The Swimmer by Loreth Anne White

Author:Loreth Anne White [White, Loreth Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Montlake
Published: 2024-09-09T14:30:00+00:00

AFTER THE HIT-AND-RUN

Adam stands in the shower and lathers and scrubs his skin red for the third time in a row, as though it might scrape away the sick, filthy, ugly, black evil that oozes from his pores like coal tar. As he rinses shampoo from his hair, suds pooling at his feet, he hears something—a banging? Downstairs? He stills, listens, hears it again. Quickly he turns off the water. He hears it more clearly—banging and the doorbell ringing. His heart kicks into his throat. Panic whips through his brain. There’s no reason anyone should show up at his door in this kind of time frame. Is there?

He grabs a robe off the hook on the back of the bathroom door, punches his arms into the sleeves, and secures it around his waist as the banging continues, louder. He hears someone yell. He exits the bathroom, peers out the bedroom window into the lane. There’s a brown sedan parked across his driveway. The banging sounds again.

As he hurries down the stairs, he hears a man call out, “Adam Spengler, this is the police. Can you open up, please?”

He freezes on the stairs. What should he do? Run out the other door? Even though every molecule of his body screams to do just that—flee—he also knows it would be stupid. He’d look guilty as hell. It would all be over.

“Adam Spengler? Can you open the door, please?”

He swallows, proceeds cautiously down the stairs, and pads on bare feet to the rear door. He opens it.

Two people stand outside. A tall, very skinny man with buzz-cut white-blond hair and a chunky woman in a blazer with silver-streaked brown hair. Adam is incapable of processing much more than this. He recognizes his symptoms—he’s firmly in the grip of fight-or-flight mode, his amygdala battling to override logic. He grasps the door handle firmly, bracing himself.

“Adam Spengler?” the woman asks.

“Who wants to know?” He glances from her face up to the tall man’s face. Their features are set in grim lines. Eyes serious.

The woman says, “I’m Detective Maeve Havers with the Greater Vancouver Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit.” She shows him her ID. “And this is my partner, Axel Pederson.”

Sweat prickles across the top of his lip. He tries to swallow. “I’m Dr. Spengler. Yes. What can I do for you, Officers?”

“Can we come in?”

He holds tighter to the door, draws it in closer. “Can I ask why?”

“We’re investigating an incident that occurred in Jerrin Bay this morning. We’re canvassing everyone in the neighborhood, asking everyone a few questions.”

“I haven’t been anywhere near the bay this morning.”

“Is your wife home, sir?” Detective Pederson asks.

There’s no way they could know, surely? How would they have traced this back to me so soon? How do they know I even have a wife? How do they know my name? They can’t be knocking on every door in Crow’s Point, addressing every resident by name—can they?

“Sir?”

“I—ah, yeah, my wife is in her studio. Working.”

“We’d like to speak with her, please,” says Detective Havers.

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.