The Wrong Stranger by K. Lucas

Author:K. Lucas [Lucas, K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9798985009309
Published: 2021-10-19T04:00:00+00:00

16

Dan and Stacy Hill gave Bill a ride home from the funeral reception. They were the last to leave and stayed to help with the cleanup. Others offered to take Bill home earlier, telling him not to worry about a thing and to go be with Ashley during this difficult time, but Bill politely declined them all. For one, he didn’t want to go home and be with Ashley, and two, according to his warped sense of normalcy, he thought it would seem even more out of the ordinary for both himself and Ashley to leave early. So, he stayed through it all, until the very end.

He was still battling with his temper and the internal debate on how best to handle Ashley. He was afraid of what he would do to her when he saw her and thought that delaying it would give him time to calm down. When they pulled up to the curb to drop him off, the Hills had taken his silence for grief. Stacy got out of the car to give him a hug.

“Hang in there, Bill. We’re here for you both.” Bill gave a tight smile and nod as she got back into the car. Dan drove away while Bill plodded up the front walk.

Normally, Bill was an observant man. It was not unusual for him to notice the most minute details; it was essential for his hobby. He was a man all about the details. Coming home from the funeral, though, his mind was too occupied with his anger to notice much.

He failed to notice that the car wasn’t in the driveway. When he had to unlock the front door and turn off the security alarm, it didn’t register in his mind that the alarm shouldn’t have been set. The question, “If Ashley was home, why would the alarm be set,” did not cross Bill’s brain until several minutes later.

After getting inside, turning off the alarm, and slipping off his shoes, Bill headed straight for the bedroom. The door was wide open. He was expecting to see Ashley asleep on the bed, but the bed was empty. The covers were crumpled like she’d been laying on top of them and one pillow was on the floor. He checked the bathroom, but she wasn’t there, either. That’s when the thought “If Ashley was home, why would the alarm be set?”

finally registered. “Fuck!” he yelled. What was she doing out of the house? Bill felt his control slip.

He tried texting Ashley, but there was no response. After several minutes, he tried calling, but it went straight to voicemail. Her phone was turned off. Bill cursed again. He threw his phone down onto the bed. It bounced to the floor, but he left it. Bill walked out to the living room to sit on the couch, thinking about what his options were while he tried to calm down.

Taking a deep breath, he told himself, “Whatever she’s doing, she’s doing it out of grief. She’s probably lost her mind a little, that’s all.

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