Night Corridor Read Online Free PDF

himself. Why couldn't she understand? It was her own fault she was lying on a stainless steel slab in the morgue right now.
     
    But choosing her as the one who could make things right, was his mistake. Just like the girl before her was a mistake.
     
    He would have to be more careful, look deeper into his selections before he revealed himself. Of course you couldn't always tell about a person until you got to spend time with them, and found out what they were really like.
     
     
     
    Cruising a bar had been a dumb idea. His perfect woman wasn't likely to be hanging out in bars, was she? Though the girl in the bar had been beautiful to look at, he hadn't been mistaken about that. It was only when he had tried to talk to her that her ugliness had spewed out like vomit from that lovely mouth, contaminating the good intentions that had been in his heart.
     
    The bitch deserved what she got.
     
    A cop with lazy, black eyes moved through the crowd, telling people to go back to their homes. "Nothing more to see here, folks."
     
    He moved on.
     
     
     
    Five
     
     
     
    Caroline followed the landlady upstairs and stood behind her as she opened the door to what was to be her room from now on. No need to share it with anyone. Though she could have. It was much larger than the room she and Ella had shared at Bayshore. A big, square room with brown linoleum on the floor, the walls painted a cream color half way up, and blue flowered wallpaper to the ceiling. It was a nice room. She could smell the new paint smell. Had Mrs. Bannister had it painted just for her?
     
    Lace curtains hung on a tall window overlooking the street below. She remembered there'd been similar curtains in her parents' living room windows. She could still feel their starchy texture in her hand.
     
    "Well, go on in, dear, make yourself to home," the landlady said with a smile. Inside, she gestured to the beige sofa flush against one wall. "This pulls out into a decent sized bed. The closet's small but more than big enough to accommodate what you got in your suitcase." She chuckled softly, opening the closet door so Caroline could look for herself. Wire hangers dangled along the bar. There was a shelf above it, on which were folded sheets and a blue blanket.
     
    "It's fine, thank you. Yes, more than big enough."
     
    "Sheets, pillow cases and a blanket on the top shelf," she said unnecessarily, before closing the closet door. "Well, I'll leave you to get settled. Like I said, Harold will bring up your suitcase when he gets home from work."
     
    "Please tell him thank you."
     
    "You can tell him yourself when you see him. I expect he'll knock at your door."
     
    And then she was gone. Out of old habit, Caroline found herself listening for the turning of the key in the lock. But there was only the soft, uneven step of the landlady's feet as she descended the stairs.
     
    Caroline eased the door open, looked out into the deserted hallway, her eye deliberately skipping past the door across the hall, and closed it again. She liked it that she could bolt her door from the inside.
     
    You are the keeper of the key now, she told herself. Not the only one with a key, but it was enough. And even that fact didn't seem quite real.
     
    There was only silence outside her door now. The landlady had gone inside her own flat.
     
    As quietly as possible, lest someone realize she was a patient and needed to be locked up, Caroline slowly slid the bolt home, shutting herself in, and others out. Then she went to sit down on the sofa, folded her hands in her lap like a patient child and looked about her. Her own private place. No Ella Gaudet knitting imaginary clothes with her imaginary knitting needles for grandchildren who never came to visit.
     
    Except for a quick visit to the facilities at the end of the hallway, trips taken while looking neither left nor right, ducking back into her room like a thief in the night, Caroline remained in her room for the rest of that