“Permanent Damage” Teaser Two: THE DEVIL YOU KNOW
Nine days left until the release date for Permanent Damage. Ten stories. A teaser every day for each story to whet your appetite, give you a hint of the plot and the feel of them.
Today, we look in on the most dangerous game of all . . . .
THE DEVIL YOU KNOW
“He keeps scaring me. He doesn’t even say anything anymore, he just — looks at me, whenever she’s not looking, and — I don’t know.”
“Have you talked to Rachel about this?”
“I’ve tried. There’s no point to it. She is just so — completely blind to him.” She was shaking again, even here in the comfort of Matthew’s bed. “I just still get so scared, every time I leave her alone with him. I’m so convinced I’m going to come home and find her dead. Or just — gone, that she’ll disappear with him and not come back. And I’ll never know what happened to her unless they find her in a shallow grave somewhere.” She curled up closer to him.
“You really honestly think he’s dangerous.” Matthew looked thoughtful for a minute. “You think we should talk to the police?”
We. She liked that, now, she was part of a we. “No, but I don’t — have any proof of anything. I just — each time I see the door close with the two of them behind it, I’m sure, absolutely sure, that’s the last time I’m going to see her alive.”
“But — okay, supposing you’re right, why would he be dragging it out like this? If he was really going to kill her, why wouldn’t he just — do it?”
She shook her head. “I think that’d be — too quick,” she said. “I think he’s . . . like a cat that’s got a mouse, who keeps letting it go and catching it, and — I know he thinks this is funny. He thinks the fact that I know, that I know what he’s really like and she doesn’t — he thinks that’s funny, he’s laughing at both of us, and I don’t think he wants to give that up just yet, but I keep thinking, maybe it’s tonight, maybe this is the night he finally gets bored with it, and . . . just . . . . ”
Matthew’s eye were wide. “ . . . How have you been managing to live with all this?”
She laughed. “Not very well.”
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“Permanent Damage” — Available Oct 1, 2012. Pre-order now!
