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Kendra ran up the escalator that led into the mall, elbowing and shouldering her way past the shoppers in her path.
When she reached the top, she ventured deep into the complex, taking random turns before ducking into a clothing store.
Kendra picked out a cardigan jacket, a beret cap and lightly tinted sunglasses. She paid for them and put them on immediately. Unslinging her backpack, she hand-carried it loosely by her side.
It wasn’t a complete makeover, but at the very least, she had made herself a little less recognisable.
As she stepped out of the store, Kendra spotted one of the operators approaching from her left.
His movements were frantic as he sprinted from shop to shop, and his lips were moving as he spoke into his sleeve. He was obviously in radio contact with his partner, and they had split up in order to search opposite ends of the floor, trying to flush her out.
Kendra inhaled and exhaled.
She walked into the home-improvement store directly opposite and positioned herself at an oblique angle. She pretended to examine a display of porcelain and china.
The operator was closing in now.
She could see him from the edge of her eye.
He was only a few paces away.
She could feel her throat tightening like a screw, and her fingers were flexing.
No sudden moves. Not yet.
The operator lingered and performed a quick scan of the store. With his adrenaline and anxiety clouding his perception, she was counting on him not to recognise her. And he didn’t.
Shaking his head, he moved on. His back was now turned, his attention fixed on the next store.
Now.
Kendra stepped out of the store and kicked him on the inside of his knee. She heard it crack, and as he fell, she glided past, snapping her knife open and cutting into his arm. She opened up his brachial artery with a nine o’clock slash.
The operator screamed.
Kendra slipped into the crowd, blending in.
Confused onlookers gasped and murmured. Several people reached down to help him. For all they knew, he was a clumsy young man who had just suffered a fall. A very bad fall.
Kendra walked away at a deliberate pace.
Not too fast, not too slow.
She soon spotted the other operator rushing in from the opposite direction. Predictably enough, he had come to the aid of his distressed comrade.
Kendra stretched her lips thin and bowed her head.
The operator passed her by.
Kendra exhaled. She didn’t have to worry about him any longer. Because that was the beauty of crippling one pursuer. By doing so, you distracted his partner as well. And with the arterial wound she had inflicted, it was a sure bet that he would have one hell of a time trying to stem the bleeding.
Now all Kendra had to worry about was the operator in the car. She had to assume that he would be parked right in front of the mall, covering the main entrance, trying to catch her if she exited that way. But, no, she wasn’t going to use that route. Instead she returned to the escalator and exited the mall via a side entrance.
Eyes darting, she avoided heading back towards Broadway. Instead she threaded her way through several other streets, and once she was sure that she had acquired enough distance, she approached a cab stand.
Kendra selected the last taxi in the row and tapped on the window. ‘Gidday. Can you take me to Mount Albert?’
The driver lowered the Kindle he was reading. ‘Sure can. Hop on in.’
As they pulled away from Newmarket, Kendra checked her rear.
Nodding in relief, she slipped off her cap and her sunglasses.
She was clean.
Finally.