The Life Thief

by Cherie Mitchell

  Alice shook her head. “I don’t want you to just pay me off so that I walk away. I want more than that from you.”

  “You’ve already admitted that you’ve been having an affair with my boyfriend. What else can you take from me?” She stared dumbly at Alice, finally noticing how much she’d altered her appearance to look like her – the dyed and straightened hair, the corporately styled clothes, the few extra pounds, the cat tattoo… It had been a slow and subtle change but the finished effect said it all.

  Alice’s smile this time was snaky and self-satisfied. “Keep clicking those pieces into place. I know you can do it.”

  “You want my life,” Becky said flatly. “You want to be me.”

  “Correct.” Alice gestured at Becky’s untouched coffee where it still sat where she’d placed it on the compact bedside cabinet. “Drink up. You don’t want to get yourself dehydrated. That won’t help with your focus.”

  “Why would you want to be me? Don’t you understand how difficult my life has been?” Becky stood up, only to abruptly sit down again when Alice lunged for the knife in her bag. She held her hands up in surrender. “You don’t need the knife. I’m not planning on doing anything stupid.”

  “Great. I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

  “How long do you plan on keeping me here?”

  Alice pressured her two thumbs together and measured the length of her thumbnails against each other. “How long do you wear your nails? I might need to trim mine.”

  “This is ridiculous. You can’t just become another person because you decide it’s a good idea.” She shook her head, even more frustrated now. “Why me? There are plenty of people with more exciting lives than mine.”

  “I don’t need an exciting life. I want a comfortable, happy life, a life exactly like yours. Look at you and look what you have. You’re pretty and popular, you own a successful business, you live in a gorgeous house, and you have a hot, sexy boyfriend.”

  “Had a boyfriend. And I no longer find him remotely hot or sexy.” A nasty thought slunk across her mind. “Did you give Michael herpes?”

  Alice looked so offended that Becky had no doubt her disgust was genuine. “Yuck, that’s a revolting thing to say. No, I didn’t. I don’t have any STD’s.”

  “Don’t speak too soon. Michael has genital herpes and he gave it to me. See your doctor if your bits start feeling weird.” She remembered she hadn’t taken her antibiotics this morning. “Alice, can I get my handbag out of the car? I’m on medication and I need my tablets.”

  “What do you mean, he has herpes? He never told me.”

  Becky snorted. “He didn’t tell me either and I was supposed to be his only sexual partner. He’s a liar, Alice. What else hasn’t he told you?”

  A flicker of doubt wavered across Alice’s face. “I think you’re lying.”

  “Fine, suit yourself. However, if you let me get my handbag out of the car you’ll see the antibiotics the doctor prescribed for me. I also have a topical cream and I need that too.”

  “I can’t let you go to the car. You’re staying here.” Alice picked up her own handbag and slung it over her arm. “I’ll get your medication. Don’t try anything while I’m gone. It will only make things worse for yourself.”

  Becky gave her what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “I won’t try anything. What could I do?”

  Alice walked over to the drawers under the counter and yanked them open. She bundled the dinner knives and forks into her handbag, eyeing Becky warily. “Nothing personal. I just don’t want you trying to be a hero when it isn’t necessary.”

  “Trust me, I’m no hero.” A long-buried memory of the fear she’d felt before she dragged the razor across her wrist resurfaced to taunt and goad her. She needed to keep control of something, anything before she began to unravel. 3, 2, 1. “Can you get my pills for me? Please.”

  “I’ll be back soon. I guess your house keys are still in the car ignition. Do you need anything from inside the house while I’m gone?” That same snaky, self-satisfied grin again spread across her face. “Perhaps you’d like me to bring your lovely candles back to the pool house? It might make things cozier out here for you.”

  “No.” Becky’s heart skipped a beat as the realization thudded home. “It was you? You broke into my house and left me the note?”

  “I didn’t break in. There was no need. I simply opened the unlocked door and walked in. The apple pie candles smelled glorious. I couldn’t resist lighting them.”

  “Do you realize how fucked up that is?”

  Again, she narrowed her eyes into hateful slits. “Watch your mouth. There’s no need to use that language with me. You’re not my boss anymore and you never will be again. I’m the one calling the shots now.” She flounced over to the door and unlocked it. “I’ll be back in ten minutes. I need to make a phone call while I’m out there.”

  As soon as Alice locked the door behind her, Becky jumped up from the bed and ran across to the window. She watched as Alice skipped across the lawn and disappeared around the side of the house before she grabbed for the door handle and twisted it with both hands. She shoved and pulled, hoping against hope that the lock would give. When the door refused to budge, she looked wildly around the pool house for something she could use as a weapon. The bedside lamp? The microwave? But Alice would look through the window before she opened the door and see it in her hands.

  She sagged back down onto the bed, feeling hopeless and afraid. Was she destined to play out the terror she’d been through with Tony Everett all over again? She dug her nails into her palms, forcing herself to concentrate. Focus, Alice had said. No, this was nothing like what had happened with Tony Everett. She would not be a victim again. Alice could hold her here but she couldn’t control her. Anyway, someone would come looking for her soon. Sasha would certainly wonder about her if she didn’t turn up at the office in the morning and if her phone went unanswered for too long there would be other people starting to ask questions.

  Feeling more confident now, Becky focused on steadying her breathing. She had to stay calm and rational. She needed to convince Alice she was on her side. She could get through this, and she would get through this. 3, 2, 1.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Alice was subdued when she returned to the pool house. She locked the door behind her, tossed Becky her tablets, and sat down moodily on the sofa. Becky cautiously walked across to the sink to get herself a glass of water. “Is everything all right, Alice?”

  “Why should you care?” Alice glared at her. “You’ve never bothered to ask how I am before now. Not like Sasha. She’s so caring and warm-hearted. I don’t even know how the two of you can be friends.”

  “We’ve been friends for a very long time, since we met at school. And I do care, even if I’ve often been too busy to show it.” Watch your step, Becky. Don’t make her angry.

  “I tried to be your friend,” Alice continued. “You have such a cold, aloof side. It’s not very pleasant and it makes you unapproachable at times. You need to work on that.”

  “You’re right and I probably do. However, my past experiences have shown me that I need to be careful with my emotions. I know I’m guarded, especially around people who I don’t know very well.” She walked back to her seat on the bed, keeping her voice light and friendly. She had to make sure she remained non-confrontational. “Tell me about you. What life experiences have shaped you?”

  “My life hasn’t been easy.” She tipped her head forward and pulled at a strand. “I was homeless for a while.”

  “I’m sorry.” Becky remembered how she’d hoarded the toiletries at the retreat. “Did that happen recently?”

  “Yes.” She stood up and began to pace. “I hated it. Everyone walks past and looks at you with such pity. I don’t want pity. I’ve never wanted pity.”

  “I can understand that. Do you have somewhere to live now?”

  “Yes. I’m living in a shared house in the city.”

&nbs
p; “Well done. I’m proud of you, Alice.”

  “I never thought I’d end up on the streets but that’s twice now that I’ve had nowhere to live. I don’t ever want to go through that again. I had a drug addiction but I’ve managed to overcome it. I spent time in rehab last year. That’s something else you wouldn’t understand. You have no idea what’s like.” She was still pacing as she relayed her story in short, terse sentences and it was making Becky nervous.

  “I do know what it’s like. I was involved with heavy drugs when I was younger. As I said to you earlier, my life hasn’t always been easy either. You can form a false opinion of other people’s lives when you’re looking in from the outside.”

  “But you made turning your life around look easy.”

  Becky frowned. “How would you know? You didn’t know me back then. You don’t know what I went through.”

  Alice kept talking as if she hadn’t spoken. “I met someone who knows you while I was in rehab. He had so many good things to say about you. You made quite an impression on him. The way he spoke about you made an impression on me.” She spun around to face Becky. “I knew I had to be your friend.”

  Becky’s stomach gurgled painfully. She was almost certain she knew who Becky was talking about. Tony was out of prison now, he had been for some time, but she knew that his release conditions meant he had to continue with counseling and rehabilitation. “Who did you meet in rehab?”

  “A man who once knew you very well. Tony Everett is his name. He’s a little intense but I liked him all the same.”

  Becky laid her hand on her stomach in an attempt to make it stop with that sickening lurching. It made her skin crawl to think of Tony talking about her with other people. Even after all this time, he was still able to interfere with her life. “Is that why you decided to come and find me? Because of the things Tony said?”

  Alice nodded. “He thinks very highly of you, despite it being your fault that he was locked up. I needed to meet you and see this paragon of virtue for myself.”

  “He told you it was my fault he went to prison? Alice, do you know that he nearly killed me?”

  Alice returned to her pacing. “I guess it’s a matter of perspective.”

  A matter of perspective? The woman was insane. Becky watched her as she circled the confines of the pool house. “Did Tony know that you intended to become my friend?” My stalker.

  “No. He had no clue. I didn’t tell him of my plans. I wasn’t even sure of my plans myself until I saw the wonderful life that you’d created.” She smiled but there was no warmth in the gesture. “That’s when I knew I wanted what you had.”

  Becky exhaled slowly. This was worse than she’d imagined. Alice had spoken to Tony and built up a false idea of who she was, an impression that then drove her to want the life she imagined Becky had. Alice had infiltrated her daily life, changed her appearance to match Becky’s, broken into her house, gained a position of trust in her business, and seduced her boyfriend. And now she’d kidnapped her. Who knew what she would do next?

  Alice suddenly clapped her hands together, startling Becky half out of her skin. “Are you hungry? I might order us something.”

  “I’m not hungry but you go right ahead. My stomach doesn’t feel good. Use my credit card. It’s in my handbag in the car.”

  Alice nodded. She picked up her handbag again and silently left the pool house. Becky hurried to the window to watch her walk back across the yard. She looked frantically around the room although she already knew there was nothing in here that could help her. She considered banging on the door and yelling but Alice might come back at any moment. Besides, that kind of noise would only start the Beechfields’ dog barking, drowning out her own voice, and no one ever paid any attention to the dratted animal’s barking.

  Becky tried pulling and jostling at the door again, hoping the lock would give, but it remained firm. She walked in circles around the room, following the same path as the one that Alice had paced earlier. She felt claustrophobic and close to screaming. It made her feel ill to think of Alice watching everything she did and then trying to emulate it. 3, 2, 1. She walked into the small bathroom and ran cold water over her wrists. Breathe, Becky.

  She walked back into the room and lay down on the bed, pulling the cover up over her legs. The wind had grown stronger outside and the earlier sun had disappeared behind a cloud. It was getting noticeably colder and the pool house had no heating. Heating had never been necessary as the room was only ever used during the hot summer months. She started to shiver and she found she couldn’t stop. Was she in shock? She tucked her hands between her knees and curled herself into a ball. Alice had to let her out eventually. She couldn’t keep her here forever. 3, 2, 1.

  A key turned in the door twenty minutes later and Becky quickly sat up as Alice shoved it open. She stuck her head into the room but she didn’t bother coming in any further. “I’ve decided to stay in the house. It’s warmer in there. I’ll see you in the morning.” She slammed and locked the door, leaving Becky in silence once more.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  “Do you smoke?” Alice had magicked a packet of cigarettes from somewhere and was now unsuccessfully attempting to light a cigarette. Becky bit down hard on her bottom lip rather than scold her for smoking inside the pool house. She hadn’t slept a wink last night, sitting cold and shivering on the bed for much of that time. The air in the room already felt stuffy and stale without adding expelled tobacco smoke to the mix.

  “No I don’t smoke and I didn’t think you did either.” She pushed the plate that Alice had given her aside. She remembered buying that banana last week and it was well past its best. She’d rather go hungry than eat either that or the wedge of dubious cheese that Alice had decided was to be her late breakfast or her early lunch.

  “It’s just something I’m trying out.” Alice finally, clumsily, lit up. She took a drag, holding it only for an instant before she choked and wheezed spectacularly.

  Becky patiently waited for her coughing fit to finish. “You don’t need to try any other personalities on for size, Alice. You’re perfect and unique just as you are.”

  “Yeah. So they say.” Alice gave up on the cigarette and stubbed it out in her coffee cup.

  “Sasha will wonder why I’m not at work today. Can I phone her?”

  “You don’t need to. I left a message on her voicemail late yesterday afternoon. I said you’d asked me to drop you to the airport because everything had become too much for you and you needed to take a few days out to regroup.”

  “Sasha knows I’d never do such a thing without talking to her first!”

  Alice shrugged. “Perhaps she doesn’t know you as well as she thinks she does. Even the best of friends don’t tell each other everything.”

  Becky recalled Sasha’s surprising admission that she and Chad had broken up for a short while and both seen other people during that time. Maybe Alice was right. Sasha would be annoyed by the message but then again, Becky had done something similar before, back during that terrible time when she was trying to get over Tony. She hadn’t jumped on a plane then but she had taken herself off to her parents’ cabin without giving anyone any notice of what she intended to do.

  Alice pulled the knife out of her bag and began to clean her fingernails with the tip. Becky considered leaping on her and wrestling the knife out of her hand but she didn’t have enough faith that she would emerge the victor. She was running out of options. She was alone with a mad woman and she was clutching at straws. “I forgot to feed my cat when I left home yesterday morning. He’s probably starving by now. I’ll bet he’s missing me.” Becky knew that Alice had a cat. Perhaps she’d be more sympathetic toward the plight of Becky’s pet than she was toward Becky herself.

  “Your little black cat is just fine. I gave him some of his favorite food this morning, along with some cat kibble to tide him over. He has such a sweet purr. It reminds me of a sewing machine.”

  “Lucifer. His name is
Lucifer.” Becky held up her wrist to show off her tattoo, running her fingers lightly over the faint bumps of her scar. “You told me your tattoo was in honor of your own cat. What’s his name?”

  “He ran away.” Alice poked the knife back into her bag and examined her nails again. “It’s hard keeping a pet when you’re homeless.”

  “I can understand that. Did your cat look like Lucifer?” Did you come to my house and steal Lucifer away? Were you the homeless girl who kept a cat in a cage? Were you the girl who the woman in the convenience store saw?

  “No. Tootsie Roll had a large white patch under his chin.” She tipped her own chin up to demonstrate. “Right here.”

  “He sounds lovely. You said that Lucifer’s purr reminds you of a sewing machine. Do you sew?” She’d fallen into the familiar pattern of her sales patter now, asking questions in an attempt to build rapport. She needed Alice to think she was no threat to her.

  “I used to. When I was a young girl.” Alice stared dreamily out the window. “My Mom sewed before she was hospitalized. She made me some fabulous clothes and she taught me how to make cushions and patchwork quilts for my bedroom.”

  “Why was she hospitalized?” Becky asked softly.

  “She’d always struggled with her mental health.” Alice touched her hand to her temple. “She hated taking her medication but she wasn’t herself without it.”