H is for Hell (A-Z of Horror Book 8) by Iain Rob Wright

Author:Iain Rob Wright [Wright, Iain Rob]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: SalGad Publishing Group
Published: 2015-04-26T04:00:00+00:00

***

She had fallen asleep with ease yet woke in agony. Her knee was even more swollen now and the back of her head was badly bruised. It felt like she was recovering from a killer workout and a massive hangover at the same time.

Her first thought was to stay in bed and not go to work, but she quickly dispelled that notion. Missing work was something she never did and would only raise suspicions. If the police started asking around, she would rather be there to give them answers herself, rather than have her staff answering on her behalf. Not to mention that she could ill afford allowing her business to suffer more after the Fiona fiasco. Nope, she was going into work as normal. Had to act naturally.

She went into the bathroom and did her best to sort herself out. She had massive bags under her eyes, but fortunately all of her wounds could be hidden beneath clothing. To facilitate that, she wore a grey trouser suit and thick black heels instead of the stilettos and designer dresses she usually wore this time of year. Hopefully it wasn’t enough of an anomaly for anybody to take notice.

She still couldn’t stomach any food, so she forwent breakfast and just made herself a coffee. She drank it down as quickly as she could and then hopped in her car and got going.

Driving was still painful, even more so as she obeyed the speed limit obsessively and took just shy of forty minutes to arrive back at the car park beside the canal. It was still early, so only a few cars currently sat on the tarmac, but one or two belonged to her staff. Margaret, her receptionist had arrived before her.

Barbara immediately felt guilty when she stepped out of her car and remembered fleeing the night before. It was like returning to the scene of the crime.

“Excuse me, lady? Could you spare some change?”

Barbara froze. The car park was deserted, but the voice had come from right behind her.

“Lady?”

She spun around to see a man emerging from the hedge. He had messy hair, full of twigs, and a beard that looked like it could nest birds. For a split second she thought it was Jim.

“I…I, no, sorry, I don’t have any cash on me.”

“You sure?”

“Yes,” she snapped. “I’m sure. What is with you people?”

The man tilted his head and frowned at her. “You people?”

Barbara swallowed. What was she getting herself into? “Sorry,” she said. “That was rude. Look, if I had any change I would give it to you. Perhaps later.”

The man smiled. “Thank you. Have a good day now.”

“You too.”

She hurried across the car park, limping on her bad knee, towards the canal, eager to get away from the homeless man. What were the odds? Another man begging her for change? Where were they all coming from? Until yesterday she hadn’t seen a homeless person in town for as long as she could remember.

She shivered when she reached the canal, a light breeze coming off the surface of the water.

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