Free Small Town Secrets (Some Very English Murders Book 2) by Issy Brooke Page A

and look
at Shaun71’s profile? She decided not yet, no.
    She spent an hour sprucing up her own website which she’d
been developing since she started her tiny crafts business. She uploaded some
of her better photographs and was pleased with how they looked. Framed and
arranged, all in a line, she began to see what worked and what didn’t. She felt
proud when she surveyed what she had already achieved.
    It was a shame that a handful of the other local craft
workers didn’t seem so pleased. She’d been all but cold-shouldered at the last
fair, but that was the fault of the organisers. They knew how many fabric artists
were coming; surely it had been unfair to let so many attend, with similar
products. As the new person on the scene, Penny had been ostracised by the
well-established fibre and textile artists on nearby tables.
    Still, she’d made contacts with a picture-framer who could
source local wood and create the right sort of frames for her stencilled
images, and a friendly spinner had exchanged details and brought her a cup of
tea when she’d appeared to be flagging.
    And she’d made a fair amount of money, too.
    The website looked fine, she decided.
    Feeling even more buoyed by that success, she opened Facebook,
and found she had been accepted into the local urbex group. One of the admins, “Lee
Lincsurbex”, sent her a brief welcome message and outlined the rules of the
group.
    Lincsurbex, she thought, staring at it. Oh – that’s not his
real name. As she glanced down the list of sixteen members, she saw that the
majority of them had fake-looking names. What were they all so paranoid about?
Or was it all part of the mystique, she wondered. They were playing at being
secretive and edgy.
    Lee’s message also urged her to share her photos into the
group albums. She felt she had to prove her credentials, so she flicked through
her digital folders and found four images that could be considered “urban
exploration.” She doctored them a little in a digital editing software program,
and then tentatively uploaded them.
    Like, like, like – three notifications popped up in quick
succession and she grinned to herself. “Not bad” commented someone calling
themselves “Blue Foryou.”
    “Thank you” she typed back, adding a smiley face.
    Then it went quiet for a bit. She decided to introduce
herself in the group, and so she posted, “Hi, thanks for the add. New to the
area. Hoping to explore and meet some of you soon.”
    Penny’s back was aching from the rather un-ergonomic
posture she was sitting in, so she got up and stretched, and decided to make
herself a cup of tea while she was up. When she got back to the laptop, her
heart flipped in excitement.
    She had been invited out.
    That night.
    By the urbex group.
     
    * * * *
     
    Penny’s hands were shaking as she tried to zip up her black
anorak. She had dashed upstairs and changed into dark clothing, grabbing her
camera and leaving the house before she really allowed herself time to think
about what she was doing, and before Kali was alerted to the possibility of a
new adventure. Kali was always excited if there was the suggestion of anything
novel.
    Penny was usually excited at first … until she let rational
good sense kick in, as it began to when she left the house.
    Still, the police were right, Penny thought. She was able
to go places that they could not. She had to take this chance. She had to prove
Detective Inspector Travis’s confidence in her was well-founded.
    She knew she should tell someone before she went out. Drew?
He might not understand, she thought. Cath? She’d be concerned.
    So she simply left a note on the living room table,
explaining where she was going and when. If something happened, Kali’s barking
would rouse the neighbours after a while. She had to trust that it would be
enough.
    She had a hazy idea of where she had to head for. She left
Upper Glenfield, walking quickly to the south-west, over the river and past the
posh