Keep Your Friends Close: A gripping psychological thriller full of shocking twists you won’t see coming. June Taylor

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       10

       Mel

      A dog was barking outside. Mel rushed to the window, banging on it as loudly as she dared, fearing it might break if she did it too hard. Next door’s dog was squatting down in their poor overgrown excuse of a lawn and wasn’t taking a bit of notice. Even when the neighbour came to retrieve it, he wasn’t going to clean up its mess either, not until Mel banged on the window again. He put up his hand as if to say sorry, but probably wasn’t.

      Mel slumped back into her chair and sighed. Not only was she fretting about Karin, she was also distracted by the number of adverts on her computer suggesting she should jet off somewhere, instead of sitting here on a Friday night in a shabby rented house, all alone except for some weird homeless man watching TV downstairs. Mel would like nothing more than to retire to some sunny part of the world. Who wouldn’t? But daydreaming was certainly not going to get her there and she needed to get back to work.

      In the end she couldn’t resist sending a text to find out how Karin was getting on:

       WELL? HAS HE POPPED THE QUESTION YET?

       MEL XXX

      It was late, nearly eleven, and she didn’t expect to hear back, slightly regretting now that she hadn’t followed up with another message sooner, but she didn’t want to get in the way and become a distraction. When the screen flashed up message sent, Mel imagined herself shooting off into the digital tangle along with it. She stood up again, this time to take in the view across the rooftops of Leeds.

      She had moved to this city to make a fresh start when her mother eventually passed away. Glasgow had too many sad and difficult memories and she needed to figure out what to do next. Leeds seemed as good a place as any. Beyond the immediate streets was an ever-changing skyline, cranes dangling like gallows as more development took place. The darker area of woodland fought hard to retain its position between the bricks and concrete that were continually sprouting around it, but at least this city still had plenty of green space in which to breathe. Hyde Park was on their doorstep, with its fine trees and a vast expanse of grass to stroll along or sit on for an hour or two. It was the place Mel generally went to do her thinking.

      She pictured the Friday night revelry going off in Headingley, students in fancy dress doing the Otley Run, tattooed white flesh bulging out of tight-fitting clothes, tumbling through sweaty bars and clubs. This whole era had passed her by and Mel couldn’t afford the more sophisticated scene that Leeds had to offer, even if she had anyone to share it with. In the far distance she could make out the silhouetted Lego-like blocks that had been put up quickly and cheaply during the boom time. Supposedly high-end offices and apartments but few could pay the inflated rents that went with them. A smile spread across Mel’s face when she thought of Karin’s naivety, once she had learned that many of these were still empty and had begun to badger Aaron into getting his contacts to consider them for the Room for a Night scheme. Aaron had let her down gently: Who would want to move into a prestigious office or apartment after a bunch of homeless people had been living there?

      Karin’s youthful passion on this subject was probably the reason why the charity had taken her on in the first place: to convince people, with her limitless enthusiasm, that they should support and give generously to the cause. Perhaps she was a reminder of an idealism they had lost as they consumed more and more stuff. ‘Capitalism with a conscience is what we need to work towards,’ Karin would say to anyone who would listen. ‘There are so many of these buildings just doing nothing. Never been occupied since the day they were finished. It’s criminal to think of the hundreds of people with nowhere to live in our towns and cities when there’s all this empty space.’

      She did have a point. But although Karin had lived on the streets, she still had much to learn about the real world. Mel thought Aaron might have grown weary of this by now, and she found herself questioning his motives again. Whether he truly loved Karin remained to be seen. Mel rapped her fingers on the desk, wondering if his plan was working: birthday treat, element of surprise.

      Then her phone pinged.

       K: YES HE PROPOSED!

       M: AND?

       K: I SAID YES. BUT HE’S BROUGHT US TO THE MIDLAND HOTEL WHERE I USED TO WORK. CAN’T BELIEVE IT. AND LOUIE IS HERE!!

       M: OH GOD, NO! THAT’S NOT WHAT YOU NEED. STAY OUT OF HER WAY. YOU DON’T WANT ALL THAT STALKING TO START UP AGAIN.

       K: I’M TRYING TO.

       M: KEEP IN TOUCH. MAYBE YOU SHOULD JUST GET OUT OF THERE.

      Mel couldn’t quite believe Aaron’s mistake. Morecambe was the last place on earth he should have taken Karin to this weekend, or any weekend. She could have told him that, if only he had allowed her to advise him on that too. Why would Karin want to return to somewhere she used to work? That’s all she would have needed to say, without letting anything slip.

      Despite encouraging her to be honest with Aaron on this matter, it was Karin’s big fear that Aaron’s ‘conventional thinking’ would not allow him to accept that she once had a girlfriend. It wasn’t just some lesbian dalliance from her youth either; they had been in a relationship and lived together for at least a couple of years.

      Mel needed another glass of wine to help her think.

      Later on in the evening, the TV was still blaring in the lounge. Mel could hear it through the door. But when she returned upstairs she noticed that the light was on in Karin’s room. Resting her glass on the banister, she crept the rest of the way.

      A noise from inside Karin’s room stopped her from going any further. Mel reached for her mobile, tucked it into her pocket, just in case.

      A figure appeared in the doorway.

      ‘Will. СКАЧАТЬ