Waking Broken Read Online Free

alright Claire, the other projects I’m working on aren’t urgent. I can make time for this today…’ Her voice died away as she realised Hamilton had not finished her sentence.
    The smile was a touch more wintry this time. ‘Yes, Rebecca, I’m sure you will. If you make sure your response is on my desk before… say, four o’clock this afternoon. Would that be alright?’
     
    It was nearly one-thirty before Rebecca had a chance to speak to Sarah again. They met in the corridor.
    ‘I guess lunch is off,’ said Sarah.
    Rebecca sighed. ‘I’m sorry. She just sprung it on me. You know what she’s like and I could hardly say no. Things have been a bit dodgy here with me after that business back in the autumn. I don’t want to risk pissing off la belle dame too. Once she gets her knife out you might as well forget it and leave.’
    She shrugged. ‘Besides, it might be a good project anyway. Sounds quite interesting.’
    ‘Really.’ Sarah’s eyebrows rose sarcastically. ‘An interesting client? I didn’t know we had any of them.’
    ‘Well, he does sound a bit different from most of them.’
    ‘Who is it?’
    ‘Someone called Paul Cash. He’s an artist, bit eccentric by the sound of it.’
    ‘Paul Cash?’ Sarah’s eyes opened wide and she giggled. ‘Paul Cash? You’ve not heard of him before? The Lord of the Manor?’
    Rebecca looked blank for a moment then gave a little gasp. ‘Him? That’s Paul Cash?’
    She looked at Sarah and smiled. ‘I hadn’t put two and two together. This could be more interesting than I thought.’
    Rebecca turned and stared at the view. On the other side of the river, they could see the old Pine Mill Warehouses, blank windows gaping out of dirty stonework. Beyond were a few streets of houses and then countryside stretching away towards the Whitelow Hills. The distant fields still shone in the bright winter sunshine. Further off to the left the horizon was broken by the swell of Beacon Ridge.
    A pained expression crossed Rebecca’s face and she frowned. Out of nowhere, a strange sensation cut across her mood: a darkness that crept across her soul. Biting her lip, she glanced down at the river. It was full at the moment: the tide in and covering its muddy banks. Small waves were being whipped up on the water’s surface by the brisk wind and Rebecca stared at them uncertainly. She shivered abruptly, feeling slightly nauseous.
    Sarah laughed.
    ‘What’s that? You can’t be cold?’
    Rebecca shook her head, feeling slightly disorientated.
    ‘No… just a strange feeling. Kind of… like you know, when they say there’s someone walking over your grave. Weird.’
    Sarah nodded. ‘Geese.’
    ‘Geese?’
    ‘Yes, like goosebumps. That shiver down your spine. Geese.’
    Rebecca frowned at her friend, normality returning as the eerie sensation faded. ‘What are you on about? Geese? Where did you learn that one?’

3. Lost in a crowd
    Monday, 6.20pm:
    Harper aimed for the large pillar. On reaching its reassuring bulk, he let his body slump against the concrete tube. He closed his eyes, waiting for the queasiness to subside.
    Around him, the usual humdrum emergencies of a busy hospital continued. Medical staff, visitors and patients eddied and flowed past Harper’s temporary anchorage, faces reflecting different states of mind: anxious, fearful, exhausted, calm, careless, detached. To either side of the entrance smokers huddled together, enduring the cold for the sake of a few more lungfuls of soothing poison.
    Harper took a deep breath and opened his eyes again. The giddiness had faded. He still felt awful but much happier: being upright, outside and on the move was far better than stuck inside on a bed. The hospital had advised against going home, wanting to keep him in for observation. They did, however, concede — somewhat grudgingly — that they had no power to keep him. Despite a bad limp in his left leg and a mass of bruises elsewhere, there was nothing apparent to