Page 179 of In Too Deep

But less.

Harrison shook his head. “Piss off, Christian. I’m not here for you.”

He swept the torch across the building. Sections of brickwork had been stripped back to the frame. Windows sat smashed or boarded over. Spray-painted warnings covered the lower walls. Temporary fencing boxed off entire sections where the structure had already started failing. Then the beam caught a yellow notice bolted beside the main entrance.

DEMOLITION COMMENCING 08:00 HOURS.

Harrison checked his watch.

Twenty past ten.

Less than twelve hours.

A cold knot tightened beneath his ribs.

“Jake?”

No answer.

Harrison headed inside.

The main reception area looked as though someone had abandoned it halfway through stripping it for parts. Ceiling tiles littered the floor. Exposed wiring hung from above. Every footstep sent echoes racing away through the darkness.

“Jake!”

Silence.

He moved deeper into the building. Office after office. Broken furniture, collapsed partitions, dust. Nothing else. No sign of Jake. No sign anyone had been here recently at all.

Maybe that was good.

Maybe the SPOC had simply caught Jake’s last location before he’d gone somewhere else and his phone had died.

Except Paul Levenson had lied.

Roman had disappeared.

And Jake hadn’t collected Teddy.

Harrison kept moving.

The building opened onto a central stairwell and he climbed, calling Jake’s name on every floor. Nothing answered except wind through broken windows and the occasional groan of ageing steelwork. By the time he reached the fourth floor, frustration had started to overtake fear.

“Jake!”

Nothing.

Harrison stood listening for another few seconds before checking his watch. The responding units should be almost here. Enough. He’d searched what he safely could. He needed to get back downstairs, meet them at the entrance and organise this properly rather than stumbling blindly through a condemned building on his own.

He turned for the stairwell.

Something knocked overhead. A dull metallic strike travelled through the ceiling above him, followed by another. Then several in quick succession.

Tak-tak-tak-tak.

A pause.

Tak-tak.