Kidnap by Tommy Donbavand

CHAPTER 1
SHOPPING LIST
    I could feel the security guard’s eyes burning into the back of my neck. He’d been following me around the supermarket for the past ten minutes or so, convinced I was up to no good.
    He didn’t know the half of it.
    I stopped in the cheese aisle and picked up two blocks of cheddar from the shelf, holding one behind the other. Studying the label on the front block, I shook my head slightly to demonstrate that wasn’t what I was looking for – then I replaced the back block on the shelf, while sliding the front block up the fraying sleeve of my jumper.
    I continued down the aisle, casually lowered my arm down to my side and caught the hidden block of cheddar with my fingers. Then I reached into my bag for my shopping list and swiftly dropped the cheese inside.
    Cheese on toast for tea tonight, then.
    I was proud of this bag. The best one I’d built in ages. It was made of a stiff material that didn’t shake too much when I dropped things into it, and it was completely lined with tin foil to stop security tags from setting off the supermarket’s alarms when I was ready to leave. That was just as well, as I already had two mobile phones, a handful of DVDs, a jar of pasta sauce and a loaf of bread in there.
    Now all I had to do was get rid of the idiot in the guard’s uniform. Honestly, what kind of a man works in security at a supermarket? Couldn’t he get a job with the real police?
    I lifted my left hand up and scratched my nose, taking a quick look into the mirror I had taped to my palm. This was another brilliant invention of mine. It meant that I could keep watch behind me without having to turn around. Yep – there he was. Peering at me from around a shelf piled high with eggs.
    I’d seen this bloke a few times before. He was older than the other guards employed by this branch – maybe in his forties. He was overweight, too – which meant I could outrun him, if it came to a chase. That didn’t mean I fancied running out of here, though. I’d much prefer a casual walk home with my ‘purchases’.
    I had to lose him.
    I waited until a family passed behind me, their trolley piled high with shopping. For a moment, it took me back to the old days. Back to when my…
    No, I didn’t have time to reminisce. I had to lose the goon in the uniform.
    I dropped to my knee and pretended to tie my shoelace – then walked in a stoop at the same speed as the family’s shopping trolley. One of their kids watched me with a confused expression on his face.
    â€œI’ve got a bad back,” I said to him with a grin.
    A second later, I was able to slip around the side of the vegetable aisle and I was free. I paused to extend my hand mirror past the potatoes and saw the guard looking around in a panic, realising he’d lost sight of me.
    Poor sod. I hoped they wouldn’t take the cost of what I’d nicked out of his wages.
    Acting as calmly as I could, I strolled towards the exit.
    As I approached the security scanners by the door, I felt myself tense up a little. Despite the tin foil lining in my bag, there was always the possibility that I’d torn the lining a little when I’ddropped one of my purchases inside, and that the alarms would go off. I readied myself to run at the first sound of them.
    Nothing. Yes! The bag was working perfectly. Now I just had to cross the car park and I’d be home free.
    â€œOi! You!”
    I turned to see the security guard racing out of the supermarket behind me. He must have seen me as I’d made for the door. Damn!
    Swinging my bag over my shoulder, I broke into a run, making for the gap in the fence behind one of the trolley bays. The hole led to a patch of waste ground at the back of the estate. Once I was there, I’d be able to get away easily enough.
    I lifted my hand mirror to check on my pursuer, and was surprised to see how close he was getting. He was fast