Free Last to Die: A gripping psychological thriller not for the faint hearted by Arlene Hunt Page B

watched as the blonde deposited the junkie on a plastic chair and marched straight up to the counter. He remembered her name: Marcie Ingram.
    ‘I can handle it.’
    She leaned on the ledge in front of the glass partition that separated them.
    ‘Hi.’
    ‘Hello.’
    ‘You’re new.’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘That’s Amber,’ she said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder towards the other woman. ‘She’s in a bad way. Had a helluva time getting her here, but y’all got to help her.’
    Caleb gazed past her. The other woman was considerably older. It was pretty obvious to him that she  was  in a bad way, most likely on a hard comedown. She was worn and beat down, with ruined skin covered in sores. Her cheeks were sunken from where her teeth had most likely fallen out of her head long ago. She was scratching at her arms and when she looked their way her eyes rolled in different directions.
    ‘What would you have me do with her?’
    ‘I don’t know. Can’t you give her some money for some food or somethin’? You can see her, right? You can see how she is. She ain’t eaten in days and her asshole boyfriend has kicked her out of her own damn house. She ain’t got nowhere to go.’
    ‘There’s no point in me giving you money; she won’t eat.’
    ‘’Scuse me?’
    ‘She’s not going to eat.
    ‘Says who?’
    ‘I can see she’s tweaking.’
    Marcie’s eyes hardened but her voice softened. ‘Okay beardy, how ’bout you give me some money and I’ll get her a room ’til she’s down.’
    Caleb nodded over her shoulder.
    ‘I think your meal ticket is about to split.’
    Marcie snapped around. The other woman was up on her feet, weaving towards the door.
    ‘Don’t you move, Amber. I swear I will plant you in the dirt if you try.’
    Amber stopped and scratched at her arms miserably.
    ‘Ah gotta get out ah here.’
    ‘I  told  you to wait. Now sit your ass back down.’
    Marcie turned back to her sales pitch.
    ‘What’s your name, honey?’
    ‘Arthur.’ Caleb looked at her a little closer. She was five foot eight, with naturally thick, dark blonde hair. Her skin was clear and she appeared to have all her own teeth. Underneath the wear and tear she could have been pretty. She certainly had the blueprint for it. Her edgy defiance interested him. She had spunk.
    ‘Well now, see, I know you’re a good person, Arthur. I can see that. I just need a little help. Look at her; she ain’t hardly slept in three days. She  needs  to clean up tonight. If you could just lend me some money for a room I’d sit with her, help her out of this fix.’
    Caleb began to speak but she cut him off.
    ‘This is a Christian centre, ain’t it?’ she said slyly. ‘Wouldn’t it be  Christian  to help a body out?’
    ‘I can’t give you any money. If you want you can stay here for a while—’
    ‘ Here?  For what? She ain’t slept in three days, she ain’t eaten. You sayin’ you can’t do nothin’?’
    Caleb shrugged.
    ‘Then what use are y’all? What the fuck you lookin’ at, Steve?’
    Steve glanced over. ‘Nothing.’
    ‘You been bad mouthin’ me?’
    ‘Marcie, I never—’
    ‘Alls y’all can go hump a pig.’
    ‘Bring her to the cop shop,’ Steve said. ‘They’ll likely give you room and board until she’s back on land again. For free too.’
    ‘Fuck you very much,’ she replied. She turned on her heel, grabbed the wretched Amber by the arm and hauled her to her feet. Amber started to babble some nonsense but Caleb couldn’t make it out. At the door, Marcie turned again.
    ‘Some fucking use y’all are, this will be on you if shit goes wrong.’
    He watched her clatter through the door and into the night, her strong pale legs spiriting them away to God alone knew what hellhole.
    He spent the rest of the night thinking about her. She was Category A for sure. What fun he could have with her. When Steve took a toilet break, Caleb searched through the in-house files and found her name. It took him