He quickly walks back and squats down in front of her.

"Are you OK?"

Evy nods.

"That's good. Let me help you up."

He gently takes hold of her arm and lifts her back on her feet. She holds on to him and looks him in the eye.

"What do you know about me?"

"Too much. I've known you for longer than you can imagine."

They look at each other for a long time without saying anything, before Marc finally lets go of her and takes a step back.

"I'll call the police to report this."

"I threw away your card. Can I have another one?"

He examines her face for a while before he puts his hand in his pocket and takes out a card. He takes her hand and place the card in it.

"I've changed my number."

She looks at the card.

"Photographer?"

"Hmm. I've seen too much as a private investigator."

Then he looks past her and nods his head in the direction of the alley.

"Something tells me this won't end well. I got part of the license plate number. Maybe the police can use that."

Evy nods and straightens her dress. Marc gets out his phone as he examines his camera. He looks at her.

"It's OK."

Evy looks up from her dress and looks at him dialing the number. She keeps looking at him as he introduces himself and starts walking toward the alley before disappearing around the corner. With a sad look on her face Evy looks down at the shoes in her hand, and then she looks back toward the alley.

"Maybe he knows me too well."

She looks back at the corner again, but she can't see him. Only hear his voice. Then she runs. This time she feels the small stones every time her feet hit the pavement.

Chapter 30.

"Hi."

Evy's voice is confident and her make-up is fresh.

"Hi."

Evy can smell him again. In the street light he's even more attractive than he was inside.

"I need a place to sleep."

"Somehow, I don't believe you."

He laughs.

"But OK. If you need an excuse."

He takes her hand and hails a cab. Without realizing it Evy presses herself against him, and she's filled by a warm feeling. He turns to her and kisses her. She pulls away a little and looks intensely at him.

"You said earlier that you didn't make much money. Would you like me to pay?

He laughs again.

"No, tonight is my night off. I'm Pat by the way."

A movement wakes Evy up and she slowly opens her eyes. She doesn't recognize the room and the furniture looks worn, but it's clean and things have been placed in the room with care. The sheets crackle and she can hear someone snoring faintly. She can see herself in the mirror on the closet doors. For the first time since the incident with James, she doesn't mind her own reflection. For the first time it confirms that she is strong. Behind her there's a man, well-built, tall and muscular, and for the first time in a long time she doesn't feel threatened or nervous. She looks at her reflection for a long time before she turns around and sniffs. "The scent is still there. Hmm. Only a little different." She smiles, "smells a little more masculine than last night." She smiles, "more authentic somehow." She looks around.

"I'm taking part in life now. Not just being a spectator."

She whispers as she lies there without moving. Afraid to wake up and find out it was just a dream.

"Good morning."

He looks at her in the mirror with curiosity.

"Good morning."

She speaks slowly and almost finds it hard to get the words out. He turns toward her and brushes a hair away from her face.

"Sleep well?"

She presses her cheek against his hand and the scent fills her with memories from their night together. He looks at her and smiles as he moves closer to her and kisses her. His finger moves over her chin and over her scar.

"I'm glad they didn't succeed."

Evy looks away.

"Don't ask. Not now."

"But I still have one question."

She pulls away from him.

"I really don't want to tell that story right now."

"You don't have to. Don't you recognize me?"

He smiles and pulls her closer.

"Hmm, I guess not. I kept you waiting in an old, rusty car for over an hour."

She looks more closely at his face.

"Before I took you home."

He kisses her pa.s.sionately and she kisses him back before pushing him away.

"That was you?!"

"Hmmm."

He covers her mouth with his lips again and after a while she kisses him back.

Chapter 31.

The morning quickly turns into noon and a lunch consisting of a cup of coffee. Evy's thoughts start focusing on James.

"I have to go now."

"Why?"

She looks at him for a long time. Behind his back she catches her own reflection. She feels an intense anger and recognizes it in the mirror. Her eyes are no longer empty, but contain something she can't find the words for.

"I just have to go."

"That's strange."

"Strange?"

He shrugs and looks at her. She thinks of her reflection and looks down, hoping that he hasn't seen it too.

"There's something I have to do."

"Can't it wait?"

"No."

He shrugs again and looks away. Evy looks up and meets her own eyes in the mirror once again. They stare back at her with a fire she has never seen before.

"There's something I have to do."

She straightens her purple dress as she watches herself in the mirror. He's also looking at her, but she doesn't care. Doesn't care at all. She b.u.t.tons the rest of her b.u.t.tons and looks at him.

"Goodbye."

He stares at her but she walks over to the door without looking at him. She has a strange feeling that she'll never see him again. The door closes with a click that reverberates in the building, and the sound of her heels follows her until she reaches the door to the street. Evy stops outside the door and looks down the street when she suddenly realizes that she knows the neighborhood from her childhood. A neighborhood she had felt at home in. She looks up.

"I'm home."

Surprised, she looks down the street again before looking at her watch. Then she hails a cab. In the cab she kicks off her shoes and pulls her leg up under her. It's only a five minute drive and then she's in front of the yellow house. She smiles, pays the cab driver, and puts her shoes back on. Standing on the sidewalk she suddenly feels out of place. She's wearing her evening dress and her high heeled patent leather shoes. She looks around. The trees are taller, the neighbor has felled an apple tree that used to stand next to the garden gate. She hears footsteps and the neighbor walks up to her with his dachshund whose walk is slow, matching the grey spots in its fur.

"Good morning."

Evy manages to make her voice sound friendly. The neighbor looks at her and hesitates before he answers her with a mumble. He walks through his garden gate looking back at her. She turns around and starts to walk up the garden path. When she stops, she sees that the neighbor is still looking at her, but then he pulls at the dachshund and disappears around the corner with the dog in tow. When she was little she used to sneak over to the neighbor to look at the large rock in their backyard. She had felt a strong urge to touch the rock that she could see through the hole in the hedge. He had never discovered her and the rock had been soft and warm in spite of its rough surface. The innocence of childhood. She smiles sadly before she turns around and looks at the house in front of her. The garden path is almost totally overgrown and the yellow paint is peeling off. Some of the boards on the porch have turned rather fragile, but the house still has some pride. The same pride that her mother had carried for all of them until Linda's death. Then she had fallen apart, but the house had stayed with a minimum of decay. It's obvious that no one has lived in the house for a while and the bank had been thrilled to sell it to her. She looks at the house for a long time.

"It's almost as if it's been waiting."

She takes off her shoes and steps out on the cold gra.s.s. A feeling of joy fills her at the sensation of her bare feet against the gra.s.s. She smiles when she sees that someone has fixed the swing. It's no longer bright red and yellow but dark green and the paint is peeling. Slowly and cautiously she opens the little gate and gets on the swing. It doesn't break even though the ropes complain a little. She sits there for a long time, silent and withdrawn as she peels of some of the paint so the bright red and yellow colors shine through in some places. There's a bird in front of her searching for food. It looks up at her from time to time before it searches on. Evy finally opens her bag and takes out her phone. It takes a while before she finds the business card that Marc gave her the night before. She dials his number. A few seconds pa.s.s and then she recognizes his voice.

After a while, she clears her throat.

"h.e.l.lo. Who is it?"

She stares straight ahead.

"Evy?"

Startled, she takes the phone away from her ear.

"Evy. Where are you? Are you in trouble?"

She slowly puts the phone back to her ear.

"How did you recognize my voice?"

"Evy, don't you remember how I've made a living all these years?"

Evy nods.

"You don't just forget that."

Evy is silent as she watches a bird land a few feet away.