. The physical contact from the man, a member of the police special operations team, was as unacceptable as the uncompromising directive he had issued. She jerked her arm, only to find the pressure of his fingers increasing to the point of pain.

      ‘You’ll go now,’ the man ordered, ‘or I’ll have you arrested…as quick as that.’ The snap of his fingers was silent, thanks to the heavy gloves he wore, but the effect was still dismissive.

      ‘You won’t do that.’

      The deep voice coming unexpectedly from behind Jessica’s left shoulder created a wash of emotion. Gratitude. Relief. Even hope. Joe Barrington was here and if he was on her side she had a much greater chance of winning this battle.

      ‘If you arrest Jessica you’ll have to arrest me as well. Then you’ll have an Urban Search and Rescue team with no medics.’

      The man Jessica was facing snorted impatiently. ‘We’re wasting time here. Where’s your squad leader?’

      ‘Right here.’ USAR specialist Tony Calder had already been striding towards the obvious confrontation. ‘What’s going on?’

      ‘Your medic here is not going back to the scene. I want her off site.’

      Tony cast a surprised glance at Jessica and then at the tall paramedic standing beside her. Joe gave a tiny head shake that indicated he wasn’t up to speed yet either. His gaze snapped back to the man who had issued the angry directive. ‘What’s the problem?’

      ‘Turns out her kid is in there. Somewhere.’

      There was a short silence. Just long enough for everyone to acknowledge the implications. They were more than twelve hours into dealing with the aftermath of the biggest urban disaster ever to occur in New Zealand. The explosion and collapse of a significant portion of the suburban shopping mall had already claimed at least twenty-six fatalities, including eight children, dozens more injured with four listed as critical and possibly up to thirty victims still missing. Including a five-year-old child.

      ‘Is that true, Jessica?’

      Her nod was tight. ‘I can do this, Tony. I have to do this.’

      Tony shook his head. ‘No way. I understand how you feel, Jessica, and I’m terribly sorry you’re going through this but there’s no way you can go back to the front line. This job is dangerous enough without that kind of personal involvement.’

      ‘But I’ve already been doing it. Just because you’ve found out, it doesn’t make any difference.’

      ‘What?’ Tony’s