“Unfortunately, Ms Sway, neither of you have a choice.”
“How come?”
“It’s bureau arranged. You all have to attend together.”
Of course we did. I held up a finger implying he should wait and closed the door again.
“Katie, I need—Kate,” I said, abruptly remembering that was what Lily, Katie’s best friend who I’d sort of met once, had said Katie preferred to be called. “You prefer Kate, right?” Several emotions rippled across her face but she didn’t speak, only nodded. “Okay, Kate, I need to nip out for a second. I’ll be right back.”
“I’m not a child.”
“I’m not treating you like a child. I’m treating you like someone who’s going to throw heavy things at Officer Leonard’s head if left unsupervised,” I said and stepped outside.
Officer Leonard peeked through the kitchen window at Kate. “It has to be all of you.”
“It will be all of us. Oh! Did you release Sabrina?”
“I am aware that she is being processed out. Your parole officer had some interesting information regarding a suspect.”
“Really?”
“Apparently, someone confided in him their concerns about this individual’s involvement. When the facts were checked it seemed the information had some value.”
“Well, that’s good.”
Officer Leonard smiled at me. “I don’t suppose you’d happen to know who your parole officer’s informant is?”
“Why would I know?” I tunnelled to the fort before he could ask me any more questions.
I strode across the grass toward the building and found Eleanor at the front of the hall. She looked up at the sound of someone coming back in.
“Bridget? Is everything okay?”
“I’m so sorry, Eleanor, but I need your help again.”
“Did you get everything straightened out with your parole officer?” she asked, tidying up and slotting some papers into her satchel.
“Yes, but now he’s at the police station sorting that out and a GB has turned up at our house and said we have to go shopping again. I didn’t think it was wise to go without supervision. I’m so sorry. I know you must be busy.”
Eleanor puffed up her chest. “No, Bridget, you did the right thing.”
We stepped outside and Eleanor offered her hand, indicating I should tunnel us both. I did and we landed in the garden.
“That was good, Bridget. Focus a little more on the ground when you land to make it a smoother transition,” Eleanor praised.
I nodded and headed across the garden. Officer Leonard was leaning casually against the wall by the back door.
“Ms Sway.” His attention jumped over my shoulder to Eleanor. “You really are turning over a new leaf.”
“No, Officer, she’s simply growing out of the shade,” Eleanor said and focused on Officer Leonard’s face as if trying to memorise his features. “What’s your name?”
I introduced them. Officer Leonard was his usual amiable self but Eleanor seemed a good deal more protective than normal. I invited her inside to find Pam mopping up the tea while Anna was bawling at the top of her lungs at Kate, who was still sitting on the floor in the corner of the kitchen, her back to the cupboards and gripping her mug. She had that cornered animal expression.
Lucy watched with a scowl while Petal hid behind her.
“Excuse me a minute, Eleanor,” I said. I stuck two fingers in my mouth and blew a piercing whistle. Everyone stopped what they were doing. Petal launched at me, wrapping her arms around my waist and putting her head on my shoulder.
“It’s okay, Petal,” I said, patting her back. “Anna. Step back from Kate.”
“She smashed up my biscuits,” Anna cried and jabbed a finger at Kate.
“Anna. You were an adjustment companion for several years, right?” I asked.
“Until you got me put back on probation,” she yelled and jabbed a finger at me. Something about Kate made everyone yell.
“No, you got you put back on probation. And, to be clear, I might not have liked you but you were decent-ish at your job. At what point in your training did it say it was okay to screech at someone who was struggling to adjust?”
“She crushed my biscuits!” Anna jabbed her finger at Kate again.
“Okay, let me rephrase. You should probably stop yelling at Kate because she has a pretty good arm and she’s likely to throw something at your face if you persist. Okay?”
Anna frowned. “She is not going to throw something at me.”
“She threw a rolling pin at me,” Officer Leonard said from the doorway. “And a plate.”
“Did she throw the tea?” Pam asked.
“No. I threw the tea. I’d have tidied it up but then Officer Leonard came and said we have to go shopping again, so I went to get Eleanor so she could accompany us because Oz is still busy at the police station.”
“Who’s Eleanor?” Lucy asked.
“I am,” Eleanor waved at the faces around the room.
“It’s lovely to meet you, Eleanor,” Petal said, offering Eleanor her hand.
“And you.” Eleanor smiled back.
Once everyone had exchanged greetings, I ushered them all out into the garden where Officer Leonard was waiting.
“Is everyone ready?” he asked. There was no mocking in his tone, only amusement.
“I believe so,” Eleanor answered for everyone and gestured for everyone to hold hands. “You may tunnel us now.”
We landed a small distance away from the fitting rooms in the same department store. It was already bustling with people. I had no idea how that kept happening since it definitely should’ve been a crime scene. Lucy, Pam and Petal moved to head off together.
“Anna?” I called before she could stalk off.
She spun on her heel and scowled at me. “What?”
“Will you help Lucy find an outfit like the one you were wearing yesterday? She liked it but didn’t tell you because she doesn’t like you.”
Anna sighed and looked Lucy over. “To be honest, I’m not sure there’s much I can do with this,” she said, waving a hand in Lucy’s general direction.
“Jealousy is a terrible colour on you,” Lucy said with a smile. “Just like that snot green top. Washes you out.”
“No, hon, this is chartreuse. You really do need help, don’t you?” Anna held out her hand and waved her forward. “I’m always willing to help the less fortunate.”
I couldn’t hear what Lucy said back, but I was pretty sure it would’ve been something equally snarky.
“Pam, Petal? Will you guys help Kate? She doesn’t have any new clothes yet,” I said as Kate walked away.
“I don’t think—” Pam started.
“Pam. She doesn’t have any clothes. You and Petal are so great at choosing for other people. Help her out, okay? Kate?” She paused mid-step and looked back at me. “You need clothes. Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face. You do not want to be living with your underwear on a wash and wear cycle.”
No one spoke. I gave Kate what I hoped was an encouraging nod. Kate scowled at me, sighed and stared at the floor.
“Will you please help me find something to wear?” Kate asked in a teeny tiny voice that was barely audible over the general noise.
“Did she just speak?” Pam whispered to me and I nodded.
“Yep. And if she says she needs a minute, back off, alright?” I asked and they nodded.
Petal took a small step toward Kate. “You used to like black stuff, right? There are some really nice skinny fit black jeans in the corner. I think you might like them.” Petal pointed in their direction and Kate stalked off. She’d taken maybe five paces before she turned back around, waiting for them to catch her up.
“Look at you,” Eleanor whispered and gave me a small nudge with her arm. “I’m not sure I have any right to be, but I’m incredibly proud of you.”
“Thank you. Will you keep your eyes on them?” I nodded in the direction Pam,
Petal and Kate had gone. “I’m pretty sure the person responsible for the murders has been apprehended, but let’s not take any chances.”
“Absolutely.” Eleanor squeezed my arm. “Thank you for asking for my help.”
“Thank you for helping,” I said simply and headed off after Lucy and Anna.
“No, it’s because it’s a popular size,” I heard Lucy say as I approached them.
“Well, they do say that the UK is becoming gradually obese.” Anna’s tone made it sound like she was agreeing and not insulting.
“What now?” I asked with a sigh. There had been a time when I had loved shopping. When I had loved it above all else. I couldn’t even recall how that had felt now.
“Lucy needs this top,” Anna said and then stage whispered to me as though she were sharing something shameful, “in a size ten.”
“A ten?” I whistled. “Lucy, that’s like a tent.”
Lucy pointed a talon tipped finger at me. “You think you’re funny. You’re not.”
“I’ll check the stockroom. You guys keep your eyes on the others, okay?” I asked as I grabbed the top from Anna. Personally, I had no idea how Lucy was going to squeeze her boobs into a size ten but I wasn’t about to say that in front of Anna.
“I can’t fashion police everyone,” Anna snapped at me.
“Try,” I called back.
All the bags of clothes were still in the stockroom, in what I was sure was the same arrangement as the night before. There wasn’t even crime scene tape. What was that about? Maybe there had been tape and the GBs had photographed everything, then removed it and were going to return it exactly to how it was after we’d left. But why go to all that effort instead of just picking a different store? It wasn’t like there was a shortage of department stores in the world.
It took me a minute but I managed to find the top Lucy wanted. I reached up and rooted through them, quickly scanning for a size ten.
And then the lights went out. I froze, arm extended. I’d not heard anyone else come in, so no one had switched the lights off. Unless they’d already been in here and I’d walked past them. Which was unlikely. Unless they’d been hiding. And that just did not bode well.
But they couldn’t have known I, specifically, would come in. So they were hiding in general? Why would they be hiding in general? Or were they hiding in wait for someone else? Or maybe the light bulb had popped and I was overreacting. But there had to be more than one light bulb in the whole stockroom—the room was huge—and there was no chance they’d all burnt out at the same time. That would’ve been too much of a coincidence. Unless it was a fuse issue. And this store did seem somewhat lax on their safety precautions.
Whatever. Intentional blackout or not, the best thing to do was get out. Not even take the chance. I reached out to use the clothes rail as a guide and then the air change behind me. It became more solid. And then something rough was pulled tight across my throat.
Chapter Nineteen
I stamped on my attacker’s instep, then cursed myself for not wearing my heels. I could’ve stabbed straight through their foot. I stamped down on it again. And again. And again. And again. And again. Like I was doing a hoe down. But they didn’t let go. I reached back to try and scratch at their face but they were leaning too far back so I grabbed their wrists and lifted my feet off the floor.
With the unexpected weight shift my attacker tripped over me and we both fell forward. The air whooshed out of me as I hit the floor and then again as my attacker landed on my back. Maybe because I’d initiated the fall I recovered quicker. I scrambled away through the blackness before they could grab me again. I felt something graze my head. I rolled over and batted it away, blindly kicking out in what I assumed was the direction of my attacker.
Somewhere in my panicked brain the scratching of metal on metal registered. Hanger heads on a metal bar, scratching as the clothes swung. Not an attacker. I waved my arm out in front of me, found the line of clothing and rolled underneath it.
A hand slapped on the linoleum. Each slap brought it closer. I twisted my body, pulling both feet up to my chest. Was it the left hand or right? Which side would the head be on? The hand grazed my hip. I made a snap decision and shot both feet toward what I hoped was the direction of the face. My feet hit air. I pulled my knees in, rocked back to readjust my angle and shot them out toward the other side of the hand. I’d lost some force with changing direction but I figured once they hit something solid I could just keep stamping on their face until they stopped trying to kill me. That seemed like a good idea.
My feet hit nothing for the second time. Well, not nothing but not something either. A tingling sensation reached up to my mid-calves. It lasted a couple of seconds before it faded. I pulled my knees to my chest and held my breath. Waiting. I very much wanted to believe that the tingle was a cramp from wearing high heels yesterday but I had a disgusting feeling that I’d just had my feet inside someone’s body as they tunnelled away.
Half a minute later there’d still been no renewed attack. The silence grew louder as the seconds ticked by. A hanger screeched on a metal bar on the far side of the stock room. I knew I needed to move but the emergency lighting still hadn’t kicked in. Maybe this was really premeditated and my attempted strangler turned it off somehow.
And why were they at the back of the stockroom? I thought they’d tunnelled out of the stockroom. Unless they tunnelled to another corner of it to attack again. Or maybe they hadn’t tunnelled anywhere and my calves really had just cramped from wearing heels the day before.
I gave myself a mental shake. It didn’t matter what they were doing—I needed to get out of the room. I pushed up to my hands and knees and crawled in what I thought was the direction of the end of the aisle. If I could get my back to a wall and follow it to the door I could turn the lights on. Nothing was as scary when you could see it.
One hand waving out in front of me I shuffled forward. The wall came up faster than I expected. I pushed to my feet and paused to listen. Nothing. No swinging clothes. No rustling. What did that mean? I followed the wall, waving my hand out in front of me and then my foot caught on something. I tripped and hit the floor with a thud. I ignored the pain in my knees and crawled forward. I had the briefest thought that this would mean the end for my beautiful white jumpsuit but as long as I survived I’d be okay with that.
The door reared up in front of me. I pushed to my feet and yanked it open. Light spilled in along with the sounds of happy chatter, laughter and shopping. I could shout for someone but who? And what if the killer was still in here? I flipped the lights on and blinked in the sudden brightness as I let the door close again.
With the lights on I was able to think a little clearer. The door hadn’t opened so my attacker hadn’t walked out. Oz had explained during our first trip that there was a block placed on the department store when we were inside so only GBs and parole officers could tunnel in and out. That meant, if my attacker had tunnelled out then it was a GB or parole officer.
Maybe it had been Treble. Janice and Treble in cahoots. What had Oz told the GBs? Had he said it was Janice alone or implied Treble had helped? And how had they confirmed the information? Why hadn’t I asked Officer Leonard when I’d had the chance?
I grabbed the staple gun from the counter. I would check to make sure my strangler wasn’t still inside and then I’d go out and ask Officer Leonard. I rolled my shoulders back and hoisted up my courage. Something about that movement had suddenly given my body permission to let me know that everything hurt. My hands, knees, ankles, feet, elbows, and my throat. Definitely my throat. It was like I’d swallowed a bag of razor blades. Breathing suddenly hurt. Somehow that all just made me angrier. I was so tired of nearly being murdered.
I hadn’t even checked the first aisle properly when I heard a noise at the other end of the stockroom.
“Come out. I’m armed.” Yes, it was a staple gun but they didn’t know that.
“Don’t hurt me!” A tiny fig
ure stepped out of one of the aisles at the back of the stockroom, her hands above her head.
“Olive? What are you doing in here?” Had Olive tried to strangle me? But she was so slight. I couldn’t see strangulation being her murder method of choice. Then again, Kate wasn’t huge and she’d tried to strangle Petal. Crazy gave people strength.
“I came in to see if they had anything good in here and then the lights went out,” she said.
“And then what? You waited silently in the dark for the lights to come back on?” I asked.
Olive nodded. “What else should I have done?”
“Maybe tried to find the light switch?”
“But it was so dark and I couldn’t see.”
“What were you going to do? Just sit in the dark and wait for someone to come and rescue you?”
“Yes.”
“Right. Didn’t you hear someone trying to murder me?”
“I did hear scuffling. Is that what that was? Oh, no. Did they kill you?” she asked, with genuine concern.
I looked Olive over. Did I believe she’d attempted to murder me? Probably not. But then, I’d been fooled like that before.
“Let’s get back outside.” I lowered my staple gun and jerked my head in the direction of the door. She stepped toward me. But she stepped with a limp.
I aimed the staple gun back at her face. “Why are you limping?”
“I twisted my ankle.”
“When? Show me your foot.”
“Why?”
“Because I stamped on the foot of the person who tried to strangle me. Several times. I’m pretty sure they’ll be limping too.”
Olive gasped. “I didn’t try to kill you!”
“Yep, no offence. Kinda not going to take your word for it.” Not now anyway.
“Tough.” Olive tossed her head like a defiant child.
“Okay. Show me or I’m going to fill your face full of staples. That may seem excessively violent but someone tried to strangle me, so I’m not feeling a whole lot like taking your innocence on good faith.”
“Janice told me to stay away from you. She said you were dangerous,” Olive said, eyeing the staple gun.
Dead and Buried: A Bridget Sway Novel (A Paranormal Ghost Cozy Mystery Series Book 4) Page 22