Page 58 of Deadly Cry

‘Well, suppose we’d best get over there before her majesty gives us detention.’

‘Nice guy,’ Bryant said, nodding towards the security manager. ‘Almost one of us.’

She wasn’t surprised. Many security personnel had aspired to the force but had diverted for different reasons.

‘Money?’ she asked. Everyone knew the pay wasn’t great. And he was making a decent living for himself with his own security company.

‘Nope. He was doing the training. I had him for a couple of shifts then one night at the pub he stepped into a domestic. The guy got belligerent and smacked him. It all got physical and the drunk guy pressed charges. Police career over.’

‘Okay, officially bored now,’ Kim said, although she did think it was a shame he’d lost his career by trying to do the right thing. She hoped his company balance sheet helped to soften the blow.

‘Inspector Stone, thank you for making it,’ Lena said, leaving Kim in no doubt who had requested her presence.

Her failure to acknowledge Bryant demonstrated once again her disregard of people she felt were beneath her or not worth her time.

Chris and Bryant shared a look. His arrival had clearly been met with the same level of enthusiasm.

‘Okay, now we’ll begin,’ Lena said, pointing to the barriered entrance to the service yard through which they’d all just driven. ‘Deliveries will be cut off to this area one hour before Tyra’s arrival. This area should be—’

‘I’ve got a guy on it from 2 p.m.,’ Chris said without looking at her.

Lena turned a complete circle.

‘I’m not sure one guard is sufficient for the whole—’

‘I’ve got two guys down here patrolling from 1.30 p.m.,’ he added wearily, as though this wasn’t his first rodeo.

‘Splendid,’ she said, turning to the ambulance rep. ‘Is this a good place for you to be stationed?’

‘Ain’t nobody gonna get hurt down here,’ Kim offered.

The point of medical assistance was for the public. In crowd situations people got crushed, they got hot and giddy, they fell over. All that would be happening on the upper level in the mall area.

‘There’s a fire exit right next to the shop. We’ll be stationed there,’ said Nikita Jackson.

‘Very good,’ Lena said. ‘Okay, Tyra will arrive with her agent, Kate Sewell. I will be right behind. Once she is safely delivered to the rear of the store, myself and my officer will stand down.’

Kim heard the underlying message in her words: once I’ve done that I couldn’t care less what happens.

‘So if we could just walk the route from here to the rear of the store, I’ll be satisfied that we’ve covered everything and we’re ready for tomorrow.’

They continued across the service yard to the service corridor that led up the stairs in two sets of three. Lena was between the fire officer and the paramedic and Kim between Bryant and Chris.

‘Why do I feel like we’re the naughty kids back here?’ Bryant asked.

‘Shush or she’ll hear you and we’ll all be doing lines,’ Chris said.

‘Looks smaller than she does on the telly,’ Bryant observed.

‘You should tell her that,’ Chris said, smirking.

‘Yeah, sure, I’ve learned over the years when to keep my mouth shut around ballbrea—’

‘Ahem,’ Kim said.

‘Strong women,’ Bryant corrected himself.

‘Doesn’t it piss you off when she does that?’ Kim asked Chris.