Run Away With Me : A fast-paced psychological thriller by Daniel Hurst (free e novels TXT) 📗

joins me by the TV screen, which is still showing us nothing but static.

‘I don’t understand why it’s not working,’ I say as I thrust the remote into his hands and hope for him to perform miracles with it. The longer we are cut off from the outside world, the more I feel my anxiety levels rising. At least if we can see the news then we can find out how much trouble we are in. Until then, I have nothing but my imagination to deal with, and things are always worse there.

‘I wonder if they’ve disconnected it from somewhere,’ Adam says as he checks behind the TV. ‘Maybe they do it to save power when they’re not here.’

‘That’s what I thought,’ I reply. ‘But they don’t usually do that, do they? We need to get it working. Without our phones, it’s the only other way we have of knowing if the police are looking for you.’

‘Yes, I know that,’ Adam snaps.

‘Well, I’m just saying,’ I snap back, but my grim reminder causes Adam to go quiet again, and I regret saying it, even if it’s what we were both thinking anyway. But I decide not to say anything more and allow Adam to work in silence as he continues to fiddle around with the cables and switches behind the television set.

But my high hopes to get the TV working are extinguished after several minutes of huffing and puffing when Adam gives up and shakes his head.

‘I’ll have to go and have a look outside. Maybe it’s something to do with the satellite dish.’

‘Okay,’ I sigh, feeling like we can’t catch a break anywhere right now.

‘But first, we need to get some proper food into you. I’m going to go into the village and get some things, and I can check the news while I’m there.’

‘Can you try and fix the television before you go?’ I ask, a hint of desperation in my voice. ‘It’s just I have nothing to do without that and my phone.’

‘I could, but I don’t know how long that will take. I’m starving, and I’m sure you are too. I’ll be there and back within an hour or so, and I’ll look at fixing the TV then. Okay?’

‘I’ll come with you,’ I suggest, getting up off the sofa.

‘No,’ Adam says, shaking his head. ‘You need to rest.’

‘I’m fine.’

‘I’d prefer it if you stayed.’

‘Why?’

‘Because you’re nine months pregnant and you shouldn’t be doing anything now except putting your feet up.’

‘I’m not staying here on my own with nothing to do!’

‘There is plenty to do. How about you read a book?’

Adam gestures to the bookcase in the corner that is filled with several chunky paperbacks which might have looked appealing if I was in a different mindset but are the last thing that I want to be busying myself with right now.

‘I can’t concentrate on a damn book!’ I cry. ‘Have you forgotten why we are here? There could be a hundred police officers out there looking for us, and you expect me to curl up on the sofa and lose myself in fiction?’

‘I’m sorry. You’re right,’ Adam replies. ‘But I do want you to stay here and rest. How about putting some music on? You might be able to drift off.’

‘I don’t want to drift off! I just want to go home!’

‘I know you do but we can’t!’

Adam’s raised voice catches me off guard, and I fall quiet. He’s never been one to shout during our entire relationship. The fact he has just done so tells me how much stress he is really under, and I feel bad for thinking that he was okay with everything just because he was able to get some sleep. He’s clearly feeling the pressure of this situation just as much as I am.

‘Okay. I’ll stay here,’ I say, holding up my hands. ‘But don’t be long. Just get what we need, check the newspapers and come straight back.’

‘Will do,’ Adam replies as he walks over to the kitchen table where our bags are currently sitting.

I watch him thumb through a couple of the £20 notes he put into his wallet last night before he puts on his jacket and comes over to say goodbye.

‘I’ll be as quick as I can,’ he tells me as he kisses me on my forehead. ‘And then I’ll be back to cook us a hearty breakfast.’

He leans down and kisses my stomach too, and even though I roll my eyes at his display of affection, it makes me feel happy. I know that everything will be alright as long as the three of us can stay together.

The question is, can we?

I watch Adam walk out of the front door and then I hear the sound of the car engine outside. I go to the window and watch him drive away from the cottage, the vehicle trundling along down the small dirt track that leads back towards the main road that will take him into the village. I feel nervous to see him go, but I tell myself that he will be back soon and that everything is somehow going to be alright. But I’ve never been particularly good at predicting the future.

If I was then I’d have known then that things were only going to get worse from that moment on.

12

ADAM

It’s a twenty-five-minute drive down the hill to the nearest village to the cottage, but I’m prepared for a journey that is going to last a little longer than that. With that in mind, I turn on the radio in search of some music to accompany me on my trip.

I’m a little out of range up here from the stations that I would normally listen to so I have to fiddle around a bit with the buttons until I’m able to eventually get on the frequency of one of the local ones. A cheery pop song suddenly fills the car, and while I wouldn’t usually go for this kind of music, I’m actually in