Every Little Breath: A Tense Psychological Thriller Full of Twists

Finn let himself back into Casey’s apartment with the spare key she had given him, immediately calling out her name.

She hadn’t replied to either of the two texts he had sent her and when he had tried to call her on the way home it had gone straight to voicemail. She had said she was going to run a bath, so it was possible she was in the tub or maybe she had fallen asleep. He knew she was tired after the stress of the weekend, so wasn’t especially worried, but he would be happier when he had seen her for himself.

The dogs were pleased to see him, both rushing to the door, and he bent down to make a fuss of them. Phoebe seemed a little agitated, kept running in circles, barking, while Bert, in his excitement to see Finn, started slobbering everywhere.

‘Have you no manners?’ Finn asked him, getting a big doggy grin in return. He shook his head, smiling as he got up, and went to the kitchen sink to wash the slime off his hand. Bert was definitely one of a kind.

Spotting Casey’s phone in the water, he frowned, heartbeat quickening as he fished it out. If she had dropped it, why was it still in there? He tapped at the screen, but knew already that it would be dead. It would certainly explain why he hadn’t been able to get hold of her.

‘Casey? Are you still in the bath?’

When there was still no answer, he wandered through the apartment and down the hallway to her bedroom. Nothing other than the phone seemed out of place, so why did he have a nagging feeling that something was off?

She wasn’t in the bedroom, though the joggers she had been wearing were discarded on the floor. Casey wasn’t messy. She would have picked them up. And on her dresser stood a glass of wine that had barely been touched.

He eased open the bathroom door, saw the tub was filled with water, though she wasn’t in there.

So where the fuck was she?

Something was definitely off.

She had promised him she wouldn’t leave her apartment. Had she opened the door to someone? Was it perhaps more innocent and she was with Zoe or Ricky? That didn’t explain her phone, though, or the discarded bathtub.

On a whim, he dipped his fingers into the water to check the temperature, a little knot of fear churning in his belly when he realised it was cold.

She wasn’t in the apartment, hadn’t emptied the bathtub, her wine glass was pretty much untouched and her phone had been in the sink. Something was definitely wrong.

And with the phone destroyed he had no way of contacting her.

Fuck! Where the hell are you, Casey?

As he turned to leave the bathroom, he caught his reflection in the cabinet mirror, saw the scrawled words on the glass, and froze.

Cap Pond. New neighbour knows where.

New neighbour? Was that his name, Cap Pond?

Casey wouldn’t have written on the mirror unless she was in trouble.

She had questioned who was living opposite her and Finn had intended to check it out, but he hadn’t got round to it. Idiot.

Right now he had tunnel vision, one sole focus, to find Casey, and he stormed out of the bathroom, out of the front door and across the landing to the neighbouring apartment, ringing the bell. When, after a few seconds there was no answer, he knocked loudly on the door.

Still nothing.

Was Casey inside? Did the bastard have her trapped in there?

He knocked again, jammed his finger against the bell, yelling through the door. ‘I know you’re in there and you’d better open up or I’ll break the door down.’

Robert Brown stared at the door, wondering what the hell to do.

He was pretty certain he knew exactly who was standing on the other side, suspected this had to do with the note Casey Fallon had dropped outside the door earlier this evening.

He had watched her get in her car and drive away, wondering why she had been in such an urgent rush and why she had rang the bell. The boyfriend wasn’t with her, but then his car wasn’t parked downstairs either, so Robert assumed he was already out.

He had opened the door with the view to letting himself into her apartment again, but then he heard the dog barking and remembered the cameras that had been installed. It wasn’t a smart idea.

As he turned to go back inside, he had spotted the tissue on the floor. He was about to discard it when he noticed words written on it, and he bent down for a closer look.

Please help me. Captain’s Pond. Dirt track past Hill. Call police. Tell them Casey Fallon in trouble.

He took the tissue back inside the apartment, pondering what he should do. Calling the police wasn’t an option. If he revealed his identity, told them where he was, they would soon learn that he had been squatting in the empty flat, and that would bring him a whole heap of trouble.

His previous employer had sacked him last year after the police had been called. He had lost his caretaking role after they discovered he had been breaking into the apartments with female residents and stealing their underwear. It had all been a huge nightmare that had resulted in him getting a suspended sentence and a ridiculous fine. He had struggled to get another job after that, subsequently couldn’t pay his rent and had eventually been kicked out of his flat. The unfairness of the situation sucked.

It had been after crashing on a friend’s sofa for two months that he had come up with the plan. He knew the apartment up on the top floor of Kimberley House was rented out, that the owner had been struggling to find a tenant due to the high rental charge he insisted on. The place had been empty for months and Robert had a spare set of keys for the building, having been shrewd enough to make copies before he had lost his job.

He would have to be discreet, couldn’t risk getting caught, but it would be a warm place to stay, he would have his own bed, and it would allow him time to get himself back on his feet.

He could use the main fire escape door on the first floor and if he kept his movements low-key, tried, where possible, to only exit and enter the building late at night, he should be able to avoid detection.

It had all worked well until he had encountered Casey Fallon. She was the newest resident and had no idea who he was. Still, she had flustered him that first night he had bumped into her, and he had lied, pretending he was a resident on the first floor, knowing it could make things difficult if she thought he was her direct neighbour.

Of course, it hadn’t helped that she was really pretty and he hadn’t been able to resist the urge to snoop. He had already been in her apartment that first day, watching her arrive with her friends, his dick hardening when he realised she would be living opposite him.

It wouldn’t harm anyone if he had a look around and took a pair of her knickers. Just the one pair and she would be none the wiser.

Except he hadn’t been able to stop himself at one pair. He had been in her apartment, had seen the cameras being installed by her friend and knew there was a good chance he would have been on them, though he had done his best to avoid detection when sneaking out. Now Casey’s boyfriend was banging on his door and Casey had dropped that bizarre note outside the apartment before fleeing

Robert suspected she was in trouble, knew her friend had been up to no good that day, walking round perfectly able without the aid of his walking stick. He didn’t want her to come to any harm, but he couldn’t go to the police.

Finn wasn’t giving up, though, and Robert knew he wasn’t going to go away. Somehow he had to find a way out of the apartment. There was a trellis beneath the bedroom window. Would it hold his weight if he tried to climb down?

He never got the chance to find out, as there was a loud bang and the door was suddenly thrown open, smacking back against the wall.

For a brief moment Robert locked eyes with Finn Murphy, saw anger first then recognition, understanding he was screwed. Still it didn’t stop him fleeing for the bedroom, Murphy hot on his tail, grabbing hold of him by the shirt collar as Robert scrambled to open the window, yanking him back, then pushing him hard up against the wall.

‘What the hell are you doing in here?’

Robert knew Finn recognised him, knew exactly who he was and what kind of trouble he was in, and his Adam’s apple bobbled. He had no defence and his initial reaction was one of panic. ‘Get your fucking hands off me.’ He had meant for his voice to sound menacing, threatening, but it came out as a high-pitched squeak.

‘You’re not supposed to be in this building.’

‘Let go of me.’

‘Tell me where the fuck Casey is.’

‘I don’t know.’

‘You don’t know?’ Finn’s tone was sceptical. ‘Well that’s funny, because she left me a message saying you do know where she is, so you’d better start talking.’

She had? Shit that wasn’t good. ‘She must have it wrong. I don’t even know her. Why would she tell me where she was going?’

Robert tried to discreetly glance over towards the bed, bowels knotting when he realised that the knickers he had stolen from Casey’s chest of drawers were sitting on the duvet.

Finn’s eyes narrowed as he followed his gaze, saw the underwear, and his frown deepened.

Seizing the opportunity while he was distracted, Robert shoved hard against him, breaking free and running for the hallway, back into the living room towards the open front door.

He was almost out of the apartment when Finn tackled him from behind, knocking him to the ground and pinning him down.

‘Tell me where the fuck she is!’

‘I don’t know. I swear.’

Robert’s face was pressed against the carpet, his arm twisted uncomfortably behind him. Finn had hold of his wrist and twisted it sharply, causing him to cry out in pain.

‘Tell me!’

‘Stop it. You’re hurting me. You’re supposed to be a police officer. I have rights.’

‘Yes you do. Let me make a call and my colleagues can deal with you.’

‘No, no! Please!’

‘Tell me where Casey is, then.’

‘I honestly don’t know.’

‘Stop fucking lying.’ Finn twisted Robert’s wrist again.

‘Ow, please. Okay, stop it. There was a note.’

‘Where?’

‘She left it outside the door. I never spoke to her.’

‘Where’s the note?’

‘Promise you will let me go and I will tell you.’

Another twist on his wrist. The pain shooting up his arm was agonising. ‘Tell me where the note is.’

‘Okay, okay. It’s in the bin beneath the kitchen counter.’

Finn obviously didn’t trust him, because he yanked Robert to his feet, keeping a firm grip on him as he marched him towards the kitchen area. ‘Get it.’

Robert reached down into the bin, found the screwed-up sheets of toilet paper, handing it to Finn, relieved when the brute let go of him. He toyed with bolting for the door as Finn unscrewed the ball of paper and read the scruffy black writing, his scowl intensifying, but thought better of it.

He fixed Robert with a cool blue stare. ‘How long ago did she leave this?’

‘I don’t know. Maybe an hour and a half ago, two hours perhaps.’

‘And she didn’t say anything? Didn’t have anyone with her?’

‘No, she was alone.’ Robert hesitated, debating whether to tell Finn the one thing he did actually know. He was screwed for sure, his temporary home compromised and the police would certainly be wanting to speak with him. But if he showed willing with Finn, if he helped him find Casey, maybe Finn would go easy on him, perhaps even put in a good word for him. It was worth a try. ‘There is something you should know though.’

‘Which is?’

‘There was someone in her apartment on Friday. He was fitting cameras and I think probably bugging devices.’

‘What?’ He had Finn’s attention now. This was good. This was important and could help him further down the line. ‘How do you know this?’

Ah, Robert had forgotten he would have to own up to being in Casey’s apartment. ‘I… umm, I was… I saw him in there.’

‘You broke into her apartment?’

‘I was hiding in the wardrobe.’ When Finn scowled, Robert hastily continued. ‘It was one of her friends. Ricky. She introduced us a few days ago. She was helping him down the stairs because the lift was out of order and he walked with a stick. When I saw him in her bedroom, though, I remember thinking it was odd, because he was walking normally.’

‘And he was putting up cameras?’

‘Yes. And he definitely didn’t need the stick.’

Finn glanced at the toilet paper again, before balling it up in his fist, taking a step back towards the door.

‘I helped you,’ Robert pointed out. ‘I didn’t have to. Remember that.’

He was talking to Finn’s back, watching as he bolted out of the apartment, and, as Robert let out a shaky breath, he couldn’t help but wonder exactly what kind of trouble Casey Fallon had got herself into.