The Wake: an absolutely gripping psychological suspense by Vikki Patis

Author:Vikki Patis [Patis, Vikki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloodhound Books - crime, thriller and mystery
Published: 2020-10-26T16:00:00+00:00

25

The Deceased

THEN

He had first been drawn to her long, wild hair, the way the ends curled back up into themselves, like perfect spirals. Her body was slim, if erring on the side of too thin, and her skin was the colour of the sand at low tide. When she asked him for his order, he detected a faint northern accent; not a local, then. Richard had always been amazed at how people made their way down to his part of the country, a small town on the north coast of Cornwall. He’d met people from across the world: Norway, New Zealand, China, Africa. From all over the US and Europe, from across the UK too. Somehow, all these people ended up in his little town, despite the decrease in jobs in the off season and a severe lack of affordable housing. Some towns closed completely between October and April, shops shuttered against the cold, desolate winters. He had heard of people camping up Godrevy and by the old tin mines, or inland in the middle of the woods or a farmer’s field, waiting for the weather to change and for peak season to arrive again.

Richard sat back, watching her walk away with his order, and began to wonder where she had come from. He could understand the pull of Plymouth, the thriving student city which he often visited and where he now sat, watching her. The restaurant was on the Barbican, walls made almost entirely of glass, giving diners a view of the gentle lapping waves. She was a student, he decided, his eyes drawn now to the sea beyond the window, the boats bobbing up and down on the water. An art student, perhaps, or literature. Something creative, something different. He could tell that she was different, with her dark skin and light curls and her bright, sea-glass eyes. She could be a model, he thought when she placed his drink on the table before him, her nails clean and shaped, her fingers long and delicate. A ring flashed on her thumb; a silver band with a small turquoise stud, and he admired it, wondered if it had any significance, a history.

He watched her float around the restaurant, carrying plates and smiling with an almost genuine warmth as she spoke to the diners. Her tinkling laughter carried across the room, captivating him. He would ask for her name, Richard decided once he’d finished his meal. He would find out her name and he would get to know her.

But she was gone by the time he was ready to pay. The waiter in her place was older, the skin around her lips wrinkled as if she’d spent her forty years on the planet constantly sucking on a cigarette. He left quickly, scanning the cobbled street outside, shielding his eyes with a hand as he looked across the shimmering water. And there she was, a portion of chips open beside her, her long legs dangling over the wall as she stared out to sea.

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