John’s keys were in his coat pocket. Donovan watched me closely as I fitted them in the lock and shouldered my way in through his door.
Today’s unopened post collected in a drift by my feet.
The hallway smelled of dust and mould and heat from the radiators. John had a habit of setting the thermostat too high.
When I flipped on the hallway lights, an old patterned carpet and faded wallpaper sprang out of the darkness.
I stepped aside as John trudged past me, seeing a little of the tension go out of his body as his surroundings became familiar to him again.
But when I turned to leave, Donovan stepped forwards and blocked my way, moving in behind me, closing the door.
‘Oh, I think we should both make sure John’s properly settled, don’t you? You can start by helping him with his shopping.’
I clenched my jaw, shaking my head.
Donovan acted surprised, raising his phone towards his mouth, hoisting an eyebrow.
‘Sure you want to say no to me?’
I glared at him some more, feeling my anger churn inside, until I turned away and caught up to John, gently easing the plastic shopping bag from his grip, the bag straining, its contents banging dully. John turned his face towards me, a lost and searching look in his eyes.
‘It’s OK,’ I told him quietly. ‘I’m going to take care of you.’
‘We both are, John,’ Donovan said.
He waited until I looked at him again, then made a show of speaking into his phone.
‘I’m going to hang up now,’ he said. It was clear he was talking for my benefit as well as for whoever his accomplice was. ‘You can let him leave but follow him home. Message me when you’re close.’
Slowly, he moved his index finger to hover over the icon to end the call. When he pressed down, the phone emitted a low auditory chirp.
I felt hollowed out.
Foolish, maybe, because on one level I should have been relieved that the immediate threat to Sam had subsided, but it still felt as if a link that had been tethering me to him had been abruptly severed.
I was on my own again, at least until Sam got here, which I now understood was something Donovan wanted to happen.
Why was that, I wondered? What did he have planned for us both?
It normally took Sam around forty minutes or so to get home. I honestly couldn’t tell, in the moment, if it would be a good thing or a bad thing if he got here sooner or later than that.
‘You know,’ Donovan said, ‘if you keep staring at me that way I’m going to start thinking you don’t like me very much.’
‘Go to hell.’
He pocketed his phone, then stepped up behind John and removed his coat.
‘John, why don’t you take a seat? Make yourself comfortable. Leave us to put these things away.’
John looked at me again with the same misted, faraway gaze. I reached out and squeezed his arm, nodding for him to go ahead and do as Donovan suggested, feeling a pang deep inside as he turned without protest and shuffled off into his front room.
Once he was gone, Donovan immediately searched through John’s coat pockets, removing a wallet that he flipped open and scanned – he only seemed interested in John’s ID – before pausing when he discovered a boxy Nokia mobile, then breaking it apart, removing the SIM card and battery with deft efficiency.
He returned the useless handset to John’s coat and draped it over the banister at the bottom of the stairs. The SIM card and battery he tipped into an umbrella stand by the door.
I felt horrible.
First there was John, who had no idea how dangerous Donovan was. Then there was Sam, who had no clue what was happening and what he might be returning home to face. And finally there was Bethany.
I was aware I was physically shaking again. I seemed incapable of controlling it.
‘You go after him,’ Donovan said, pointing behind me towards the room John had entered.
‘No, I want to leave.’
I stared at him, holding my ground.
Donovan didn’t seem impressed or perturbed, preferring to gaze up the stairs towards the landing instead.
‘You said he lives here alone?’
‘Yes.’
‘Not lying to me again, are you?’
I felt my nostrils pinch. A squirmy throbbing at the back of my head. I resisted the urge to reach up and cup my hand over the cut to my scalp.
‘I already told you. There’s nobody else here. We should go.’
‘No,’ he said. ‘Not yet.’
Then he seized my elbow and dragged me on.