Page 60 of The Man Next Door
Why did she stay? Details fromDeathlineepisodes ranthrough Louise’s head. Was he bribing her to stay with spending sprees? Or... had he threatened to find her and kill her if she left him?
Oh, now there she was back to making her new neighbor a murderer. Martin was probably right. She needed to mind her own business.
But when Zona went to shut her bedroom blinds after she was in bed that night she said, “Leave them open.”
“You won’t sleep,” Zona protested.
“I’ll sleep fine, and I like the moonlight coming in.”
“It’s not a full moon,” pointed out Zona.
“I’ll enjoy it anyway,” said Louise, and didn’t add, “I’ll enjoy keeping an eye on the neighbors, too.” That would have made her sound like a voyeur.
Which she wasn’t. She was simply being vigilant. So there.
Zona said her good-night, then left Louise to enjoy her book.
Louise awakened a little after eleven when the book fell on her face. She was putting it on her nightstand when she heard, “I hate you!” coming from next door. Easy to guess who that was. Elementary, my dear Watson. It was the poor, foolish woman staying with Alec James.
Louise struggled to roll onto her side with her encased leg, leaned over, and peered out through the sheers. Craning her neck just so, she could see the form of a woman running from the house. The woman got into her car, started it, and raced away.
Good. Maybe she’d finally come to her senses.
Except she hadn’t taken anything with her, not even a purse. No suitcase, no box of personal items, none of the goodies from her shopping sprees. Would she be back with a policeman accompanying her to get her things?
“SHE MUST HAVEbeen terrified not to even take her purse,” Louise finished the next morning after she’d filled Zona in on what she’d seen.
“Just because you didn’t see one doesn’t mean she wasn’t carrying one,” Zona said. “You couldn’t exactly get a full view from your bedroom window. Maybe next time we should prop you up in a chair right next to it. That way you’d have a better view of everything going on over there.”
Louise scowled. “Very funny.”
“I thought so. Seriously, Mom. We can’t let ourselves get sucked into our neighbor’s dysfunctional life. I’ve offered help and the woman refused it. And now she’s gone, hopefully for good. Let’s let go of this.”
“What if she comes back?”
“If she needs help, we’ll help her.” Zona changed the subject. “There’s not much exciting for breakfast this morning. I’ll make puff pastry when I get home tonight.”
“You don’t have to go to all that trouble,” Louise said.
“I want to. I’ve been craving some.”
Louise’s phone buzzed with a text from Bree.Want company later today?
“Looks like you’ll get more than one taker. Bree wants to come over,” said Louise.
“She probably wants to hear what you’ve got written on your book.”
“I haven’t written anything yet,” Louise protested.
“I guess you’d better get cracking.”
“You girls are getting rather pushy,” Louise grumbled. Did they think she could simply turn a spigot in her brain and the creative juices would start pouring out?
“We’re not being pushy. We’re motivating you.”
So was what was going on next door. No. That wasn’t accurate. What was going on next door was just plain scaring her. She hoped the poor woman had truly left for good.
“I DON’T KNOWwhere to begin on this story,” Louise said later to Gilda after they’d settled at the kitchen table with cereal.
