TODAY, WE WELCOME CRIME WRITER, AUTHOR L M JONES, WHO IS SHARING CHAPTER 1 OF HER NOVEL, 'SHATTERED WEB' - SECOND BOOK IN THE SARAH ALLERTON SERIES

Chapter One

Wednesday - 10.55 hrs

Dragging the rattling trolley behind her, Cathy Wilson glanced back towards the entrance. Somewhere between the soft drinks and biscuit aisles she’d lost sight of her son, and at five ten clutching a well-worn bear to his chest, Sam wasn’t easy to miss. Wednesday morning’s quiet shop lasted until eleven and it was ten-to; she needed to find Sam before the music and distractions began. Where the hell was he?

The scream was high-pitched and ripped through the air. Every hair on Cathy’s neck stood on end. ‘Sam?’ She ran, not caring that the shopping trolley rammed the end of a display sending bread rolls whirling across the tiled floor. Dodging past a bewildered shopper, Cathy turned into the biscuit aisle, swallowing a sob of relief. Her son stood at the far end, slopped shoulders and rocking unmistakable. Cathy hurried forwards. ‘I’m here. You’re safe…’ His fingers pulled and tugged at the ears of the bear; he was agitated. Halfway down the aisle, Cathy caught the low keening, insistent, like an injured animal. Sam was terrified.

‘I’m here, everything will be fine…’

Except it wasn’t. Crumpled into the corner, half-hidden behind a display board, was a woman. Like some grotesque confetti, a packet of biscuits had torn open, scattering crumbs. Thick strands of dark hair were flat against her skull, slim fingers curled into a fist. Trembling, Cathy turned Sam so that he faced her – away from the slack mouth, open eyed horror of the dead woman’s face.

‘It’s okay, I promise, everything is going to be okay.’ Hugging him close she shouted. ‘Help – someone - we need help here!’

A blue-uniformed assistant hurried into the aisle, her expression flashing from curiosity to shock. Phone in hand, she rushed to them and knelt beside the still form. With a finger pressed to the woman’s neck the assistant looked over at Cathy. ‘Did you see what happened?’

‘I didn’t see anything. I was looking for my son…’

The speakerphone was on, and the assistant spoke rapidly. ‘There’s no sign of a pulse. I’ll try and resuscitate.’ Rolling the woman gently, she began to press firmly against the chest. With confident, regular

pressure, her eyes never left the deathly grey cheeks.

Cathy turned as footsteps hurried towards her followed by a startled gasp. A dark-haired woman sank to her knees, eyes wide. ‘Oh dear god. Mum?!’

Sam trembled, leaning his considerable weight against Cathy. There was no way he’d walk away, not yet, not without losing control. ‘Everything will be fine. We’ll go to the cafe? What do you think?’

His keening had changed – he now repeated a word over and over. Gently, Cathy stroked hair from his eyes trying to catch what he was saying. When she did, her own heart juddered in her chest.

stab, stab; stab, stab, stab, stab…

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https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1999324889

Author, L.M. Jones

A Sarah Allerton Novel

THE BLURB

Sarah and Hepsford’s serious crime division are under pressure. A hacker is causing chaos, infecting the town’s top businesses with software viruses. People are trapped in computer controlled buildings, overloading resources of the force’s cyber tech unit.

When a colleague’s mother dies in a supermarket the stakes are raised: they are dealing with murder. Racing to uncover the killer’s motives, Sarah and her team are dragged into the dark web by an adversary who thrives on manipulation, extortion, violence and death. Is Sarah out of her depth? In this game, there are no rules… only victims

In this game there are no rules… only victims.

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COMING SOON: On Friday, 11th July, our team member, author Jane Murray, will be sharing an excerpt from her novel 'The Castle'.