Читать книгу The Chosen Ones - G Sanders D - Страница 21

Gina was face to face with a man sitting at her kitchen table. He rose to his feet and she recognized his thin, almost emaciated body and the white-blond hair that fell sideways across his forehead.

‘What on earth are you doing here?’

‘I’m sorry if I startled you, Ms Hamilton. Mr Smith, Colin Smith … of Decorart, the interior design company. We decorated your bedroom last week.’

He held out his hand, which Gina ignored.

‘Yes, yes, I know who you are. More to the point, what are you doing here now?’

‘A problem arose, Ms Hamilton.’

‘A problem? What problem?’ Gina’s first thought was the money. She was stretched financially, but surely that wasn’t the problem? When she had bought a new dress and two tops for her holiday, she’d calculated carefully that what remained in her account would cover the decorators’ bill. ‘Did I make a mistake with the cheque?’

‘No problem with your cheque. It was our mistake. We inadvertently overcharged you for the work. I’ve come round to refund the balance.’

‘You didn’t need to come in person. A cheque in the post would have been fine.’

‘I wanted to apologize to you directly and I thought this would be a good opportunity to make sure you were completely satisfied with our work. As you know—’

‘Hang on!’ Accustomed to seeing this man in her flat during the redecoration of her bedroom, Gina had lost sight of what was happening. ‘We didn’t have an appointment.’ Anger welled inside her. ‘How dare you come into my home uninvited?’ Spurred by a nascent anxiety she added, ‘This is outrageous.’ Then, before he could answer, a further thought struck her. ‘How did you get in?’

‘With these …’ He reached into his pocket and dangled a set of keys. ‘If you don’t mind, I’d like to take some photographs for publicity—’

‘Are they my keys?’ Gina desperately tried to think back to when the work was finished and she’d given him the cheque. Had she overlooked getting her keys back in the excitement?

The man continued to speak, ignoring her question. ‘As a thank you for letting us use the photographs I’ve taken the liberty of putting a bottle of champagne in your fridge. I thought we might celebrate the completion of the work.’

‘You’ve done what?’ Gina couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘You’ve come into my home uninvited, you’ve brought champagne and you want to celebrate! This is totally unacceptable. Please leave immediately.’

Struck by another thought, Gina added, ‘Wait a minute. Where did you get those keys? I took my spare ones back. Look, they’re hanging on the wall.’

‘I had this set cut while the work was in progress.’

‘What? You copied my keys! You can’t just have somebody’s keys copied!’

‘Oh, but I can. These keys are not high security. Anybody can take them to a shoe repair shop and have copies cut in a few minutes.’

‘But you’ve no right. You can’t let yourself into other people’s homes uninvited. Give me those keys and my refund, then leave my home immediately!’

‘It wasn’t like that. You invited me in and you gave me a set of keys so that I could return when you weren’t here.’

‘But that was for the decoration of my bedroom. I trusted you to return my keys when the work was finished.’

‘I did return your keys. You said so yourself; they’re hanging on the wall.’

‘Yes, but you’d already had them copied.’ Gina paused, frustrated that the exchange was going in circles. ‘Your behaviour is intolerable. Give me the keys you’re holding and get out of my home.’

He slowly returned the keys to his pocket.

‘I’d rather stay.’

‘Give me those keys and leave immediately!’

‘But the champagne, the photographs—’

‘There’s no question of photographs. You can take the champagne with you.’

‘Let’s not be hasty, Georgina. I may call you Georgina?’

‘It’s Ms Hamilton to you. Now, give me those keys and go.’

He remained standing by the kitchen table. Gina’s mind was racing. A new thought struck her.

‘Wait a minute. This morning I set the burglar alarm. Just now, when I came in the alarm sounded and I cancelled it at the pad. The alarm was set but you were in the flat.’

‘As I said, you invited me in. You gave me a code for the alarm. I used my code to enter the flat, reset the alarm and came to the kitchen before the alarm activated. There are no sensors in the kitchen.’

This man had an answer for everything. Why was he here? When she came home to find him sitting at the table her initial fright had quickly been replaced by anger. Now a growing sense of frustration that he wouldn’t leave was morphing into an ominous apprehension. Whatever he wanted she must get him out of the flat before things slipped further from her control.

‘Give me the refund, give me the extra set of keys and get out!’

‘Georgina …?’

‘Leave now before I call the police.’

‘Don’t do that, Georgina. What harm can there be in a glass of champagne?’

‘I’ve asked you repeatedly to leave my home. Leave at once or I’ll call the police.’

He began to move round the table.

‘And leave the keys.’

He stopped, opened the fridge and took out a bottle of champagne.

‘And take your bottle with you.’

‘It’s vintage.’

‘Give me the keys and leave.’

He began to open the bottle.

‘Right, I’m calling the police.’ Gina turned back to the hall. He made no move to stop her. She heard the cork pop behind her as she went to the telephone on the hall table.

‘Where are the glasses?’

Gina began to dial 999.

‘No matter, I’ll find them myself.’

Two rings and then that reassuring voice: ‘Which service do you require? Fire, police, or ambulance?’

‘Police. And please …’

The line went dead. Gina froze and began to panic until the connection went through.

‘Canterbury Police Station: please state your name and address.’

‘There’s a man in my apartment. He won’t leave. Please, send somebody – quickly!’

‘Calm down, Miss. First, your name, you are …?’

‘Ms Hamilton, Georgina Hamilton. There’s a man here and he—’

‘Let’s take it slowly, Miss Hamilton. Your address is …?’

‘Apartment 32, Great Stour—’

‘Apartment 32, Great Stour Court, Canterbury, CT2 7US.’

‘Yes. There’s a man—’

‘You say there’s a man in your apartment—’

‘Yes, and—’

‘—and he refuses to leave. He’s used copies of your keys to access your home and—’

‘Yes, how did you know?’

‘—he’s offering you a glass of champagne.’

Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. Gina felt her body turn cold. Her mind struggled to grasp what was happening. Words continued to come from the receiver. She recognized the voice. The phone slipped from her hand to the floor. She heard glasses clink in the kitchen. He came into the hall. Her feeling of disbelief turned to horror as he walked towards her. She had to get away. She had to get out of the flat.

Gina rushed to the front door, turned the latch and pulled. The door remained shut. She grabbed her keys from the hall table. He made no move to stop her. Back at the door she searched frantically for the correct key. She felt her panic increasing with each fumble, and the cold tension between her shoulder blades returned. She had turned her back on him. Any second, he could attack her. At last, Gina got the right key and pushed it into the internal lock. It wouldn’t turn. She pulled it out, checked it was the right key and tried again. Still it refused to turn. The feeling between her shoulder blades was unbearable. Tearful and shaking with fear and frustration Gina turned to face the intruder.

‘What’s happening? What’s happened to the lock? What have you done?’

Standing calmly in front of her, he held out a glass of champagne. ‘All in good time. Have a drink. There’s nothing to be afraid of.’

‘I’m not afraid. Open this door!’

‘Come –’ he gestured with the champagne glass ‘– let’s take it slowly.’

That voice … let’s take it slowly … the telephone. It was the same voice as the policeman. How could he do that? She had dialled 999! Gina turned back to the door and tried the key again. No use. She pulled frantically at the latch but in vain. The door remained shut. She dropped her useless keys and beat on the door with her fists.

‘Help! Help! In here. Please, somebody, help me!’

‘Nobody will hear you.’

Gina pulled off her shoe and hammered on the wall. The heel dug into the plaster. She screamed uncontrollably, beating at the wall with her shoe. Gradually her blows became weaker and her screams were broken by sobs.

He stood calmly, holding the two glasses of champagne.

The strength to scream deserted her and she convulsed with sobbing. The shoe fell from her hand. Her shoulders slumped and she leant against the wall.

He remained at a distance, still making no move to approach her. Again, he proffered the glass of champagne.

Gina continued to lean against the wall, her fear and panic joined by a feeling of total powerlessness. Vulnerable and defenceless, she forced herself to look at him, pleading.

‘What do you want?’

‘You … you to drink a glass of champagne with me. Come, let’s sit in the kitchen.’

‘Why are you doing this?’

‘Come, let’s have a drink. We’ll go to the kitchen and talk about it.’ He held out the glass. ‘We’ll talk as we drink the champagne.’

Gina remained leaning against the wall. Although she barely had the strength to stand, her mind sought frantically for an escape.

‘My neighbours … they’ll be back soon.’

He smiled. ‘Your neighbours are away for two weeks.’

‘I’m due to check in at Gatwick tomorrow. The tour company will miss me and raise the alarm.’

‘I cancelled the holiday. You’re here until I decide to let you go.’

Gina barely registered what he said. She was flustered, desperate to convince him. ‘You can’t keep me here indefinitely. If I don’t turn up for work, my boss will raise the alarm.’

‘Come now, have a drink. Rachael won’t miss you for a fortnight. You must have told her that you were going on holiday for two weeks.’

Rachael? Holiday? Renewed fear and panic made speaking difficult.

‘How – how do you know?’

At first her arms and legs, but then Gina’s whole body, began to shake. She crumpled and slipped to the floor. He put the champagne glasses down next to the telephone and bent to pick up the receiver. She flinched away from his movement. He replaced the receiver, turned and stepped towards her.

‘Come, let me help you.’

Threatened, her strength and voice returned. ‘Don’t touch me! Stay where you are!’

‘Okay …’ He picked up the glasses. ‘I’ll put your glass by your feet.’

Drained and defeated, Gina was immobilized by an overwhelming sense of helplessness. She stared blankly at an unsightly mark on the opposite wall and remembered she’d meant to ask the decorators to retouch that blemish.

Decorators!

If only she hadn’t contacted them, invited them into her home, he wouldn’t be here now, she wouldn’t be trapped in her own home. She must escape, but the door – her key wouldn’t work. She’d tried to call the police, but the phone wouldn’t work. All of these thoughts tumbled in the back of Gina’s mind as if behind a veil. She didn’t have the strength to bring them into focus. The power to concentrate and think clearly had deserted her. Gina’s eyes glazed; her brain, as if protecting her from the horror of her plight, fixed her eyes on the wall and held on to that one single thought: the blemish should be repaired.