Don't Wake Up: A dark, terrifying new thriller with the most gripping first chapter you will ever read!

by Liz Lawler

  ‘You just said she could be armed and dangerous,’ she argued with an edge of steel in her voice. ‘I think you should reconsider, sir.’

  Greg had had enough of her insolence and her ‘I can say and do what I like attitude’. He wanted to shrug the nasty little cow off his back once and for all, even if it cost him.

  ‘DC Best, when I want your opinion, I’ll ask for it. Please do not think, because we had an indiscreet five minute romp, that it gives you the right to lord it over me and the rest of the officers.’ Greg pointedly looked at Dennis Morgan, who had gone bright red with shock. ‘You will take orders like the rest of them and carry them out as instructed. Do I make myself clear?’

  The silence in the room was deafening, and Greg knew he had just damaged his career, but it was worth it. He could see many of the officers looking at him in shock, and then looking at her with dismissive shakes of their heads. It was definitely worth it, if only to put a stop to the power she’d had over him.

  Chapter forty-six

  Alex shivered with the cold; the sheet she had wet earlier was damp beneath her lower back and bottom. She was shivering and she was thirsty. The infusion bag of fluid hanging above her head was still full and she could only conclude that Maggie had either deliberately not started it, or else the intravenous tubing connected to it was not connected to her; that beneath the theatre drape her arms were free of needles. And if that were so, maybe the rest of it was a scam too. She would wake up later and find it had all been a mind fuck again. No needle marks, no evidence to prove what had happened to her.

  How clever Maggie had been. The first abduction had been the perfect set-up to make sure she was never believed. Alex would look deranged as she tried to get the police, her colleagues and Patrick to believe her. But how could they, when apart from being put to sleep nothing else had happened to her?

  She had been alone for a long while now, maybe an hour or so, and had no idea of the time. The room she lay in was silent; the monitor had been switched off and the lights turned out. There had been no warning. Maggie had simply turned everything off and left her in the dark.

  The thought that kept trying to creep into her mind and settle firmly was that Maggie had left her here for good. She was going to leave her to die slowly from thirst or the cold. Her organs would slowly pack up, her heart would become weak, her skin pale and cold. She would become lethargic, irritable and then confused, and her kidneys would cease to function until finally her body gave up completely.

  Alex thought of all the people she loved and would leave behind. She wondered how soon they would raise the alarm.

  Her mother – by tomorrow, for sure. It was Christmas Eve and she would wonder why Alex hadn’t rung about Christmas Day arrangements. Caroline would also be alerted. Alex was meant to be on an early in the morning. Fiona was also on the early; Alex had checked because she intended to give her the present she’d bought. Fiona liked pretty things, and when Alex saw the pearl-grey satin pyjamas she got them without hesitation, knowing they were just right for her friend.

  Nathan might miss her sooner, though. He might even call wanting to wish her goodnight. He might think she was with Patrick if she didn’t return his call. She hoped not, because if she didn’t survive this, she didn’t want him left with any lasting guilt.

  He had made love to her in a way she had never experienced before, not even with Patrick at the beginning of their relationship. Patrick had never touched her just out of the need to touch her. Nathan had kissed her and touched her because he had seemed desperate to. Even as he slept he had held her close against his side.

  The sudden loud clapping jolted her entire being. Maggie was back, standing somewhere in the dark. Alex trembled with fear. Had she been standing there the whole time, just waiting to begin?

  The clapping stopped and Alex blinked as the lights came back on. The glare was as punishing as ever.

  Maggie’s face momentarily blocked the light as she leaned over the operating table. ‘Wakey-wakey,’ she said pleasantly.

  Alex heard her moving behind the head of the bed. An alarm beeped as a machine was turned on and a chugging sound began, and Alex instantly recognised what it was: a ventilator starting up.

  It was finally happening. The waiting was over. This time Maggie Fielding would put her to sleep and do things to her which she would not survive. Alex felt real physical pain in anticipation of what her body was about to go through. It could be cut wide open or even cut up, depending on how creative Maggie intended to be.

  She whimpered with fear as the end drew near.

  And then, cutting through some of the fear, she saw her mother’s face. She was smiling – a gentle, peaceful smile – and Alex took comfort. It would be over soon and she would know nothing more about it. Clinging on to her mother’s image, her crying ceased.

  The ventilator chugged on, imitating the rhythm of normal respiration. Alex could hear gas cylinders releasing pressure as they were turned on. There were high-pitched whistles and beeps as the safety checks were carried out.

  Maggie’s face came back into view. Over the blue scrubs she wore a surgical gown, on her head a blue disposable cap and on her hands purple rubber gloves. She was ready to operate.

  Strangely, instead of terrifying her, the familiar garb offered some comfort, and Alex realised she could turn her fear around. Maggie Fielding was a doctor and she was in safe hands. She repeated the sentence like a mantra, focusing on the words and washing them through her mind.

  Maggie Fielding is a doctor and I’m in safe hands.

  ‘I never did get round to telling you my plans,’ Maggie interrupted.

  Maggie Fielding is a doctor and I’m in safe hands.

  ‘You remember the rudiments of anaesthesia, don’t you, Alex? Of course you do. I’m being patronising, but in case you’ve forgotten: anaesthesia is sleep without sensation and pain.’

  Maggie Fielding is a doctor and I’m in safe hands.

  She was now screaming the words inside her head.

  ‘Imagine what would happen if you only received a muscle relaxant. You would have to be ventilated of course, because you wouldn’t be able to breathe. You would be awake, but unable to move. And pain . . . well, you would feel pain. You would be able to feel everything being done to you.’

  Maggie held up a syringe full of fluid. ‘It’s a good plan, isn’t it, Alex?’

  *

  They were nearing the end of the second hour of the search and Laura Best’s immaculate appearance was somewhat altered. Her hair was drenched from the rain and some of her mascara had run. The right sleeve of her suit jacket had a small rip in it from getting caught on a sharp edge in one the bin sheds. She was getting sweaty and her high heels were pinching her feet.

  She was tired and thirsty and very, very angry with Greg Turner. How dare he embarrass her like that in front of the others? She had heard one female officer behind her snigger and vowed she would find a way to make her pay. As for Greg, if he thought by bringing their affair into the open he could walk away scot-free, he had another think coming. She would tell her side of the story – how difficult it was to refuse him, especially as he was her senior officer. He was not going to get away with treating her like this.

  Coming up to the next shed, she held back and let Dennis go ahead of her. Her suit was damaged enough. Dennis unlocked the door and shone his torch inside.

  ‘You need to get in there properly, pull the bins out and look inside them.’ She shouted into the shed: ‘You might be hiding in one of them, mightn’t you, Dr Taylor?’

  Dennis stayed by the door, going no further. He then shone the torch in Laura’s face. ‘You want the bins moved, you move them. I am not your slave.’

  Astonished for a second, she could only gape. ‘What the hell! How dare you talk to me like that!’

  ‘You’ve been having it off with boss! And now you’re with a lowly plod. So what am I, Laura – the poor sap you used to spite him?’

&nb
sp; Laura stamped her feet. ‘I’ll have you up on report, Dennis Morgan. How dare you refuse an order.’

  He shone the torch at himself so that she could see his response. With a smile on his face he gave her a two-fingered salute.

  *

  Greg could hear the thrum of the helicopter’s rotor blades through the walls of the canteen. Seb had been circling and spotlighting the grounds of the hospital for the last half hour, and the blue warning lights were switched on outside the A & E department like a beacon for when he was ready to land. His mobile suddenly vibrated against his chest, jolting him, and spookily he realised it was the man in his thoughts calling.

  ‘What do you want, Seb?’

  ‘Just to see if you’ve come to your senses yet?’

  Greg moved over to a window so that he could watch the helicopter; he doubted Seb could see him, though.

  ‘I’m just doing my job, Seb.’

  ‘Man, you are so wrong about her. Alex would never take a life. I told you how she saved me.’

  ‘Seb—’

  ‘I know. You don’t need to hear. You’re just doing your job. Well, you’ve labelled her a murderer and you don’t even know her.’

  Greg sighed. ‘People can change, Seb – something unscrews inside them and they do things that they would never normally do.’

  ‘You mean like murder their best friend?’ Seb answered heatedly.

  Greg heard his sharp intake of breath, then Seb spoke again. ‘Alex didn’t do this, and you better hurry up and believe it, or it will be her you find dead.’

  Chapter forty-seven

  ‘Please, Maggie, tell me why you killed them. At least let me understand why.’

  Maggie’s eyes glinted at her over the facemask. ‘You won’t stop me doing this, Alex. You’ll merely delay the inevitable.’

  ‘Surely you want me to understand. Why did you let me live the first time? Why did you kill Amy Abbott?’

  Maggie eased her mask down so that it settled under her chin.

  ‘You think you’re clever, Alex. You think you’ll get me talking and I’ll end up forgiving you. My life ended the day Oliver met you. You led him on. And then you accused him!’

  The words were quietly spoken, not in anger, but Alex wasn’t fooled into thinking that her mood had mellowed.

  ‘He was trying to rape me!’

  ‘Rape?’ she said in a scornful tone. ‘He didn’t have to force himself on any woman.’

  ‘No, of course he didn’t.’ Alex jeered. ‘He just had to pay for it! Is that why you killed Lillian Armstrong? Because your precious Oliver paid her for sex?’

  Maggie’s lips pulled back as she bared her teeth. ‘She looked like a fat Barbie doll standing there waiting for her no-show client. I offered her a lift home, told her I was only parking for a minute so I could fetch something from my apartment. I used your key fob to open the gates and drove to your space and asked her if she’d mind backing me in – you know how big my car is.

  ‘She was delighted to help. Standing there waving her hand at me. The first bump merely knocked her to the ground, and I of course rushed to her aid.

  ‘She looked up at me, like a fat fool. Her exposed thighs, sagging breasts and garish make-up and I wanted to so badly tell her she was going to die.

  ‘Instead, I bent down and positioned her comfortably. “Stay still,” I said. “I’m a doctor. I need to check you over.” What I should have said is, I need to run you over.’

  Alex was sickened. ‘I don’t want to hear it.’

  ‘But you wanted me to talk,’ Maggie taunted. ‘You need to know the best bit. While you were doing your life-saving bit, I got to watch you. You nearly caught me, Alex. I heard you arrive and quickly parked my car. I sat there and watched, and you really are good, Alex, and I would have liked to stay to hear you explain another death, but that would have been risky. So I simply got out of my car, left it in your car park and walked away.’

  ‘You’re a monster, Maggie. And you will be caught. You’re not as clever as you think you are. You left your tyre mark across her chest!’

  Maggie smiled. ‘Ooops! Wrong again, Alex. Your tyre. Your spare wheel. I rolled it in some tarmac at the hospital and then rolled it across her chest. It’s back in your car now, though, so not to worry about getting a new one.’

  Tears of frustration dripped down Alex’s face. ‘And Amy?’

  Maggie shook her head. ‘No more questions, Alex. It’s time . . .’

  *

  In the canteen Nathan Bell joined Greg at one of the tables. He brought with him two mugs of strong coffee. He was wearing his A & E tunic and trousers and Greg was surprised. ‘You were working this morning. I mean, yesterday morning,’ he amended, catching sight of the time on his wristwatch. It was past 2 a.m.

  ‘They’re short-staffed. I took a few hours off earlier to rest. Anyway, it helps to keep busy.’

  Greg lifted one of the mugs and took a grateful sip of the coffee.

  ‘We need to find her fast. She could be unconscious. How much longer are you going to search the hospital? Surely you would have found her by now if she was here?’

  Greg shrugged. He was beginning to think the same thing himself. They had covered nearly every inch of the place and he’d sent most of the officers back to the station. Only a few were still out there searching, Laura Best among them, doggedly holding fast to her belief that the doctor was in the hospital somewhere. Greg let her get on with it. As long as she stayed out of his hair he didn’t care. Since his outburst earlier he was more at peace than he’d been in a long time. He didn’t care that tomorrow he’d probably have to face the superintendent, that he could be suspended. If that happened he’d go and see Joe. Spend the day with his son.

  Tiredness, he knew, was making him a little too relaxed about the whole thing, but he’d gained a real satisfaction from standing up to her. A few of the officers had patted him on the back and more than one had let slip a comment. ‘Well done’, and ‘Good on you, mate’, had been said a couple of times. They said it in a tone that implied he’d done a good thing. But Greg knew they were wrong. He was not blameless. He’d had sex with a junior officer and had given no thought to the consequences. He’d behaved shabbily and should have faced up to what he did before.

  ‘You’re still convinced she’s the perpetrator,’ Nathan Bell said, breaking into his reverie. It was said as more of a statement than a question.

  Greg answered tactically. ‘Everything points to her being guilty.’

  The frustration and anxiety in the doctor’s eyes was plain to see, and Greg wanted to offer him some comfort.

  ‘When this is all over she’ll need people like you to support her. She’s lucky to have you, Dr Bell. There aren’t many that would stick by someone in a situation like this.’

  Nathan Bell swiftly shook his head and made a sound of demurral. ‘Lucky? I’m the one who was lucky. I’ve grown up a lonely man because I had an ignorant mother. From an early age she drummed into me that vanity was a sin, and I should accept how I was born. I learned to not look at my face and be reminded of why others turned away.’

  He pointed at the birthmark on his face. ‘I stayed lonely until I met Alex. She’s not a killer, Inspector. It’s unthinkable.’

  Greg didn’t want to have to remind the man that he was emotionally involved and therefore not the best judge. He stayed silent instead.

  ‘So how much longer will you be looking for?’ the doctor again asked.

  ‘Probably another half hour. There are only a few places left to check. First, second and third floors have been done. They’re trying to find keys to unlock the doors to the underground of the hospital. The fire officer says it’s been out of bounds for years, but we need to rule it out.’

  ‘And then what? You give up? Call it a day? Her life could be in danger for all you know.’

  Greg felt his chest grow heavy at the thought.

  His phone vibrated again, this time against the table. It wa
s Seb again; his voice sounded echoey, but his words were clear enough. ‘I found her. She’s in the west wing car park. She’s on the ground, Greg, and she’s not moving.’

  Chapter forty-eight

  Resus was standing by. Caroline Cowan, her black eye even more obvious under the harsh lights, along with another doctor and two senior nurses, was preparing to receive the patient. An air ambulance crew and Nathan Bell had gone out into the car park and would be bringing her in very soon. Caroline had no clinical information on Alex’s status, only a report of a possible overdose, and was therefore preparing for every eventuality.

  She had got switchboard to fast-bleep the trauma team, including obs and gynae, and couldn’t care less if it proved to be a waste of their time. She wanted them in here waiting for Alex just in case. She was, after all, one of their own.

  She had put from her mind what Alex had done and would treat her as best she could. Her job was to help the sick, and Alex was more ill than most. She’d had the feeling all day that Alex would do something stupid and had been in contact with Nathan earlier to have him page her if he heard anything. When he called to say the police thought she’d taken an overdose, she instantly dismissed any thought of sleep or staying at home. She had driven all the way to the hospital over the speed limit and had been flashed twice by speed cameras.

  They had found Alex ten minutes ago, soon after Caroline arrived at work, and she was glad for Nathan’s sake that she had made the decision to come in.

  She guessed Nathan was involved with her, and as good a doctor as he was, he couldn’t be allowed to lead this care. And if Alex was in a critical condition she wanted him out of resus fast. She had been burned once already with a doctor not being able to cope. She didn’t wish to repeat the mistake.

  The outer double doors in the corridor suddenly banged open and the two nurses quickly moved over to the resus doors and opened them for the oncoming trolley.

  She was collared and was lying on a spinal board. Her eyes were open and she was awake. An oxygen mask was attached to her face and she was clearly in an agitated state.