AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do. “Can you talk to Mum? Tell her what’s happened? I don’t want anyone questioning her and inadvertently letting slip that the dead man nearly attacked me.”
Scott rubbed his hands over his face. “And what will you be doing?”
“I want to go and check on Bruce.” The dog had stayed with Rachel’s neighbour after he refused to leave with Abby and Scott, as though he wanted to guard his home.
“I wish you’d wait for me to go with you.” The look on his face suggested he knew he may as well be wishing for the moon.
“I’ll be fine. The guy is dead. Besides, Bruce will rip the throat out of anyone who tries to get close.” She needed to keep busy, and sitting around playing the victim just wasn’t her style.
“More like their Achilles.”
Abby chuckled, despite herself.
“Okay, but I want you to check in when you arrive and I’ll head straight over as soon as I talk to Rachel. Don’t leave until I get there.”
Some of the tension in her shoulders eased. She could agree to that, in principle. But if she finished up before him, she’d need to play it by ear. To keep the peace, she nodded.
“And take a taxi or Uber to your mum’s.”
“Why?” That was not part of her plan.
“We only have one car at the hospital and before you say I could just as easily get a taxi or Uber, I know how your mind works, Abby.” His tone was neutral but his eyes were hard. “You’ll just do whatever you want without any thought to the consequences.”
Anger bloomed in her belly. “You speak as though I have a history of reckless behaviour.”
“No,” Scott breathed the word out. “I just meant I need to know you’re safe. Go to your mum’s, but please, stay there until I can get there to pick you up.”
Abby rolled her eyes. “Fine.”
Bruce had jumped allover her and peed on the floor when she popped her head into Cheryl’s. According to Rachel’s neighbour, he’d kept vigil at the window overlooking the fence that divided the properties. Neither Bruce nor Cheryl reported any suspicious activity overnight. After cleaning up Bruce’s mess and spending some time with the little dog, Abby left him with Cheryl while she went to see how much mess the police had left in her mother’s cottage.
While Kypianos hadn’t gotten inside the door, the police had wanted to search the house. Even though they’d found nothing, she guessed it was better to be safe than sorry. Abby unlocked the front door and ducked under the crime scene tape that hung across the frame, avoiding the dried blood on the front step. The sound of the ocean crashing into the shore provided a gentle backdrop to the otherwise silent cottage. The floor in the hallway could do with mopping, but otherwise the entryway looked as it always did. Abby made her way to the back of the cottage. The kitchen, living and dining spaces and studio were in their usual ordered state; Rachel kept her chaos confined to her office.
She checked the refrigerator and noted her mother’s uneaten meal from the other night was still wrapped in plastic. Abby scraped the contents into the bin and removed anything else that looked like it was past its used-by date, washed the few dishes and put them away.
Scott had confirmed he was heading in to speak with Rachel when she’d texted her arrival. Abby had no idea how long their conversation might take, and it killed her to think of her mum’s reaction to her close encounter. More than anything, she wanted to be able to reassure her that she was okay.
Well, that was almost true. Rachel knew her daughter well enough to know Abby would be okay. What was really eating Abby up were the questions parading inside her head. Why had Rachel drawn those pictures of that guy from The Devils? How did she even know him? She’d convinced herself that the similarities Abby thought she saw between herself and the man in the drawings was just her overactive imagination.
But still… it niggled away in her mind, between a would-be intruder, her mother’s health, and the death of Kypianos. Abby stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the ocean, hoping the view would calm her racing thoughts. At the moment, all she had was questions, and more questions. And it frustrated the hell out of her.
Abby's heart skipped a beat as she heard the unmistakable creak of a floorboard from the hallway. The sound was eerily out of place in the still, quiet air of the cottage. A chill ran down her spine as the realisation dawned on her—she wasn't alone. Every sense heightened. She could feel the weight of unseen eyes upon her, turning the once familiar and comforting surroundings into a maze of shadows and uncertainties.
Damn her overactive imagination. “Scott? Is that you already?” Maybe he couldn’t speak to Rachel after all.
Silence answered her question.
The creak, subtle yet piercing, echoed in her mind, igniting a mixture of fear and alertness. Her body warred with her brain. She wanted to find the source of the noise, confront it head on, even if it was the cottage settling after her arrival. But her feet stayed rooted to the floor, holding her back.
“Hello?” Her tone was impatient, but a liver of fear pulsed in her veins.
The air shifted, as though running for cover, a moment before a man stepped from the shadow of the hallway. Her heart felt as if it had ground to a halt in her chest as she stared at the man from her mother’s drawings, brought to life before her eyes.
Chapter 12
This was not the way it was supposed to go down. He shouldn’t have come here. Driving by Rachel’s property was one thing; breaking in and stroking the pillow where she laid her head at night was something else. And now Abby was standing before him.Fuck!
Her eyes widened in surprise, then quickly narrowed into molten lava. The look on her face was pure fury, and fuck if that didn’t make him feel an unfamiliar sense of pride.
