Snared by Ed James Read Free Book Online Page A

somewhere to the right. The place looked empty but it was hard to tell — there was a different layout up here. A series of corridors twisting around, the windows in a side-on wall showing an office or storage room behind, another revealing just more corridor.
    Her plan was shot. Vicky gestured to the team, she and Karen forming one group and the other four officers making two pairs. “Split up. Take a third of the floor per group. Meet back here in ten minutes on my mark. Now.” She glanced at Karen. “Come on.”
    “I’m coming.”
    Vicky led down the corridor, the windowless grey wall looking like it went right to the back of the building. As they crept forward, a clanking sound joined the dripping tap. She leaned over to Karen and whispered. “What’s that?”
    “Dunno. A broken radiator, maybe?”
    Vicky made for the sound, coming to another wall, six big windows roughly cut into the plasterwork. A large room sat behind, filled with crates and shelves. “It’s coming from through there.”
    Karen tugged at her sleeve. “Can you smell that?”
    Vicky sniffed — nothing. Wait, something sweet and tangy. “What is that?”
    “I think it’s shit.”
    “Let’s split up.” As Karen headed left, Vicky took the right, opening a door and inching forward into the room, the rattling sound getting louder and more insistent with each step. Seemed to be coming from a cage at the back of the room. She almost gagged at the stench. Excrement mixed with ammonia. Urine?
    She ran for it, hand clasped over her mouth and nostrils, stopping dead when she saw what was inside — two people lay naked, legs and torsos smeared brown, the base of the cage wet and filthy underneath them. A man and a woman. She couldn’t tell if it was Paul and Rachel.
    The man was doing most of the rocking, pushing against the bars with the filthy soles of his feet, face contorted with the effort, getting increasingly agitated. His mouth was taped up but sound came out. “Mmmf!”
    Karen appeared and started tugging at the cage. “Oh my God.”
    Vicky searched the front of the cage for a catch, a keyhole, anything . “I can’t see a way in.” She circled around the sides for a way in, the metal almost lifting off the ground as the man rocked it harder.
    At the back, she froze. “Shit, shit, shit.” There was a note pinned to the cage at the far side.
    See? They’re fine. Not so nice, though, is it?

Chapter Twelve
    V icky stood in the corridor of Ninewells hospital, drinking from a can of Diet Coke. She sucked in the nothing smell of the drink and the stench of the cleaning fluid in the hospital, trying to get rid of the reek from the cage. She could still smell shit.
    Karen appeared from Rachel’s room, tugging at her hair. “The doctor’s still in with them.”
    “How are they?”
    “Not good.” Karen leaned against the wall beside Vicky. “She thinks Paul’s injured himself with all that rocking.”
    Vicky took a long drink. “Figures. Took ages for the fire engine to get there.”
    Karen walked over to the vending machine and put coins in. “Dr Rankine said she was going to come speak to you when she was finished.”
    “Right.” Vicky shook her head. “I can’t believe this. It’s barbaric.”
    “Tell me about it.” Karen knelt down to collect her can. “Reckon they’ll go public with this?”
    “Just a case of when.”
    A small doctor came out into the corridor and took a deep breath, eyes eventually settling on Vicky. “DS Dodds?”
    Vicky nodded. “Yes.”
    “Dr Alison Rankine.” She offered a hand.
    Vicky shook it, looking down at her. “Call me Vicky.”
    She looked late thirties and was barely five foot tall, and most of that seemed to be hair, a wild, dark brown frizz creeping down her back. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
    “Even in Dundee?”
    “Even in Dundee.”
    Vicky smiled. “How are they doing?”
    “Well, I’ll start with Rachel. The good news is there aren’t physical