Page 26 of Nothing Watching

But of course, it didn’t turn out that way.

It felt like barely a minute later before the harsh trill of her phone jerked her from an uneasy sleep.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Never had Toula Timonen thought that her day of reckoning would come.

“I got greedy,” she muttered, heading along the main road before embarking on the winding shortcut that would take her back to the apartment building where she lived. A nice apartment, because she deserved it. It was what she’d thought she deserved.

“I got greedy and I took too much,” she sighed.

As she walked back to her apartment through the Berlin night, she was listening to one of the bands at full volume through her earphones to help distract her from the feeling of guilt that crawled inside her.

She had a job as a cashier at one of the cheap clothing stores that did a massive turnover on the outskirts of Berlin’s busiest shopping area.

She’d had the job for three months, and she’d found it was a lot harder than she’d expected. Long hours and standing on her feet all day made her legs ache by the time evening came. And the pay was ridiculous. She’d been glad of the job at first, but after a month, she’d started realizing how far her salary didn’t go.

“I mean, I’m supposed to look good in my job. When they hired me, they said that a fashion outlet needs a pretty girl to draw in the customers,” she complained to herself. Even the special violet shampoo that kept her long blond hair in shimmering condition was expensive. There were a host of costs that she had to afford. Shouldn’t this be a two-way street? Why did they pay such a pathetic salary?

But then, six weeks in, she’d had an idea. She was good with numbers, she’d always been top of her class in math. So, when she realized that no one was really checking the cash in the till, she’d started skimming off a little bit each day. Just a few euros here and there, nothing major. But it had added up. It was very easy to shortchange people, especially tourists who weren’t familiar with the currency, and she had developed quite the talent for deciding exactly whom to try that trick on.

Then she’d taken it further, and filched a few notes straight out the till most days.

Knowing it was wrong, she hadn’t stopped. She needed the money. She had bills to pay, and she wanted to be able to afford some of the nicer things in life.

She might have gotten away with it for longer, but what had happened?

Today, Klaus, the owner, had frowned as he’d gone through the till while she was putting the finishing touches to the store earlier on, and arranging all the clothes that countless customers dug through and grabbed and left in a mess.

“This is not adding up,” she’d heard him say, and she’d felt cold inside. Suddenly the enormity of what she’d done was hitting home. She’d been careless, and had kept taking money even when she was the only one in the store and there was nobody else to blame.

“Not adding up?” She’d looked around innocently, and hadn’t liked the way that he’d looked back at her. He’d been frowning, staring at her as if seeing her with new eyes.

“I’m going to do a full cash reconciliation tonight,” he had said meaningfully. “I know exactly what was in here this morning, and what the float was.”

“Can I help?” she’d asked, making sure to sound as puzzled as she thought she should be. Plus, if she helped, there might be a chance to put some of the stolen cash back again. At the moment, it was tucked away in her inner jacket pocket.

But Klaus had shaken his head in response. “No, Toula, I’ll handle it on my own. That’s how such things are done when there is a problem. You can go home now.”

She hadn’t liked his tone of voice at all.

And now, as she walked along the streets, feeling sick with the weight of her guilt, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Klaus was going to discover her secret. He was going to find out about the money she’d been taking.

Toula quickened her pace, her heart pounding as she thought about what would happen next. Would Klaus confront her? Would she be fired? Would the police be involved?

At least she had the music to distract her from her thoughts. She was so preoccupied with her sins that she was unaware of her environment. She barely noticed where she was, and almost missed the quiet, short street that led past the back end of the tall office block, and down to the apartment buildings where she stayed.

Quickly, she turned down it and strode along, immersed in her thoughts. She could leave, she guessed. Leave Berlin tonight, just never come back, and hope that he didn’t pursue things.

Then again, she could always come back at him. This was a cash business. Was he paying tax on all of it? Would he want the authorities looking into his affairs?

Perhaps that was a stronger point of argument, she decided, her eyes narrowing. Come back at him with a threat. You say nothing, I say nothing, and we go our separate ways.

Pleased with that idea, she nodded, finally glancing around to take note of her surroundings.

And she found herself looking straight into the eyes of an older man, at least middle-aged, who was staring at her with a curiously intense expression.

How long had he been walking alongside her? Surprised, she stared back, deciding it might have been a minute or two. Now that she was replaying things in her mind, she decided she had noticed him, without really taking cognizance.

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