In the Air Tonight by Handeland Lori

Author:Handeland, Lori [Handeland, Lori]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781250019745
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

As I’d obsessively checked the lock on the door, it didn’t open. Still, I was stuck in here, with someone out there trying to get in. I could call a cop, but by the time any arrived I’d be dead. In that moment, I really wished I had my father’s gun.

The door rattled. My breath caught, and the butcher knife from the block on the counter flew toward me. I snatched it out of the air. Startling, a little frightening, but also very handy. I might be bringing a knife to a gunfight, but better than bringing nothing at all.

My heart pounded so loudly I was afraid whoever was out there would hear it. If not that, then definitely my rasping attempts not to hyperventilate. I considered calling out, Who’s there? Or perhaps, I’m armed! But maybe, just maybe, if they thought I was gone they’d go away too. So I bit my lip and remained silent.

The door rattled again, harder this time. I needed to know who was out there. What if he or she did go away? I’d never know who’d been there, and that was probably something I needed to.

I crept closer, fingers grasping the hilt of the knife so tightly they hurt. I’d never had a curtain on the window next to the door. Unless my guest was a Wallenda, it was too far over for anyone to peer into from the landing. Now I had to hope that whoever was out there was peering the other way, or that I could take a peek quickly enough for them not to notice. Why had I never had a new door installed? One that possessed one of those fancy, newfangled peepholes?

Because in New Bergin we didn’t have strangers. Until recently—yesterday—I’d probably been one of the few who locked the door that I had. And that was only because mine was inclined to blow open.

“Raye?” Bobby said from the other side.

Could a person have a heart attack from relief? I yanked open the door, and then I just stood there trying to breathe. He looked like I felt—overworked, underpaid, and desperate for an adult beverage.

“Expecting someone?” He cast a pointed glance at my right hand.

I still held the knife. I set it on the coffee table. “It’s been kind of a rough day.”

“Kind of,” he agreed.

“And you?” I cast an equally pointed glance at his gun.

He shrugged and put it back in the holster. “Everyone’s jumpy.”

He was still covered in soot, the dirt on his face making his eyes shine bright blue. He had shadows beneath them—he had shadows in them—but shadows called to me. He called to me. Reaching out, I pulled him inside. He kicked shut the door and kissed me. I fisted my hands in his filthy shirt and held on.

His heart beat hard and fast like mine. I suppose he’d been as concerned about what was on the other side of the door as I had. Hence the gun.

I let my fingers stroke, along with my tongue.

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