Page 25 of Killing Mind

‘How long can a Proflight Orbit fly for?’ Kim asked, reading the name on the side.

She began walking towards the car. Bryant did not.

‘Hey, guv, I can’t walk and type at the same time. I ain’t Stacey, you know.’

She stopped walking, and waited.

‘Okay, that particular model is totally for amateurs. It can stay in the air for twelve minutes tops and has a transmission range of two hundred metres.’

‘You kidding?’

He shook his head.

The cheap bit didn’t surprise her. This was probably theDudley Starafter all not Sky News.

‘You’re saying the operator is no more than two hundred metres away from here?’

‘Looks like it,’ Bryant answered.

She glanced backwards. Frost couldn’t be anywhere on the park. It had been cleared.

‘Come on,’ she said, striding towards the car.

Frost had to be close by, probably sitting in her car somewhere along the road outside the park.

‘Okay, go left,’ she said as Bryant headed them towards the exit. A right turn took them towards traffic lights and a crossroad. Left took them to the small village of Himley. As he drove she looked for the white Audi TT that belonged to the reporter. As she searched she visualised ripping the controller out of her hand.

Bryant continued to drive until he said the words she was thinking.

‘Guv, I’m pretty sure we’re getting out of range.’

‘Turn around and go back, slowly.’

The woman had to be somewhere close by to spy on events at the lake.

‘Where the…’ Kim stopped speaking as a movement on the left caught her eye. They were almost back at the park entrance. ‘Stop the car.’

Bryant pulled in at the kerb.

She unclicked her seatbelt and headed back three houses. The property she wanted had a low privet hedge with a waist-high wooden fence.

The anger began to dissolve as she let herself into the front garden.

‘Hey, buddy, wanna do me a favour and bring your drone back?’

The teenage boy looked terrified despite her gentle request.

She took a seat on the wooden bench beside his wheelchair and showed her ID.

His face reddened. ‘I’m sorry, am I in…’

‘Ricky, what have you done?’ asked a woman from the open doorway.

Kim held up her hands. ‘It’s okay, Mrs…’

‘Wilde,’ she answered, still looking at her son.

‘I’m sure Ricky didn’t know but we’ve got an incident over at the park which needs to be kept private.’