Page 117 of Deadly Cry

And there she was: about forty metres away, walking the long line of customers, shaking hands and smiling.

Suddenly, the girl disappeared into the line and the line lost form. It coiled like a snake around the spot where Tyra had last been standing.

‘Shit, guv, she’s been pulled into the crowd,’ Bryant shouted, running out of the store.

She didn’t bother to answer as a few things fell into place. She looked around and assessed the situation before she turned and ran in the opposite direction.

Ninety-Nine

Kim headed away from the commotion taking place at the front of the store because her gut was telling her that the real problem was going on elsewhere.

She did a quick visual check on Archie as she headed back out the way she had come in. She was pleased to see him sucking on a lollipop and reading a book with the shop assistant, with a security officer just three feet away.

She considered stopping to ask him questions, but her mind was telling her to forge ahead. None of the other murders had been lingered over and drawn out and she had no reason to think this would be any different. If she didn’t find Noah soon, another person was going to die.

The second she’d seen Tyra amongst the crowds, she’d felt their entire theory crash down around her ears.

And then she’d looked around to see who was missing, and she’d thought about the escalation.

Their killer wasn’t interested in a kiss-and-tell celebrity. Yes, she was current, unlike the ex-soap star, but she wasn’t the most attractive target. Who better than someone who had been in the public eye and also held a senior, responsible position in the police force?

Kim raced through the back door of the store and down the stairs to the officer at the entrance to the building.

This was the last point where they’d been seen, and she’d noted the presence already of the West Mercia squad car.

She had to find them as quickly as possible, as her gut told her their killer now had in his possession a police superintendent.

One Hundred

Bryant was surprised to see the guv wasn’t chasing behind him as he neared the baying group that had Tyra Brooks surrounded. Not that he needed her help to break up a scuffle. Security guards watching the crowd were heading towards her as well. Damn it, where had she gone now? He briefly considered turning back to find her, but both his instincts and his training told him to deal with what was right in front of him.

‘Let me through,’ Bryant called out, moving people aside to get to the centre of the biggest rugby scrum he’d ever seen.

He turned to the officers who had come running.

‘You two, get back to your posts and you grab a paramedic from that corridor and then get on to your boss and get him up here.’

He could do without anything else breaking out at another spot in the line.

The remaining officer turned away to use his radio as Bryant began picking up the bodies. At the bottom was the crumpled, dishevelled figure of Tyra Brooks. Bryant reached down and pulled her to a standing position.

‘Are you okay?’

She nodded and smiled as Kate appeared beside them. She glanced around the crowd, her gaze lingering on one male with short, blond hair and a stud earring.

‘Oh my god, Tyra, what happened?’ Kate asked, horrified.

Bryant heard the concern in her voice, but he’d interviewed enough criminals in his career to be picking up something else there too.

‘I d-don’t know. I was just walking along the line, shaking hands when someone grabbed me and pulled me in.’

Bryant saw a thin trail of blood travelling down her neck.

‘Let me take a look at that,’ he said, lifting her hair. A deep scratch an inch long was reddening behind her ear lobe. A paramedic arrived and instantly moved Tyra a few feet away to check her over.

‘Did anyone see who did this?’ Bryant said, addressing the crowd. ‘We have an injury.’

He watched as the blond-haired boy tried to slink away.