Page 118 of Deadly Cry

‘Not so fast, fella. You seemed pretty close to the action. Did you see who did it?’

He shook his head and reddened.

‘It’s nothing, officer.’ Kate said, pulling Tyra back towards them. ‘It’s just a scratch. You’re fine, aren’t you, Tyra?’

‘I th-think so,’ she said, smoothing her clothes down for the second time.

‘It’s just a scratch,’ the paramedic said. ‘I think she’s fine.’

Kate nodded her agreement eagerly. ‘Of course she’s fine and I’m sure she wouldn’t want to press charges anyway. She needs to do what we came here to do.’

Bryant was sensing a dynamic here that he didn’t like.

He turned to Tyra. ‘You want the paramedic to check you?…’

‘I’m fine, honestly. But thank you.’

Bryant was pleased to see the colour was returning to her face.

‘Okay, back into the store,’ he said to the two women before placing his hand on the young man’s shoulder.

‘And you can come along as well.’

One Hundred One

Kim retraced her steps back to the entrance to the building. The single security officer stood in the middle of the open double-doors.

‘Everything okay?’ he asked, covering his radio. She could hear a colleague of his calling for assistance. ‘I daren’t leave my post,’ he said by way of explanation to her.

‘Do not budge from this spot,’ she said, frantically looking around. ‘Who was here fifteen minutes ago?’

The superintendent must have been snatched right here during all the confusion.

He shrugged. ‘Dunno. I was up at the barrier and there was all kinds of noise over the radio. I came down to see what was going on, by which time the area was deserted, so I stayed. Boss said this had to remain manned at all times, so I ain’t shifting even if Beyoncé herself comes walking through.’

She turned a full circle and looked around again.Where the hell could she?…

Her thoughts trailed away as her gaze rested on the door to the old staircase.

Staircase 9.

The lock was broken.

‘Shit,’ she said, pushing the door wide open.

She took the stairs two at a time. The stairwell was bathed only in the emergency lighting that illuminated every twenty feet.

There were doors on either side of the disused corridor, which was around seventy feet long and grew darker and more ominous as it came to the end.

Kim moved along the corridor, slowly moving left and right to check that the padlocks to the doors were still intact.

As well as checking the locks, she paused at each one, listening keenly for any sound from within. She closed her eyes for a second, concentrating her hearing above the low hum of distant voices as people shopped in the mall. Ambient music sounded from speakers located on the other side of the wall.

As she neared the end of the corridor, she stepped into a dark corner not quite covered by the emergency lighting.

‘Damn,’ she cursed quietly when her foot met with a black rubbish bag that had clearly been dumped by someone. Plastic food containers spilled out into the corridor.

Only two doors remained – neither had a lock – a cleaner’s room and an old plant room.