Night Corridor

Joan Hall Hovey

Description

After nine years in Bayshore mental institution, once called the lunatic asylum, Caroline Hill is finally being released. There will be no one to meet her. Her parents who brought her here…are dead. They have found her a room in a rooming house, a job washing dishes in a restaurant. She will do fine, they said. But no one told that women in St. Simeon are already dying at the hands of a vicious predator. One, an actress who lived previously in her building. And others.
And now, as Caroline struggles to survive on the outside, she realizes someone is stalking her. But who will believe her? She's a crazy woman after all. Then, one cold winter's night on her way home from her job, a man follows and is about to assault her when a stranger intercedes. A stranger who hides his face and whispers her name.After nine years in Bayshore mental institution, once called the lunatic asylum, Caroline Hill is finally being released. There will be no one to meet her. Her parents who brought her here…are dead. They have found her a room in a rooming house, a job washing dishes in a restaurant. She will do fine, they said. But no one told that women in St. Simeon are already dying at the hands of a vicious predator. One, an actress who lived previously in her building. And others.
And now, as Caroline struggles to survive on the outside, she realizes someone is stalking her. But who will believe her? She's a crazy woman after all. Then, one cold winter's night on her way home from her job, a man follows and is about to assault her when a stranger intercedes. A stranger who hides his face and whispers her name.

Sujets

• Suspenso
• Mystery
• Suspense
• Thriller

Informations

• Publié par: BWL Publishing Inc.
• Date de parution: 24 juin 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781772991475
• Langue: English

Extrait

Night Corridor
By Joan Hall Hovey
 
Digital ISBN
EPUB 9781772991475
Kindle 9781772996272
WEB 9781772991482
 
Print ISBN 9781772996289
Amazon Print 9781772996296
 

2nd Ed. Copyright Joan Hall Hovey 2015
Cover art by Gary Val Tenuta 2011
 
 
 
All rights reserved. Without limiting therights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publicationmay be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system,or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic,mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without theprior written permission of both the copyright owner and the abovepublisher of this book.
 
Dedication

To my sister Barbara Diane (Hall) Donald withall my love.
 
Chapter One
 
October 1973
 
He noticed her as soon as he walked into thebar. She was sitting with another girl, a blond; pretty, hesupposed, but his attention was riveted on the dark-haired one. Heordered a beer and took a table in the far corner where he had agood view, while he himself was safe from watchful eyes. She hadsatiny hair to her shoulders, high cheekbones, was slender in asilk print top, black slacks, like a woman on the cover of amagazine. She was laughing at something the blond said, flashingperfect white teeth and his heart tripped. She’s the one, the voicetold him. Excitement surged through him as he recast her in themovie that for years now, replayed endlessly on the screen of hismind.
When the two women rose to leave, he left hisunfinished beer on the table and casually, so as not to drawattention to himself, followed them outside. She had put on ajacket and it shone bright white in the lights from the parkinglot.
After chatting briefly, the two girls gaveeach other a quick hug, then parted and went to their respectivecars, parked a good distance from one another. There was arightness to it. They might just as easily have come in one car, orparked closer to one another. But they did not. The stars werefinally lining up in his favor.
He came up behind her as she was fitting thekey in the lock of the red Corvair. “I’m Buddy,” he said softly, soas not to frighten her. Despite his best intention, she whirledaround, eyes wide. “Jesus, you scared the shit out of me. What doyou want?”
He felt the smile on his face falter. A mask,crumbling. “I just want to talk to you.”
“Fuck off, okay? I’m not interested.”
With those words, her beauty vanished, as ifhe’d imagined it. Her mouth was twisted and ugly. Disappointmentweighed heavy on him. Anger boiled up from his depths.
“That was wrong of you to say that to me,” hesaid, still speaking quietly.
Belying the softness of his voice, she sawsomething in his eyes then and he saw that she did, and when sheopened her mouth to scream, he stuck her full in the face with hisfist.
She slid down the side of the car as ifboneless. He caught her before she hit the ground, dragged heraround to the other side of the car, blocking her with his own bodyin case someone saw them. Not that he was too concerned. If anyonedid see them they would just figure she was his girlfriend and thatshe’d had one too many. But there was no one in the lot. Even herfriend had already driven off.
He lowered her limp form to the ground whilehe hurried round to the driver’s side and got the key out of thedoor. He put on his gloves, and opened the passenger door. Afterpropping her up in the seat, he went back around and slid into thedriver’s side. Then he turned on the ignition and the car hummed tolife.
Shifting the car into reverse, he backed outof the parking spot. He gave the wheel a hard turn and she fellagainst him, her hair brushing his face and filling his senses withher shampoo, something with a hint of raspberry. He pushed her offhim and her head thunked against the passenger window. A soft moanescaped her, but she didn’t wake.
He drove several miles out of the city, thenturned left onto a rutted dirt road and stayed on it for a good tenminutes. Spotting a clearing leading into the woods, an old loggingroad no longer used, he eased the car in, bumping over dips andtangled roots. He went in just far enough not to be seen from theroad on the off-chance someone drove by, but also taking care hewouldn’t get stuck in here.
The headlights picked out the white trunks ofspruce trees spot-lighting the leaves that, seconds later, recededinto blackness as if this were merely a stage set.
Beside him, the woman moaned again thenwhimpered, her hand moving to her face where he had struck her.Blood trickled darkly down one corner of her mouth and her eyesfluttered open. He knew the instant she sensed him there besideher, like the bogeyman in a nightmare. Except she was awake now.When she turned to look at him he felt her stiffen, could see inher eyes that she knew she was in big trouble. He almost felt sorryfor her. Almost.
“Who are you?” she croaked, more bloodleaking from the corner of her mouth, eyes wet with tears.
“What does it matter?”
“Please…please don’t hurt me. I’m—I’m sorryfor what I said to you. I shouldn’t have. If you want to, I mean,it’s okay. You don’t have to hurt…”
His fury was like lava from a volcano and hishand shot out, the back of it shutting off her words inmid-sentence. “Shut up, whore.”
She was crying hard now, heavy, hiccuppysobs, helpless, terrified. But her tears meant nothing to him. Shewas right to be afraid. He slid the knife from its sheath that hungon his belt and let her see it.
“Oh, God, no please…” She was choking on hertears, wriggling away from him, trapped, like a butterfly on thehead of a pin. He smiled when she reached for the door handle onher side, and then drove the knife into her upper arm. She screamedand he wound his fingers into her hair. “Be quiet,” he said, whileshe held her arm with her other hand and wept like a child.
As he had wept. As he wept still.
“You can’t get away,” he said. “There’s noplace to go.”
 
 
 
Chapter Two
 
 
On Monday morning, Caroline Hill woke withsuch a sense of dread that it was a struggle to get a full breath,as if there was a clot of air trapped under her ribcage. The smellof eggs wafted up from the kitchen and made her feel sick to herstomach. Pushing herself up in the narrow bed, she took a few deepbreaths, the way Nurse Addison had shown her, and by the time sheleft the room, she felt calmer, but hardly calm. She dressed andwent down to breakfast, knowing she would eat little thismorning.
Just the thought of walking through the bigoaken doors of Bayshore Mental Institution (formerly called TheLunatic Asylum) and out into a world that no longer knew her, norshe it, struck terror into her heart. Nine years since she had beena part of it all. Her hands were sweaty. She was anxious, yet atthe same time a small part of her was excited at the thought offreedom.
Not that it was so bad in here now. Not likeit used to be. Olga Farmer, one of the old ones who had been hereforever, said it was a thousand times better than in the earlydays. Warmer, for one thing, since the central heating went in, andthe food was edible most of the time, and there was more variety.Meat and cheese were often served at meals, for example. Thatwasn’t always the case. Olga said she remembered when a patient hadto have specific doctor’s orders to be allowed such luxuries as anegg or a glass of milk.
Olga turned eighty-five last month and theyhad a cake for her in the big hall, and Mrs. Green, who’d once beena school teacher, banged out Happy Birthday on the out-of-tunepiano the way she did for all their birthdays, even those for whombirthdays meant little.
She stood at the long, barred window lookingout beyond the high reddish-brown fence to the world on the otherside, to the wooden houses in their greens and browns, climbinghills. Higher up, the church with its clock steeple and fartherout, the blue water of the bay.
The people looked small, like the ones she’dread about in Gulliver’s Travels. But she could see them wellenough, scurrying here and there, going about their daily business,oblivious to her here in the window, watching them. As she stoodthere, a fresh wave of apprehension washed over her, swamping allanticipation of leaving, filling her with a terrible sense offoreboding. She shivered involuntarily.
“Cold?”
She turned to see Nurse Lynne Addison at hershoulder, smiling, her eyes questioning.
“No. I’m fine, thank you, Nurse Addison.”
“You don’t have to pretend with me, Caroline.I know you’re scared and I don’t blame you. I’d be scared too. Butdon’t worry. It’s going to be fine. We’ve arranged a bed-sittingroom for you in a very nice rooming house,” she said, “and you havethat dishwashing job waiting for you at a restaurant calledFrank’s, not half a block away. You’ll be eating most of your mealsthere. I’ve been there with my husband; the food’s great.”
“Really?”
She grinned. “Really. You’ll do great, honey.Later when you’re feeling more confident you might decide to dosomething else with your life. Maybe even go back to school. You’rea smart girl, Caroline. You can do anything you want to do. Notright away, of course. It’ll t