There was another problem. What was it? What else might prevent her plan from working? Then she remembered. If she was going to climb out of the window, she’d have to leave the safety of this cupboard. And she really wasn’t ready to do that.
A distant shout brought her back to the present. The two men must have found out that she’d disappeared. She had no idea what they’d do – hadn’t even thought of anything other than getting herself out of their reach – but she knew that they’d be furious when they realised that she wasn’t in the toilets. It sounded like they’d just discovered her escape route.
Annie held her breath and pressed her ear to the door. If she was quiet, she might be able to work out where they were and what they were doing. If they were quiet, though, one of them might be able to creep right up to the door. In fact, he could be out there right now, listening at the other side of the door.
Then she realised her mistake. The door was made of solid wood, but it wouldn’t be much of a barrier against bullets. Annie had seen enough action movies to know that the bad guys usually shot through locked doors rather than trying to open them, killing whoever was inside. Silently, legs trembling, she raised herself into a low crouch and shuffled two steps to her right. A shelf at waist height held piles of text books but the area underneath seemed empty and was just wide enough for Annie to fold herself into, putting the brick wall between herself and the classroom. She wasn’t sure but she thought the wall might provide more protection than the door if one of the men started shooting.
The disadvantage of her new position was that the sounds from the corridor were much more muffled. She could hear a raised voice but couldn’t make out any words and it seemed like only one of the men was shouting. Was he blaming the other one for her escape? Was she misunderstanding what she was hearing and actually he was shouting for her to come out? Like she was going to do that. Unless they were trying to blackmail her. What if they threatened to shoot Tom or one of the others if she didn’t come back? She couldn’t allow that thought to take root in her mind – it made no sense. If they thought she’d got out of the building, why would they be shouting to her?
A thud close by set her heart racing again. Somebody had thrown the door open and entered the room. She could hear loud breathing and something that sounded like muttered curses – hopefully he was making enough noise to cover any sounds she might be inadvertently making. The words were becoming clearer and Annie realised that the man was approaching the cupboard.
‘Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Where the hell did she go?’ He sounded agitated, possibly more worried than annoyed. Perhaps one had tried to apportion blame on to the other one and the man currently in the room was the lowest in the pecking order.
‘Jesus!’ The shout made Annie flinch. Had she cried out? Had she made a noise as her head shot back and struck the wall?
‘What’s up with you?’ A different voice.
‘You startled me. I didn’t hear you come in.’
‘Maybe you should get your ears checked. You didn’t hear that little cow sneaking out either, did you?’
‘Yeah, well you didn’t check that there wasn’t another exit.’
Annie heard a muffled thud.
‘Don’t speak to me like that. I don’t care who sent you on this job, you’re not in charge of me and if you forget it you might regret it.’
‘Okay. Okay.’ The words were muffled as though the man had a hand over his mouth and Annie realised that the other one must have hit him.
‘Have you checked all the other rooms?’
Silence, then, ‘So where the fuck did she go?’
‘Out of a window?’
More silence, then the second man’s voice came from further away. ‘They only open a couple of inches. How could she have got out of that?’
Annie didn’t hear them leave but there was no further sound from the room. Had they gone back into the corridor? Were they just waiting to see if she reappeared?
‘Come out, come out, wherever you are.’ The voice was low and taunting and right next to the cupboard door. They knew where she was.
She looked up at the door handle, horrified, as it turned slowly.
‘It’s fucking locked,’ the voice said, disgusted. ‘Unless she can pass through solid wood she’s not here. There must be another way out. She’s probably over in the main school building by now spilling her guts out thanks to you. I need to get back to the classroom and report this cock-up.’ The voice was getting quieter as the man was obviously on his way to the door out into the corridor – Annie heard it open and then close and then, nothing. They’d gone.
The walls of the cupboard seemed much closer than they had when Annie had first closed the door behind her. The space had felt like a sanctuary but now it was more like a prison. She had to get out and see if she could open one of the windows. But she couldn’t move. The memory of that voice so close to her ear, teasing her, made it impossible for her to move her legs. They just didn’t want to co-operate and allow her to stand up.
Trying to find
