C O M P L E T E - first draft.
7x featured story.
Undiscovered Gem, Romance Ambassadors, January 2025.
Ambys 2024 Favourite - Mystery & Thriller
***
I don't register what comes first--Mum's screams and curses, or the searing pain that perforates...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
---
September 26th
Z A C H A R Y
When I finally come around, my head feels like it's splitting in two.
I notice dampness on the side of my face. My hands are bound behind my back, so I can't check, but I presume the moisture to be blood from the blow of the shovel.
That hit could've killed me, and I bet Jamie's sorry ass would've enjoyed that.
I'd be another body to add to his tally. He'd be at two with me dead—maybe even three if he killed Fred Cravens. How many does it take to become a serial killer?
Bastard.
I force my eyes open with a pained grunt and look around. I'm lost at first, but I quickly figure out where I am after seeing the familiar rickety cupboards I'd taken Jamie Ackhurst's phone from a week or so prior.
I'm in Gareth's shed.
It seems really fucking stupid at first. Why would he bring me here? If someone reported me missing, the cops would look here first.
But then it hits me.
Gareth has every reason to not call the police, and I have every reason to not want him to, either. The only person who might have called them is Carmen, and I don't exactly have her on my side anymore. She probably doesn't give a shit about me or my whereabouts.
As much as I hate admitting it, it's a smart move on Jamie's part.
A cough sounds from behind me, causing me to jolt. "Who the fuck is there?" I spit, putting on a brave front despite my unease. "Is it you, Ackhurst?"
"No."
With my feet tied together by rope, it's a challenge to move, but I eventually flip myself towards the direction of the cough.
And my stomach churns.
Because Fred Cravens is lying crumpled on the floor in front of me, with his hands and feet tied up, just like mine.
"He got you too, then?" Fred says, shaking his head. He has a split lip and a fading black eye, showing he must have also put up a fight before being dragged here. "I take it you must've figured out what he did, and that Deidre lied to protect him?"
"Yeah... uh, sort of," I mutter in response. I'd half figured it out until I got captured. I knew Ackhurst was shady, but Deidre McKellon's involvement has shocked me. "Why the fuck are they doing this? Why the fuck did they do any of this?"
While shrugging, Fred winces. Jamie's probably kept him holed away in here since the day he disappeared, and who knows what our sick bastard of a captor has done to him during that time? "Jealousy, I expect, on Jamie's part. He didn't want Deidre, but didn't want anyone else to have her, either. As soon as he saw Carmen's brother with her, he flipped, and... well, I take it you know the rest. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how he ended up stabbed and dumped in a river."
