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Finally around 11:30 a.m., the place was quiet, and Tia phoned
down to the coffee shop and asked them to send her up a coffee and a
sandwich.
I ll bring it up in about five minutes, Harry replied.
Thanks.
Tia had settled back in her chair to answer some of the e-mails
she d been too busy to deal with when a husky young man
approached her desk. The elevator hadn t pinged, so he must have
come up the stairs from the shopping levels below the concourse.
Hi, can I help you? Tia smiled at him.
Bloody oath, you can help me. You can help by getting your
filthy, interfering nose out of my business.
Excuse me?
You re the bloody bitch who sicced the cops onto me.
You re Shane Smith?
Dead right I am. And in five minutes, you ll be just plain dead.
Now type a nice e-mail to that security bastard friend of yours saying
how sorry you are to make up all those lies about me.
Tia left her hands flat on her desk and stood up. No, I won t do
that. They were not lies, and I am not sorry. You ve robbed your
family and killed your sister. You deserve to go to jail.
I deserve that money. I ve worked hard for it. That stupid little
bitch Gillian couldn t stop me, and neither can you.
62 Berengaria Brown
Shane started to walk around the desk toward her.
Come with me, lady. You re about to go down the stairs.
Headfirst. Terrible accident it will be.
Never taking her eyes from his, Tia used her left hand to knock
the handset off her phone and press her finger firmly on the speed dial
for the on-duty security officer. With her right hand, she picked up
her large, heavy-duty metal stapler. It was the closest thing to a
weapon she could reach.
As Shane tried to grab her, Tia slammed her right hand, stapler
first, into his groin with every bit of force she could muster. He
screamed in a very high pitch, staggered backward, then said, Bitch.
No nice, easy fall down the stairs for you now. I m going to bash your
pretty face in, break your nose, your cheekbones first. Then I ll push
you down the stairs.
As Shane marched purposefully toward her, Tia slid around the
back of her desk away from him.
He was clutching his balls. Tia hoped they hurt! But she kept her
eyes on him as his face was full of hatred and she was well aware
he d already killed his own sister. Although by stealth, not face-to-
face.
Tia grabbed that thought. Everything he d done had been done in
secret. He d plotted to take hold of the family money in private. He d
killed Gillian by poisoning her, from a distance. Maybe he s a
coward! she thought. So many bullies are.
Nevertheless she wasn t going to let him get close enough to grab
her. So she kept the reception counter between them. As he paced
forward, she moved away from her workstation over into the center of
the concourse, but well away from the stairs.
Spewing vindictive curses, Shane rushed toward her in a lurching
run.
Oh no, you re not going to catch me that easily, Tia said, hurling
the stapler at his chest. It slammed into him as he was almost level
with the fountain. Shane lost his balance, his gait unsteady as his
Complexity 63
hands still held his genitals, and tripped forward, banging his legs on
the side of the fountain. With a loud splash, Shane fell headfirst into
the fountain, making the metal pipes ring.
Tia stood unmoving, her hand still half raised, her jaw dropping,
totally oblivious to her phone squawking, Tia? Tia! Answer me, Tia.
What s happening down there?
She walked back to her desk and picked up the handset. Hi,
Garry. Shane Smith is here. Can you please send someone down here
quickly with handcuffs? He s in the fountain. She sank onto her
chair, grabbed her puffer, and inhaled deeply.
* * * *
Shane was still trying to pull himself out of the fountain when all
three elevators pinged one after the other and the stairwell door was
slammed back against the wall with a crash.
Atal and two night security guards burst out of the stairwell and
ran to the fountain. Garry and the young security guard emerged
simultaneously from the first elevator, moving at a fast clip.
The second elevator contained Finn and Simeon, who ran to Tia.
Harry emerged last, holding Tia s black coffee and tuna salad
sandwich looking bemusedly at all the activity. What s going on?
he asked Tia.
She still held her puffer to her mouth and just shook her head at
him.
Sorry, maybe I should have brought something stronger, he said
handing over the coffee.
* * * *
Keziah had been called to take over the concourse reception desk,
promising to work on her next free afternoon to make up for the shift
64 Berengaria Brown
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