The Savant of Chelsea by Suzanne Jenkins

Author:Suzanne Jenkins
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Mystery, psychological thrillers, Thriller & Suspense, Suspense, Thrillers, Literature & Fiction
ISBN: 1492386944
Published: 2013-06-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

At six the next morning, it was pitch black out, but some birds chirped loudly enough to wake Alexandra up. She put on shorts and a t-shirt laid out the night before, stuck her feet into sneakers, brushed her teeth, and quietly let herself out of the museum. It had occurred to her again that just two days before, it was necessary for someone else to do those things for her, to remind her to brush her teeth, to lay out her clothes. Running to the river, she shook her head in disgust at what she had become; a big helpless adult who depended on others for the most basic needs. She felt the cool, humid air on her skin as she ran, the awareness of her body and the emotions of what she’d experienced the day before serving a dual purpose; she was no longer a numb zombie, a robot. She was going through the stages of grief already. She was a thinking, feeling woman, someone who would soon have to deal with anger that was simmering below the surface, anger for having wasted her life. She realized she could blame her mother and her molester, Dube and everyone else who manipulated her, but the truth was she had only herself to blame. She was to blame for losing her daughter. It was all she could do right then to keep moving, to not sit on the curb and start crying. She was afraid if she started, she’d never stop.

The river levees had an even surface. She’d loved going through the Quarter in her youth. She went down the center of the street, where the pavement was flat, weaving her way through the neighborhood, and as she was passing Jackson Square, remembered that the police station was there. She stopped when she reached it, thought about going in, but couldn’t remember the officer’s name. It must be stress, so she kept going.

When she reached the Mississippi, she scaled up the grassy hill onto the top of the levee. It was always thrilling to see the river. Even in the pearly light of morning, the river was busy with barges and ships. She went in the direction of East New Orleans for seven miles, then turned around and went back.

She passed by Jackson Square again. Just as she went by the station, Detective Tom Ryan came down the steps. She happened to look up at the same time he did. He was taken aback by her appearance. She slept on her hair wet, so now it stood out from her head like a halo of red curly cues. In her t-shirt and shorts, her thinness was more obvious than in the filthy suit. She was as tall as he was. Maybe he hadn’t noticed it last night; maybe she’d been stooped over from exhaustion, but he thought she was beautiful. The fact that she was covered in perspiration, and that her clothes were soaking wet didn’t seem to bother her.

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.