Page 130 of 36 Hours

There was no question that the sound was coming from there.

They managed to look through one of the grimy windows and stopped dead, both unable to believe their eyes.

NINETY-EIGHT

6.55P.M.

‘What the hell?’ Penn asked.

Nazeera had been seated on the floor against a beam in the middle of the shop with her legs outstretched in front of her and bound with chain at the ankles. Across her thighs was an old-fashioned breakfast tray that reminded Penn of the one he’d used to take meals to his mother. Her hands were secured to the breakfast tray with cuffs and a chain, palms facing down. A rope around her midriff meant she wasn’t going anywhere.

Stacey squeezed his arm with excitement. ‘We’ve got her, Penn. She’s alive.’

He continued to assess her condition. She was still wearing the pyjamas that she’d been abducted in, and her feet were bare. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and there was a cloth tied around her mouth. Her head lolled forward. She didn’t yet know they were there.

Penn tapped on the window, and her head shot up.

Relief lit up her eyes. Somehow she knew they were the good guys.

‘I’ll go get her,’ Stacey said, heading around the side of the building towards the front door.

Nazeera watched as Stacey went out of view. Her eyes filled with panic, and she began to shake her head vigorously.

Penn’s euphoria disappeared. Something was wrong.

Nazeera looked to the ceiling and then back at him. Her face was contorted with fear.

He looked up and saw what she was afraid of.

His heart jumped into his mouth.

‘Stacey, noooooooooo,’ Penn cried at the top of his voice.

NINETY-NINE

6.58P.M.

‘What do you mean you have her?’ Kim asked, stopping dead in her tracks.

‘At the chain-making shop,’ Stacey explained. ‘She’s alive and gagged but…’

Relief flooded through Kim. ‘Thank God you?—’

‘She’s booby-trapped, boss. Luckily Penn spotted the trap as my hand was on the door handle. There’s an anvil suspended above her hands. The rope holding it is tied to the door handle inside. The second that door is pushed open…’

‘Fucker,’ Kim growled, imagining the rope going slack and allowing the anvil to fall on the surgeon’s hands. Why would she have expected anything less from the sick bastard?

She couldn’t imagine it was a full-size anvil they were talking about. She knew they came in different weights from around five kilos to one hundred kilos. Didn’t matter. Even the smallest one dropped from a height onto Nazeera’s fingers would ensure that she never got to perform surgery again.

‘Is there any other way in?’

‘Can’t be sure there are no other traps, boss. There’s stuff everywhere.’

‘On our way,’ Kim said, before ending the call.

They began sprinting to the other side of the site. Although Kim felt they had been on the right track to find whatever their sicko had in store for them next, the priority was ensuring the safety of Nazeera Khan.

‘Where is she?’ Kim asked breathlessly as she came to a stop beside her colleagues.