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.
‘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