Girl A by Dan Scottow (easy books to read in english .TXT) 📕

it up, she scrolled through her messages. She found what she was looking for. The texts from her stalker. She typed out a message.

Who are you? What have you done to my dog?

She didn’t expect a response, but it was worth a shot.

A picture message flashed up on her screen. She blinked, taking it in.

Matted fur.

Blood.

Entrails.

A tiny, broken, honey-coloured body, almost unrecognisable.

Another message appeared.

You’ll find out who I am soon enough.

33

Having spent the best part of a day away from her family, Beth was starting to feel a little stir-crazy. Twice she had resisted the urge to drive around to Derek and Anna’s flat. But she knew that wouldn’t help. If Charlie said he needed time, then she would give it to him. Pushing him would only make things worse. She wasn’t used to a world without having to entertain a six-year-old. Or walk the dog. Or find something Peter had misplaced.

This silence was crippling for Beth.

And she hated it. She thought about texting Margot, asking if she wanted to come over for a drink. But she realised other people had their own lives. It was selfish to impose herself on them because her world had suddenly stopped existing.

And so she sat in her big old farmhouse, alone, staring at the walls.

She sank a bottle of red. And she finally felt relaxed. She rarely drank during the afternoon, but she thought, what the hell.

At about four, her phone buzzed with a text. She eyed it suspiciously on the coffee table, wondering if it might be the stranger. She rose from her seat and picked up the phone.

It was Mikey. Beth felt a rush of excitement.

Hey you, was great to meet you in the week. Hope you’ve had a good one. Up to much this weekend?

It was familiar and friendly. Beth sat back down in her armchair, staring at the message, tapping her thumbnail on the screen for a moment. She typed her reply.

Was lovely to meet you too. Not up to much. You?

Mikey’s reply came in seconds.

Going to see a band, got a spare ticket if you fancy it?

Maybe it was the wine, or fear of being alone, but Beth replied:

Sure. Can you pick me up? I’ve had a drink.

No probs. Where do you live?

Beth hammered in her address, fingers trembling like a schoolgirl. She held her breath as Mikey typed his reply.

See you at 7.

After a brief shower to wash away the shitty day, Beth almost felt human again.

The sorrow of the events still weighed on her mind. She smiled at herself in the mirror. It was convincing enough, although it didn’t reach her eyes.

She pulled on some black wet-look leggings, and a loose-fitting silver T-shirt, with some black heels.

She didn’t want to look like she’d made too much effort, so she put on a little mascara and lipstick, leaving it at that.

Glancing again in the mirror, a pang of guilt hit her.

‘You’re not doing anything wrong,’ she told herself aloud. ‘You’re going for a drink. With a friend.’ She paused.

‘On the same evening your husband has walked out on you with the kids.’

She shook her head, her hair bouncing around her shoulders.

It had taken her such a long time to have the confidence to go back to her natural blonde. The fear that someone would recognise her. It never went away. But Charlie made her feel comfortable enough. She even stopped wearing the stupid thick-framed glasses. With Charlie, she didn’t feel like she needed a disguise anymore.

She could still remember his face the day she got back from the hairdresser; they’d done a good job stripping out the brown.

‘Wow,’ Charlie had said, his chin almost hitting the floor as Beth walked into the kitchen.

Beth smiled to herself.

The buzz of a FaceTime call coming through to her phone jogged her back to reality. It was Charlie, as if he had read her mind. She cursed under her breath, rushing to her wardrobe. Riffling through, she grabbed a grey hoody from a hanger, pulling it over her head.

She hurried back to her phone, accepting the call.

‘Charlie, hi!’ she breathed, trying to sound relaxed. Trying not to slur her words.

There was a short delay before Charlie responded. The wifi signal at the farmhouse was shockingly bad. They couldn’t expect anything better out in the middle of nowhere.

‘Hey, I hope you don’t mind me calling. Daisy wants to say hello before she goes to bed.’

Beth’s heart fluttered.

‘No, that’s absolutely fine.’

‘Right, I’ll put her on.’

The delay was annoying, but in the years they had lived out in the sticks, they had all grown used to it. Peter hated it the most, especially when he was trying to play one of his daft games online.

Beth sat down on the edge of the bed.

‘Mummy!’ Daisy screeched

‘Hello, love.’

Her daughter’s excited face beamed through the screen of her phone. She wore pink pyjamas, and her hair was damp, pulled back in a loose plait after her evening bath.

Beth hated it when Charlie didn’t dry Daisy’s hair properly before bed.

‘I miss you, Mummy.’ The words were juddery, broken, and Beth despised her shitty wifi connection more than ever.

‘Me too.’ Beth tried to keep a smile on her face.

‘You look pretty.’ The line crackled a little, the video froze, Daisy’s face caught in a grotesque expression halfway between a grin and a scream. Beth shook her head as her phone caught up.

‘Thank you. So do you. What have you been up to today?’

Another delay.

The reply came through the phone, but the line was so bad it was indecipherable.

Beth shifted to the other side of the bed, closer to the window, to see if the line improved.

It didn’t.

She turned her body towards the window, her back to the bedroom door. She extended her right arm out as far as she could, angling the phone towards her face, trying to avoid getting her bottom half into the shot.

Daisy said something else; again, Beth couldn’t make it out.

White noise, and disjointed syllables.

‘What was that, love?’ Beth shouted towards the phone.

Another pause,