Safe as Houses Read Free Page B

He’s probably listening right now on the downstairs phone, waiting for the click to give her away.
    She can’t make a call; she can’t even look for a weapon. There are plenty of things up here with which she could defend herself: scissors, a penknife, a loose floorboard with nails sticking out, any number of heavy objects. But as long as Kreuger is with Anouk, she can’t take anything with her. Nor can she risk him giving her a body-search.
    Lisa grabs the inhaler and the Ventolin canister from Anouk’s bedside table. Her hand begins to bleed again from the exertion. She goes to get bandages, cotton wool and disinfectant from the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. When she turns around, Kreuger is standing there.
    She represses a scream. Although he is slight, his height fills the doorframe. His presence makes the room feel small. She shuffles backwards but ends up flat against the wall.
    Kreuger looks at all the stuff she’s holding. ‘What have you got there?’
    â€˜I need to bandage my hand. The bleeding won’t stop.’
    With a tilt of the head, Kreuger indicates that she should follow him and she obeys. He nods at the bedroom, and, after a slight hesitation, Lisa goes in.
    â€˜Sit down.’
    There’s no chair. He can only mean on the bed. Lisa awkwardly sits down on the edge. Kreuger lowers his long body next to hers. Close, far too close.
    He takes her hand, throws the sock on the floor, rubs some disinfectant on the wound and places a sterile gauze on it. Next he applies a wad of cotton wool and begins to bind her hand. He must know what he’s doing. Two minutes later her hand is professionally bandaged up.
    â€˜Thanks.’ Lisa doesn’t know where to look, hating the intimacy of the moment.
    Kreuger doesn’t respond. He stands up and Lisa automatically does the same.
    They stand facing each other next to the double bed in which she spent so many passionate hours with Mark. Lisa breaks out in a sweat. As long as he doesn’t . . . See, he’s looking at the bed. And at her. She has to try to distract him.
    â€˜You must have done that before. Just like a doctor.’ She holds up her bandaged hand.
    â€˜I did a first-aid course,’ comes the gruff reply.
    â€˜Aha. Always handy.’
    â€˜It’s absolutely necessary if you have children.They could choke on a toy or fall into the water or cut themselves on something.’
    Lisa nods in reply. So he has children. Children he feels such a responsibility towards that he has gone on a first-aid course.
    â€˜Mummy!’ Anouk cries plaintively from downstairs.
    Their eyes meet: Lisa’s questioning, Kreuger’s irritated.
    Nevertheless, he nods at her, and she flashes him a quick smile to express her gratitude. This is how things are. She has to ask permission to go downstairs in her own house, and she has to be thankful for receiving it, she thinks as she walks down the stairs.
    Kreuger’s footsteps follow closely behind.
    â€˜I’m thirsty!’ Anouk says weakly, as soon as they enter the sitting room.
    â€˜I’ll get you some water. It’s time for your medicine anyway.’
    In the kitchen she holds a glass under the tap and pretends not to notice Kreuger watching her from the sitting room. She returns to Anouk and gives her a spoonful of antibiotic syrup, followed by the glass of water. Her daughter drinks and then Lisa holds the inhaler to her mouth. A single press on the button releases a stream of Ventolin into Anouk’s airways.
    Kreuger observes them without comment.
    Suddenly Lisa feels more confident. If he’d been planning to murder them, surely he would have done so already.
    Just when she is wondering what will happen next, the calm in the house is broken by the shrill sound of the doorbell.

5
    She’s been in denial for half an hour, but she can no longer repress the disquieting thought that she is lost. There’s no