The Eyes of the Accused: A dark disturbing mystery thriller (The Ben Whittle Investigation Series Book 2) by Mark Tilbury Read Free Book Online Page B

and offering Hannah a lift. Hannah desperate. Crowley promising to take her home. Convincing her that he was there to help. And then driving off into the middle of nowhere. Perhaps to an old abandoned farm. One like Penghilly’s Farm. A place where no one could hear you scream. Somewhere a sexual predator could act out his twisted fantasies time and time again.
    ‘Shut up,’ Maddie told her imagination.
    Do you want to be his next victim?
    ‘I’m not going to be anyone’s victim.’
    If you say so.
    ‘Ben and Geoff will know where I am.’
    Will they? Are they going to put a tracker on Crowley’s car?
    ‘They’ll put a wire on me.’
    A wire? Hah! This isn’t the movies. What if Crowley finds it?
    ‘He won’t.’
    How do you know? Can you see into the future?
    ‘I’ll be careful.’
    Madeline White being careful? There’s a first. Next you’ll be telling me you’ll be patient.
    ‘I want to do this. For Hannah.’
    Why? She’s neither friend nor a relative.
    ‘She’s an innocent woman. She needs me.’
    Not if she’s dead! Anyway, your father needs you. Needs you much more than he lets on.
    ‘He understands.’
    What happens if you die and no one ever finds you? No grave. No headstone. Nowhere to pay respects and lay flowers. All because you fancied an adventure.
    ‘I want to do something useful. I’m fed up with just going through the motions at the church.’
    Is that what you thought when you were handcuffed to the bed at Penghilly’s Farm? Yay, this sure beats lighting candles and handing out pamphlets?
    ‘I survived.’
    By the skin of your teeth. How much luck do you think you’ve got?
    Maddie shuddered. How much further was it to the nursing home? It seemed as if she’d been walking forever. There was a niggling pain just below her ribs. She looked at the ground and took several deep breaths. The grass verge seemed to lurch. She gave in to temptation and pulled the Snickers bar out of her pocket. She removed the wrapper and wolfed it down in several large gulps. She then bent over and rested her palms on her knees as a sudden sugar rush attacked her body.
    Better?
    Maddie swallowed hard. It felt as if there was a peanut lodged in her throat. She coughed. A single hack.
    You’ll make yourself ill again.
    She was going to throw up and rid her body of the only sustenance it had. Maybe she should call Ben as soon as the dizzy spell passed. Tell him to come and pick her up and take her home. She could have a nice long soak in the bath before helping out at youth club tonight. Do what she was supposed to do. What God had intended, if you like.
    She waited several minutes for the sickie spell to pass. Every time she swallowed, the chocolate felt thick and clammy in her throat. She would never eat chocolate again. Once she got her life back to normal, she would take the time to prepare healthy meals with a proper nutritional value. No more pizzas. No more cakes out of Dalton’s bakery. No more picking between meals. No more looking at the disappointment in her father’s eyes as she pushed another barely touched meal away.
    Just as Maddie thought it was safe to start walking again, she bent over and threw up. Bile burned the back of her throat. She hacked several times and spat out a regurgitated peanut. She fished her mobile phone out of her jeans’ pocket. Enough was enough. Ben could come and get her. The voice in her head was right. Her father needed her. The church needed her.
    She was about to call Ben when something caught her attention. Something glinting in a shaft of winter sunlight near a large grey stone. A broken bottle, perhaps? She moved closer. But it wasn’t a broken bottle. It was the pin on a name badge. Maddie picked it up. Her heart fell into her stomach. Four simple words embossed on the face of the badge: Hannah Heath. Care Assistant.
    Suddenly, the air felt thin, almost non-existent. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again. Surely she was seeing things. But the