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May set off in pursuit of the fleeing coach, with the police officers flanking her. Together, they scrambled up the bleachers to the walkway at the top. As May charged along, her phone began ringing loudly.
She grabbed it out of her pocket and saw it was Owen.
Knowing that it would slow her down, but needing to speak to her deputy, she grabbed the call.
"I'm at the house! There's one other officer here. Where are you?" he snapped.
"I'm chasing Adamson down at the school, with the Floral Ridge officers," she shouted breathlessly.
"Should I join you?"
May considered that question as she plowed along, losing ground behind the other three men.
“Yes, join me.”
May shoved the phone back in her pocket and increased her speed again. Her lungs were burning and she was gasping for air.
But she was not going to give up on this. She was determined to catch him.
The others were outstripping her, but she gave it her all, tearing after them as they disappeared into the distance.
She saw Coach Adamson ahead of her, weaving through the corner of the building and around to the left, through a group of parents clustered in the back parking lot, who parted quickly as he barreled straight through them.
"Stop! Police!" May called out, hoping to scare him into slowing down, but he didn't stop. He sprinted past the parents, who stared at him in shock.
"What do you think you're doing?" one of the women yelled angrily after him.
But Adamson just increased his speed, and now his lead was even greater. There was no way that they were going to outrun a tall, fit man who spent all day coaching football players, May realized with a thud of her stomach.
That meant she had to try and find another way to catch up.
May narrowed her eyes. Thinking logically, Adamson had not escaped the school grounds. Therefore, there was only one place he could go along the route he was taking. And that was into the school building.
He was going to head inside, and that made her nervous. This violent, desperate man could do anything at this stage. He could take a hostage. He could assault somebody else. He could pull out a gun and start shooting.
The possibilities were scary.
But if she went in the near side of the school building, then she'd be able to come face to face with him as he blasted his way through. Rather than tagging along getting further and further behind the others, she needed to think on her feet and get ahead.
Work smart, not hard, as she was sure Kerry would have quipped. Although, Kerry would probably have grabbed his arm when he threw that punch and arrested him there and then.
Her mind made up, May peeled off the path, hurtling toward the main school building. The plan was to head inside and try and catch up with him from the opposite direction to make the arrest. If he made any move to hurt anybody, May knew she would have to be ready.
It felt cool and dark inside, after the bright morning sunlight outside.
She glanced around, trying to calm her breath. She was relieved to see that there were no students in the corridors. She was sure that a lot of students had stayed home today.
But where was Adamson? She needed to hustle through to the other side of the building, because that was where he would come in, or at least, so she hoped.
Sticking to the walls, May stayed in the shadows, moving swiftly towards the end of the corridor, where there was a stairwell.
From ahead, she heard pounding footsteps and shouting, and knew he was on the run and heading inside, just as she thought he would do. This was her chance to come face to face with him, and next time, if he tried another punch, she'd be ready for him. Preferably, with her weapon aimed at him, May resolved.
Then, as she reached the corner and edged around it, she heard a commotion. Adamson was there, ahead of her, running toward her, but as soon as he saw her, he veered to the right, racing up the stairwell.
Feeling encouraged that she was now close behind him, May followed him. She pounded up the steps two or three at a time, trying to keep up with the man in front of her.
Then, with a shout, he sprinted through the archway, and onto the gallery at the top of the stairs.
