Everything hurt. Heather rolled over onto her side and squinted at the open door. He was back! She scrambled to her knees, fell over, crawled to the bars. 'P ...' Just enough water left in her body for a few burning tears. HE WAS BACK! The Butcher dragged someone new into the prison, dumped them on the other side of the bars, then turned and stared at Heather. 'P ...' She choked. Tried again. 'Please ...' He pulled a bottle of water from his apron and handed it through the bars. Heather grabbed his leg, pulling him off balance, hauling him forwards till he was hard against the metal. Then she wrapped her arm around his leg, croaking,'Don't ... ever ... leave me again ...' She fumbled the lid off the bottled water and drank, spluttered, brought most of it back up. Sobbing. 'Don't leave me! Don't leave me!' The Butcher froze, then reached down and stroked her matted, greasy hair. Everything would be OK now. He was back.
SMOAK WITH BLOOD
28
'Sodding cock-monkeys ...' DI Steel puffed out her cheeks and blew. 'What time is it?' Logan peeled back the cuff of his SOC oversuit and checked. 'Nearly half seven.' Monday morning hadn't started well - three hours they'd been at it, and the sun was still nowhere to be seen. The inspector groaned. 'It's going to be a long bloody day.' She stepped back to let an IB technician carrying a plastic evidence box squeeze past. 'What the hell is that?' 'Everything from the freezer.' The man said, holding it up for inspection. Steel went for a quick rummage. 'Peas, sweetcorn, fish fingers ...' She pulled out a solid brown lump of something wrapped in clingfilm and waved it at Logan. 'That look like goulash, sausage casserole, or curry to you?' 'Could be mince?' She chucked it back in the box and picked up a chunk of something pinky-red. 'Ahoy-hoy, this looks promising. Human remains?'
