Page 50 of Gone in the Night (Detective Morgan Brookes #16)

FIFTY

Morgan opened her eyes and groaned. She couldn’t see a thing in the murky blackness. Where the hell was she?

One minute she’d been searching for evidence inside the garage and…

Christ, who had attacked her whilst there was a house full of police officers?

Who had the audacity to throw her in some pit that wasn’t even big enough for her to turn around in?

Her shoulders were aching, and her hands were numb, and she realised it was because she was lying on them.

Could she lose her hands if she didn’t get off them?

Trying her best to shuffle to the side to release some of the pressure on them, she managed to turn slightly.

Her face was pressed up against the rough concrete side.

She wasn’t exactly claustrophobic, but the fact that she couldn’t breathe properly with the gag shoved into her mouth wasn’t helping.

Straining hard against the tie wraps, she tried to break them, but they were too strong.

She’d watched a video on Instagram last year, where some guy was teaching you how to free yourself if you ever got into this situation.

Great, Morgan, you didn’t even retain the information.

Where was her phone? She realised that she couldn’t feel it in either of her pockets, but she still had the blue nitrile search gloves on her hands and they felt slick…

if she worked at those tie wraps she might be able to slip her hands through them and free herself.

She still had no idea who had pushed her down here and done this to her, but they were going to be sorry when she got out.

Why hadn’t Ben noticed she was missing? She strained to listen for any noise above her, but it was deathly silent.

She tried shouting, the muffled noises were pathetic, and it suddenly dawned on her she didn’t know how much air she had.

What if this pit was airtight? A bubble of panic filled her chest, and she wanted to scream and cry, but she didn’t.

Instead, she tried to sit herself up. Maybe she could lift the trapdoor above her or at least bang on it to get someone’s attention.

It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.

Surely, they had realised she was missing.

Slowly rocking from side to side to get herself onto her front, she figured if she was able to get onto her knees, she might be able to raise herself up enough to push the door open.

Footsteps echoed off the concrete floor above her as someone was walking around, and she tried to yell the best that she could.

It was pointless. The sound was so quiet she realised that whatever this place was it had been soundproofed.

Whoever was up there wouldn’t hear her and she might end up starving herself of what little oxygen there may be left.

She listened to where they were going and wondered if it was Marie. Had Morgan been right? Was the woman a killer? She could add kidnapping and police assault to her long list of charges if she was.