Pteranodon Mall Read Free Page B

acknowledged him. He was just another piece of the mall, part of the furniture. This was fine by him. Desmond didn’t want these drones to meddle in his affairs. They had their world, and Desmond had his world. None of them had a clue of the hidden kingdom lying inches beyond these sparkly walls.
    He unlocked the plain grey door and pushed it open, Desmond wheeled the trolley inside and closed the door behind him. Now he felt that he could truly relax, knowing that no bugger would find him in here. This was his place, his sanctuary. Well, it was during his shift. Oh, the other cleaners came here, but only to grab supplies. They didn’t venture any further from this storeroom, not like him.
    Desmond flicked on the lights, illuminating the rows of blue metal shelves, containing everything the janitors needed to do their jobs. He left the trolley by the door and walked past the clear containers containing the various chemicals they used, past the boxes full of sponges, wipes, and cloths. He moved past the rolls of toilet tissue and the replacement mop heads.
    He had no interest in any of that stuff. The other door, the one which led into the maintenance areas, was what had his complete attention. The door that Desmond had locked only twenty minutes ago and now it stood wide open.
    “You have got to be having a laugh here,” he growled, rushing over to the door. How could this be? There wasn’t anybody else in the mall at this time who could have been in here. Even the hired security guards weren’t authorised in here. He paused; there was the operations manager but right now, Mrs. Killmore would be making sure that everything was ready for today’s trade. She sure as fuck wouldn’t be skulking around here.
    Desmond held onto the edge of the door trying to stop the shakes. Usually, he wouldn’t have cared about it, but his pet was down there. The pet that would be making him a lot of money. This didn’t make any sense at all. No matter how many times he went through this, it still came to the simple fact only he and that fat dyke held a key.
    “The security cameras!” His mouth dried up. Why hadn’t he thought of those? Oh, there were no cameras in the toilets, but there were plenty of them dotted about the mall. One of them must have seen him last night, taking his exotic bird down here. She must have seen him.
    Desmond peered around the door expecting to see her standing there with his pet at her feet, her hands planted on her hips, giving him a look that could melt stone. There wasn’t anybody there. Hell, the light wasn’t even on. Mrs. Killmore wouldn’t go down there without turning on the lights. His fingers brushed over the light switch, but he didn’t flick the switch. This changed things. It meant that somebody was in there who wasn’t allowed. He didn’t want to throw any light on the matter, nor did Desmond want to shout out.
    His fingers then touched something on the wall that was wet. He brought his digits to his face, frowning at the sight of thick blood dripping from his fingertips. Oh, this changed things all right. Desmond rushed back to his trolley and grabbed the adjustable wrench that he’d tried to fix that dodgy wheel with earlier.
    Desmond’s suspicious mind had already constructed the whole reason for the open door mystery, a theory which totally fit the facts. He gripped the wrench tightly and hurried over to that door. He flicked on the switch, not giving a crap anymore. It had to be Franco down there, it was obvious now. That slimy dago must have been the one who’d seen him take the bird down here. Of course, he wouldn’t have it displayed in his shop. Everyone knew the man was as dodgy as fuck. There’s no way that Franco could pay the mall’s exorbitant rent through selling a few bags of food. He must have a sideline of selling illegal exotic animals. It all made sense now.
    Yeah well, the bird was his now. The cleaner nodded to himself. Nobody stole from Desmond, not unless