Maggie had been in Hatchet Park Shopping Mall the day Babysitter kidnapped Penny. He hadn’t grabbed her from the pram. He’d taken the whole thing. In broad daylight. One moment it had been outside the stall as she’d used the public bathroom, the front wheels visible under the door as she quickly peed. Then she’d heard somebody come in. She only became suspicious when nobody entered one of the other stalls. ‘Hello?’ Maggie had waited for a reply or further footsteps.

That’s when the wheels of Penny’s pram sped from sight. Maggie still had her panties around her ankles but sprang up as her exclamation echoed around the stall.

She unlocked the door and found the bathroom empty. Hitching up her skirt she crossed the tiles to the exit and looked into the outside lot beyond. No sign of anyone pushing the pram.

As she contemplated the rows of cars in the large mall parking zone Maggie felt as if she’d just hit the ground floor in a falling elevator. ‘Penny!’ There wasn’t a soul in evidence, and her eyes darted between the vehicle spaces for signs of movement. ‘Penny!’ Her insides churned.

An engine started up, and she tried to pinpoint which area of the lot it was. Advancing on the lines of cars she cut through the first, trying to see through the windshields before heading for the next.

It sounded like it was some way in front of her, and Maggie crossed three more rows before she saw a dark blue Audi pulling out. She shot to the left end and tried to block its departure, and the car screeched to a standstill a foot away from her. There was a child in the back seat but Maggie could immediately tell it wasn’t Penny strapped into the chair.

The mother in the front berated her, but Maggie was already scouring the other bays. Then she spotted another vehicle crawling along the right edge of the parking zone. She could just see its silver roof as it glided by the other cars.

The exit was just behind Maggie. She turned her back on the Audi and raced to the ramp to block its path. The mother behind her honked but Maggie kept her gaze fixed on the silver Toyota as it reached the end of the row and turned to face her.

As it approached, Maggie couldn’t see through the tinted windshield but planted herself in the middle of the road so it had to drive right through her to escape.

The car braked about thirty feet away from her. Was Penny in there? Her attention shifted to the other cars but she couldn’t see any more vehicles leaving.

The mother blasted her horn to the left of Maggie several times. She wanted to make a right for the exit, but Maggie stood her ground and waited for the silver Toyota to move.

It backed up, and Maggie strode towards it. Was it the person who had taken Penny or was the driver simply reacting to her erratic behaviour? Maggie kept covering the distance between them as the car halted at the perimeter hedge.

It waited for her, and Maggie’s pace speeded up. Would they drive straight at her? She didn’t care. Even if she sustained injury, she wouldn’t allow them to leave.

Another engine gunned, and her head shot briefly to where a car was pulling out of its spot four rows away from her. It was orange and seemed in a hurry. Maggie heard the mother’s Audi exit behind her but now the Toyota blared its horn.

The orange car stopped a few feet behind it, almost pranging it, and joined in the cacophony.

Maggie was only ten feet from the silver Toyota and was straining to see through the windshield.

But the orange car suddenly reversed the way it had come. It was going to circle around, and she no longer had the exit covered. She watched it turn and accelerate along the rear row. Could Penny be inside that one?

The silver Toyota blew its horn at her again, and she walked swiftly backwards towards the exit to block both cars.

The orange car shot down the rows towards the exit. Maggie turned away from the Toyota. She was still obstructing its escape so she dashed back to the ramp.

The orange car skidded and froze as she ran into its path. It was a Subaru, and its male owner dropped his window.

‘What d’you think you’re doing? I could have killed you.’ He looked to be in his mid-twenties.

Maggie craned to see his face as he half leaned out of the window then looked over her shoulder at the Toyota. It hadn’t budged.

‘Get out the way.’

Maggie took in his shaved head and stubble but it was his nose that was his most conspicuous feature. It looked like a blade had split one of his nostrils. ‘Who’s with you in the car?’

‘What the hell are you talking about?’

Maggie took two steps nearer but couldn’t see anyone else inside. Could Penny be in the trunk? ‘My baby has been taken. Please turn your engine off, just for a moment.’ She checked the silver Toyota but it was still motionless.

The driver’s face softened. ‘What? Wait.’ He killed the engine.

‘I can’t allow anyone to leave.’

‘Your baby?’ The driver took out his phone. ‘You want me to call the cops?’

Maggie nodded and backed away towards the exit again so neither car could get by.

The silver Toyota’s engine was switched off, its door opened, and a balding man in a tan suit got out. He was squat and didn’t have a neck. ‘What the fuck is your problem?’ He shouted over and raised his short arms in exasperation.

Maggie held up her hands. ‘Please.’ But she was surveying the other cars in the lot. Maybe neither of these guys had Penny.

The squat guy stalked towards her. ‘If you don’t get out of the way, I’ll call the cops.’

‘I’m already calling them.’ The orange Subaru driver had a phone to his ear. ‘Her baby’s been snatched.’

The Toyota owner deflated. ‘Snatched?’

Maggie was still inspecting the other cars. No others were moving, but it didn’t mean someone wasn’t sitting inside one biding their time.

‘They’re on their way.’ The driver of the orange Subaru hadn’t got out.

The silver Toyota owner attempted to mould his face into concern. ‘Look, I appreciate you’ve got a situation here but I’ve got clients waiting.’

Maggie examined the tall hedges that demarcated the lot. The only way out for cars was the entry and exit ramps. But could there be openings that would allow someone to escape on foot with the pram?

‘Sir, didn’t you hear me?’ The orange Subaru driver opened his door. ‘We’re talking about a baby here.’

Their arguing was drowned by the sound of her accelerated circulation. ‘She was in a pram. Somebody just took it while I was in the bathroom.’ She glimpsed a head moving at the back of the parking zone. It was a woman pushing something. But when she stood on tiptoes she could see it was a shopping cart.

‘All right, all right.’ The silver Toyota owner had his hands on his hips, and craned around. He was shorter than she was.

‘Penny!’ She screamed it now and waited, but there was no response, no crying. She could feel the weight of her alarm like a rock in her stomach.

‘I’ll take this side,’ the orange Subaru driver said to the Toyota driver. ‘You check that way.’

‘I really gotta be somewhere.’

‘Jesus, is it really that important?’

Maggie felt queasy. A voice told her that Penny was long gone. That whatever anybody did now was too late. But they couldn’t have got far. Maggie left the two arguing drivers at the exit and ran. She pumped her arms and followed the hedge around, looking for an escape route while simultaneously scrutinising each row of cars.

She came to the mother loading up her shopping and turned along the rear hedge. No way out there. Behind it was a brick wall.

Maggie turned the corner and ran down the side of the lot to the exit. Then she saw Penny’s pram. It was up against a barrier in an empty bay. She heard wheels screech and pelted back to find the Toyota driver alone.

‘Where did he go?’

‘Took off.’

Maggie heard blood rushing through her ears. ‘Why did you let him go?’

The thickset Toyota owner recoiled from Maggie’s expression.

‘We’ve got to drive after him!’

‘But he called the cops.’

Perhaps he’d pretended to. ‘Which way did he go?’

‘Didn’t see after he dropped down the ramp.’

‘We have to follow him!’ Maggie was already making for his car.

‘OK. Get in,’ he offered, even though he had no choice.

Maggie opened the door and dropped into the passenger seat. ‘Come on, he’s getting away!’

The Toyota driver swung into the vehicle. ‘You’re sure you’re not both scamming me?’

‘Drive!’

Her exclamation removed all doubt from his face. He started the Toyota again, and they lurched towards the exit. Dropping down the ramp they had to decelerate at the barrier, and he fumbled in his pocket for his ticket. ‘Shit. It was here.’

Maggie scraped it up off the dash and thrust it at him. But as he inserted it into the slot, the arm raised and they pulled out into the street outside, there was no sign of the orange Subaru in either direction.