Trust Me. Angela Clarke
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Название: Trust Me
Автор: Angela Clarke
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Полицейские детективы
isbn: 9780008174651
isbn:
Hurriedly she opened her wardrobe, pulling her coat from the hanger and shoving it into her bag. She had minutes at most. Panic burnt through her body. Every fibre felt like it had been stripped raw. Tears welled up and over her eyelids, splashing onto the carpet. She tried not to snivel. There was still a chance to get away. She made it to the hallway before she remembered the photo. Her heart squeezed. She couldn’t live without it. Not now. Running back into her bedroom, she reached for the frame on her bedside table.
A noise sounded behind her. A thud, and then the front door opening. She froze. Held her breath. Her hand outstretched. Shaking. Her heart hammering in her ears.
Too late.
New message:
Wanna go to a party?
Going to be bangin.
Trust me.
The table is shaking. Kate realises she’s gripping it. She is shaking. The video on the computer screen is jerky. Handheld. Shot from a mobile. Live. It’s a room: square and shabby. A single bulb hanging from the ceiling. Beer bottles and empty cans brimming over with cigarette ends colonise the space. She can’t see any windows. But there’s a closed door in the background. Is it locked? Two crude drawings – an animal and a circle – have been spray-painted in black onto the back wall. A stripped, stained duvet has been made into a hasty bed. Her brain can’t – won’t – process what she’s seeing. It’s like something blunt-edged is smashing into her, trying to gouge out the fear that’s been buried under decades of safety, food, shelter and scatter cushions. But it’s there. It’s coming. An innate force within her. She recognises danger. Fight or flight. She says the words over and over in her head, until she realises it’s a command: fight or flight! Kate doesn’t move. She doesn’t make a sound. She is watching it happen.
A voice on the video shouts: ‘Like up the post! Get this to one thousand likes!’
He sounds like one of the boys from her class. Young. Excitable. A child.
The girl on the screen turns to look at the camera. Her eyes focus in recognition. They look past the lens. Out. Realising. Pleading. They’re looking straight at Kate. Fight or flight? The girl twists, tries to push herself up on her elbows. The man forces her down. His slim muscular back is turned toward the camera. Kate can’t see his face.
‘No!’ The girl manages.
She said no.
The girl’s speech is slurred. ‘You’re hurting me. Please. No.’
Kate reaches toward her. Her fingers futilely prod the screen. Push her laptop. She is at home. In her house. Watching this. Where is this being filmed? Somebody must hear the girl’s shouts? Someone must stop this.
Comments from viewers float up over the feed:
They’re so young lmao
She a slut!!