The Guilty Couple(29)

She can’t tell what Smith is smuggling out of each store beneath the massive bulk of her coat but she’s pretty sure she’ll have nabbed at least a couple of hundred quid’s worth of stuff already and she’s only been in the shopping centre for half an hour.

Get in, get out, be quick.

Dani quickens her pace, matching Smith’s as they approach the escalator that leads to the exit. She needs to get to her before anyone else does. She glances around, checking the location of the CCTV cameras, then pauses to glance at a map. The ladies’ loos are just before the exit. Perfect. There won’t be any cameras in there.

She carries on towards the escalator. Smith’s already on it and she’s drifting out of sight. Dani lets a woman with a buggy step onto it first then ducks down behind her. If Smith sees her she’ll panic and run.

She waits until Kelly gets off and is halfway to the exit before she squeezes past buggy woman and hurries down the last few steps. One of the security guards, radio to his ear, is heading in Kelly’s direction. They must have picked her up on the CCTV. If he gets to her first he’ll haul her up to the office and ring it in. Smith will get nicked and any chance Dani had of getting Olivia intel from her will be gone.

She swears under her breath. Kelly’s clocked the security guard and she’s speeding up, preparing to run. ‘Shit, shit, shit.’

Dani makes a split-second decision.

‘Police.’ She flashes her badge at the guard. ‘Don’t get involved.’ She peels off before he can reply but his startled expression reassures her. He won’t be going anywhere. He froze the moment he saw the badge.

Smith’s nearly at the doors to the exit. Any hope Dani had of bundling her into the toilets out of sight of the CCTV cameras and the public is long gone. She’s going to have to grab her outside instead. She breaks into a run. The automatic doors have opened and Kelly’s sprinting through them.

‘Shit.’ Dani pushes harder. Smith’s a fast runner – it’s not the first time she’s chased after her – but all those hours of training in the gym have paid off and she’s closing the gap. There’s no way Kelly can outrun her with all the crap she’s got stuffed into her coat. Kelly rounds the corner of the shopping centre. Dani follows. Kelly darts across the car park, oblivious to the cars that have to screech to a halt to avoid hitting her. Dani chases. There’s less than two metres between them now and she can hear Kelly gasping for air.

‘Stop!’ she shouts. ‘Police.’

Her warning seems to give Kelly a burst of energy because she pulls away again and charges into a verge of trees and bushes that separates the car park from a main road. Dani grits her teeth. Being seen by a dozen people in the car park is one thing but there’s going to be an audience once they reach the main road. The last thing she needs is for a squad car to get involved.

‘Kelly! Stop!’

Smith pitches forward. She’s caught her foot on a tree root or a branch. She lands heavily, hands outstretched to break her fall. Dani’s on her before she can get to her feet.

‘Kelly Smith,’ she pants as she twists the shoplifter’s arms behind her back. ‘I’m arresting you on suspicion of theft. You do not have to say anything. But, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court.’ She takes a breath as she fastens handcuffs around Smith’s wrists. ‘Anything you do say may be—’

‘Yeah, yeah. I know the speech.’

‘So why do it?’ Dani pulls her to her feet although neither of them can stand up straight, surrounded by all the branches and leaves. ‘You got out less than two weeks ago and now you’re going back in.’

Smith laughs; it’s the husky crackle of a woman at least thirty years older. ‘Maybe I like the attention. I dunno. Ask my therapist.’

‘With a charge of breaking and entering added to your rap sheet you’re looking at at least another two years.’

Kelly’s laughter dries up. ‘What are you talking about? Breaking and entering?’

‘Don’t bullshit me, Smith. I saw you last Friday, in a house on Oakfield Road. And I know you saw me.’

‘You stalking me, miss?’

‘I’ve got a photo, of you and Olivia Sutherland, evidence that you broke in. You might not give two shits about going back inside but I bet she does.’

Kelly shifts under her bulky coat. ‘I wouldn’t know.’

‘Wouldn’t you? She’s got a daughter. Grace. Twelve years old. She hasn’t seen her for a while. I think you’re a good enough friend to help her break into her ex-husband’s house and I know you lifted the key from the cleaner.’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

Dani crouches down so they’re eye to eye. ‘I think you do.’

Kelly shrugs. ‘No comment. Are you gonna take me down the station or what?’

‘That depends.’

‘On what?’

‘If you can be a good friend to me.’

‘You what?’ There’s the husky laugh again.

‘Have you got a phone, Kelly?’

‘Course I have.’

‘Good. So here’s the deal. I let you walk, but I need to know what Olivia’s up to.’