NINETEEN
They kept him at the police station for almost two hours. By the time he got back, Steve’s eyes were full of grit and every muscle ached. He flopped down on the nearest chair and sat silent for a long time, the house quiet, everyone in bed. Any ideas of sliding between Samantha’s legs played little part in his thoughts. He went upstairs and she was already asleep and did not stir when he slipped in beside her.
He spent a long time staring at the ceiling, wondering how things could have turned this way. At last, he did sink into sleep; his dreams were dark and frightening, of n***d bodies drenched in blood, of howling faces, wind-lashed trees stripped bare of leaves. He awoke sometime in the night, sweat dripping from his body and he crawled out into the coldness, took a shower a
