Betrayal of Innocence (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 1)

Justin sighed when Aaron appeared in the doorway of the outbuilding in the orphanage’s garden, and slowly shook his head.

“Reuben it is then,” Justin murmured.

Together with his colleagues, Justin made his way to Reuben’s house, at the back of the vicarage. It was a small, ramshackle old building that at first glance, looked unoccupied. When nobody answered Justin’s knock, Angus lifted the latch on Reuben’s front door. It swung silently inward.

Justin peered into the room. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust.

“It’s empty,” he sighed.

“Well that didn’t take long to search,” Niall murmured when the men had finished poring through the meagre contents within.

Aside from a rickety table and solitary chair, the only items of furniture in the room were an unkempt bed and a small dresser which contained very little apart from a couple of changes of clothing. There was absolutely nothing else. No books, no broadsheets, no hobbies of any kind. Nothing.

“What does the man do with his time?” Oliver asked in confusion. “How can anybody live like this, especially if they don’t socialise?”

“Keep an eye on the comings and goings at the orphanage,” Justin murmured with a nod out of the window.

From his position he had a perfect view of the orphanage’s front door. Together with his colleagues they watched the front door suddenly open and Elizabeth, the cook, hurry down the front steps.

Justin removed his timepiece and looked down at it.

“Five o’clock on the dot,” he informed his colleagues.

“Damn,” Phillip whispered.

“He can also see the church from here,” Oliver murmured.

“Where is Callum?” Justin asked suddenly.

“He is helping Weeks search the villager’s houses,” Angus informed him. “What worries me is where is Reuben?”

“He might know something and be hiding in case he gets into trouble,” Justin warned.

“Or he might be culpable for it,” Niall murmured, saying what they were all thinking.

“Where is the vicar?” Oliver murmured with a heavy sigh.

“We have to get into that church. We know there is nothing here, or at the orphanage. The only other place to search is the garden and woods around here, and the church,” Justin whispered.

“Your gut is telling you there is something in the church,” Angus said. It wasn’t a question.

“You can do what you like, but nothing is going to stop me getting into that church right now. Something is going on in or around that building, I am sure of it,” Justin muttered. He walked out before anybody could reply.

Keeping close to the trees, Justin circled around the tall stone building, eyeing the windows and rear door of the church for signs of forced entry before he approached the door. Quietly, he turned the old brass knob and pushed his way into the building.

Vanessa had never felt pain like it. Her head ached, her chest ached, her back ached. She struggled to breathe past the suffocating dust that had settled over her. She tried to prise her eyes open but found herself staring at brickwork only inches from the end of her nose. It itched, but when she tried to scratch it, she realised the numbness in her fingers was caused by tight bindings around her wrists that stopped her from moving.

Vanessa closed her eyes and began to pray. At first, her mind was blessedly numb, but only for a moment. When her prayers were over, her thoughts returned, and brought with them a terrifying dose of reality that was full of panic, fear, and a terror so intense it was arresting.

She knew immediately who was responsible for putting her in this tiny space, wherever she was, and tying her hands together. She wished now she had not been so gullible as to believe in the honesty of people she really didn’t know very much, especially him.

But I know Justin, and he is trustworthy, a small voice inside her wailed.

Like a shining beacon of light in a long, dark tunnel, the mental image of Justin hovered in the recesses of her mind. Just the thought of him was enough to steady her. She latched on to the thought that he would know she had disappeared by now and would be searching for her. That reassurance was tempered, though, by the knowledge that she might not be alive when he found her. There were so many things she wanted to say to him that she knew if he appeared before her right now she would start babbling and not stop for several hours at least. He would undoubtedly be angry with her for having left the house without him, but she would have to accept his fury as just. He had told her to stay indoors. Foolishly, she hadn’t listened to him. The situation she was in was entirely her fault, nobody else’s. If she hadn’t been so determined to prove she didn’t need Justin in her life, she wouldn’t be in this mess.

I need to stay calm. I need to stay calm. I need to stay calm, she chanted over and over in her head when panic began to suffuse her again.

To her horror, a loud scuffling movement just above her head was accompanied by a startled squeak from someone else. Vanessa’s heart lurched. She wasn’t sure whether she should find solace in the fact she wasn’t alone. What was happening, she couldn’t see, but it sounded to her like someone was protesting about having to do something.