Free BACKWOODS RIPPER: a gripping action suspense thriller by Anna Willett

asked, and gestured with the spoon.
    It seemed like, for the moment, she’d forgotten about Paige. Her shifting thoughts unnerved him, but at least her attention had been diverted. Hal wondered how long it would be before Paige returned with help. Lizzy gave him the heebie-jeebies, but he couldn’t tell if she was dangerous.
    “I don’t know why I got the tattoo,” he said, answering her question. “It’s just one of those things that seem like a good idea at the time.”
    “Like travelling around in the bush with your pregnant wife?” She fixed him with a look of grim disapproval.
    The aggressiveness of her words took him by surprise. He could feel the painkillers starting to sweep him away, making it difficult to focus on what she said.
    “Maybe,” he said and felt the room soften. The hard edges of the door frame and the sunlight on the floor looked fuzzy.
    Lizzy shovelled a spoon of eggs into his mouth and he swallowed automatically. The taste it left on his tongue was thick and unpleasant. He wondered what she’d put in them. Before he had time to consider what she’d done to ruin the eggs, she shoved another spoonful into mouth. He resisted the urge to gag, and swallowed.
    “Alright. That will do for now,” she said and set the plate aside. She gave him the glass and allowed him two sips before it disappeared from his hand.
    “I’ll get rid of the dishes and then start on your leg.” It sounded ominous. Hal wondered what start on your leg would mean in terms of pain. She’d mentioned cleaning and stitching his wound; he was grateful the drugs were taking effect and could only hope she intended to give him a local before she got to the stitching part. Insanely, thinking about Lizzy stitching made him want to laugh.
    He closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift. He pictured Paige, alone, walking through the bush. In his mind he could clearly see the sunlight glinting off her golden hair. He permitted himself a moment to consider her perfection before the guilt of letting her go off into the unknown overtook him.
    Lizzy was crazy, but she was right, it had been his idea to drive to the South West without any real plan. He’d wanted a few more weeks, just the two of them, before the baby arrived. It was selfish of him, and now Paige had to pay the price. We could’ve just spent a week at a lodge, why did I insist on discovering the Wild West? The simple answer, he wanted to be free one last time before the baby took over their lives.
    A haze crawled over his conscious mind, trying to pull him down into the dark. He tried to force himself to remain alert, didn’t deserve the comfort of oblivion, not while his wife and unborn baby struggled to find help. Thirty seconds later, sleep took him.
    * * *
    “Where is she?” The words hit him like a slap. He remembered Lizzy slapping him earlier and opened his eyes.
    The sunlight waned. Long shadows cast by the window spread a gloom. He shifted his head left and saw Lizzy standing over him. Looking up at her, the loose creases of skin under her chin framed angry spots of red filling her cheeks.
    “She’s gone,” Lizzy said. “And I bet you put her up to it.”
    He tried to think of something to say, but his thoughts were scattered and his mouth felt packed with cotton wool. Lizzy moved to the end of the bed and pulled back the sheets. He winced as the cool air hit his leg.
    “Grab his shoulders.”
    He tried to sit up and ask whose shoulders she meant, but something slid under his neck. It took him a moment to realise someone else stood in the room. A face swam above him. He took in a slack mouth and dark empty eyes. The thick smell of eggs and unwashed hair filled his nostrils. He grimaced and tried to pull away, but the woman with her arm under his neck held tight.
    He knew he had the strength to shake her off, but as he struggled, hands wrapped around his ankles. His legs lifted and all thoughts of resistance vanished. A sheet of agony enveloped him;