Stones of Fire

51

Craning her neck to examine a shop window display, Edie caught a sudden flash of movement reflected in the plate glass.

She turned her head. First stunned, then shocked.

It was Dr Padgham’s killer. No more than twenty feet behind them.

Without thinking, she pivoted on her booted heel, placed both hands on Cædmon’s shoulder and shoved him as hard as possible off the pavement.

‘Cædmon, run!’ she screamed at the top of her lungs, realizing too late that she’d pushed him directly in front of an oncoming vehicle.

Car horns blared. Tyres screeched.

Deciding that Cædmon would be safer in the road than in the line of fire, she ran, sparing a quick glance over her shoulder.

As she had hoped, the killer, forced to choose between the two of them, decided to pursue her rather than Cædmon.

Up ahead, Edie caught sight of an aproned man pushing a trolley loaded with cardboard boxes. A second later, he disappeared into a building. Without thinking she followed, surprised to discover the entry led to an indoor shopping arcade, narrow corridors snaking out in several directions. Like he’d vanished into a big black hole, the delivery man was nowhere in sight.

Not so Padgham’s killer, the behemoth having followed her into the arcade.

Edie willed her legs to move that much faster as she veered down a deserted corridor. All of the shops were closed, their darkened windows decked with Christmas greenery. Pet supplies. Home accessories. Jewellery. Leather goods. It all passed in a blurry flash.

Hearing a heavy footfall directly behind her, Edie, frantic, grabbed a display stand wedged into the doorway of a closed gift shop. With a yank, she hurled it to the ground. Roadblock erected, she kept on running.

A second later she heard a muttered curse. Then a crash. Evidently her pursuer had encountered the stand.

Good. She hoped the bastard broke his neck.

Catching sight of plucked and trussed birds hanging from a wall, she ran in that direction. The course adjustment took her down a different corridor, this one well lit. Several shops — a greengrocer’s, a coffee emporium and a butcher’s — were actually open for business, although customers were few and far between. And the ones that were afoot took no notice of the harried woman running past.

On the periphery of her senses, she became aware of an almost nauseating swirl of fused scents — Stilton cheese, ground coffee, fresh meat. As though a hundred years of smells had coalesced into one uniquely weird odour. She opened her mouth and gulped down a breath of air.

Which is when she ran headlong into a pimply-faced tattooed youth carrying a wooden box of iced fish.

‘Silly cow!’ the teen bellowed as iridescent fish and white blobs of crushed ice arced through the air, pelting him on the head and shoulders. A scatologically detailed rant immediately ensued.

Managing to stay upright, Edie muttered an apology as she sprinted off. Her energy flagging, her leg muscles now protested each and every forward stride. And she didn’t have to turn her head to know that her pursuer was fast closing on her, the collision with the fishmonger almost wiping out her lead.

No more than ten yards away, Edie saw what looked like an exit, the bar across the steel door meaning it was for emergency use only. Fast running out of options, she raced for it. Slamming her palms onto the metal bar, she pushed for all she was worth.

The door swung open.

A heartbeat later she emerged into a narrow alleyway. At a glance she could see that there wasn’t a soul in sight, only a cluster of parked delivery vans.

‘Don’t even think about it, bitch!’

Edie spun round. The moment she opened her mouth to scream, her assailant slapped a hand over her mouth, grabbed a fistful of hair and yanked her towards him. Slamming into his chest, Edie tried to jerk free. Anticipating the move, he let go of her hair and clamped a hand round her wrists. Smiling maliciously, he yanked her arms above her head, pulling her onto her toes. With few options left to her, Edie tried to bite the hand that covered her mouth. Smile widening, her assailant mashed her lips against her teeth. Blood gushed into her mouth. Still grinning, he shoved her between two parked vans, ramming her against a stone wall. Completely out of sight.

Unable to use her hands, Edie tried to knee him, but discovered she couldn’t move her lower body, her assailant’s hips and thighs pressed hard against her own. She was completely immobilized against the wall.

Oh God!

‘I’ve got a little gift for you,’ the behemoth hissed as he crudely and repeatedly shoved himself against her pelvic bone. ‘Nice isn’t it?’

Edie stared into his face — seeing the heavy shadow of stubble, the flared nostrils, the thick lips — noticing everything and anything in a desperate attempt to block out what he was doing to her.

Still thrusting his hips, he licked her face, his tongue moving from her jaw to her temple. ‘Baby girl, I’m gonna split ya right in two.’

Like salt on a wound, old memories flashed in front of her eyes.

Terror turned to rage. This time she’d fight back. No way in hell would she let this animal rape her. Writhing, squirming, Edie did everything she could to free herself.

‘You want it bad, don’t you, bitch?’

Belatedly realizing that her struggles were exciting him, Edie went still.

Within seconds the dry humping ceased.

‘Fucking cock tease!’ Criss-crossed veins bulged on either side of his head. Ready to blow.

Able to feel that he’d gone soft, Edie contemptuously snorted against his hand. Her would-be rapist removed his palm from her mouth. Fist balled, he pulled back his arm.

Closing her eyes, Edie braced herself for what she figured would be a bone-crushing blow.

It never came.

Instead her assailant grunted loudly as he rolled away from her. Edie opened her eyes, surprised to see blood pouring down the side of his face, gushing from those criss-crossed vessels. She was even more surprised to see Cædmon standing a few feet away, a broken bottle gripped in his right hand. Lurching forward, she ran to his side.

The stand-off lasted only a few seconds. Then, like the coward he was, the bloodied behemoth scurried away down the alley, what looked like a gun protruding from his waistband.

Edie and Cædmon stood silent, watching him depart. When he reached the end of the alleyway, he vanished.

‘Did you see that? He had a gun! Why didn’t he use it?’

‘He may yet.’ Cædmon tossed aside the broken bottle. Edie could see that he was furious.

‘How did you find me?’

‘I simply followed the trail of destruction.’ As he spoke, Cædmon glanced up and down the alleyway, his eyes settling on a delivery man who had just emerged from the market.

‘The box of fish was an accident.’

‘Tell that to the fishmonger. Come on! We’re wasting time.’ Grabbing her by the elbow, he steered her towards a black van, MORTON & SONS emblazoned on the side panel in fancy Edwardian script. Exhaust fumes snaked from the silencer.

Cædmon reached for the handle on the back door.

‘Get in!’ he brusquely ordered. ‘Before he goes!’

Edie glanced inside, surprised to see a row of trussed fowls swinging from a metal rod.

‘You’re kidding, right? There’s no way I’m hitching a ride with a bunch of dead birds.’

‘Don’t make me put my boot to your arse.’

Having been manhandled enough for one day, Edie wordlessly climbed into the back of the van.