Numb: A Dark Thriller Read Free

then settled on something small and pale in amongst the bags and cases, something with hair and a face, staring out with dead eyes from a gap in the mound of luggage.
    Another dead child.
    Another waste of a life.
    Another nightmare image ready to plague him for many nights to-
    “Shit!”
    Tullman stumbled back with fright and almost fell over the embraced man and woman, his heart hammering in his chest so hard he felt it might burst.
    He took a deep breath, steadied his nerves and shone the light on the face of the child again, hoping his eyes hadn’t played a trick on him.
    Twenty seconds later, just as Tullman was about to turn away thinking he had indeed imagined it, the boy blinked a second time.
    “Stu!” he called, frantically. “Come here quick!” Then into his radio: “I think I’ve found one. Alert the paramedics!”
    Behind him, Robertson hurried through the mess yet Tullman barely heard him approach. He was too transfixed, staring into the light illuminating the child’s face.
    The kid blinked again. He was alive!
    This wasn’t real, the fire fighter told himself as he began to pull the bags and suitcases away excitedly. It couldn’t be. Something as simple as some spilled luggage couldn’t have provided ample protection to save this boy when everyone else had perished. It was impossible, wasn’t it?
    “Hi there, little man,” he said softly as he continued to free the boy from his trapped position. “It’s okay. We’ll get you out of here. Everything will be alright.”
    Tullman pulled a heavy duffel bag aside, revealing the boy’s body.
    And he froze.
    “Oh... oh my God...”
    The sight was like a punch to the back of the head, the effect on him different from all the others in here. They were dead, they felt no pain, their suffering was over. But this boy, this poor boy...
    Tullman flicked the beam from the boy’s horrendous injuries, injuries visible through ripped and shredded clothing, injuries that he couldn’t imagine someone so young and fragile surviving, and settled the light back on his face. The seasoned fire-fighter suddenly felt very strange, all lightheaded and nauseous and dizzy.
    The boy remained still, his face expressionless, as if he had no idea that Tullman was even there. He just stared right through him.
    Then he blinked once more, and that was it.
    Just as Robertson reached him, Tullman passed out.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    PART ONE

1
     
     
    Riley pulled the Mercedes by the side of the road and stared across at the house.
    It was a regular semi-detached, almost identical to every other home in this estate with its grey tiled roof, orange brick facade, council fitted double glazed windows and none of the rooms big enough to swing a cat. Yes, very normal. Sadly, very normal.
    If it wasn’t for Jimmy Howden sitting in the passenger seat, Riley would have sighed. This was one of the better estates in Thirnbridge. Home to decent people. Not usually the sort Riley had to mix with in his line of work. People who lived around here usually borrowed money from legitimate lenders and not from someone like Mike Nash. The poor sod inside must have been desperate.
    “Right, let’s go,” Howden said. He made to unlock his seatbelt but Riley stopped him by slapping a strong hand down on his forearm.
    “No, it’s alright. I’ll do this one myself.”
    “Eh?” Howden frowned, making his big, pudgy face even uglier than it already was. The thin scar that ran down the right side of his forehead seemed to droop into his eye. “What’re you talking about?”
    Riley grabbed the leather carry case from the back seat and quickly re-read the paperwork he pulled out, although ‘paperwork’ was probably the wrong word for the crudely scribbled notes that the regular collector had jotted down after he’d had no luck receiving this month’s payment.
    “This bloke’s called Terry Simpson. He’s in his sixties.” Riley felt like letting out that sigh again. “He