Read Online Envy the Night by Michael Koryta - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Michael Koryta
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who’d come by to ask about the Lexus.
She didn’t say anything, didn’t take a step forward. If the lights had been on, she would have, but since they were off, and the stranger clearly hadn’t noticed her standing back here in the dark, she kept silent and watched him.
He stood just inside the door and didn’t move. Letting his eyes adjust to the dark, maybe. Turned the knob back and forth, then looked from it back up across the room, probably thinking the door would’ve been locked if the shop were empty. It was dark, though, and the sign outside said CLOSED . After another hesitation, he swung the door shut very slowly, so it hardly made a sound as it latched. Then he walked farther into the shop, toward the Lexus that sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by its own trim pieces.
She should have said something as soon as he opened the door. Called out in a loud, authoritative voice, stopped him. But she hadn’t, and now he was inside and moving in a way that unnerved her. Cautious, on the balls of his feet, with attention to quiet. It was just past five on a weekday, in town, with plenty of people passing by outside, and this guy had walked into a business, that’s all. Somehow it didn’t feel like that, though. More like she was standing in a closet watching someone crawl through a window and into her home in the middle of the night.
Stop it,
she thought.
It’s your business, you’re in charge, and this asshole has no right to creep in here.
It wasn’t much, one brief bout of internal scolding, but it was enough to get her moving. She stepped to the side and reached out and up, flicked the light switch, and said “You want to tell me what you’re doing?” in as hard a voice as she could muster.
He moved at the first sound of her voice. Whirled and came toward her, fast and aggressive, and she had the sudden thought that surprising him like that had been a bad idea. The overhead lights were long, old-fashioned fluorescenttubes, and they didn’t snap on like an incandescent lamp would. There was a hint of a glow, followed by a short humming sound, and then the room filled with light. By that time the guy had closed the gap between them to about five feet, and Nora stepped back, stumbling over the stool. When she pulled up short, he did, too, but her sense of command over the situation was already gone. He’d frightened her—she knew it, and he knew it.
“I said—”
“I heard what you said.” His eyes took in the room around them, seeing the emptiness, the dark office behind her. It was obvious that she was alone. She wished she’d stayed on the stool, kept the lights off, just waited and watched.
“You have no right to be in here,” she said. “Can’t you read the sign out front? We’re—”
“Closed,” he said and took another step toward her, that damn belt buckle glinting under the fluorescent lights. “Yeah, I saw the sign. You usually sit here in the dark after you close up?”
“Maybe I should start to more often, if people keep breaking into my shop. Now get out. You want to talk to me, I’ll be back in on Monday.”
“I didn’t break in anything.” He was one pace away now. “Door was unlocked.”
“I want you out. I don’t know who you think you are, walking in here like this, but I want you out right now. I told you before, if this car’s owner wants to call me, he can. Otherwise, stay the hell away from here, unless you’d like me to call the police.”
“No, I don’t think I’d like that, at all,” he said. “And neither would you.”
The phone was in the office. All those times she’d had to rush back in to catch a call because she’d forgotten the cordless unit paled in comparison to this. Her cell phone was in the truck, where she always left it because she couldn’t be bothered with personal calls during the day.
“Get out,” she said again. He was in her space, almost chest to chest, and she’d backed up against the office door, which
She didn’t say anything, didn’t take a step forward. If the lights had been on, she would have, but since they were off, and the stranger clearly hadn’t noticed her standing back here in the dark, she kept silent and watched him.
He stood just inside the door and didn’t move. Letting his eyes adjust to the dark, maybe. Turned the knob back and forth, then looked from it back up across the room, probably thinking the door would’ve been locked if the shop were empty. It was dark, though, and the sign outside said CLOSED . After another hesitation, he swung the door shut very slowly, so it hardly made a sound as it latched. Then he walked farther into the shop, toward the Lexus that sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by its own trim pieces.
She should have said something as soon as he opened the door. Called out in a loud, authoritative voice, stopped him. But she hadn’t, and now he was inside and moving in a way that unnerved her. Cautious, on the balls of his feet, with attention to quiet. It was just past five on a weekday, in town, with plenty of people passing by outside, and this guy had walked into a business, that’s all. Somehow it didn’t feel like that, though. More like she was standing in a closet watching someone crawl through a window and into her home in the middle of the night.
Stop it,
she thought.
It’s your business, you’re in charge, and this asshole has no right to creep in here.
It wasn’t much, one brief bout of internal scolding, but it was enough to get her moving. She stepped to the side and reached out and up, flicked the light switch, and said “You want to tell me what you’re doing?” in as hard a voice as she could muster.
He moved at the first sound of her voice. Whirled and came toward her, fast and aggressive, and she had the sudden thought that surprising him like that had been a bad idea. The overhead lights were long, old-fashioned fluorescenttubes, and they didn’t snap on like an incandescent lamp would. There was a hint of a glow, followed by a short humming sound, and then the room filled with light. By that time the guy had closed the gap between them to about five feet, and Nora stepped back, stumbling over the stool. When she pulled up short, he did, too, but her sense of command over the situation was already gone. He’d frightened her—she knew it, and he knew it.
“I said—”
“I heard what you said.” His eyes took in the room around them, seeing the emptiness, the dark office behind her. It was obvious that she was alone. She wished she’d stayed on the stool, kept the lights off, just waited and watched.
“You have no right to be in here,” she said. “Can’t you read the sign out front? We’re—”
“Closed,” he said and took another step toward her, that damn belt buckle glinting under the fluorescent lights. “Yeah, I saw the sign. You usually sit here in the dark after you close up?”
“Maybe I should start to more often, if people keep breaking into my shop. Now get out. You want to talk to me, I’ll be back in on Monday.”
“I didn’t break in anything.” He was one pace away now. “Door was unlocked.”
“I want you out. I don’t know who you think you are, walking in here like this, but I want you out right now. I told you before, if this car’s owner wants to call me, he can. Otherwise, stay the hell away from here, unless you’d like me to call the police.”
“No, I don’t think I’d like that, at all,” he said. “And neither would you.”
The phone was in the office. All those times she’d had to rush back in to catch a call because she’d forgotten the cordless unit paled in comparison to this. Her cell phone was in the truck, where she always left it because she couldn’t be bothered with personal calls during the day.
“Get out,” she said again. He was in her space, almost chest to chest, and she’d backed up against the office door, which
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