The Treatment: the gripping twist-filled YA thriller from the million copy Sunday Times bestselling author of The Escape. C.L. Taylor

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СКАЧАТЬ find out the truth. If Dr Cobey was killed just for trying to help Mason, God knows what kind of danger he’s in. Mum and Tony are convinced that he’s fine. But what if he’s not? I could never forgive myself if something awful happened to him.

      ‘This had better not be a wind-up, Mase,’ I mutter, as I rip a page out of my journal and write today’s date on it. I hold it under my chin, reach out my arm and snap a scowling selfie.

      A couple of seconds later and I’ve sent it to ZedGreen.

      ME

      There,

      I type.

      ME

      Happy now?

      The message is delivered but nothing happens. Zed doesn’t respond.

      ME

      Hello? Are you still there?

      A sick feeling grips my stomach. Some random stranger has got my photo and I’m still no closer to finding out what’s going on with my brother.

      Ping! My phone vibrates in my hand. A message from ZedGreen:

      ZEDGREEN

      If you want to discover the truth about the RRA you need to meet me. Grab a pen. I will send you details in my next message. Do not screengrab it. Do not tell anyone where you’re going. Meet me alone. If you break any of these rules I will vanish. Do we understand each other?

      ME

      Yes

      I type back.

      ME

      Tell me where and when and I’ll be there.

Chapter Six

      I am waiting where Zed told me to meet him, under the horse chestnut tree in Redcatch Park. It’s seven o’clock and the park is almost pitch black. The only light is the amber glow from the houses on the edge of the park. It’s November and the ground is thick with fallen leaves. The red, orange, yellow leaves look gorgeous in the daytime but, at night, every crunch, every crackle, every skittering leaf makes me jump.

      When Zed’s message flashed up on my phone.

      ZEDGREEN

      Horse chestnut tree, Redcatch Park, 7 p.m.

      I actually laughed. Meet a total stranger in a deserted park in near darkness? What kind of idiot did he think I was?

      ME

      You need to show me a photo with today’s date. So I know who I’m meeting.

      ZEDGREEN

      You’ll find out who I am when we meet. This is as much of a risk for me as it is you.

      ME

      Why?

      ZEDGREEN

      You’ll understand when we meet.

      ME

      Understand what?

      He didn’t reply.

      In fact, he ignored every single message I sent him afterwards.

      At dinner, I told Mum and Tony that I was going to Lucy’s to work on an English project. Tony raised an eyebrow – I never go to anyone’s house – but he didn’t say a word. Mum, on the other hand, couldn’t hide her delight.

      ‘Who’s Lucy? Is she a new friend? You haven’t mentioned her before. Would you like to invite her here? She could come to dinner. What’s your favourite food? I’ll make it if you like.’

      She was so embarrassingly OTT I wanted to slide off my chair, slither across the kitchen floor and out the back door. Hooray, my hermit daughter has a friend. Let’s roll out the banners and pump up the balloons!

      I’m not a total idiot. I didn’t go out in the dark to meet a stranger without telling anyone. I sent messages to three of my online friends – Chapman who lives in London, Isla who lives in Scotland, and Sadie who lives in Birmingham – telling them what had happened and including a photo of Mason’s note. Chapman replied straight away. He’s nineteen, a tester for a computer games company and he doesn’t go anywhere without at least four different gadgets.

      You’re an idiot, he typed back. It’s probably some kind of paedo trap. Give me a sec and I’ll see what I can find out about ZedGreen.

      A couple of minutes later he sent me another message.

      Can’t find anything on ZedGreen but I still think you shouldn’t go.

      He only chilled out when I said I’d give him the password to my ‘Track My Phone?’ app so he could track me on GPS. I’ll change the password when I get back home, not that I’m bothered that Chapman will know where I live. I’ve known him for over a year now and he’s never once said anything remotely sleazy or inappropriate. In fact, a couple of months ago he confided in me that he thinks he’s asexual.

      Isla and Sadie didn’t reply to my message. Isla’s a student nurse and works long hours. Sadie’s doing her GCSEs like me but she goes to kickboxing classes several times a week and can’t chat online until quite late at night.

      Now, I tap my pocket to check I’ve still got my phone then rub my hands up and down my arms. I should have worn a coat, it’s bloody freezing. All around me the trees are swaying in the wind, their shadows reaching across the grass like long, bony fingers. I scan the park, looking for signs of movement but, other than leaves tossing and turning as they’re blown down the path, I’m all alone.

      The sound of twigs snapping makes me turn my head sharply. There’s someone about a hundred metres to my left, stepping out from behind a tree. They’re dressed all in black, the face shrouded by shadows. Even from this distance I can tell from his height, broad shoulders and the determined way he stalks towards me that it’s a man.

      I skirt round the tree, my heart thumping in the base of my throat. ZedGreen’s huge. What the hell was I thinking? I need to get out of here. Having ‘Track My Phone’ won’t be much help if my phone’s knocked out of my hand as he bundles me into a white van.

      OK, on a count of three I’m going to make a run for it.

      One.

      Two.

      I freeze as leaves directly behind the tree crackle and snap. He’s running! I take a step to my left, primed to sprint, but, as I do, something hard smacks against my lower back. A strangled scream catches in my throat and I spin round, my hands raised in self-defence.

      ‘Bess! Bess come here!’ A male voice booms through the darkness as a large, brown dog leaps up at me, almost pinning me to the tree with the weight of his front paws. ‘Bess, what are you – Jesus!’

      The man stops short, eight or nine metres away from СКАЧАТЬ