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Back The Bad Place Save as PDF
Chapters (72)
  1. Cover
  2. THE BAD PLACE
  3. Contents
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Epigraph
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. 9
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. 30
  37. 31
  38. 32
  39. 33
  40. 34
  41. 35
  42. 36
  43. 37
  44. 38
  45. 39
  46. 40
  47. 41
  48. 42
  49. 43
  50. 44
  51. 45
  52. 46
  53. 47
  54. 48
  55. 49
  56. 50
  57. 51
  58. 52
  59. 53
  60. 54
  61. 55
  62. 56
  63. 57
  64. 58
  65. 59
  66. 60
  67. 61
  68. 62
  69. 63
  70. Acknowledgements
  71. About the author
  72. An Invitation from the Publisher

‘You can’t just—’ called the girl.

But Sasha slipped inside and kept her finger on the third-floor button, giving a little wave goodbye as the doors trundled closed. When the lift arrived on Kev’s floor, she followed the corridor until she came to the open-plan office. A man she didn’t recognize was sitting at Kev’s desk, they must have had a move around, but she was relieved to see Madeleine sitting just inside the door, leafing through a magazine.

‘Mrs Dawson!’ she exclaimed. ‘What brings you here?’

‘Oh, Maddy, thank God you’re here. Where’s Kev? It’s very important I speak to him.’

Maddy carefully closed the magazine. ‘Would you… like to sit down?’

‘I just need to speak to Kev,’ she said, getting bad vibes. ‘Is he here?’

‘Mrs Dawson.’ Maddy looked at her oddly. ‘He hasn’t worked here for four months.’

Sasha felt like all the oxygen had been punched out of her. Maddy said Kev had resigned from the company, had just upped and left, giving no reason.

Minutes later, she stumbled out of the lift, ignoring the receptionist, and into the hard, bright sunlight. She took her phone from her bag and, with shaking hands, called Kev’s number again.

It went to voicemail, of course it did, but Sasha didn’t mind, because she was happy to leave a message. ‘Call me back, you fucking bastard, and tell me where you are!’

And a couple of minutes later, as she climbed into her car, intending to go back to work, he did.

52

Craig grabbed the side of the cabinet to stop himself getting dragged towards the gaping brightness of the open window, but the heavy wooden surround smashed down on top of him. His head became a fog of incoherent thoughts – he may have blacked out – and then he felt the weight of the cabinet lifted off him.

Ian Carrington heaved Craig to his feet and swung him into the wall. Craig tried to twist in his grip but the big man was too strong, and he took a punch in the stomach. All the breath wrenched from his chest, he dropped into a crouch to protect himself. A knee lifted into his face, his head whipped back. He took another blow to the cheek. He hardly knew where he was, or how to stop getting hurt, and only dimly registered Carrington’s screams of fury.

Blows rained down on him, pounding into his head and stomach and chest, as he tried to lift himself into a position where he could fight back. He raised his arms to defend himself, but he was becoming too slow, too sluggish. Pain crackled around his body, his nervous system felt like it was on fire.