Hush (Mason Black Book 1) by Adam Nicholls

Author:Adam Nicholls
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2015-12-25T00:00:00+00:00

44

Mason was having a tough time juggling the case and his family woes.

As he drove towards the place he used to call home, he pictured all sorts of scenarios for when he would arrive. As usual, the first was the most dramatic; the killer had been there. But then it evolved into other nightmares, like there had been an accident or some other medical emergency. But as he pulled up at the end of the drive and spotted the patrol cars, he knew it was safe to stop wondering and start worrying.

Taking the steps with apprehension, Mason reached the front door and let himself in. Same old Sandra, never locking the front door. When he entered the hallway, he stopped short, confused by what he saw.

‘Don’t hate me, Dad.’

‘Amy?’

His daughter was almost unrecognisable. There were a small number of piercings in her ghostly-pale face, and her once-beautiful blonde hair had been dyed jet black. Her choice of clothes had altered massively, too—tatty laddered stockings and a torn black t-shirt.

‘Oh… honey. What have you done?’

Sandra entered the hallway with a police officer at her side. Mason had been the man’s superior back on the force, and they’d always seen eye-to-eye. He tilted his cap. ‘Mr Black.’

‘Rogers, right?’

The officer nodded. ‘That’s right. Sir, I hate to have to tell you that your daughter was caught inside somebody’s house. She’d broken in with a friend and was stealing.’

Mason could barely believe what he was hearing. ‘That’s not like her.’

‘It’s not that simple!’ Amy yelled, and banged her way up the stairs before slamming a door. It was as if she had been taken away and replaced with some angry brat.

There must be more to this. There has to be. ‘Officer, thank you for your time. I’ll have words with her and it won’t happen again. Sandra, see this gentleman out.’

The policeman looked as though he wanted to say more, but Sandra’s commanding hand on his shoulder led him out. He would have been a fool to say no to her. ‘Go on up,’ said Sandra, her distaste for him no less evident.

Mason headed up the stairs and rapped gently on the bedroom door. ‘Amy? I’m coming in, sweetheart.’ He opened up and saw his daughter lying on the bed, her face in a pillow. He closed the door behind him and took a seat beside her. ‘Tell me.’

Amy sobbed and turned her head. Her mascara was running, smudged across her cheeks. ‘I had a picture of you in my school locker. This girl took it and wouldn’t give it back to me. The teachers didn’t care, so I did what I had to do to get it back.’

‘That’s… honey, there are hundreds of photos of me.’

‘But this one was from you.’

Mason had an idea of the one she was talking about. It was from his younger days, when he and Evie were at college together, arm-in-arm. It had been his favourite photo, taken from a day when their parents were still alive.

‘Well, here.’ He leaned to her bedside table and took her phone, flicked on the camera and raised it up high.

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