Controlled Explosions (A Paula Maguire Short Story): A compelling crime novella of violence and intrigue by Claire Mcgowan

Author:Claire Mcgowan [McGowan, Claire]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2015-06-30T23:00:00+00:00

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The next in the thrilling Paula Maguire series

Prologue

I’m dead.

I don’t mind. I want to be dead. Nothing could be worse than staying alive, not like this. But all the same I’m running away.

I can feel the blood between my toes, my feet slipping on the roots and branches. They’ve taken my clothes from me. You’re dead, they say. No one will miss you. You’re evil. The world is better off without you.

And I know they’re right, but I’m running anyway.

I know they will catch me – I’m lost, no idea where I’m going, and after what they’ve done I can hardly stand, but I’m running. In the dark the forest is full of eyes, and branches claw my face like scratching hands. Overhead, the moon is as white as a face with the flesh stripped back.

My own warm blood is splashing on my skin. My heart is bursting in my chest. You have no heart, they told me. You are dead inside. You are scum. Yes, yes, it’s all true, but, but, but. I can hear them nearby in the trees. The high voice of the wee girl. Saying my name. I know they’ll find me, panting and stumbling, but I can’t stop. I am so afraid. I’ve never been afraid like this.

The noise stops. The moon lights up the path ahead, empty, and I run, and as I run I’m thinking one thing: my baby. Oh my baby.

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