Page 54 of Killing Mind

‘That’s approximately fifteen thousand students per year multiplied by three years gives us a total of forty-five thousand students, so if you wanna call Stacey and ask her to start checking their whereabouts, be my guest,’ Kim said, moving towards their target.

‘Value my nuts too much, guv,’ he whispered as they approached.

The girl turned and smiled before a small frown settled on her face. Not the kind of people she was expecting to see.

‘Britney Murray?’ Kim asked, to be sure.

She nodded, slowly. ‘I’ve got permission to be on the car park. I just can’t go past…’

‘We’re not from the college,’ Kim said, showing her ID.

‘Oh my god,’ she exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand. ‘Is everything okay? Is the Farm…’

‘I’m sure it’s all as you left it. We want to talk to you about Samantha Brown.’

Panic shot into her eyes before she began to shake her head.

‘I don’t know anyone called…’

‘Sammy Brown, twenty-one years old. You met her here on this site,’ Kim clarified. Britney couldn’t have forgotten her quite so soon. She’d only left Unity Farm a few months earlier.

‘I’m sorry but I meet a lot of people,’ she said, gesturing towards the groups that continued to surge past after another bus had pulled in.

‘Well, you did more than meet her, Britney. You took her to the Farm and…’

‘Oh, I take many people to a meditation class or reiki session,’ she said, appearing relieved. ‘But I don’t remember all their names.’

Kim caught Bryant’s eye and thankfully he looked as bewildered as she felt. There was no fathomable reason for Britney to deny knowing her.

‘Sammy didn’t attend one class, Britney, she stayed for more than two years.’

‘Sorry, I didn’t know her, it’s a big place. We might not have…’

‘There are only one hundred people there, so I’m not sure how you could have missed her, especially as you introduced her to the Farm in the first place.’

Colour appeared to be building in her cheeks but she still shook her head resolutely. ‘No, still not…’

‘Her sister, Sophie, is still there?’

‘There’s no specific rel… I mean, I don’t know anyone who has a blood relative at the Farm.’

Kim found the term ‘blood relative’ a little strange but she let it pass.

‘What I mean is that everyone is like family at Unity Farm.’ The smile was back on her face. ‘Everyone just gets along.’

‘But not too well,’ Kim said. ‘I hear you’re not allowed a boyfriend… or a girlfriend at Unity Farm.’

A shadow passed over her face before she chuckled. ‘Don’t want either, thank you very much. I’m happy now just to focus on me. We all feel that friendship is much more valuable.’

‘And yet you can’t even recall the name of one of your family members?’ Kim observed, bringing the tension back to Britney’s face. ‘But I agree with you,’ Kim said, changing topic again. ‘Romance and sexual attraction just muddy the waters, but I’d imagine keeping those feelings hidden can be quite…’

‘I don’t have feelings for anyone,’ she protested, as the colour once again filled her cheeks. Britney had a complexion that was not on her side.

‘Was Sammy having any kind of relationship?’

‘Sammy who?’

‘Britney, I don’t know why you’re lying to us,’ Kim said. Her mouth could lie but her cheeks would be controlled by no one.