Run Away With Me : A fast-paced psychological thriller by Daniel Hurst (ebook reader ink txt) 📕

him on his way to work. But I don’t want him to go to sleep again.

I want him to be awake for what comes next.

I shake my head at Gemma and then turn back to my wife who is still standing in the same spot as when she came down the stairs. I’m surprised that she hasn’t tried to run yet although she wouldn’t get far. Gemma locked the front door behind her on her way in tonight. There’ll be no more guests here this evening. Everybody is in attendance, which means the fun can now begin.

‘What are you doing?’ Laura asks me when the mystery of the situation becomes too much for her.

‘I’m getting my revenge,’ I reply, walking towards my wife and enjoying the sight of her taking the same number of steps backwards to keep the distance between us. ‘Revenge for all those nights you told me you were working late when really you were sneaking into pubs and hotels with this guy,’ I say, nodding my head back towards Bradley who just continues to make unintelligible noises through his mouth gag.

‘Revenge for you breaking our marital vows and making this marriage nothing more than a pathetic waste of time,’ I continue, warming into my role now. I’ve practised it enough times in my head, and so far, my delivery has been perfect.

‘And revenge for that baby you are carrying inside you,’ I say with a strong hint of venom in my voice as I thrust a finger towards Laura’s stomach.

She has backed up all the way to the front door now, and I know she is just dying to turn around and try the handle to see if it will open. But for the moment, she doesn’t try. She just keeps her eyes on me.

‘This baby is yours,’ Laura tells me, but I shake my head to let her know that her lies aren’t going to work anymore.

‘Yes it is!’ she cries, and I am pleased to see that she is now starting to look and sound as scared as the man tied up behind me. It’s about time Bradley had some company in that respect.

‘I know you lied to me about the date you got pregnant,’ I say, finally playing my hand.  ‘I know you lied to me about the due date. And I know you lied to me about the scans. It’s not my baby at all. It’s Bradley’s, isn’t it?’

I turn to look at the man in the chair and see that he has stopped wriggling and making useless sounds now and is instead watching and listening to me.

‘That’s right, Bradley. That is your baby she is carrying. Not mine.’

He moves his wide eyes from me to my wife, and for a second he doesn’t look so scared anymore. He looks like he has been lied to as well by Laura.

Welcome to the club, mate.

‘You’re wrong,’ Laura tries, but I bat my hand at her dismissively before she can give me any more lies.

‘I’ve had enough of listening to you,’ I tell her, stepping towards her again and this time she can’t back up any further. ‘Telling me you love me. Telling me what kind of a family we will be. Telling me you would never hurt me. Look where that has got us. Now it’s time to listen to me.’

I reach Laura, and I can see the fear she has for me in her eyes. She must be wondering what kind of a man is capable of doing all of this. Well, I’m about to tell her.

‘I lied about the hit and run,’ I confess. ‘I just needed a way of getting you up here with him.’

I gesture to Bradley behind me, but I don’t turn around. I’m enjoying the look on Laura’s face too much.

‘What have you done to him?’ she asks, and I’m slightly annoyed that she is concerned enough about Bradley to enquire.

‘Not much. Stuck him in the boot of his car. Kept him there for a couple of days and then drove him up here.’ Gemma fielded that question, and she deserved to. It was her who did all the work on getting Bradley here, after all.

‘He’s been reported missing!’ Laura cries.

‘He’s not the only one,’ I shoot back, and Laura slowly registers what I have just told her.

‘People think I’m missing?’ she asks me, and I nod my head.

‘Oh my god. My friends...’

‘Don’t worry about them. They don’t know yet.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Laura says.

‘It’s quite simple. Instead of popping into the village, I was going back home and helping the police look for you.’

Laura shakes her head. Only now is she beginning to understand the depths her betrayal took me down to and how determined I have been to get my revenge.

‘Why wasn’t my picture in the newspaper if I am missing?’ she asks me, I assume with genuine curiosity rather than from being annoyed that Bradley got more column inches than her.

‘I had asked the police not to report your case to the media for seven days. I told them one of your best friends was ill and the story would cause her great distress.’

‘You did what?’

‘That was my idea,’ Gemma interjects. ‘I know families of missing persons can make requests like that.’

‘Gemma’s a police officer,’ I add, rather proudly, and Laura only then seems to realise that all of this isn’t just about me getting back at her.

It’s about me moving on with somebody else.

‘You’ve been having an affair?’ she asks me as the penny finally drops.

‘You’re damn right I have. What’s the matter? Feel betrayed?’

Laura slaps me hard across my face, but I barely flinch. It felt good. I’m surprised it took her this long to do it. I let her enjoy the moment because it’s the last one she is ever going to enjoy.

‘What are you going to do to us?’ Laura asks me as I step away from her and walk over to Gemma, who is now preparing for the next part