Page 60 of Killing Mind
She took a sip of her latte as the door opened.
There was no mistaking the man who entered. Dressed from head to toe in black, his combat trousers and plain tee shirt did little to hide his muscled physique. Immediately she thought ex-forces, probably army.
She raised her hand to indicate she was the person he was looking for. He offered no acknowledgment but approached the counter and placed an order. The girl appraised him appreciatively before advising him to take a seat.
He nodded towards her before pulling out the opposite chair. ‘Inspector?’
‘Good to meet you, Kane,’ she said, noting that neither offered their hand. ‘You know why I’m here?’
‘To talk about Samantha Brown,’ he replied.
Kim noted that his dark-featured handsome face remained completely neutral at all times. There was neither a frown nor a smile lurking anywhere.
‘You were seen loitering close to her home,’ she said without preamble.
‘Absolutely but I wasn’t loitering and I wasn’t hiding. I can give you the exact dates and times if it’ll help.’
Kim hadn’t expected him to admit his presence at Sammy’s home quite so easily.
‘Why were you there?’
‘Because I knew she wasn’t ready.’
‘For what?’
‘To be left alone. She needed much longer at home with her parents, readjusting to normal life before getting a place of her own. Just because she understood what the cult was didn’t mean she didn’t want to go back to it.’
‘But isn’t that what you do?’ Kim asked. ‘Deprogram cult members?’
‘I start the process, Inspector. It’s up to the family to do the rest.’
‘And the process. I’d like to know more about what you do.’
‘Why?’
She liked dealing with people who didn’t waste words.
‘Because I’m told you’re about to do it again, this week.’
‘We don’t actually tell the family when we’re going to do it.’
‘Well, they seem to think Sophie is coming home soon.’
He shrugged without emotion. ‘They’re given an idea of time but we don’t give exact dates and times. We don’t know when they’ll be ready.’
‘To snatch?’ she asked, confused.
He remained silent as the waitress placed his cup of black coffee before him.
He thanked her without looking her way. She appeared disappointed.
‘Getting them is the easy part. That’s not what we do. The Browns could have done that themselves.’
‘So, why didn’t they?’
‘Because they knew that the first time Samantha saw an open door she’d be right back at Unity Farm.’
‘So, what exactly do you do?’
