The Demand: A gripping psychological thriller by M.I. Hattersley

Author:M.I. Hattersley [Hattersley, M.I.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dark Corridors Books
Published: 2022-03-13T16:00:00+00:00

20

Beth stared down at the syringe and vial of liquid in her lap. Here in her office, in the surrounds of the hospital, they appeared almost mundane, but they had the potential to cause so much chaos, so much pain.

Yesterday evening, after the men had dragged her back into the van, they’d driven in silence all the way back to Wandsworth, dumping her in an alley a short distance from her house. They’d told her to keep the bag over her head until they’d driven away, and she’d complied, listening until the sound of the engine had all but disappeared before pulling it off and gulping back mouthfuls of the cool night air. Then she’d trudged back home with tears rolling down her face and shivering from what she told herself was the cold, but knowing, deep down, was more likely terror.

Once home, and with the doors all locked, she’d taken a long hot shower before sitting at her laptop with a towel still wrapped around her. It was there she’d run a search of Sir Gerald Hopkins, discovering that as well as the wife she was aware of, he also had two daughters and a son. They were all grown up, but still. Whatever she thought of the man and his politics, he didn’t deserve to die. His wife and children didn’t deserve to lose their husband and father.

Back at her work desk she shook her head and carefully rehoused the syringe and poison into the leather make-up bag she’d used to transport them here.

So much chaos. So much pain.

That was putting it mildly.

And this was before you factored in the damage to the country caused by the death of a sitting Prime Minister. There’d be a bitter leadership battle, probably a general election. It wasn’t what the UK needed right now. Not after everything.

She glanced at the clock. 8:20 a.m. It already felt like she’d been in the office forever. It was so quiet. So still. She switched on her PC, glad of the whirring hum that permeated the silence as the old machine sprang into life.

Beth had woken with a start at 4:30 a.m. knowing what she had to do if she was going to make this work. She couldn’t get back to sleep after, so it made sense to get ready and go to the office early. That way she could hide away the syringe and poison before her colleagues arrived. There had been a scary moment as she passed through security, but her assumption that they wouldn’t check her make-up bag had paid off. The guards all knew her well, so the checks were always rudimentary, anyway.

As her screen flashed on, she opened out the top drawer of the pedestal cupboard next to her desk and placed the make-up bag under a pile of cardboard files. It wasn’t the best place to hide it, but it would keep it close to hand. No one ever looked in Beth’s drawers except for her and if they did, all they’d see was an innocent make-up bag.

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