Page 129 of Child's Play

‘That wouldn’t make sense. She couldn’t possibly have been here teaching when Jared was a child so—’

‘Right now, both of them are missing, Stace. Everyone else is accounted for, so there’s something,’ Kim said. ‘Just keep trying her and let me know.’

‘Will do, boss,’ Stacey said, ending the call.

‘She’s just raised a fair point, though, about—’

‘Sorry to interrupt but I couldn’t help overhearing,’ said the woman who had huffed at her in the queue.

Kim frowned at the intrusion but nodded for her to go on.

‘Well, Ellie tutors our son, Marcus, in Geography. He had a session with her earlier today. Just after lunch.’

Kim tried to hide her irritation. The woman was trying to be helpful but Ellie’s movements of five or six hours ago were of little use to her now.

‘Thank you for—’

‘No, you don’t understand. The session was rescheduled. Originally planned for tea time but she said she was going to meet an old friend.’

Ninety-Eight

‘Dead spots?’ Kim asked, pushing herself back to the top of the queue, waving her mobile phone at Lisa. ‘Where are they?’

It took every ounce of customer service training she’d had to bury her irritation.

‘We don’t have any…’

‘Of course, you do,’ Kim said. ‘Every venue has them.’

Kim knew that despite the best efforts of phone networks dead spots still existed caused usually by hilly terrain, dense foliage or physical distance. In an urban area other factors contributed to patchy signals.

‘Lisa, where are your thickest walls or metal constructions?’ she asked. Even the dense rebar in concrete could cause a problem.

‘Please, just tell her and she’ll be gone quicker,’ Bryant advised.

‘He’s right,’ she offered.

Lisa lowered her head. ‘Store rooms at the end of the kitchen leading out into the service yard and the locker rooms between the gym and the pool.’

‘Thank you,’ Kim said, taking out her phone. She tried the number again.

Nothing.

‘Guv, those places couldn’t be further apart.’

‘I know, Bryant. We’re gonna have to split up. You take the pool and I’ll take the kitchen.’

He nodded his understanding as they turned and went their separate ways.

Ninety-Nine

Ellie stifled a yawn and sat back against the bench as she felt in her pocket for reassurance. The personal attack alarm was nestled right against the seam.

She’d been surprised at the text message she’d received earlier. Any message that came from an unknown number sent shivers down her spine. And the mystery of the first message had done nothing to allay her fears as she’d read the words:

Care to meet later for a catch up?

Her immediate thoughts had gone to her attackers. It was where her thoughts always went, she realised, as her hand automatically went to her face. It wasn’t as though she could ever forget it. The proof and memory of it stared back at her with every task that required her to look at her reflection: brushing her teeth, combing her hair, applying make-up.