The Mute and the Liar Read Online Free Page B

the pot smashed on the tiles beneath me, and the next thing I knew, I was hanging over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
    He hauled me along, and within a few seconds we were nearly at the front door. I kept writhing, slamming my fists into his back, but they had no effect, bouncing off his t-shirt like they were nothing more than fleas. He just carried on marching. I tried kicking my legs, but he was holding them so that I couldn’t move them at all. I was completely trapped.
    And the fact that I wasn’t shouting had just proven something to him, which had apparently been on his mind.
    “ I knew it. You don’t talk, do you? You won’t even scream for help! ” he laughed again; a chilling shriek that cut through my flesh like a pickaxe.
    I was terrified. I was being kidnapped. That thought echoed through my mind, but I didn’t understand it. I was being kidnapped. I was being kidnapped? But I’m a detective! I solve crimes! I don’t get tangled right in the middle of them!
    My father would find me. He would know straight away. He would come and find me, and this psychopath would be put behind bars. But it would be hours before he came home. Sometimes he doesn’t come home at all.
    What if he couldn’t understand that I’d been taken? What if he just assumed I was out? What if he never found me?
    He probably wouldn’t even realise I was gone.
    My heart was pounding so fast my whole chest threatened to explode. I found myself struggling to breathe. I hit him again, this time out of desperation.
    I had to get away!
    I tried to touch the floor, but he was tall and hanging me in a way that meant that was impossible. As we passed a banister, I reached out and managed to hook my fingers around it, but he just charged forwards and my sweaty hands let it slip away.
    From being hung upside down, all the blood in my body was rushing to my head, and soon it started throbbing in time with my furious heartbeat. All the energy seemed to be draining away from me, but no matter how much I struggled, his grip only got tighter. I was shivering. My stomach felt weightless. I was going to throw up.
    This was surreal. It was like for a moment I was apart from my body, watching myself. I wasn’t the one experiencing this; it was some sort of nightmare happening to a stranger.
    It couldn’t be me.
    This couldn’t be happening to me.
    “ So, at this point in all the spy films, the villain explains his evil plan, right? Okay, let me put it simply. Your father is an ass. Because of him, my best friend is in drug rehab. We want revenge. I was supposed to just steal your TV, but you ruined that plan, so now I’m stealing the next best thing. You are my hostage. Don’t even think about escaping. Remember... ” He stuffed his hand into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out my house keys. He rattled them in the air next to me, making sure I could see them but couldn’t reach them. “ I know where you live. ”

Chapter Five
     
    5:30pm
 
    P lease help me. My name is Alicia Lewis. I have been kidnapped. My kidnapper has hair a mixture of blonde and light brown , brown eyes, pale skin and freckles, a slightly long nose, and is thin but strong and around 5’10. I would guess he is probably around 17 years old. He broke into my house and kidnapped me earlier today (28 th February ) .
    My address is: 12 Romulus Terrace, FQP JLM, Elmview .
    I do not know where I am being taken. Please, if you find this, send help immediately.
    *****
    6:14 PM
    Okay. This is going to be fine. I’m going to be fine.
    That message is a copy of one I left on the seat of the bus we have just been on. I don’t think it will help though. I don’t even know this boy’s name. But leaving a message seemed like my only option.
    We have just got off the bus. I read every road sign to make sure I knew exactly where we were going. Now I am being walked somewhere in Canterbury.
    I was trapped next to the window, with him squashed next to me, to make sure I