Her Last Breath: The new crime thriller from the international bestseller (Sullivan and Mullins) by Alison Belsham

Author:Alison Belsham [Belsham, Alison]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orion
Published: 2019-09-18T22:00:00+00:00

35

Thursday, 24 August 2017

Alex

It wasn’t right. There were laws about how long you could lock someone in a police cell for – and after two days, Alex was sick and scared. Sick of the sight of four walls and a ceiling, all painted institutional grey, that seemed to be closing in on him, little by little. And scared that he was never going to get out. He’d shouted at the locked door and he’d thrown a cup of water at the PC who’d brought his breakfast to him. The cup had been made of paper and it had less than an inch of water in it, but it had made him feel better. For less than a minute.

He wanted clean clothes and he wanted a smoke. He wanted to see his mother and he wanted to talk to Liv. She was the only one who understood him. She believed him.

He lay on the hard, narrow bed, scrunching the threadbare blanket with his fists and staring at the pattern of peeling paint on the ceiling. The toilet bowl in the corner stank of sick – his own sick, from having released the contents of his stomach the previous day. Anxiety gnawed at his gut more fiercely than hunger and, since the water-throwing incident, they’d refused to bring him anything to drink.

He got up and banged on the door.

‘Fucking bring me some water,’ he shouted.

The heat was enough to do him in. His torso was wet with sweat and his mouth was dry.

‘Water!’

Never had the grind of a key turning in a lock sounded so good.

But it wasn’t a PC with a drink of water for him that came through the door. It was Jayne Douglas, the lawyer he’d seen when he’d originally been questioned. She walked into the cell and seemed immediately out of place, in her smart navy suit, high-heeled shoes, and carrying a soft leather briefcase. She smelled of something sharp and citrusy, but couldn’t help wrinkling her nose at the rancid air that greeted her.

Alex stepped back from the door to give her some space.

‘You’re here to get me out – about bloody time.’

But the door clanged shut behind her and she gestured to Alex to sit down on the bed.

‘Wait. What . . .?’

‘They’re not releasing you yet, Alex,’ she said. ‘They’ve had custody extended up to the full ninety-six hours. That means another day and a half. After that they’ll have to charge you if they want to keep you.’

‘No fucking way. There’s nothing to charge me with.’

‘Hitting a police officer?’

‘They were all over me. I panicked.’

Her raised eyebrows told him that she’d heard it all before.

‘They’ll use what they can.’

‘So if you can’t get me out, what can you do?’ Alex knew he sounded belligerent, and that she was on his side, but he’d had enough.

‘Do you mind if I . . .’ She pointed at the space next to him on the bed.

Alex gave a slight nod and she sat down.

‘Listen, Alex, I can’t get you out right now, but I can give you some advice.

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