Strangers by Ursula Archer

Author:Ursula Archer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

27

Yet another terrible night’s sleep. I wake up with a start at what seems to be thirty-minute intervals, and every time I do it takes forever before the pounding of my heart subsides again.

Is Erik asleep? Is he even still here?

Maybe he called Nadine to come and pick him up. After all, he no longer has the silver Audi at his disposal. And he has an ally in his ex-girlfriend, one who’s available at any hour of the day or night, one who would willingly assure him that he was doing the right thing in cutting me out of his life as quickly as possible.

I could go downstairs and see if he’s still here.

It feels good to stand up and move around a bit. First I creep into the study, which occasionally serves as a guest room, to see if Erik has pulled out the sofa bed. But the room is empty.

Then he must be in the living room. Or gone.

The uneasy feeling in my gut as I make my way down the stairs brings back the memories of that evening a week ago; no, it wasn’t even a whole week yet, when I saw Erik for the first time. According to my memory, in any case.

I feel my way over to the living room door. It’s locked. So is the door to the kitchen. So he’s still here, and smart enough to lock himself in, out of reach of the knife-swinging maniac.

So maybe at least he can get some sleep. I catch myself stroking the wood of the living room door with my hand. Wishing I was on the other side of it. In Erik’s arms, or in the arms of anyone who cares about me and can convince me that everything’s going to be OK.

Maybe tomorrow. After all, Erik is still here, so there’s a chance we could have breakfast together, talk. That is, if I can bring myself to look him in the eyes; I’ve never felt so ashamed before.

Last Monday I would have given anything to get the strange man out of my house. Now, the thought that he really could go was painful.

If someone really had manipulated me into this situation, then they’ve pulled off quite a feat.

I start to formulate sentences in my mind for tomorrow, things I can say to Eric so we can engage in a sensible conversation. But I must have fallen asleep in the process, because the next time I look around, it’s already light. I glance at the alarm clock; it’s almost eight.

I walk down the stairs once again, hoping that Erik is already awake and that he’s unlocked the doors …

Yes. They’re wide open, and Erik is not just awake, but gone.

I don’t know why I hadn’t considered that possibility. I had assumed he would take it easy today. Recuperate. But from the look of things, his priority was getting away from here.

Maybe he went to the police, to report me.

I realize that, without even registering my actions,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.