She switched off the computer and gathered her papers together, making sure she had left only the materials she wanted the investigators to unearth all by themselves. Then she let herself out of Stella’s office and headed for the exit. There, she consulted the note Helen had given her and set the alarm as she opened the door to the car park. As Watergaw’s door closed behind her with a sharp click, Lindsay was uneasily aware of how dark the car park was. She could have sworn she’d previously noticed security lights mounted on the side of the building, angled to shine across the car park, but now the only light came from the distant streetlights, reduced even further by the bulk of the Watergaw building.

Swallowing her apprehension, Lindsay walked boldly along the side of the building to the place where she’d left her car. Suddenly she was aware of glass crunching under her feet and she stooped to look more closely. As she registered the broken glass of the security lights, she heard the soft footfall of running sneakers on asphalt. Startled, Lindsay jumped up and swung round to face the direction of the sound. As she turned, she saw outlined against the pale orange of the sodium streetlights the unmistakable shape of a baseball bat. It was heading straight towards her as if she was the pitcher’s finest curve ball.

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Using the momentum she’d gained straightening up from her crouch, Lindsay pushed off from the ground and veered out of the way of the bat, stumbling backwards as her assailant continued towards her, drawn forwards by the follow-through of that first vicious swipe. Her feet scrabbled against the asphalt of the car park, the grip of leather sandals puny in comparison with her attacker’s sneakers. She could make out only the vague outline of a medium-sized frame with a head sleek as a seal, but that was enough to see that already the shoulders were tensing to lift the bat in a second backswing, aimed straight at her head.

With no time even to think, Lindsay acted on pure instinct. As he swung the bat from above his left shoulder, she leapt forwards and to the side, so that she undercut the arc of the blow. Then, hitting the ground running, suddenly she was past him, sprinting for the street with a turn of speed she had no idea she possessed. Faster than she’d ever run along the beach at Half Moon Bay, she headed across the car park at the angle that would bring her to the street most quickly.