Shadows of Hunters Ridge by Sarah Barrie

Author:Sarah Barrie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises Pty Ltd Australia

CHAPTER

20

The noise was catastrophic – it sounded like Ebony’s world was crashing around her. She scrambled, frantic to find a light. Somewhere, a shrill alarm wailed. She flicked the switch – the power was out. A panicked check of her apartment in the dark showed everything was fine, normal.

‘Quiet, Jasper – quiet, puppy.’ She’d brought the lonely pup up to her apartment earlier to stop him crying. Now he was howling.

More sounds came from below; something … crunching? She couldn’t be sure over the ear-piercing shrieks of the alarm and the howling of the pup. Was it the security alarm – or the fire alarm? Had something exploded? Her sleep-addled mind fought to put it together. Panic surged through her all over again. She rushed to the door, opened it a crack. The red glow in the stairwell layered panic on panic.

She flew down the stairs for the fire extinguisher, phone out and dialling, grabbing the wall with the other hand for balance as she swung round the corner.

A clawing agony took the air from her lungs as she was pinned to the wall by her throat and held there so her feet dangled above the floor.

All she could see was Martin’s face, his foul breath filling her nostrils. All she felt was a burning desperation to breathe.

‘Where are they?’

She gasped, gagged. The pain was excruciating.

‘I said, where. Are. They?’

She tried to shake her head, couldn’t.

‘I want those dogs back. I don’t get them back, I’ll snap your pretty little neck.’

The odour of stale sweat and alcohol overwhelmed her as dots began swimming in her vision. She clawed at his huge hand. His vice-like grip didn’t loosen, but her feet touched the floor as he dragged her down the corridor. He stopped at the recovery room, squinting against the darkness.

‘I don’t have them,’ she rasped.

He squeezed tighter and dragged her out again to the exam rooms, checking one after the other. She was going to die. As her consciousness receded, her fingers fell from his beefy arms and her legs stopped paddling.

He dropped her and she fell in a heap at his feet, dragging in one enormous breath, almost choking on it. Another, and another, through an impossibly painful throat. She watched Martin stomp away from her. The red glow was from twin taillights – he’d reversed his car straight through her front doors. He pulled over a stand of dog treats and it clattered to the floor, the contents scattering. He swept his arm along a set of shelves, sending merchandise shooting across the room. He reached behind the counter and the computer monitor crashed to the floor, paperwork flying everywhere. Her phone was ripped out and smashed against the window. Martin strode back to her, chest heaving, a crazy look on his face.

She curled into a ball, got her hands over her head. His voice in her ear had her making herself even smaller.

‘I want those dogs back. Where’d they end up?’

‘Mudgee.’ It was a croak – all she could manage.

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