Someone Who Isn't Me, Danuta Kot [good books to read for adults TXT] 📗

think about ways of escaping, anything to stop the panic from flooding through her again.

She worked her hands against each other, trying to tear the tape, but it just seemed to fold into ridges that dug into her wrists. The effort was making it hard to breathe. She had to take it steady.

She’d get out of here. She could do it.

The car was slowing down. They must be at the place the woman was planning to dump it. Then Becca could get herself free, get back to Kay’s house, make sure they’d gone, break in and call the police. Call Kay, call Curwen. Call Dinah. And get the shits who—

‘All OK?’ Becca froze. It was the man’s voice from before, the one that had sounded oddly familiar.

‘Have you got him?’ The voices were muffled, but it wasn’t hard to make out what they were saying.

‘Yeah. Here you go. Get in.’ The car rocked, as if someone had landed heavily on the back seat. Then she froze as she heard a voice she knew. ‘You let me out of here. You don’t get to—’

She knew that voice. Lewis! They’d got Lewis.

There was the sound of a slap, then Alicia spoke. ‘Any more of that, and I’ll give you something to complain about.’ She didn’t sound angry, just cold, and – Becca’s stomach lurched – a bit excited, as if she wanted Lewis to go on making a noise so she could do whatever she was threatening to do to him.

The man spoke. ‘Why are you making a fuss, Lewis? It’s like we told you when we found you at the flat – we’re just getting you out of the way before the cops come. Nothing to worry about.’

‘You going to… to dump the snitch?’ Lewis’s voice wobbled as he spoke. He was trying to sound tough, show them he was one of them, but he just sounded like a scared kid. They’d found him at her flat – so he wasn’t meant to be there. He must have been too scared to get the bus. He’d snatched her key and gone and hidden in maybe the worst place he could have chosen. But he’d hidden Spice from them. He’d done that.

Alicia laughed. ‘Yeah, Lewis, we’re going to dump the snitch.’

‘Then can I go home?’

‘Yeah. When we’re done, you’ll go home.’

What was happening? Now the fear was growing. She knew now they wouldn’t leave her in the car until daylight – she’d be found too soon. What did Lewis know that she didn’t? Dump the snitch…

Her breathing quickened and she felt her heart start to race.

There was something bad, something very bad on the way.

She strained her ears, listening. She heard the car door open, and felt the vehicle rock slightly as someone – presumably the man – got in. ‘Right. All sorted. Are you sure about this? Doc went crazy when you got rid of that cop shit.’

Cop shit? Andy? Listen. She struggled to hear what they were saying. The words were half drowned-out by the noise of the engine.

‘I told you – Doc’s out of it. He’s gone.’

‘They’re going… get rid?’

‘Yeah. It’s sorted. We’ll… this lot and go up there to meet them.’

‘So… what now?’

‘What do you think? I’m… our other problem. We take the car… the track to the end of the drain – the tide’s in. We can dump it in the estuary, pick the other car up and we’re away.’

‘… really enjoy your work, don’t you?’

And Becca heard that giggle she’d heard before – once in the pub, and once in the yard, not the laugh of someone who’d just heard a joke, or someone who was having a good time, but of someone who enjoyed the kinds of things no one should enjoy – like Andy bleeding to death on the ground or the screams of something burning.

We can dump it in the estuary, pick the other car up and we’re away.

Then she understood what they meant, and panic gripped her. She felt the warm flood as her bladder let go. She was struggling – not with any plan, just fighting, fighting, until she could barely breathe, her heart hammering out of her chest. She had to be free but she was buried in darkness, she was trapped, and she had to get out, get away.

They were going to leave her locked in the boot, and they were going to dump the car in the estuary. It would float for a few long minutes then it would sink as it filled up. The water would creep into the trunk as she tried to keep her face above the surface but slowly, slowly it would fill, covering her mouth, her nose, and she would struggle and struggle and then…

She screamed and screamed and screamed, but her mouth was sealed.

Chapter 45

Dinah left Kay McKinnon with hollow promises that they were looking for Becca. As far as she could see, it was turning into a complete fiasco. She didn’t know what was going on, just that Hammond looked furious, someone had jumped the gun on something and triggered this massive response. Were they concerned about Becca? She didn’t know. All she knew was that Becca Armitage had come down the coast to Sunk Island but there was no sign of her, and the search teams were taking the house apart.

She knew that Andy Yeatson had been involved in something to do with the pub, some kind of unofficial crusade that had made him present himself as a private investigator to Becca Armitage – or so Becca claimed. It puzzled her that Andy had been prepared to put Becca in harm’s way. It wasn’t just gossip about the punters she’d been passing on. She’d been taking photos down in the pub cellar – she’d sent some to Dinah, and if drugs – or anything like that – were involved, then that was dangerous. It was well out of order for Andy to ask her to do