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

do if she finds out the sim card has gone. She’ll know it was me who has taken it then because who else could it be? There’s only two of us in this cottage, after all.

But so what? Even if Laura has realised the sim card is missing, she won’t do anything about it. She certainly won’t go into the village and raise her concerns about her husband’s story with anybody, let alone the police. That’s because she trusts me, and most importantly, she needs me. She might be confused about what is going on, and she might have a few doubts about my version of events regarding the hit and run, but she still won’t do anything to risk us not being together. Not when she is only days away from giving birth and when I know the thought of her bringing a child into this world on her own is a terrifying one for her. Therefore, whatever she discovers while out on her little expedition tonight, I have no doubt that she will return to this cottage and get back into this bed beside me.

She can’t afford to take the risk of not doing.

I remain patient and vigilant in my position by the window, staring out into the darkness and waiting for the torchlight that will tell me Laura is returning to where I need her to be. I admire her enthusiasm and tenacity to go out there on this cold night, especially in her condition, but then she’s always had a resilience about her. She must have to have spent so much time in her youth travelling around far-flung parts of the world, much of it by herself. A little walk down a dark dirt track in the English countryside isn’t much when compared to pitching up in cities like Bangkok and Hong Kong where she didn’t know a single soul. But one thing she always did was return home, and I have no doubt she will do the same thing again now.

Sure enough, I see the flash of light in the distance, and I keep my eyes on it as it moves closer until I can tell that it belongs to my wife’s mobile phone as she uses it to find her way back to the cottage. I watch the light getting closer until she is almost back before quickly running up the stairs and diving back under the duvet in the bedroom.

I lie on my pillow and listen as the front door is opened ever so cautiously before hearing the sound of the zipper being unfastened on her coat and finally, the soft padding of her footsteps coming up the stairs towards me.

I close my eyes as I hear Laura creep into the bedroom, and I remain still as I feel her getting into bed beside me. I pretend to stir a little as she wriggles herself into position, but I don’t open my eyes. I stay that way until I am sure that she is confident that her little trip has gone unnoticed.

But then I do try and focus on getting some sleep. I’ve got a big day coming up, and it’s the penultimate one before the finale of my grand plan. It’s not going to be easy to fall asleep when I feel so excited, but I eventually manage it.

I sleep soundly until the sun rises over this pretty little cottage on the hill.

28

LAURA

I barely recognise the person looking back at me in the mirror. My eyes are puffy. My skin is blotchy. The dark circles remind me that I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in a long time. And I look huge. Of course, most of it is just baby weight, and I’ll probably lose the majority of it once Samuel is born, but that isn’t making me feel much better right now.

Right now, I feel like an ugly, stressed, and seriously tired blob.

I decide to stop looking in the mirror for the sake of my fragile mental health and leave the bathroom, heading down the stairs and into the kitchen where I plan on making myself a drink. But then I open the fridge and notice that there isn’t much cranberry juice left in the carton.

I hadn’t realised I’d been drinking it so quickly.

‘Did you get any more juice?’ I ask Adam as he joins me downstairs dressed for the new day.

‘There was only one carton on the shelf,’ he replies, and I try to take that as the truth and not the potential lie that it might be. I’m already starting to doubt things enough as it is. I don’t need to start questioning something as simple as supermarket shopping.

‘We need to get more. We’ll have to go today,’ I tell him, testing him to see what his reaction will be.

‘Sure,’ he replies casually as he puts his trainers on, and I’m surprised he has agreed so easily. ‘But only if you’re feeling better.’

‘I feel fine,’ I reply, forcing a smile onto my face. ‘I’ll go and get dressed, and we can get going.’

I’m almost at the staircase when Adam stops me.

‘There’s something I have to tell you,’ he says to me, and the serious look on his face is enough to worry me even more.

‘What is it?’

Adam seems to think about it for a moment before answering me. He reaches into his jeans pocket and takes something out.

Something small.

It looks like a sim card.

My sim card.

‘I took this out of your phone the other day,’ Adam tells me, sheepishly avoiding making eye contact.

Of course, I knew that my sim card was missing, but I have to pretend that I wasn’t aware.

‘Why?’

Adam shakes his head. ‘I feel terrible for doing it. I was just afraid.’

‘Afraid of what?’

‘Afraid that you were going to sneak out of the cottage when I wasn’t around and try and phone somebody to tell them where you were.’

‘What? Why would I do that?’

‘I don’t know. Maybe you’re regretting running away with me.