Web of Fear

by Mike Omer

  All she wanted was to curl up in her bed, her mother by her side, caressing her hair.

  And now, finally, they’d released her to go home. She lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

  “Abby, do you want something to drink? Or eat?” her mother asked, standing in the doorway. She had that tone; Abigail had learned to spot it lately. She was worried, but tried not to let it show.

  “No thanks,” she answered, “I’m not hungry.” She’d been losing weight, something else her parents were worried about. Part of it was the concussion—it made her nauseous, and if she ate too much she threw up. Part of it was just the mess in her head.

  Her mother came in and kissed her on the forehead. Then she walked out, half tiptoeing, as if the noise of her footsteps was too much for Abigail’s fragile state.

  Her phone blipped. She glanced at the screen. It was a message from Gracie.

  Back home yet?

  She typed in yup, just got here

  Everyone at school are asking about you

  She stared at the screen, tensing up. Was this how it would be now? She’d go to school, and people would constantly talk to her about the kidnapping, ask her about it, ask if she was okay, whisper behind her back?

  Couldn’t it all just… go away?

  Yeah. Tell them I’m good, she typed.

  You know how I told you about Samantha’s new pants? The ones she wears all the time?

  Yeah

  Guess who came to school today with the SAME pants

  I don’t know. Kyla?

  No. Mrs. Huber!!!

  Abigail giggled. OMG she typed. She realized it was the first time she laughed since she had escaped. It felt… good.

  She took a deep breath, then logged into her Instagram account. Her face—grim, eyes puffy—stared at her. And the nasty caption, ending with the hashtag #WeGotAbigail.

  She selected the image and deleted it. Then she deleted the others.

  Those images would never be gone. They were everywhere, in news articles, blogs, shared on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter… But she didn’t need them in her own account.

  After a moment’s hesitation, she positioned herself in front of the window of her bedroom, lifted her phone, and snapped several photos.

  She looked at them in the gallery. Far from the best selfies she’d ever taken, but one of them was good enough.

  She uploaded the image. She hesitated for a minute, started writing a caption, deleted it, tried writing something else, deleted that too. She finally just wrote #AbigailIsHome, and hit Share.

  Mike Omer’s next novel, Killer’s Mind, will be out soon. Subscribe to Mike Omer’s mailing list Here to receive a notification when it is released, and get it at a steep discount.

  Interested in reading additional Glenmore Park books? Great! You can try:

  Spider’s Web - Detective Mitchell Lonnie is pursuing The Deadly Messenger, a psychotic serial killer. But when his sister gets involved, the stakes rise very high. Get it on Amazon Here

  Deadly Web - One Night, Two Dead Victims. Killers Don’t Patiently Wait Their Turn Before Committing Murder. Get it on Amazon Here

  About the Author

  Mike Omer is the author of the Glenmore Park Mystery Series. He has been in the past a journalist, a game developer and the CEO of the company Loadingames. He is married to a woman who diligently forces him to live his dream, and the father of an angel, a pixie and a gremlin. He has two voracious hounds that wag their tail quite menacingly at anyone who comes near his home.

  Mike loves to write about true people who are perpetrators or victims of crimes. He also likes writing funny stuff. He mixes these two loves quite passionately into his mystery books.

  You can contact Mike by sending him an e-mail to mike@strangerealm.com

  Acknowledgments

  This book, like all my other books, couldn’t have been written without my wife Liora. She knows when to cheer me on, and when to tell me that “I just need to rewrite the first half.” She never hesitates, even when I stomp my foot and shout that it isn’t fair. She’s the strongest supporter anyone could wish for, and I can’t believe my luck.

  Thanks to Christine Mancuso for giving me thoughtful, invaluable chapter by chapter comments, which helped me get this book just right.

  Thanks to Richard Stockford who answered all of my questions with the patience and diligence of a saint.

  Thanks to Tammi Labrecque for editing this novel. This would have been unreadable without her. As always, she outdid herself.

  Thanks to all of the authors in Author’s Corner, for the endless support, sharing their knowledge, their wisdom, their jokes and their stickers. It’s the only place that I visit every day.

  Thanks to my parents for both their invaluable advice and their endless support.