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

I wonder what state their bodies will be in by the time Kat visits the cottage. I hope it’s not too gruesome for her. But a part of me kind of hopes that Laura is almost unrecognizable when they put her into that body bag.

Only time will tell.

Until then, I’ll make sure I’ve got a good supply of beer to count down the days.

49

KAT

THE MORNING

I’ve missed this place. The rolling hills. The wide-open spaces. The fact that nobody is around for miles in any direction. I really should get more use out of this holiday cottage, but then again, I think that every time I come up here. In reality, the hecticness of everyday life means it’s never quite as easy to get away from it all as I would like.

There are commitments and responsibilities vying for my attention every weekend, like taking my children to various parties and play dates, or having to look after the kids when my husband is out getting drunk at the football. I wish I could just drop everything and come out here to this serene little hilltop more often, but I can’t just abandon my family on a whim. Of course, I could bring them with me, but I’ve done that enough times now to know that it is more stress than it’s worth. Trying to get two children to pack their bags and get into the car on a Saturday morning before making the drive here is easier said than done. It’s much simpler to stick them in the playroom at home and leave them in front of the TV. But I’ve made it to the cottage today, escaping all my responsibilities with family in order to get a much-needed break for myself.

Or rather, a much-needed break from my husband.

Martin and I have been getting on each other’s nerves more and more over the last few months, and it reached breaking point last night. We screamed at each other during one of our usual arguments, and it became clear that we couldn’t go on like that, so I decided that I would take myself away from home for a day or two and clear my head at the cottage. I know he would rather have been the one to be up here instead of being left with the kids, but I was adamant I needed to be the one to go otherwise I wasn’t sure if our marriage was going to survive.

I think my admission shocked him, so he quickly agreed with my plan, so here I am, driving up to our holiday home cottage while he is back in ‘the real world’ dealing with our children. I feel a slight bit of guilt for leaving my kids behind on the weekend, but it wasn’t fair to make them have to listen to their mum and dad arguing all the time. At least this way, there will be no arguments today.

Even I can’t start an argument inside an empty cottage.

As I drive down the main road, I reflect on how I ended up here. Martin and I have been at each other’s throats for months now, a combination of stressful workdays, stressful childcare duties and stressful family dramas. It wasn’t always easy, but it’s been getting worse.

If only my marriage was as serene as my brother’s.

Adam and Laura don’t seem to be plagued by any of the problems that Martin and I have, and I always thought that he was the lucky one out of the two of us. While I had a chaotic marriage full of fights and friction, he seemed to have all the good stuff. I’ve never seen a couple more in love than him and Laura. I wonder what their secret is? I also wonder if the arrival of their baby boy any day now might be the catalyst for their marriage to become just as difficult as everybody else’s. Hopefully not.

I don’t wish marital problems on anybody.

I did consider going around to my brother’s house today instead of coming up here, offering him and Laura any support they needed as they prepare for the impending birth. But perhaps a little selfishly, I couldn’t face it. It’s not that I don’t love my brother or my sister-in-law, it’s just that I’ve got enough problems going on in my own house without going around to his and dealing with those. I also don’t want to burden him with many of my issues. As it is, I’ve decided to just get myself away for a night by myself, and I plan to call by Adam’s house on my way home to see if there is any progress on the arrival of little Samuel.

I slow down as I reach the turning, and then I pull off the main road and enter onto the dirt track that leads up to the cottage. As I pass through the trees that shield this property from the main road, I instantly see the vehicle parked outside the cottage. I don’t recognise it, but it wouldn’t matter if I did.

There shouldn’t be anybody up here.

As I drive closer, I try to work out who it could be but other than Martin, only Adam has a spare key. I gave him one as a nice gesture as I thought he and Laura could use this cottage occasionally to have their own little mini-breaks. I figured they might as well get some use out of this place as I barely manage to. But the car parked out front does not belong to my brother so it can’t be him. That means whoever is at the cottage is there without my permission.

I wonder if it could be a local, and although I’m not sure why they would be randomly calling by the cottage today on the chance that I was in, it would at least make some sense. Perhaps they are