I don't yet have a cover, but I'm sharing a few paragraphs from Sarah's Soul which will be available early 2016. I'm half way done, but I still have a long way to go to try and fool the reader with my attempt at mystery. I hope Sarah has something in mind...this is her story, and I'm pantser and I rely on her talking to me. So far, so good....what do you think? Remember...this is only a first draft.
She rolled her eyes, her mind spinning. “Jesus, Sarah, it’s only a phone. Even if it isn’t Marie, a voice can’t hurt you.” She mumbled words of courage as she crossed the room. Taking a deep breath, she raised her Samsung to her ear. “H-hello.” Nerves made her push out her greeting.
“I know where you are.”
“What, no heavy breathing this time?” Her decision to go home would end his warning, and she felt brave for a fleeting minute. Still, the back of her neck tightened.
Silence.
“Well, Mr., you’ll have to find someone else to bug because I’m leaving. Who you gonna call now if I don't answer, Ghostbusters?” She laughed, releasing her tension.
“I’ll call you, Sarah Elder. I suppose you’re going home. I know where you live.”
“Who is this?” The tension quickly returned and her voice notched up volumes.
“We’ll talk later.”
His parting chuckle sent shivers up Sarah’s spine.
“Damn!” She considered calling 911 again, but what good had that done? Instead she clicked the phone off then back on, and dialed Marie’s number.
“Hello.” Marie sounded as though she’d just gotten out of bed.
Sarah glanced at the clock. “For God’s sake, it’s almost ten o’clock, Marie. Are you still sleeping?”
“It’s Saturday. I always sleep in on the weekends.” Only a muted yawn sounded. “Did you want something….did something happen? The last question showed her best friend was now wide awake and concerned about Sarah’s problem. “Are you all right?”
“I’m coming home today and I just had another phone call. I want you to notify the super and ask him to install a better deadbolt on my door.”
“Whatever for? You already have one.”
“This time the caller not only said he knows where I am, he knows my name and where I live. I don’t know what else to do. I'm scared.”
“Okay, I’ll get the super to change your locks and add a stronger deadbolt. Don’t worry, sweetie. I’ll stay with you until we figure out why you’re being harassed and by whom.”
Oh, thanks, Marie. You don’t know how much better that makes me feel. This being totally alone sucks. I never realized how much I miss Wolf.”
“I know, sweetie. I’m not Wolf, but come on home. We’ll tackle this together.”
Chapter Break....
Sarah struggled to get her bags up the stairs, then proceeded down the long carpeted hallway. Her heart raced and she kept glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one followed. As she passed the apartment Wolf had shared with his sister, Molly, she noticed the door ajar. Molly’s husband, Gil, had returned just before Wolf was killed and the couple had recently moved back to Missouri.
Maybe the super had shown the apartment and forgot to lock it…or maybe he was inside. If he’d changed the locks on her place, she no longer had keys. Had he kept them or left them with Marie? She'd better check. Sarah pushed the door open wider with her foot and peeked inside. The familiar layout and remembrance of dinners she’d shared during happier days misted her eyes and she blinked back tears. “Mr. Douglas,” she called, stepping inside. “Are you here?”
No answer.
Maybe he worked in the bathroom. Sarah stepped into the bedroom, but the adjoining bathroom light was off. For some reason, she was drawn to turn it on. She side-stepped though the door way, her other hand still firmly locked around the handle of her wheeled bag, and flipped on the switch. Her free hand covered her mouth to muffle a welling scream.
Scrawled across the mirror, in what looked like blood, was her name…Sarah Elder. Red spots dotted the sink from the dripping letters. Reflected in the mirror were letters on the wall written in the same red writing. She jerked around. D-E-A-D. Her heart beat so loud she heard it.
Who? Why? In a panic, she glanced around, noticing the closed shower curtain. Had it moved or had she imagined it? Her breath halted and she raced out the door and back into the hallway.
Where was Marie…or Mr. Douglas? She pounded on her door. “Let me in. Let me in.”
Marie opened the door, her brows arched into peaks. “What the heck is wrong?”
Sarah rushed inside, closed, locked and bolted the door. Sagging against it, she released her pent-up breath.
“Sarah…what’s wrong. You scared me to death.”
“Scared you? Molly’s old apartment was unlocked and the door partly open. I thought Mr. Douglas might be inside, so I went in….”
‘And…”
“And someone wrote my name across the mirror…in something icky and red. It looks like blood.”
“You’re kidding!” Marie gasped. “Was Mr. Douglas there?”
“No. I thought I saw the shower curtain move, but I didn’t stick around to see if anyone was behind it. Whose doing these things, Marie?” Tears Sarah had held at bay ran down her cheeks. Someone wrote ‘dead’ on the wall. Who wants me dead? Sobs replaced her tears.
Marie hugged her. “I don’t know, but we should probably call the police. Did you touch anything in the apartment?”
“J-just the bathroom light, why?”
“Maybe they can dust for prints or something. I don’t know. Let me call, and then you’re going to contact your carrier and get your cell number changed.”
Marie used the landline and dialed 911.
“911, what’s your emergency?”
My friend, Sarah Elder, is receiving disturbing phone calls and now someone has written her name and the word, dead, in red in an empty apartment near hers. Can you please send someone right away. We’re two women here alone.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll get a patrol car headed your way. Manhattan, right?”
“Yes, Eagle Tower’s apartments on 2nd street.”
“Would you like me to stay on the line with you until the policeman arrives?”
******
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