Page 114 of First Blood
Dawson had called it right.
Now she had proof. Now she could request backup without losing her job or being called back to the station.
She got out of the car. Her colleague followed.
‘Bryant, call it in,’ she said, stepping towards the car.
She quickly surveyed the area. The last house they’d passed was half a mile back down the road and the abandoned facility lay on the outskirts of Woodgate Valley Country Park: a 450 acre site previously made up of rural land and smallholdings.
From the aerial view she’d seen on Google Maps and the now defunct website, the facility was split into two distinct sections. To the east lay the administration, maintenance and welfare functions and to the west were the treatment rooms and a surgical theatre. A reception suite linked the two sides.
As she heard Bryant giving their location she stepped towards the car. She touched the bonnet. It was still warm. Thank God, they might have a chance.
She tried the door handle but it was locked. What kind of murderer had the bloody foresight to actually lock their car while escorting someone to their death?
She peered into the darkness of the car but could see nothing.
She beckoned Bryant over and motioned a clicking action while he continued speaking.
He took his torch from his pocket and handed it to her. She shone it through the front windows and saw nothing but bits of rubbish. She shone it on the rear seats and two things caught her attention.
In the foot well of the rear passenger seat was a medical bag and the seat was stained with blood.
Damn it, the doctor was already injured and she was willing to bet it was some kind of bang to the back of the head.
She looked longingly towards the glass door to the reception area that had clearly been breached.
She knew full well it would be foolhardy to enter the premises. There were two of them and support was being requested. Training and experience told her they should hold tight and ensure that the killer could not get away. Wait for more officers, form a plan to cover the area while keeping it secure. Flush him out. Safely.
‘Okay, guv, backup is on the way. ETA is eight to ten min—’
‘Ugh, what the hell?’ she said, lifting up her shoe.
A squashed apple lay beneath her foot.
An apple a day.
Suddenly the image of an innocent man being tortured and made to suffer flashed through her mind. Backup would not arrive in time. If she waited patiently for the agonisingly slow eight to ten minutes to pass Doctor Lambert was going to die. They might get their man but another life would be lost. And this one had done nothing wrong.
She turned to her colleague. ‘Okay, Bryant, I’m going in.’
Chapter One Hundred Seven
Despite her best efforts Bryant had insisted on entering the building with her. She had tried to dissuade him but the time she was wasting arguing with him could be better spent trying to save the life of their potential victim.
‘Okay,’ Kim said, once they were inside. ‘We need to divide this up. You head around the admin. block and I’ll head to surgical.’
‘Okay,’ he said, thrusting his hand forward. ‘But you take the torch.’
She considered arguing some more but took the torch.
‘You got phone signal?’ she asked.
He took out his phone and nodded.
‘Me too. You find anything at all, just ring. No need to speak but just call my phone.’
‘Will do, guv,’ he said, using his mobile as a torch and heading off towards the double doors leading to the facilities block.
