Page 82 of Surly Sheriff
The fear in her eyes, her frightful dreams, her heartbreaking confessions…
She certainly had him fooled from day one.
Or was she a disturbed woman getting her fix by roaming the country and pulling men into her elaborate web of lies only to spew them out, leaving them broken and bitter?
Would he ever know?
Or would it be like with his mother?
A phone call informing him his wife was dead, and with that taking all chance of an explanation about her duplicitous behavior.
19
Alexandra
“One-nine-seven-oh.” Mama tossed aside the scrap of paper and looked down to where she crouched in the front footwell. “Stay right there,” Mama ordered and climbed out of the car. But she disobeyed and scrambled onto the seat, looking out the front window, watching Mama walk along the empty sidewalk. But when Mama disappeared into the building, she got scared. She slipped out the car and raced along the sidewalk.
At the door, she hesitated, her heart hammering hard in her chest.
Mama had told her to stay in the car. Mama was going to be so cross with her. She twisted her body and looked back at the white car.
Go back!
No!
She wanted Mama. Scrunching her face, she looked at the metal door. There wasn’t a handle, just a control panel like at the gate back home.
Of course! The numbers Mama said in the car.
She ran back to the car, grabbed the note from the front seat, and raced back to the door. Breathing hard, she read the lines written in Mama’s neat handwriting. It was a street address and those numbers Mama had spoken out loud.
She reached up and carefully pressed the numbers. The door unlocked with a softsnick,and she pushed it open.
And looked at the steep flight of stairs filling the small hallway. There was nowhere else to go but up. She climbed the stairs, her left hand holding tight onto the railing.
On the landing, she hesitated, unsure which way to go. Left or right?
Then she heard a muffled shout. Eyes wide, she swiveled her head. Was that Mama?
Muted shouts reached her ears.
Mama and a man. Turning to the right, she followed the voices. They became louder, but she couldn’t make out the words. She walked until she stood before a set of double doors.
Looking for a handle, she found none. And there wasn’t a control panel. She put her hands on one door and pushed hard. It was heavy and only moved a small bit. She leaned forward with all her weight, opening a gap wide enough to squeeze through. The door closed behind her with a soft whoosh.
The new hallway was very dark, and shouting was louder, clearer. Mama and—
Oh, no, it was Uncle Vasily.
She wasveryafraid of Uncle Vasily. He was so mean.
Eyes wide, heart hammering hard, she almost turned around.
Then Mama cried out. “Vasily!Nyet!”
Putting one foot in front of the other, she moved away from the door and looked around. It wasn’t a hallway, but a roomfilled with large cages like the kennels back home for the guard dogs.
Mama was arguing with Uncle Vasily, and he called her a very bad name.
