Page 98 of The Quiet Tenant

The judge nods.

After he leaves, I rest my hands on the counter and consider what just happened. A little dizzy, a little out of breath.

Aidan.

His house, his home.

We will be there, together. And I will get to him. I will get right to the heart of him.

CHAPTER 66

The woman in the house

You always knew the kind of man he was. You knew what he did, and you knew when he did it. But you had never seen their faces. You had never summoned the women’s ghosts, held the remnants of their lives in your hands.

At night, they visit you.You let us die,they say. The ones that came after you.You should have stopped him by now.What are you doing? Why haven’t you run away? Why aren’t you telling the world about him?

You tell them you’re sorry. You tell them it’s complicated. You try to get them to see things from your point of view:You know how he is. I have to do things right. You take one wrong step with him, you die.

Oh, so now it’s our fault,the women say.You must think you’re so smart, whereas us—we’re the idiots who died?

You try to explain.That’s not what I meant.I would never say that. Don’t you know I’m on your side?

After a while, the women stop responding. Even after they leave, you can’t sleep.

So that’s you. Cecilia, though—what’s her excuse? Why so crestfallen?

At dinner, she waits until her plate is empty and turns to her dad.

“Is there really no way we can get out of it?” she asks.

He sighs like it’s not the first time they’ve had this conversation.

“It’s a nice thing, Cecilia. Sometimes people try to do nice things for you, and it’s polite to let them.”

“But it’s Christmas break,” she insists. “They can’t leave us alone during Christmas break?”

He frowns. “Listen,” he says.Such a dad.“I worked all day. I’m tired. I don’t want to do this again. People like you. And they like me. They think we’re nice, and they’ve decided they want to throw us a party. I’m not thrilled about it, either. But that’s how life works.”

Cecilia looks away. He knows, she knows, you all know he’s won,but he carries on anyway. “You remember how we got the house?” he asks her. “It was the judge. He pulled some strings for us, because he likes us. It’s easier to go through life if people like you.”

“It’s just…” she mutters. “Do they have to do it right here? In the yard?”

He shrugs. “That’s what they want to do. Let’s just go along with it.”

The yard?

You try to make sense of it.

This man, in this town? Letting people in so close, into the orbit of his darkest secrets?

He’s planning something.

He would have found a way out of it otherwise. This is a man who does what he wants, for the reasons he wants.

He’s planning something.

Rule number ten of staying alive outside the shed: You can learn from him. You can plan things, too.

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