Leanne took a step backwards and they both heard the crunching underfoot.
Leanne shone her torch down to reveal a mobile phone smashed into a hundred pieces. That was why the green light had gone out.
He looked to the woman holding the torch.
‘What the hell are we gonna do now?’
SEVENTY-NINE
Kim knew that he had driven away from the sirens. It had been her last hope that he would run into the approaching vehicles and that someone would spot him. Her hopes had faded along with the blaring sirens.
She’d achieved what she’d wanted and got him away from the girls. If Leanne was any good at her job, they were now in safe hands and would be reunited with their families. It was the one thought she had to keep in her head.
The car stopped and Kim guessed they had been driving no more than ten minutes. She had tried to listen for any revealing sounds, but the noise of the car and her efforts to keep her ribcage steady had taken most of her attention.
She felt herself being pulled out of the car by her bound feet.
The whole front of her fell to the ground, her face hitting the door frame on the way down.
He laughed out loud as he heard the thud.
He hauled her to her feet. Her legs were starting to feel like jelly.
He’d brought her to what looked like a burned-out warehouse. She looked around and saw nothing. She could hear nothing. A sense of finality began to seep through her bones.
She fought it away.
‘You don’t even want a fair fight, Symes?’ she asked, trying to pull at the tie on her wrists.
‘It’s not a fight, bitch. It’s an annihilation, and you’re not gonna get up to your usual tricks.’
He took the roll of duct tape from his pocket, tore off a fresh piece and roughly covered her mouth.
‘Much better,’ he said, grabbing the powerful torch from the passenger seat.
He dragged her across rough gravel and into the building. She adjusted her breathing to use only her nose and tried to ignore the pain coursing through her ribs.
He pushed her down to the ground. She fell backwards, her wrists still tied behind her so her hands landed on the cold concrete first. She felt something snap in her left little finger. The pain was immediate but she still tried to pull her wrists apart. If she could get one thing free, she could fight back.
The torch suddenly illuminated, and it was fixed firmly on her. She could see nothing behind or around the harsh glare.
She didn’t know if she was in a corner or the centre of the space.
More importantly, she didn’t know from which direction he was going to strike.
She tried pulling her wrists apart and felt a trickle of blood run down her thumb. The repeated efforts of trying to escape the wraps had cut lines in her skin that were starting to bleed.
The futility of her efforts tried to wash over her, but she fought it.
She felt the air change around her and a boot landed in the right side of her ribs. Again, she spluttered as she moved across the ground.
The groan of pain was absorbed by the tape as she heard his laughter.
Although her feet were locked together, she tried pulling them up and kicking out, hoping she’d catch his ankle.
But he was protected by the darkness while the spotlight was on her like a solo stage performer.
‘Oh, Stone. I’ve dreamed about this for so long,’ he said, landing a punch to the side of her head. She blinked away the stars and tried to focus on the air around her for change, for warning.