Devil's Touch by Tina Lindegaard Read Free Book Online

herself.  When she had told Stuart that she was pregnant, he had just shaken his head.
    "You don’t even know who the father is."
    His words had been like a slap in the face. But nothing she said could change his mind. Only a few days later she had suddenly felt unwell during a dinner and they had only just reached the limo when she had fallen into a deep sleep. When she woke up the next day, she was bleeding profusely and was feeling sick. When she took a pregnancy test the next week, she was no longer pregnant. She was furious and had accused Stuart of all sorts of things, but he had insisted that the abortion had been spontaneous. She lets her hand fall away from her stomach and bends down to pick up the letter. She covers herself with her robe and sits down on the bed with one leg crossed, looking at the envelope. She takes out the letter and lets the envelope fall down on her naked thigh. Her face changes and early signs of age become visible in the small lines that appear. Her eyes scan the letter - Stuart’s handwriting is sloppy as usual. ”I can take any one of his letters and the writing will be sloppy... and they will always start in the same way.” Her hand touches her lips and she laughs - a deep, sarcastic laughter with a scary note that she has never noticed before. She looks over the edge of the letter and is met by her own merciless reflection. She knows the woman in the mirror, but there is also something strange about her. It’s not the same girl who grew up in the yellow house. The girl who loved her sister and spent hour after hour in the big swing with her. In the beginning, it had been much too big for them, but the bars and the small door had meant that the two three year olds had taken their naps in it too. They had never grown out of it, but one day it had suddenly broken under the weight of two ten year olds, who were still flying magic carpets, sailing rough seas or flying over enchanted landscapes. A world of magic where they meant everything to each other and where safety was a warm coat they never took off.
     
     
    Sunlight hits Nathans eyes and his breathing becomes shallow. He tries to turn himself over, but can’t because of the arm rest. He moves restlessly and finally raises his hand to shade from the sun.
    "Hmm, where did the rain go?"
    Small, insignificant noises indicate that Petra has arrived. He closes his eyes again for a little while. He puts down the whisky glass and breathes heavily a couple of times. The bottle reveals that the first glass was not the last, and he is punished by a violent headache. He looks at the extinguished cigar in the ashtray. He closes his eyes and smacks his lips loudly. Then he pushes himself up in the chair and starts looking after the other cigar he had started smoking late that night.
    "Hmm."
    Finally he gets up and drops the blanket he had covered himself with when the fire had died out. When the blanket lands at his feet, it reveals a whole the size of a saucer with blackened edges. He stares at it for long time, and then he bends down slowly, but stops the motion, suddenly overpowered by the headache. After a few seconds he continues the movement. When he grabs the blanket, the cigar fall out.
    "Nathan."
    Petra is suddenly in the door.
    "Yes."
    He still looks at the cigar, his voice distracted.
    "You have to be in court in half an hour."
     
    Nathan finally looks up at Petra, and you can tell from his face that he has heard her. He nods absentmindedly.
    "Hmm."
    He looks at the blanket one last time and picks up the cigar. When he stands up, he puts his hands to his head.
    "I’m too old for this."
    "Nathan?"
    This time Petra’s voice is determined.
    "In half an hour."
    "Yes, yes. Call and ask for a postponement. We have a new witness."
    "We do?"
    Petra sounds surprised.
    "It’s an old case."
    Nathan sends her a crooked smile.
    "That’s all you need to know."
    "Is there a new witness?"
    "As far as you’re concerned, there is."
    He blinks