Read Online Hidden by Derick Parsons, John Amy - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Derick Parsons, John Amy
Ads: Link
better reason than sentiment to have kept the hou se; she could have lived there. Even with the housing bubble just a distant memory –and in spite of the royalties from her books- Kate had not been able to afford a place in Dalkey. At least, not without a mortgage, and there was no way she was tying herself down to one of those until she had a permanent job. And in any case there was no guarantee the banks would loan her the money; the days of them chucking money at customers, even professionals, were long gone.
After bypassing Blackrock Kate turned left onto Alton Road and then immediately right onto the quiet terrace of big old houses where she lived. She parked outside the large Georgian house that had been converted into apartments and made her way down the steps to the basement, her current domain and almost home.
Give it time , she thought to herself as she fumbled in her bag for the front door keys, What do you expect after only a couple of months?
She paused at the bottom of the steps, the unwonted darkness setting an alarm bell ringing in her mind; I left the outside light on this morning when I left...why is it so dark?
She felt a touch of fear as well as the beginnings of doubt. Could the bulb simply have blown? Are you sure you left it on?
She wasn’t, not a hundred per cent, but even so she fished the totally illegal can of Mace she had bought online out of her handbag before cautiously inserting her key in the lock. But there was no need to turn it; the dark-green, paneled front door swung inwards under the pressure of her hand alone.
Shit, shit, shit! I knew I left it on! And I sure as hell closed the front door when I left! Burglars! I’ve been bloody burgled oh God please don’t let them still be in there please let them have gone!
She screwed up all her courage and, taking a deep breath, pushed the door wide open and flapped frantically at the light switch. Bright light flooded the yellow-painted hallway and no one shouted, no one mad e a run for it or attacked her; all was still. Even so her heart was hammering wildly as she started inching her way up the hall towards the living room. The door was slightly ajar and she kicked it open all the way before stepping quickly back, but still nothing stirred. A wild hope burgeoned in her heart that they really had gone but even so she crept into the living room like a burglar herself, her can of Mace held high in a slightly shaking hand. In a sharp, stabbing motion she flicked on the living room light and once again stepped back, ready to flee, but she immediately saw that the room was empty. She blinked, for a fraction of a second surprised out of even her fear; the once pretty room had quite literally been turned upside down. A mélange of furniture, books and pictures was strewn all over the room in a chaotic jumble, with broken glasses and vases and even flowers scattered on top. Even the rugs had been flung aside and the broken telly was lying facedown on the floor.
A bright spark of anger flamed inside her, which had the bene fit of damping down the fear, and she moved swiftly into the room and crossed to the far wall. She couldn’t face repeating this slow, timid investigation in the two bedrooms, the bathroom and the kitchen; there was a quicker, simpler way of finding out if any intruders were still there. Moving to the far corner of the room, well out of the path of either of the two exits from the flat, she opened her mouth wide and screamed as loudly and as piercingly as she could, for as long as she possibly could.
She ran out of breath after what seemed an eternity and stood very still, listening intently; there was no movement, no sound of running footsteps, no scrambling for the front door; it looked like the flat was empty after all. She let her breath out in a long sigh of relief; no burglar in his right mind would have hung around after hearing that scream, that was for certain.
What about
After bypassing Blackrock Kate turned left onto Alton Road and then immediately right onto the quiet terrace of big old houses where she lived. She parked outside the large Georgian house that had been converted into apartments and made her way down the steps to the basement, her current domain and almost home.
Give it time , she thought to herself as she fumbled in her bag for the front door keys, What do you expect after only a couple of months?
She paused at the bottom of the steps, the unwonted darkness setting an alarm bell ringing in her mind; I left the outside light on this morning when I left...why is it so dark?
She felt a touch of fear as well as the beginnings of doubt. Could the bulb simply have blown? Are you sure you left it on?
She wasn’t, not a hundred per cent, but even so she fished the totally illegal can of Mace she had bought online out of her handbag before cautiously inserting her key in the lock. But there was no need to turn it; the dark-green, paneled front door swung inwards under the pressure of her hand alone.
Shit, shit, shit! I knew I left it on! And I sure as hell closed the front door when I left! Burglars! I’ve been bloody burgled oh God please don’t let them still be in there please let them have gone!
She screwed up all her courage and, taking a deep breath, pushed the door wide open and flapped frantically at the light switch. Bright light flooded the yellow-painted hallway and no one shouted, no one mad e a run for it or attacked her; all was still. Even so her heart was hammering wildly as she started inching her way up the hall towards the living room. The door was slightly ajar and she kicked it open all the way before stepping quickly back, but still nothing stirred. A wild hope burgeoned in her heart that they really had gone but even so she crept into the living room like a burglar herself, her can of Mace held high in a slightly shaking hand. In a sharp, stabbing motion she flicked on the living room light and once again stepped back, ready to flee, but she immediately saw that the room was empty. She blinked, for a fraction of a second surprised out of even her fear; the once pretty room had quite literally been turned upside down. A mélange of furniture, books and pictures was strewn all over the room in a chaotic jumble, with broken glasses and vases and even flowers scattered on top. Even the rugs had been flung aside and the broken telly was lying facedown on the floor.
A bright spark of anger flamed inside her, which had the bene fit of damping down the fear, and she moved swiftly into the room and crossed to the far wall. She couldn’t face repeating this slow, timid investigation in the two bedrooms, the bathroom and the kitchen; there was a quicker, simpler way of finding out if any intruders were still there. Moving to the far corner of the room, well out of the path of either of the two exits from the flat, she opened her mouth wide and screamed as loudly and as piercingly as she could, for as long as she possibly could.
She ran out of breath after what seemed an eternity and stood very still, listening intently; there was no movement, no sound of running footsteps, no scrambling for the front door; it looked like the flat was empty after all. She let her breath out in a long sigh of relief; no burglar in his right mind would have hung around after hearing that scream, that was for certain.
What about
Similar Books
