Chapter 4 Chapter Four

Ashley Paterson was hurrying to the shower because she was going to be late for work.Then she heard the voice.A door is opening?In close?She turned off the shower and listened, her heart pounding.silence.She stood there for a moment, her body glistening with dripping water, and then stepped cautiously into the bedroom.Everything seems normal.It's my stupid imagination again.I have to get dressed.She opened the drawer of her underwear and stared down at it with some doubts.Someone flipped her underwear.She has bras and pantyhose piled together.She always keeps them clearly separated. Ashley Paterson felt a sudden nausea in her stomach.Did he unzip his pants, grab her pantyhose, and rub them against himself?Was he fantasizing about raping her?Rape her and kill her?She was having trouble breathing.I should go to the police, but they will laugh at me.

You want us to look into this because you think someone got into your underwear drawer? Someone has been following me. Who have you met? No. Has anyone ever threatened you? No. Do you know why someone would want to hurt you? have no idea. It doesn't work.Ashley thought desperately.I can't go to the police station.Those are the questions they'll ask me, and I'll look like a fool. She dressed as quickly as she could, suddenly desperate to escape the apartment.I will have to move.I'm moving where he can't find me. But even when she thought so, she still felt that this was impossible.He knows where I live, he knows where I work.And what do I know about him?do not know anything.

She refuses to put a gun in the apartment because she hates violence.But I need some protection now, Ashley thought.She went into the kitchen, picked up a steak knife, took it to the bedroom, and put it in the dresser next to her bed. It can't be me messing up my underwear, it's probably my hallucination. ※※※ Downstairs in the foyer there was a letter in her mailbox.The return address is "Bedford Regional High School, Bedford County, Pennsylvania". Ashley read the invitation letter twice. ※※※ As she drove to work, Ashley thought about the invitation. "Everyone is looking forward to meeting you." Everyone but Jim Cleary, she thought bitterly.

"I'm going to marry you. My uncle has offered me a pretty good job at his advertising agency in Chicago. . . . There's a train for Chicago at seven o'clock. Will you come with me?" She remembered the pain of waiting eagerly for Jim at the train station, trusting him, relying on him.He had changed his mind, and he was too manly to come and tell her.Instead, he left her waiting alone at the train station.Forget about that invitation letter.I will not go. Ashley joins Shane Miller for lunch on "TGI Fridays."They sat in a booth and ate in silence. "You seem absent-minded," Shane said.

"Sorry." Ashley hesitated for a moment.She kind of wanted to tell him about the underwear, but it would sound silly.Someone got into your drawer?So, she said: "I received an invitation letter asking me to attend the reunion of middle school classmates on the 10th anniversary of my graduation." "Are you going?" "Of course not." The tone of the words was much stronger than Ashley intended. Shane Miller looked at her curiously. "Why not? Those events would be fun." Will Jim Cleary be there?Will he have a wife and children?What would he say to her? "I'm sorry I couldn't meet you at the train station. I'm sorry I lied to you about marrying you."

"I will not go." ※※※ But Ashley couldn't get the invitation out of her mind.It would be nice to meet a few of my old classmates, she thought.Several were close friends of hers.Especially Florence Schiffer.I can't think of what's going on with her now.And she wondered if Bedford City had changed. Ashley Paterson grew up in Bedford, Pennsylvania.This small town is located in the Allegheny Mountains, two hours east of Pittsburgh, and her father is the president of Bedford County Memorial Hospital, one of the best 100 hospitals in the country. Bedford is a great place for kids to grow up.There are parks for picnics, rivers for fishing and a year-round social program.She liked to go over the great valley, where there was a colony of the Amen sect. .It is not uncommon to see Amenite one-horse buggies, which have canopies of varying colors, depending on the orthodoxy of the owner.

There's also a Mystery Village Evening, lively theater and the Great Pumpkin Festival.Ashley smiled as she thought of the good times she had there.Maybe I'll go back, she thought.Jim Cleary would not have had the courage to show up. Ashley tells Shane Miller about her decision. "It's a week to Friday," she said, "and I'll be back on Sunday night." "Great, let me know when you're coming. I'll pick you up at the airport." "Thank you, Shane." ※※※ After returning from lunch, Ashley went into her cubicle and turned on her computer.To her surprise, a burst of pixels suddenly began to roll down the screen, and an image appeared at the same time.She stared at it, bewildered.Those dots are forming a picture of her.While Ashley was watching in horror, a hand holding a butcher knife appeared at the top of the screen.That hand was stabbing at her image, ready to stab the knife into her heart.

Ashley screamed, "No!" She snapped off the monitor and jumped to her feet. Shane Miller had rushed to her side. "Ashley! What's going on?" She was shaking all over. "There...on that screen..." Shane turned on the computer.There is an image of a kitten chasing a line graph around a field of green grass. Shane turned to Ashley, puzzled. "what?" "It's...it's gone," she whispered. "What disappeared?" She shook her head. "It's nothing. I... I've been on high levels lately, Shane. I'm sorry." "Why don't you go talk to Dr. Spiekman?"

Ashley had previously seen Dr. Spiekerman, the company psychiatrist hired to counsel computer whizzes who were overwhelmed by the stress of work.He's not a doctor who treats ailments, but he's very intelligent and empathetic, so it's helpful to have a talk with him. "I'll go," Ashley said. ※※※ Dr. Ben Speakman is in his fifties, a veteran of the Fountain of Youth.His office home is a peaceful oasis at the other end of the building, relaxing and comfortable. "I had a nightmare last night," Ashley said, closing her eyes and remembering. "I was running and running and I was in a big garden full of flowers...they had weird, ugly faces...they were shouting at me...I couldn't hear what they were saying. I just Keep running towards something...I don't know what..." She stopped and opened her eyes.

"Are you running from something? Is something chasing you?" "I don't know, I... I think I'm being followed, Dr. Spiekman. It sounds absurd, but... I think someone's trying to kill me." He looked at her for a while, "Who would want to kill you?" "I... I don't know." "Did you ever see anyone following you?" "No." "You live alone, don't you?" "yes." "Are you meeting someone? I mean dating?" "No. Not yet." "So for a while you—I mean sometimes a woman doesn't have a man in her life—well, the body can create some kind of tension..."

What he's trying to tell me is that I need to really... She just can't bring herself to say that word.She could hear her father berating her: "Don't say that word again! People will think you're a little slut. Well-bred people don't talk about sex. Where did you get that?" "I think you've been working too hard, Ashley. I don't think you have anything to worry about. Maybe it's just the tension. Do something lighter during this time. Get some rest." "I'll try to do it." Shane Miller was waiting for her. "What did Dr. Spiekman say?" Ashley forced a smile. "He said I'm fine. I'm just tired from working all the time." "Well, we've got to do something about it," Shaney said. "For a start, why don't you take the rest of the day off?" There was concern in his voice. "Thank you." She looked at him and smiled.He is a lovely person.a good friend. He couldn't be that one, Ashley thought.He can't. For the next week, Ashley couldn't think of anything but the party.I wonder if it was a mistake that I went?What if Jim Cleary did show up?Does he know how much he hurt me?Does he mind?Will he remember me? The night before Ashley left for Bedford, she couldn't sleep.She wants to cancel the air trip.How silly of me, she thought.Let the past be the past. When Ashley picked up her ticket at the airport, she checked it and said: "I'm afraid something went wrong, I'm going in economy. It's a first class ticket." "Yes, you changed it." She glared at the clerk. "Me what?" "You called to change your ticket to first class." He showed Ashley a note. "Is this your credit card number?" She looked at it and said slowly, "Yes..." She never made that call. ※※※ It was still early when Ashley arrived in Bedford, and she checked into the "Springs Resort" hotel in Bedford.The reunion festivities don't start until six in the evening.So she decided to walk around the city, and she hailed a taxi in front of the hotel. "Where are you going, miss?" "We just wandered around." A native who returns after being away from his hometown for many years often feels that his hometown is much smaller.But to Ashley, Bedford looked bigger than she remembered.The taxi weaves on familiar streets, past the Bedford Gazette newspaper office, WKYE TV station and a dozen familiar restaurants and art galleries.The Bedford Bakery is still there, as is Clara Square, the Ford Bedford Museum and Old Bedford Village.They passed Memorial Hospital, an elegant three-story brick building with a porch.It was there that her father became famous. She thought again of all those horrible scenes between her mother and father.These quarrels have always been about the same thing.About what?She can't remember. ※※※ At five o'clock Ashley returned to her hotel room.She changed clothes three times before finally deciding what to wear.She decided on a simple and lovely black suit. When Ashley walked into the festively decorated Bedford Regional High School gym, she found herself surrounded by a hundred and twenty strangers who seemed to have known each other.Some of her old schoolmates had almost faded away, others hadn't changed much.Ashley was looking for someone: Jim Cleary.Will he change a lot?Will he bring his wife with him?People were walking towards Ashley. "Ashley, I'm Trant Watson and you look stunning!" "Thank you. You too, Tranter." "I want you to meet my wife..." ※※※ "Ashley, it's you, isn't it?" "Yes, uh..." "Art. Art Davis. Remember me?" "Of course." He was dressed poorly and looked very stiff. "Is everything all right, Art?" "Well, you know I tried to be an engineer, but it didn't work out." "Unfortunately." "Yes. Anyway, I became a famous technician." ※※※ "Ashley! I'm Lenny Holland. My God, you look so beautiful!" "Thank you, Lenny." He had grown fat, and he wore a huge diamond ring on his little finger. "I'm in real estate now, and I'm doing pretty well. Have you ever been married?" Ashley hesitated. "No." "Remember Nicky Brant? We got married. We had twins." "congratulations." ※※※ It's amazing how much people can change in ten years.Some of them have gained weight, some have lost weight... some have developed, and some have fallen into poverty.Some are married, some are divorced... some are parents, some are childless... The time at night is slowly passing away, and the meal, music, and dancing are very lively.Ashley chatted with her old schoolmates and found out how they were doing, but her thoughts were on Jim Cleary.Still no sign of him.He's not coming, she decided.He knew I might come, and he was afraid to face me. A striking woman came toward her. "Ashley! I've been wishing I'd see you." It was Florence Schiffer.Ashley was so happy to see her.Florence had been one of her closest friends.The two of them found a table in the corner where they could talk. "You look stunning, Florence," Ashley said. "You too. I'm sorry I'm late. The child is not well. I've been married and divorced since the last time I saw you. I'm talking about friends with Mr. Windford. How are you? Graduation party Then you disappeared. I tried to find you, but you left town." "I went to London," Ashley said. "My father put me through college there. We left here the morning after our graduation party." "I tried everything I could think of to find you. The detectives thought I might know where you were. They were looking for you because you left with Jim Cleary." Ashley said slowly, "Detective?" "Yes. Those who investigate murders." Ashley felt her face gradually losing its color. "What... murder?" Florence stared at her. "My God! Don't you know?" "Know what?" Ashley asked eagerly, "What are you talking about?" "The day after graduation night, Jim's parents came home and found his body. He was stabbed to death and ... castrated." The room began to spin.Ashley gripped the edge of the table.Florence took her arm. "I...I'm sorry, Ashley. I thought you'd read about it, but, of course...you've been to London." Ashley covered her eyes tightly with her hands.She saw herself sneaking out of the house that night toward Jim Cleary's house.But she turned and went home to wait for him the next morning.If only I had gone to his place that night, Ashley thought sadly.He's still alive, and I've hated him all these years.Oh my God.Who would have killed him?who is it? She could hear her father's voice: "You don't fucking touch my daughter, understand? If I ever see you here again, I'll break every bone in your body." She stood up. "You'll have to forgive me, Florence, I—I don't feel well." Ashley fled. detective.They must have contacted the father.Why didn't he tell me? She caught the earliest flight back to California.It was morning when she fell asleep.She had a nightmare.A man standing in the dark is thrusting Jim hard and screaming at him.The man stepped into the light. It's her father.