A Silent Death

Chapter Twenty-Six

Ana is dying a little inside. Cleland has been moving around her house. She is aware of the smell of him, of his body heat as he comes and goes, of the movement of air as he passes. At one point she feels his breath on her face. Not realizing he is quite so close she cries out.

She is terrified. For herself. For Cristina. But more imminently for Sergio. She knows that sometimes they work late at the bank, even if it is not open to the public. The dots raised on the surface of her braille watch tell her that it is nearly nine. If he is coming, as he promised, it will be soon, for people will start eating at ten.

She hopes against hope that something will prevent him from returning tonight. Even that he has taken cold feet after meeting her earlier, and reconsidered. Yes, even that.

A vibration alerts her to a new message on her screen and she raises her fingers to read the braille.

— Who is Sergio?

Fear runs through her bones, chilling her to the very core. It’s as if he can read her mind. ‘Who?’

— Don’t play games with me, Ana. When I first arrived you asked if I was Sergio.

‘He’s just a friend.’

— But you were expecting him.

‘No, not really. He drops by from time to time.’ She tries to keep calm, control the trembling in her voice.

— You’re lying to me, Ana.

‘No. Honestly, I’m not. I’m not expecting anyone.’

And as if to make her a liar, fate chooses that moment for the bell to ring downstairs. Her hand flies to the vibration on her chest, as if somehow she can stop it.

— So who would that be, then?

‘I’ve no idea.’

— Open the door.

She is desperate now. ‘Why involve anyone else? It’s me you want.’

— And Cristina. Is it her?

‘Not at this time of night, no.’

— Well, answer it, then, and we’ll find out just who it is.

Ana reaches towards the panel of switches on the table and fumbles unconvincingly with the rocker. ‘It’s not working.’ Then feels Cleland brush her hand aside, before the vibration on her chest tells her that he has successfully unlocked the door below. ‘Don’t harm him. Please.’ It is out before she can stop herself.

— Who is he?

‘Just a friend.’

— We’ll see.

Then nothing. She feels the heat of Cleland’s body recede and is only too painfully aware of the tread of Sergio’s feet on the stairs. Never has the silence and darkness that traps her felt so imprisoning. She wonders about calling out a warning. But would Sergio even understand? It would make no sense to him, until it was too late.

She is aware that the door has opened, then nothing.

What is Sergio doing? Where is Cleland? Has Sergio seen him? Are they speaking?

And then she feels him crossing the floor towards her. The heat of his body. He is very close. The scrape of a chair vibrating faintly through hers, his now familiar scent. Then suddenly his lips on her forehead. She recoils, startled. A quite involuntary response. She can almost feel his hurt.

Several long moments pass before he takes her hands in his. His signing is hesitant.

‘I’m so sorry, Ana. I was held up at the bank. I should have been here ages ago.’

All she can think is that he won’t hear Cleland if he approaches him from behind. She turns her head in desperation, as if looking for her captor. Where in God’s name is he?

‘Ana, what’s wrong?’

She can feel through the hands his distress at sensing hers.

‘GO, SERGIO!’ Her hands sign urgently on his. She is more used to others signing for her than she signing for them. But if she speaks aloud Cleland will hear her. ‘LEAVE NOW. DON’T ASK WHY. YOU ARE IN DANGER.’

She can feel his consternation. If fills the air around them, as tangible as if she could reach out and touch it.

Then suddenly his hands are gone. She feels a deep vibration run through her body. Something heavy striking the floor. She cries out.

‘Sergio!’

But there is no response of any kind. Nothing. Just the darkness and the silence of her world. There is the sense of someone close. The faintest warmth in the cool air of the room, then it is gone.

She sits trembling, tears spilling silently from stinging eyes. Something awful has happened. She knows it. But she daren’t speak, hardly dares even to breathe. And she waits, as she has waited half a lifetime, for the world to come to her. It seems like an eternity before she feels the vibration against the skin of her chest, and raises her fingers to the screen with dread in her heart.

— What were you doing with your hands?

‘Where’s Sergio?’

— Don’t worry about Sergio. Tell me what you were doing with your hands.

Ana can barely draw enough breath into her lungs to allow her to speak. ‘Touch-signing.’

— What’s that?

‘It’s a way of communicating letters and words by touch.’ Then, ‘Where’s Sergio?’

— He’s gone. Don’t worry about him.

‘I don’t believe you.’

— I don’t care.

‘Don’t hurt him, please.’ Her voice breaks as she pleads with the dark. She cannot hear her own sobbing, but feels each sob tearing itself from her chest. Then pain fills her world. A stinging, burning pain on the side of her face. He has slapped her again. She feels his breath in her face, tiny specks of spittle on it as he shouts at her. It smells rank and she almost gags on it.

Then nothing once more. For several long seconds. Before she senses the other chair being drawn in close, Cleland’s heat, his earthy masculine smell. Another vibration at her chest.

— Show me.

She doesn’t understand how he can be typing when he is sitting next to her. Then conjures a picture of him with the keyboard on his knees. It is wireless, so perfectly possible. ‘Show you what?’

— How to touch-sign.

She feels her breath trembling as she fills her lungs to try to stop herself from sobbing. All she can think is, what has he done to Sergio? Her voice catches in her throat. ‘You can’t learn to touch-sign just like that. It takes weeks, months.’

— Ana, I have all the time in the world. A pause. At least until Cristina comes again. Will she be here tomorrow?

‘I... I don’t know.’

— I think you do, Ana. But don’t worry, I have endless patience. I learned at school that revenge is a dish best served cold. It’s a maxim I have lived my life by.

She doesn’t know what to say.

— I want you to teach me to touch-sign. It was intriguing, what I saw passing between you and Sergio. It looked... A longer pause while he searched for the word. Intimate. I want that, too. I want to be intimate with you, Ana.

She could not stop the shudder that shook her body. A wave of disgust. And she wonders if it shows.

— But not right now. I have to leave for a while.

Her heart leaps. If he leaves, then somehow, some way she will be able to raise the alarm. A call to the operator. An email to Cristina. But his next words send fear spiking into her soul.

— He’s a nice kid, your niece’s boy. What’s his name, Lucas? And such a good school they send him to. What a shame if anything were to happen to him. You’d be to blame. You know that, Ana, don’t you? If that little boy were to come to any harm. So you’ll just sit here quiet and wait till I get back. Or do I have to tie you up?

With lead in her heart Ana knows that she will do exactly as he wants. The threat of harm to Cristina’s little boy binds her more efficiently than any rope he might use to secure her. But if Cleland has patience, then so does she. She’s had twenty years to nurture it, to make it a virtue. Her time will come. Of that she is now determined.