Page 41 of The Taskmaster
“It’s probably for the best you’re not in the office today,” she said, and then in a quieter tone, she went on, “We’ve had the police here since last night, and this morning, the place is crawling with cops. They found a guy in one of the IT company’s vans unconscious in our car park.”
My heart jumped into my mouth.
Had something awful happened to the man I met yesterday, Isaiah?
Had someone hurt him?
I didn’t know him, but the thought of him being hurt made me feel sick with panic.
“Oh my God, is he okay?”
“Yeah. He’s okay. They took him to the hospital, and they’ve told us he’s fine, but they’re all over the place today, checking CCTV and interviewing people.”
“Do you know who the guy was?” I asked, knowing that if anyone knew the full details, it’d be Kate.
“Trisha in accounts said it was a friend of her fiancé, a guy called Seb Fellows.”
Relief drowned out the wave of nauseous panic in my stomach.
“Poor guy,” I added. “I hope they find out what happened to him.”
“If I find out anymore, I’ll let you know. But rest up, Abi. I hope you feel better soon.”
“Thanks,” I said, then hung up the call.
The one day I call in sick and it all kicks off at work.
But I couldn’t focus on that now.
Today, I had something else I needed to do. Once my head had stopped playing thrash metal on repeat, that is, and I could focus and concentrate.
Today, I had a promise to keep.
At around midday, I felt more human, and after eating a sandwich, I put my jacket on, grabbed my handbag and headed out the door. I left my building and made my way to the bus stop, checking the times on my phone and then peering up the road to see if I could see it in the distance.
The skin on the back of my neck prickled, but not from the cool breeze, I had the sensation that someone was watching me. I glanced around, alert, assessing everyone, wondering if they were my stalker. But it wasn’t the two schoolboys who were hitting each other with their backpacks and messing around, nearly falling off the pavement into the road as they almost knocked into an old man behind them who was trying to read his newspaper.
It certainly wasn’t the old lady behind them who had her hair hidden under a scarf tied tightly to her head and a pull-along shopping trolley beside her.
Maybe it was the office guy, wearing the ill-fitting suit and constantly checking his watch as he tutted and tapped his foot.
No.
It wasn’t him.
If my stalker was here watching me, they were hiding in a car, or at a distance. They were smarter than that. They had to be. I’d been trying to trap them for a long time, and I hadn’t been successful yet.
The bus appeared in the distance, and I took my purse out, opening it and counting out the change I’d need to ride to the stop I had to reach. The schoolboys stopped messing about and put their backpacks on their shoulders. The old man rolled his newspaper up and put it under his arm. And the rest of the queue started to look more alert, moving into a tighter line as we waited for the bus to arrive.
When it stopped, we each got on, paid our fare, and I sat at the back of the bus, so I could watch everyone and see who got on and off. As the bus pulled off, I could still feel the sensation of being watched, but no one on here was looking my way. Maybe I was being paranoid.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
THE TASKMASTER
Being on my bike meant it was easier to keep up with her bus in the midday traffic. She was sitting at the back, her dark hair shining in the light, and seeing her helped to ease my racing mind somewhat.
I hadn’t slept. I’d watched her all night as she sighed, tossing and turning until daylight began to break, and I decided it was best to leave and watch her from afar. But not too far. I needed to be close by in case she needed me again.
