Chapters (50)
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication Page
- Contents
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Ninteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Forty-one
- Forty-two
- Epilogue
- Letter From the Author
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
‘No, we’re not all as middle-class as you.’
‘Hey, I only—’
‘I’m kidding. I haven’t got to the weirdest bit yet. I’ve got a load of fridge magnets – you know, those little plastic letters. The second time this happened, I got home and found that someone had left a message on the fridge door for me. KEEP AWAY. Spelt out mostly using the red letters.’
‘Oh my God.’
She nodded. ‘I know, right. And get this – my butcher’s knife was lying on the worktop above the fridge. I’m certain I’d left it in the block when I went out. When I found it, I completely freaked out. I had to go and stay with my mum for a few days. When I got back I chucked my toothbrush away – I mean, you hear all those stories, don’t you? – and scrubbed and bleached everything.’
‘Did you call the police?’
‘Huh. What’s the point? There’s no evidence, is there? They’ll think it’s me, that I’m bonkers or making it all up. Anyway, that part of it has stopped. I installed a camera, pointing at the door. It’s rigged up to trigger if someone comes in. I’ve been running it for the last week and no one has entered the flat apart from me. But there’s been other stuff happening.’
‘Like what?’
‘Someone standing outside my flat at night, for one. Hang-ups on the phone. My doorbell ringing and there being no one there when I answer.’
‘Oh, Sasha.’
I reached out and took her hand. It was shaking.
‘I’m really scared,’ she said.
‘You need to go to the police,’ I said.
‘No. Because . . . because I know who it is. What it’s all connected to. It’s Lance and Mae, maybe her brothers. It has to be.’
I stared at her. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Who else would it be? Lance is still angry with me for threatening to do him for sexual harassment. And, well, I did something stupid. I went round to his house when I knew his wife was out at her gym class. We always used to meet on Tuesday evenings, when Mae was doing spinning. He said what we were doing was his exercise.’
I pulled a ‘yuk’ face.
‘Hey, I did love him, you know. Or I thought I did. We all make stupid mistakes, don’t we? Anyway, I went to their house, but she wasn’t out. She opened the door and started screeching at me. She went berserk.’
I wasn’t sure I could blame her, but I didn’t say that to Sasha. ‘Why did you go round there?’