Page 118 of Child's Play

He tried to take deep breaths to still the trembling that was vibrating around his body, terrified at what he was going to find.

He swallowed deeply as he reached the edge of the wall; the end of his cover.

One more intake of breath and then he turned.

That last breath got trapped somewhere inside his chest as he saw his brother standing blindfolded at the edge of the ravine.

Eighty-Seven

‘How many you got left?’ Stacey asked, leaning back in her chair. The wooden bars across the back creaked as she tried to get some lumbar support digging, into her flesh. Boy, she was missing the ergonomically designed chair the boss had procured back at the office.

‘Just ruled out another sixteen which leaves me…’ she checked down her list. ‘Nineteen kids left to check.’

‘I have seventeen and am rapidly losing the will to live,’ she answered, getting up from her seat. She stretched and groaned at the same time.

‘I’m gonna join you,’ Tiff said, pushing her chair back.

They paced the hotel room on opposite sides. ‘Still having fun, Tiff?’ Stacey asked as the woman did a couple of star jumps in the middle of the room.

‘Would you think any less of me if I said yes?’ she asked, heading towards the tea and coffee tray.

Stacey shook her head. ‘Nah, I get it.’

She continued to pace as Tiff made herself an instant black coffee and reached for one of Stacey’s diet Cokes from the fridge.

‘You know, I don’t…’

‘I’m not sure we’re…’

They both chuckled at starting their sentences at the exact same time and appearing to be having the same thought.

‘It’s not working, is it?’ Stacey asked the question in its entirety.

‘I see the boss’s logic but we could have another couple of murders on our hands by the time we’ve finished checking and verifying the whereabouts of all these kids.’

Stacey couldn’t have put it any better herself.

She popped the ring on her can of Coke and took a swig, looking at the flip charts for inspiration.

‘You know, the boss said that professor guy in Manchester talked a lot about the trigger. He suggested we identify what’s set off this killing spree.’

‘So, something must have happened recently to set our guy off,’ Tiff answered, retaking her seat.

Stacey’s eyes went to one particular event in the chronology of what they’d learned since Tuesday.

She rushed back to retake her chair opposite Tiffany.

‘I think I know just where to start.’

Eighty-Eight

Bryant grabbed a coffee and looked around the crowded social area for a seat. Right now he was feeling a bit twilight zone about the hotel and wondered if he was ever going to escape.

‘This seat taken, buddy?’ he asked a boy sitting alone with a book.

‘Taken where?’ he asked, peering over his reading glasses. ‘Do you mean occupied?’

Bryant looked around again but there were no other seats available.