Grey Expectations by Simon Clea

Author:Simon, Clea [Simon, Clea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Suspense
Publisher: Severn House
Published: 2011-01-01T07:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-SIX

Dulcie did not know how she got out of there. One moment, she was staring, her eyes as wide as the Mildon staffer’s glasses, the next she was in her carrel, staring at the wall. She remembered stuttering out a question, and the collection staffer repeating himself, his look of confusion exaggerated by those glasses. It didn’t make sense, any of it. And when she asked the mousy staffer to double-check her copy of the blue ticket, he’d only blinked at it and handed it back to her.

‘That’s the blue ticket,’ he’d said. ‘The number is correct, as is the name.’

‘But . . .’ Dulcie had been at a loss for words. ‘That’s not possible.’

‘We’ve checked it.’ He’d tapped the edge of the binder with his fingertips. ‘This is the source.’

Somehow, Dulcie gotten away from there, her mind racing. Was it possible that she had been dreaming – sleepwalking into the Mildon? No, her dreams might be vivid, but surely that was impossible. Besides, the Mildon had limited hours, and she wasn’t likely to have wandered down here in a daze at midday.

Maybe it wasn’t her. The fat detective’s warning sprang to her mind, and Dulcie reached for her wallet. No, her university ID was in its usual place. In fact, she’d used it to get into the library – just as she did every day. Could there have been some other way of stealing her identity?

A quick glance around revealed nobody else and, feeling truly guilty now, Dulcie pulled out her phone. Yes, even down here, she could get a signal. She turned it on and dialed Chris.

‘Hey, sweetie, I’m waiting for Jerry. What’s up?’ He sounded so normal that Dulcie started, cupping the phone to keep the sound contained.

‘Chris,’ she whispered. ‘Can you hear me? I’m having a kind of emergency.’

‘Where are you? Are you OK? I’m coming to get you.’ With each successive question, his voice rose in volume and urgency.

‘No, no, no,’ she shushed him. ‘Nothing like that. I’m safe. For now.’ How to explain . . . ‘I’m in the library.’

‘Oh!’ He got it and waited.

‘Look, Chris, did you get a chance to look at my account yet?’ It was too much to hope for, really.

‘Actually, I just finished.’ He sounded rather proud of himself. ‘I just ran a check to see who had been using your login, where it’s been used, the usual.’

‘And?’ Dulcie held her breath. Identity theft was the logical solution. If he could provide some sort of proof . . .

‘Nothing. I mean, nothing that I wouldn’t expect.’ She felt the breath go out of her as her boyfriend explained. ‘All the logons are from your laptop – nothing from any remotes. They all fit with places you usually go. There are no huge purchases or foreign sites, nothing like that. Though there is one to PetPsychic.Com.’

‘I was just looking.’ She felt her face color.

‘I figured.’ He chuckled. When she didn’t, he sounded concerned. ‘Dulcie, really, I’d understand if you did contact someone.

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