Time To Play by KA Richardson (best book club books of all time TXT) 📗

what an awful person she was, pushing her to do everything in her power to atone for her sins every day of her life, and screaming to remind her that she wasn’t done.

She was on the verge of tears, when Sharpie suddenly opened the car door.

‘You OK, kiddo? You look upset?’

‘Am OK, sorry. Was just thinking about Mac.’

‘He’s fine, hon. Pop up and see for yourself this afternoon. Feeling sorry for himself, but otherwise he’s OK. The doc said he was lucky he got to the hospital when he did. He’s been banned from drinking alcohol again at least for the foreseeable future until they’ve done whatever tests they need to do so he’s grumpy, but otherwise the same old Mac. Doc chose lunch, I’m afraid. KFC buckets. Guess his hangover’s kicked in. You ready to eat?’

Marlo nodded and jumped out of the 4x4 locking it behind her. She ignored the shaking in her hands as she swiped her ID card over the reader and pulled open the door, motioning for Sharpie to go ahead of her. It was a self-closing security door, the type that closed on a spring then clicked as it locked.

They were halfway up the stairs within seconds, neither noticing the lack of click to their rear. Nor did they notice the young girl creep through behind them, and huddle in the gap under the stairs.

 

Ryhope, Sunderland – 5 November

Nita was struggling. She felt like she was on an emotional roller coaster. One minute she felt like giggling furiously, and the next she felt so low she could die. The sandwiches had both been eaten, though she still had some water left. Her body felt like it was on fire, she was sweating profusely. Her shakes had abated, but now she was aching so much her bones felt like they would crack under the pressure.

She couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

Please God, just kill me. I can’t bear this pain. I can’t do this, please just let me die. Why me? What did I do that was so horrible? I swear I’ll never do it again, but please, please help me.

No one replied to Nita, though. No one came in the door to the little room. No one heard her sob as agonising spasms ripped through her.

The worst thing was she didn’t even understand why it was happening. She hadn’t understood what had happened since she’d been taken in from the marketplace and put in the godforsaken container.

Momentarily, she wondered what had happened to Elvie. The kid had been nice to her; she’d made sure Nita had water and food when no one else had cared, the other women all too caught up in their own misery and fear to even contemplate helping each other.

Nita hoped Elvie had escaped from wherever they’d taken her.

An image appeared in her mind, Elvie leaning over her as she slept, rubbing her face and telling her that everything was going to be OK.

But it wasn’t real.

The only thing that was real was the small cage she was in, the agonising cramps she felt, and the fear of what was yet to come. Curling into a tight ball, she hugged her knees to her chest and wept. Great hacking sobs that shook her to her very soul.

How am I going to get out of this?

Desperado’s Mexican Restaurant, Sunderland – 5 November

Connor sat at the corner table; his hand curled around the bottle of beer he’d been nursing for an hour now. He’d barely taken a sip.

He’d originally arranged to meet Ellie there for a meal. It would have been their third date, but his heart wasn’t in it. He’d rang her and cancelled the minute he got off work, and in a spurt of spontaneity, he’d decided to go on his own. He wasn’t in the mood for company.

Not tonight.

It had started when he had headed to his parents’ house after work. His mum had been in her seat as usual, her face pinched as though concentrating on something really hard. She hadn’t even acknowledged him when he’d sat down to speak with her, and after a few minutes, he’d wandered into the kitchen. His uncle Fred had been sat talking to his dad, their heads huddled together as though discussing the world’s greatest secrets.

When he’d entered, his dad had left the room to see his mother, and then it had started.

‘So, lad, any interesting raids scheduled at work? Anything I need to know about?’

‘Dunno, Fred, I work for the dive team, don’t see much of the regular cops.’

Connor had watched as Fred’s eyes narrowed and his mouth had grown hard.

‘I take care of this family, Connor. I don’t need to remind you how much it costs putting sweet Marie through her degree. When you count in the tuition fees, the cost of living and buying all those books. Did you know I bought her the latest MacBook Pro a couple of weeks back? Poor bairn was struggling along on a crappy old laptop that was having some speed issues.’

Connor had felt his temper start to simmer. That ‘crappy old laptop’ Fred had mentioned was only eighteen months old. Connor should know he’d paid for it. And it hadn’t been the cheapest of the cheap either. Marie had been grateful; knew he’d paid for it even though his dad had said it was from all of them. But he didn’t know anyone who would turn down a MacBook.

He sighed into his beer, recalling the rest of the conversation.

‘Dunno how you can keep working for the shit-arse place you work anyway to be honest. Bloody pigs are as dirty as they come. You’d be better off coming and working for me. I could use a good lad like you. But I know you wouldn’t do it. Your head’s stuck so