Basic Element: A dark gipping detective thriller (Crane and Anderson Book 2)

by Wendy Cartmell

  Scrabbling up the mattress, she curled into the corner, covering herself with the blanket from head to toe. Clamping her hands over her ears she began again to sing the song in her head. “Anything your heart desires will come to you.”

  The blanket was grabbed and thrown off her. She kept her eyes shut and her hands over her ears, shrinking even further into the corner. What did he want? Why hadn’t she been drugged? Perhaps she hadn’t drunk enough of the water? But it was too late now. Perhaps if she pretended to be unconscious he’d leave her alone. She was good at pretending. As a hand was placed on her arm, a large hand, a man’s hand, she couldn’t pretend anymore. She screamed a scream that burst out of her, despite her sore throat. She kept screaming, batting the hand off her arm, struggling as two hands grabbed her arms, kicking with her bare feet at the solid bulk of the man who was trying to hurt her and screaming, still screaming, until she was crushed against a body and rocked, rocked like a baby, rocked until she stopped struggling.

  A hand caressed her hair, stroking her head over and over, and his voice whispered, “It’s alright. You’re safe now. I’m a policeman. I’ve come to take you home. Your wish has been granted.”

  He rose from the floor, his strong arms lifting her as though she were no more than a paper doll. “I’m going to cover your head with the blanket,” he said. “Just to protect your eyes. Okay?”

  She managed a small nod against his shoulder, still unsure that it was really happening: that she was being rescued. Her nightmare was finally over. With her head safely covered, she felt him walk up the wooden stairs, her body bumping against his as he climbed each tread, going up the stairs she’d fantasised clambering up for so long.

  Once up the stairs, he moved quickly through what she imagined to be the house belonging to the basement and burst out of the front door, her head still covered by the blanket, through which daylight weakly filtered.

  “I’m taking you to an ambulance,” he said, his voice rumbling in his chest and she managed another small nod. Bethany heard the creaking of the springs as they entered the vehicle and he placed her gently onto a hard bed, so she was sitting on it with her toes touching the floor. “There’s someone here waiting for you,” he continued. “So I’m going to take the blanket off your head.”

  The lights in the ambulance were stronger than she’d imagined. Even though she thought she’d prepared herself for the glare, she had no choice but to squint and hold up her hand against the lights. Through scrunched up lids she saw her mother sitting opposite, arms open, face wet with tears. Without any conscious thought, Bethany tipped forward to fall into her arms.

  But instead of landing against the soft bosom of her mother, she fell face first onto the flea ridden, ripped mattress in her basement cell.

  To continue the story, here’s the link to your local Amazon store:

  http://getbook.at/rulesoftheearth