AC05 - Death Mask Read Free

than they felt, but her skin was almost velvety against the white sheets. The tuft of hair was darker than the hair on her head. He felt himself aroused again and reached down to suck on her nipples. He’d waited so long. The sight of the clock by the bed stopped him. Shit! It was time and he’d be back soon enough.
    He covered her bare flesh with the sheet and stroked her eyelids to make sure she wouldn’t wake up.
    He dressed and left via the sliding door. The wind gusted and buffeted the curtains in and out of the opening.
    Hannah slipped deeper into unconsciousness …

1
    ‘Y our 10 am appointment rang to say they’re running late trying to find somewhere to park,’ the receptionist said through the intercom.
    ‘Thanks.’ Doctor Anya Crichton wasn’t looking forward to this meeting but was trying to keep an open mind. Still, no wonder they were late – hospital parking was an oxymoron. Planners failed to consider that most people attending the sexual assault unit were not in a fit state to catch public transport, nor were they likely to be brought by ambulance.
    She checked her watch and took the opportunity to glance over the file one more time.
    Hannah Dengate, twenty-eight years old, had presented to her general practitioner in distress, three weeks after marrying her boyfriend of twelve months. Investigations and testing revealed two different sexually transmitted infections. Testing of the husband failed to detect either infection.
    The GP had asked Anya to see the couple and attempt to determine how only one of the pair had become infected, after supposed monogamy. Anya’s first reaction had been disbelief at the doctor’s naïvety. Hannah had to have had sexual relations with another man or men. However, the GP knew the patient from church and believed that Hannah had notbeen unfaithful. Two gynaecologists had failed to share this view.
    This sexual assault unit was set up to deal with forensic medicine, not infidelity, but Anya had given in to the pleas of the GP. She wasn’t sure how the meeting would go; she just hoped it would be quick and straightforward. Faced with the evidence and two, possibly three expert opinions, Hannah would surely have to stop the charade and come clean.
    When the couple finally arrived Anya greeted them in the foyer. Hannah extended one hand and held on to the arm of her husband with the other.
    ‘Thank you so much for agreeing to see us, Doctor. We’re really hoping you can help sort all this out.’
    Slightly overweight, the woman was dressed in a plain shirt and tailored trousers. Her hair was pulled back off her makeup-free face into a tight bun, with slight darkening at the roots. It had probably been coloured for the wedding. On her feet were flat black ballet shoes, worn at the toes. This woman dressed for comfort, not to attract attention. She had an almost childlike innocence about her.
    ‘This is my husband, Brett.’
    The man wore jeans and a buttoned shirt with rolled-up sleeves; he stood with his hands in his pockets. The stale smell of tobacco leached from his clothes.
    ‘Is this going to take long? We’ve already seen two specialists who said the same thing.’
    Hannah tightened the grip on his arm.
    ‘Honey, we talked about this. Doctor Crichton might have seen something like this before, in her … particular field. I’ve been praying she can help us.’
    The front door opened and one of the counsellors entered. Anya didn’t want to have this discussion in a public area.
    ‘Please come through. We can chat in private.’
    The three walked along the corridor into a room with a double lounge facing two armchairs. In the middle was a coffee table, with a box of tissues in easy reach. The pair sat together,Hannah more forward, knees together, still clinging to her husband.
    Anya sat opposite with the folder on her lap. She decided to start with something safe, like the woman’s medical history.
    ‘I see that your past health has been good. Have you