The Couple on Maple Drive by Sam Carrington

Author:Sam Carrington [Carrington, Sam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2021-10-11T17:00:00+00:00

Chapter Forty-Three

Isla gave a cursory glance to the house next door as she rushed up her front path. While she had now managed two trips outside the house, the anxiety hadn’t diminished as much as she’d have liked. She still felt as though she were somehow ‘on show’ and by being out she was making herself an easier target. It would get easier the more she did it. Hadn’t Dr Emile Forrester mentioned something about exposing yourself to your fears as a way of overcoming them? So, the more she went out, the less anxious she’d feel about it. That was the theory, anyway.

Inside the house, Isla immediately felt safer. For a moment, she leaned against the door, breathing slowly and deeply. Was she wrong to feel safe? She might well have invited inside the one person she should be afraid of. She held her breath to listen for sounds. Just the usual electrical noises. Zach wasn’t home.

After sending Jase an email detailing her visit with Heather, Isla sat at the kitchen table with a coffee and a packet of Rich Tea biscuits, scrolling through podcast episodes on her laptop. Within minutes a new email appeared from Jase, asking if he could call her on the landline, which surprised her; she hadn’t told him her mobile battery was dead. She abandoned her coffee and went into the lounge to wait by the telephone.

The initial conversation centred on what she’d said in her email, with Jase being more than a little concerned and still suggesting she should ask Zach to move out, or that she should even leave herself, go and stay with friends for a while. But, as Isla pointed out, that would only serve to raise Zach’s awareness that she was suspicious of him, and wouldn’t that put her at increased risk of him hurting her? Jase seemed uptight, stressed about her plan to stay, keep an eye on him. Because, he said, Zach would be doing the exact same thing.

Isla closed her eyes gently, trying to block out Jase’s assertion that her boyfriend was staying close, watching her, keeping tabs.

‘He’s watching every step you take, Isla.’ Jase’s voice was almost a whisper now.

‘Not really, he’s at work for the majority of—’

‘No,’ Jase interrupted. ‘I don’t want to frighten you, but I need you to take this seriously.’

‘Riiiight …’ Isla sucked in her breath. ‘I am, Jase. That’s why I came to you guys, remember?’

‘And that’s great – I’m glad we can help in some way. But we aren’t the police; we have zero powers. We can’t save you, Isla.’

Her blood ran cold at Jase’s words. Wasn’t he being a little overdramatic? It wasn’t one of his podcast shows. Not yet, at any rate.

But then, he dropped a bombshell. ‘Your mobile battery’s dead again, isn’t it?’

‘Yeah … how—’

‘You know what drains a battery that quickly?’ He waited a beat before delivering his own answer. ‘Spyware.’

‘Shit.’ Isla swallowed hard, not wanting to even give headspace to this, but at the same time her gut was telling her he could be right.

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