The Intruder by Freida McFadden

Author:Freida McFadden [McFadden, Freida]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hollywood Upstairs Press
Published: 2025-10-07T00:00:00+00:00

34

NOW

CASEY

I wait until I’m sure Eleanor is asleep to look at the notebook.

Even though I’m still tired from being up with nightmares last night, it’s not difficult to stay awake. First of all, I’ve still got all my clothes on from the day, having left them on in case I needed to get out of here in a hurry. If I actually wanted to fall asleep, that would have been a challenge. I can’t get my thoughts to stop racing. I invited a strange girl into my house, trying to help her, but now I’m the one who might need help.

There’s something about having Eleanor here that makes me think of the day I got fired from my teaching job. I’ve been trying not to think about it since I’ve been out here, but there’s something about lying awake on my lumpy sofa that brings back the painful memories.

It all started with Karisa Harrel. She didn’t deserve any of it. I walked that little girl out of the school building, and the next thing I knew…

I close my eyes for a moment. I can still feel the heavy wood of the baseball bat in my hands. Hear the glass shattering everywhere. The screams.

I’ll never forget that day. No chance.

After an hour of lying on the lumpy sofa, wallowing in my own thoughts, I pull myself into a sitting position. I don’t know for sure that Eleanor has fallen asleep. For all I know, she is lying awake in her bed the same way I am lying awake on the couch. But her room is quiet, and when I creep over to the door, I imagine that I can hear her deep breathing.

I return to the sofa and take the green notebook out from under the cushions. The glow provided by the candles is relatively dim, but the fireplace gives me enough light to see what I’m looking at. The cover is the same color as a Christmas tree, except for the smear of crimson that my fingers must have left behind.

The first thing I look for is a name or address written on the cover. Isn’t that what kids do at that age? They label their property?

But there’s nothing.

Just as I am about to open the notebook to the first page, there’s a rustling sound from behind the closed bedroom door. I quickly shove the notebook back under the cushion, just in time for the bedroom door to swing open.

“Casey?”

Eleanor is standing in the doorway, rubbing her eyes. She has put my sweater on over the oversize shirt, and she’s wearing the fresh pair of pants I gave her—also too big. I don’t blame her for bundling up, because the room is too cold to just be wearing a T-shirt.

“Hey.” I smile up at her, trying not to look guilty as hell. “What’s wrong?”

“I…I can’t sleep.”

Even though I have now pegged her to be about twelve or thirteen, there is something very childlike about her declaration. After all, only children think to fetch an adult to help them sleep.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.