Rage (26 page)

"In the room opposite..." commented Maria, gesturing towards the attic, "in my knapsack... take a
look... I made so many little toys for him... some of
them worked out all right too..."

Then Rosa came to and reacted. She got up, switching
from a kind of stupor to highly strung nervousness, and
began pacing from one side of the room to the other,
considering what to do.

"Last night I finally realized all that was going on. It
was when I was talking to you and I heard the Senor
calling out for the Senora... but I couldn't bring myself
to come up to the attic..." she shook her head. "Nighttime makes it easier to get out from here... I'll bring
you something to eat, along with a glass of water, and
I'll keep the door closed, and this evening we'll review
how you're getting along and what we need to do to get
out of here..."

Her ingenuity was touching. Maria was just finishing
explaining to her that he had been there all along,
and she was begging him to leave before another night
should elapse. All in all, she was absolutely correct
and rational: now she had discovered him, now he was
no longer a phantasm, a suspicion, a possibility or a
shadow, anyone else could just as well discover him
too.

Rosa left the room. She closed the door, leavingJoselito
on the inside, and set off downstairs at full speed.

Joselito was sitting on the floor, surrounded by torn
and crumpled pages.

`Joselito..." Maria called out in a thin thread of a
voice.

Joselito lifted his head and smiled broadly at him.

"Don't destroy that book any more..." Maria told him.
"Come... come with me, Joselito... come here a minute
with your dad..."

Joselito got up. It was hard work, but he got up. However, he remained rooted to the spot until Maria told
him that he was going to tell him a secret.

Then he went over to him.

"Get up here, Joselito..." Maria said to him, patting
his own chest by way of invitation. "Get up here and give
me a hug..."

Joselito grabbed hold of Maria's shirt. Maria helped
him clamber up, placing one hand under his behind
and hauling him upwards, untilJoselito fell on his belly
onto his father's chest.

He hugged him.

It was an incredibly tender embrace, even though
it demanded all his strength. Afterwards, while he invented a secret in order not to disappoint him, he shut
his eyes and thought of Rosa.

He realized that he knew nothing at all about her.
Did she have brothers and sisters? What was her first
lover called? Were her parents still alive? He had no
idea if she had a middle name... He was ignorant of
the date of her birthday... He hadn't the least notion
of what scared her, nor what she wanted from life...
or from him. He had never asked what plans she had
for the future... He wasn't even certain that she had
plans...

Had he fallen in love with Rosa that day in the Disco
supermarket? Or did that happen later, when he entered
the villa... born of his secret, of the impossibility of
being together with her?

Had he ever offered her anything at any time?

Did he know who Rosa was? No. In one sense, he had
invented her. That wounded him. He felt the pain and
decided that yes, in all likelihood he had invented her.
But he would die with her son in his arms.

BACK TO THE COAST

Saskia Noort

Maria is a young singer with money problems, two children from failed
relationships and a depressive ex-boyfriend. Faced with another pregnancy, she decides not to keep the baby, but after the abortion, threatening letters start to arrive. She flees from Amsterdam to her sister's
house by the coast, a place redolent with memories of a childhood she
does not want to revisit. But when the death threats follow her to her
hiding place, Maria begins to fear not only for her life, but also for her
sanity.

Saskia Noort is a bestselling author of literary thrillers. She has sold
over a million copies of her first three novels.

PRAISE FOR SASKIA NOORT
AND THE DINNER CLUB

"A mystery writer of the heart as much as of the mind, a balance that marks her work with a flesh-and-blood humanity."
Andrew Pyper, author of The Wildfire Season

"Affairs, deceit, manipulation, tax dodges and murder
- there's nothing Noort shies away from stirring into the mix,
nicely showing off the sinister side of the suburbs." Time Out

"While there are echoes of Desperate Housewives here, this is
closer to Mary Higgins Clark and is a good bet for her fans."
Library Journal Reaieu,,

THE VAMPIRE OF ROPRAZ

Jacques Chessex

Jacques Chessex, winner of the prestigious Prix Goncourt,
takes this true story and weaves it into a lyrical tale of
fear and cruelty.

1903, Ropraz, a small village in the Jura Mountains of Switzerland.
On a howling December day, a lone walker discovers a recently opened
tomb, the body of a young woman violated, her left hand cut off, genitals mutilated and heart carved out. There is horror in the nearby villages: the return of atavistic superstitions and mutual suspicions. Then
two more bodies are violated. A suspect must be found. Favez, a stableboy with blood-shot eyes, is arrested, convicted, placed into psychiatric
care. In 1915, he vanishes.

PRAISE FORJACQUES CHESSEX
AND THE VAMPIRE OF ROPRAZ

"A superb novel, hard as a winter in these landscapes of
dark forests, where an atmosphere of prejudice and
violence envelops the reader" L'Express

"An admirable story-teller, Chessex surprises again with this
terrifying portrait of a region, of an era and of a man with an
extraordinary destiny." Lures Hebdo

"Stark, wintry prose... disconcerting novella that alternately
seduces and appals." The List

"Packs visceral punch and unlikely to be quickly forgotten."
Crime Time