Page 28 of The Taskmaster
But when she shook her head and said, “I may as well get ready for work. It’s not like I’ll be getting any more sleep tonight,” I breathed a quiet sigh of relief and watched as she stood up, opened the door to her bathroom, and disappeared from sight.
Chapter Nineteen
ABIGAIL
My fucking stalker was really doing a number on my nerves, and I hated that they were affecting me like this. I’d done everything I could to lure him out from his hiding place when it all started last year. I knew why he was after me, and I was ready for him. But then it all went quiet. I thought it was over. Until the other night. Now, I had a second chance to find him. And I would. He needed to pay for what he'd done.
I reached into my shower stall and turned the water on, putting my hands under the cold spray and waiting for it to warm up. Then, I took my nightshirt off, dropped it into my wash basket, and stepped under the soothing stream of water. I tilted my head up as the water cascaded over my body, closing my eyes and rubbing my hands over my face as each drop refreshed me. I stepped forward and hung my head, letting the shower beat down on my neck and back, easing the pressure and tightness in my body, and I put my hands on the tiles in front of me to steady myself.
And then I felt it.
A gust of cold air from behind, as if someone just opened the bathroom door. The warmth in my body turned to icy fear in seconds.
I spun around, grabbed the shower curtain and pulled it back, ready to fight for my life with nothing but my bare hands. But there was no one there. The door was closed. And I stood still, staring at the door as the shower water began to pool on the bathroom floor, making a puddle that I’d slip on if I wasn’t careful.
“Dammit,” I cursed, shutting the water off and pulling a towel off the rail to throw on the floor and soak up the water.
My heart was thudding out of my chest. I couldn’t relax or carry on with my shower, so I grabbed another towel and wrapped it around my body. I couldn’t find the other spare one that I always used for my hair. I’d probably put it in the laundry basket. So, I squeezed the excess water out of my hair and walked over to the door, flinging it open, and then jumping again as the force of my movement made the door of my wardrobe slowly swing open.
“For fuck’s sake,” I hissed, and went over to the wardrobe, closing the door and trying to stop my heart from going into full cardiac arrest. “Get a grip, Abi.” If I wanted to face my stalker, I needed to get my shit together. Why was I being like this? I knew the score. I wanted to confront them. Why were my nerves acting up now?
I took a few deep breaths to calm myself the fuck down and grabbed my phone from my bedside table, where it was charging. I opened up the app to access the nanny cam, and went through the footage at speed, to check if anything had happened through the night, but there was nothing. No one had been in my apartment, according to the video.
I had to get control of my emotions.
I had to stop my mind playing these tricks on me and stay focused, ready for when he came back for me.
Sharp and ready, Abi,I told myself.You have to be sharp and ready for anything.
I opened the door into the living room, turning the lights on and illuminating my apartment.
“Surprise, surprise, there’s no one here,” I said out loud, and walked across the room to sit down.
My handbag was still on my sofa, and I took a handful of the sachets of coffee, sugar and milk that I’d stolen from work yesterday, and put them on the table in front of me, and then I frowned. I slid off the sofa and knelt down, peering under the coffee table. There was a twenty-pound note under there.
“What the fuck?”
I picked it up and sat back, turning it in my hand, like I hadn’t seen a fucking twenty-pound note before. But the thing was, I hadn’t had one in my purse, not since Dad gave me one to pay for the Uber I didn’t book when I walked home. I’d spent that on lunch and bus fares.
So, where the fuck had this one come from?
Maybe it’d been there a lot longer than I’d realised?
I hadn’t cleaned for a while. I was being a lazy sod lately. But wherever it came from, I wasn’t mad about it.
“Thank you, God,” I said, smiling at the ceiling, and then kissing the note before I slid it into my purse. He had no idea how much finding this money meant to me.
Chapter Twenty
THE TASKMASTER
Not God, Abigail. Me.
And you’re welcome.
But don’t think for a moment that I’ve gone soft.
I left you something else too...
