Chapter 45
The Present
Jonathan watched her leave his house. His hands in his trousers pockets, he resisted the urge to go straight to her and squeeze her throat until she gasped her last breath. He was poker faced, devoid of any emotion. He kept his frame shielded by the last house on the street, he knew from where he was, Clare would never see him.
The DHL van drove in front of him and continued until it had just passed his house. Jonathan mumbled with irritation. It stopped blocking his view.
The delivery driver pulled the baseball cap down further and checked the side mirror. Just as expected, Jonathan’s face could be seen. His eyes were narrow, his mouth in a fine line. The driver smiled and left the engine running. “My 0h my!” The driver exclaimed. “We’re really breaking all protocol, playing hooky from work.” A throaty laugh escaped.
Clare was out of the house; the sound of the engine had startled her. It’s just a delivery. She told herself as she tried to remain calm. She closed the door and took a glance up and down the street, there was nothing to see, only the DHL van idly parked.
She stepped away and headed for the safety of her front door, instinct made her glance up and look at the van and into the cab. She could only make out that it was a female by the auburn ponytail. Her face was downward. Clare brushed the uneasy feeling aside. This person had nothing to do with her; she knew she really had to push her paranoid thoughts to the back of her mind!
The driver smiled, she watched as Jonathan hesitated. She knew he was at bursting point. “What are you waiting for?” She said shifting her focus to Clare closing her own front door behind her. “You’re not safe in there, so not safe!”
She had no intention of moving. It had taken her a long time to find Clare. “Two birds with one stone.” The woman pulled away from the kerb and drove slowly out of the street.