Donovan didn’t answer my question.
‘Where is she?’ I asked again.
He tipped his head to one side and gazed at me, as if he had no clue or didn’t care what I was talking about.
‘She was just up here with you. She yelped or screamed or – I don’t know exactly. And there was a thump or a bang, and then a few seconds later there was another thump and—’
This time he shrugged and rolled out his bottom lip.
‘Will you please say something?’
‘You’ve really outdone yourself with this bedroom, Lucy. The more time I spend in it, the more I like it.’
A dull clang of panic.
Something rose up and lodged in my throat. A bubble of air that wouldn’t pop or release.
‘There’s just . . . such a feeling of space.’
I didn’t take a step back.
I stayed where I was.
There was a reasonable distance between us. The width of the room. Five or six metres.
And I was close to the doorway if I needed to be.
‘Bethany?’ I called.
It came out quieter than I’d intended. My grip tightened around my phone.
I stared at Donovan for a perilous moment, noting how contained and composed he appeared, how he wasn’t making any effort to come towards me or close the space between us. How he seemed content to simply perch by the window and watch.
Turning quickly, I looked along the landing behind me, then snatched my head forwards again.
Confusion and suspicion fizzed in my veins.
Perhaps this was all entirely harmless. Perhaps Bethany was simply in another room.
Again, the thought hit me that this could be an unpleasant prank Donovan and Bethany had cooked up together. Maybe they believed I’d overreacted about the basement and this was a misguided lesson they were trying to teach me.
Or maybe something else was going on. Some other dynamic that had eluded me before now. Perhaps Bethany and Donovan knew each other much better than they’d let on.
He still hadn’t moved.
‘Bethany, can you please say something?’ I called. ‘Where are you?’
How could silence be so loud?
My head throbbed as I listened for a response that failed to come.
I was staring at Donovan, but I was acutely aware of what I could see in my peripheries and I was listening hard for any noises from behind.
Despite its generous dimensions, our bedroom was lightly furnished. There were the bed and the beside cabinets, the small white sofa next to Donovan, a faux fur rug, the shutter blinds, the fireplace and the walk-in wardrobe.
I thought about that.
A buzzing in my temples.
The walk-in wardrobe was just to my left but I couldn’t see inside it from where I was standing.
‘Why are you doing this to me?’
‘I’m just here for a house viewing, Lucy.’
‘I could ask you to leave.’
‘Then ask. Go right ahead.’
He stood up and casually slipped his hands into his pockets.
But of course there was a problem with asking him to leave. Because to leave he’d have to come past me. Or I’d have to move away from the doorway.
‘Stay where you are,’ I said.
‘You know, you’re really sending me conflicting signals here, Lucy. I thought you wanted to sell me your house? First you were pretty funny about the basement. Now this.’
I lifted my phone in my hand and thrust it towards him, showing him the screen. I’d unlocked it with my thumb. My fingers and hand were shaking.
‘Do I need to call the police?’
‘Why would you need to call the police?’
‘Where’s Bethany?’
He shook his head mildly, as if I was making a fool of myself.
‘I could scream.’
‘Really? Doesn’t that strike you as an overreaction?’
‘There are neighbours around.’
‘I should hope so. It’s a popular neighbourhood. Very desirable. That’s why I’m here, remember.’
I tapped a nine into my phone. Followed by another nine.
‘Quick question,’ he said. ‘If you do call the police, what are you going to tell them? I’m here to view your house.’
‘Not like this you’re not.’
‘OK. Then allow me a follow-up question. How long do you think it will take for them to get here?’
He said it as if it was nothing – barely a consideration – but I caught his meaning. He was telling me that he could get to me before the police could.
‘You’re scaring me.’
‘I think you’re scaring yourself, Lucy. Like with the basement. What have I actually done?’
I shook my head even as a slight, unwelcome doubt festered inside me.
Maybe I was overreacting.
Maybe my imagination was getting away from me.
My thoughts.
I tapped a third nine into my phone, making sure he saw me do it. I then rested my thumb over the call button and gestured towards the walk-in wardrobe.
‘I’m going to take a look in there now.’
‘Your house, your rules.’
I edged towards it, sliding my left foot across the carpet, following carefully with my right, keeping my gaze fixed on him the entire time and my back to the wall behind me.
If I was fast I could still get back to the bedroom door and out onto the landing before he could get to me.
If he came for me.
And if I could get to the landing then I could get to the stairs and on down to the front door and out, out, out and—
‘Take your time, Lucy. I’m not going anywhere.’
Another slow step.
Now or never.
I did a fast half-turn with my head. A there-and-back glance that allowed me to see that the walk-in wardrobe was unoccupied.
He still hadn’t moved.
I stared at him with my thumb hovering over the call button.
‘I don’t understand what’s happening. Where is she?’
I jerked my head to my right and my skin seemed to contract, pulling taut against my bones.
That’s when I sensed it.
The lure of it.
The cosmic inevitability.
Another bathroom.
But not the main bathroom behind me.
The en suite.