The Magpies A Psychological Thriller - By Mark Edwards Page 0,38
and he wanted to get indoors, to the safety of the flat, his haven.
They went back into the communal hallway and Kirsty closed the front door, the hinges squeaking noisily. They heard a door close above them and Mary came into view, heaving a large suitcase down the stairs. She smiled when she saw Jamie and Kirsty, and they waited for her to reach the bottom of the stairs. As she descended, the smell of some herb or flower that neither Jamie nor Kirsty recognised, drifted ahead of her.
‘How are you both?’ Mary asked in a concerned tone. Jamie had told her about Paul – who she said she had seen coming and going – when he had bumped into her a couple of weeks before.
‘Oh, not bad. Just waiting to see what happens.’ He shrugged sadly.
(Kirsty told Jamie later that she was convinced Mary was going to suggest some kind of herbal remedy to rouse Paul from his coma. ‘If she had,’ Kirsty said, ‘I would have really lost my temper.’)
‘That’s the worst part, isn’t it? Waiting. Hoping time will heal.’
Jamie nodded. ‘That’s exactly right.’
Mary touched him at the top of his arm, then did the same to Kirsty. She opened her mouth to say something, then changed her mind.
‘Are you going on holiday?’ Jamie asked, gesturing towards the suitcase.
‘I wish. But I’m going to a convention in Birmingham. It’s a kind of trade fair for practitioners of alternative medicine. I go every year. Actually, I was going to come and knock on your door because I need to ask you a small favour. Would you mind feeding Lennon for me while I’m away? I’ll only be gone three nights.’
‘Sure. No problem at all.’
Mary fished her keys out of her bag and handed them to Jamie. ‘I’ve left the tins of food on the worktop in the kitchen. He won’t need feeding now until tomorrow morning. Half a tin morning and night.’
‘I’ll pop in before I go to work.’
‘That’s marvellous. Thank you so much.’
When Mary had gone and Jamie and Kirsty were in their flat, Kirsty said, ‘I think she fancies you.’
‘Don’t be silly.’
‘Haven’t you noticed the way she looks at you?’
‘What way?’
‘Like she wants to eat you for breakfast.’
‘You’re loopy. Although, of course, one couldn’t blame her if she had developed an overwhelming lust for someone as gorgeous as me. It would only be natural, after all.’
‘That’s right. I’ve had such a terrible life since we got together, fighting other women off you, never a moment’s peace.’
Their laughter filled the flat, and as they laughed the tension in the air dissipated. Jamie put Mary’s keys down on his desk, where the writing pad lay open, displaying the rough first draft of their letter.
‘Do you want a drink?’ he said, going to the fridge and taking out a bottle of wine.
‘Hmm, yes please. I need one.’
That night, in bed, Jamie moved close to Kirsty and began to kiss her face and neck, stroking the silk-soft skin of her inner thigh. He moved down beneath the quilt and kissed her breasts and tummy, gradually moving lower until his head was between her legs. He kissed her and moved his tongue in slow circles around her clitoris, an action that usually made her groan and push herself against his face. Tonight, though, she didn’t react. Something was wrong.
He tried again, pushing his tongue inside her, stroking her thighs with his palms, moving his tongue in motions that normally made her gasp. But still, she gave no reaction.
He shifted up the bed so he was lying beside her. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘I’m not in the mood, Jamie.’
‘Oh. OK.’
She kissed him, grimacing slightly at the taste of herself on his lips. ‘I’d like to, but I can’t really relax. Listening to that CD really freaked me out. Do you know what I mean?’
‘I do.’ He sighed. ‘I still can’t believe they did it.’
‘When you started to go down on me just then I imagined that they were down there, listening, maybe even taping us. And I couldn’t let go. I couldn’t get into it.’
‘Do you think they get some kind of perverted thrill out of it?’
‘I don’t know, Jamie. But do you remember all the things they said about the couple who lived here before us? Lucy even said something about noise that day at the go-kart track. They’re obviously very sensitive to noise – more than we ever suspected. It seems crazy, though – to buy a flat when you’re obsessed with peace and