and peered inside the stall. One of the chandeliers was clearly too big for the cottage, but the other would work nicely. After digging out her phone, she snapped a photo through the glass. She’d call Monday, ask for the price, then haggle to lower it.
She dropped her phone back into her purse and as she started to turn, she caught a flash of movement in the glass, the reflection of something moving behind her in the corridor. She spun around, her heart knocking hard. There was a man at the intersection of the two corridors, dressed in black, with a baseball cap on his head and a scarf obscuring the lower part of his face. By the time she was fully around, he’d darted away.
But she’d caught enough of a glimpse to see the hair on the sides of his head. It was dark red and closely cropped. Just like X’s.
chapter 11
Panic surged through her. Was it X?
Instinctively she turned back toward the shop, looking for a place to flee. But she was cornered. The only way out was down the corridor. And he might be right around the corner, poised to ambush her.
She grabbed a breath and yelled, “Help.” She knew there was little chance of anyone hearing her besides the old Chinese vendor, but it might be enough to jar the man in black into taking off. She called out again and then froze, listening. She thought she heard footsteps receding, muted by the carpeting.
After a minute she edged up the corridor. She froze just before the corner, straining to hear. The only sound was the splash of the fountain, and the frantic thumping of her heart.
Finally, she took one more step ahead, twisting her head to the right. The man she’d glimpsed was now nowhere in sight. There was just the Chinese man farther down the corridor, standing now and staring in her direction. She hurried toward him.
“Did you see a man?” she blurted out. “In a baseball cap?”
“I didn’t see anyone. Just heard you yell out.”
“But—were you outside here?”
“No, inside. I was inside.”
She bolted up the two flights of stairs to the ground level, her head swiveling back and forth as she moved. She needed to know for sure if the man was X or not, but there was no sign of him anywhere. Outside, she halted in front of the building and frantically searched the street with her eyes, checking doorways, the bus shelter, the clusters of people at the corner buying Snapple and roasted nuts from a food stand. It was New York City, so everyone was in black. But she saw no one dressed like the stranger in the corridor.
She took a moment to catch her breath and headed west, choosing 59th Street because it was crowded. She kept turning and looking back, making sure she wasn’t being followed. She checked on the subway platform, too, and in the car she boarded four minutes later. There was no one suspicious looking, just people winding down their Sunday afternoons, some with strollers, one with a fold-up bike. In relief, she let her body sag into the seat.
She knew she wasn’t imagining the flash of dark red hair, but she hadn’t glimpsed enough of the man’s face to know for certain if it was X. Could it simply have been another shopper? Her nerves were so frayed, her mind might be playing tricks on her. And yet if it were another shopper, why would he run when she spotted him?
Back at her apartment building, she glanced behind her before unlocking the door to the lobby and then made sure that the lock engaged after she entered. Her heartbeat had finally slowed on the subway ride, but now, in anticipation of reaching her apartment, it began to rear up again, like a startled horse.
She took the elevator to five. Her dread felt thick and heavy, and the low, mournful groan of the elevator did nothing to help. Before stepping off onto her floor, she blocked the closing door with her hand, making it buck, and stared down the hall. The new door to her apartment was still intact. I’m okay, she told herself. I’m okay.
New key in hand, she dashed toward her apartment. Thankfully the tenants in A, who fled Manhattan each weekend, would be back tonight. That would at least provide a measure of comfort.
She jabbed the key quickly into the lock.
And then, behind her, she heard the sound of the stairwell door being