Rachel Sargeant - The Perfect Neighbors - A gripping psychological thriller with an ending you won’t see coming

She drew up to the traffic lights and signalled right for the school campus.

“Wait,” Sascha said. “I want to see the garden you told me about, with the wisteria.”

Offering this man a lift to work was one thing, but driving a complete stranger past her house was something else. As the lights changed, she flicked her indicator to the left and decided she would drop him outside Louisa’s garden. She would remember another errand and ask him to walk to his office. Drive off without him ever finding out which house was hers.

“So you live at number 5,” he said as they went past the mown lawn and cleared flower bed that betrayed which garden had enjoyed her attention. But he seemed to lose interest in her answer. His eyes fixed on the house at the end. He got out of the car, walked up the path to Number Ten and cupped one of the wisteria blooms in his hand.

Helen went after him. “I’m not sure the owners would like that.”

“She will get angry.”

“She? Do you know her?”

He let go of the wisteria petals and moved back to join her on the path. He took out a cigarette.

Louisa’s front door flew open. “What the hell are you doing? Get away from here. Now.”

Helen gasped. She’d been on the receiving end of Louisa’s bossiness before but this was fury. Then she realized that the woman’s rage was aimed at Sascha.

“This is my country,” Sascha said. His voice sounded calm but his hands trembled as he brought his lighter up to his cigarette.

“You’ve got three seconds to get out of here then I’m calling the police. They’ll arrest you for unlawful access,” Louisa said.

“How is it unlawful?” He aimed a ring of smoke in Louisa’s direction. “Helen brought me here.”

“ You . I welcomed you into our street and this is how you repay me.”

Helen’s limbs twitched as Louisa’s anger turned on her.

Sascha blew another smoke ring towards Louisa. The veins in his neck started to bulge.

“Get out of here,” she shouted.

He clenched his fists, and for a moment Helen feared he’d attack Louisa, but he threw the cigarette into one of the shrubs and disappeared up the cut-through.

“What was that about?” Helen asked, but Louisa, murderous below her make-up, stared her down. She felt hollow and shaky and was relieved when the woman stormed back inside and shut her door, causing the wisteria trellis to quiver.

Gisela squatted with the dustpan and brush, and overbalanced. She put her hand down and felt a pricking sensation somewhere at the end of her arm. She ignored it and focused on sweeping up the broken glass. Her heart raced when the door opened and, like a child, she braced herself for the reprimand.

It came quickly. “ Verdammt ! Schon wieder ! And you’ve cut yourself. Come and sit here.” Sascha reached into the First Aid cupboard.

He grimaced as he tied a bandage around her hand. His mouth was clamped shut and his eyes were angry. Her head thumped with alcohol and shame. It should be her role to tend the family wounds. What a scheiß job she’d made of that. Their seeping scars could never heal.

She slurred. “How was your swim? Did you see your girl?”

He tore the end of the bandage. “Leave it alone,” he growled.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Gary said when Helen broached the subject that evening. “Didn’t your mother tell you not to talk to strangers?”

His coldness shocked her. She thought after a meal and a glass of wine he’d listen. But he sounded as mad as Louisa.

“He said he worked at the school, in IT.”

“Come on, Helen. If he’d said he was the deputy head would you have believed him?”

“I would expect Louisa to say something like that, not you.”

“I’m just scared for you, Helen.”

“Scared?”

He shrank away. “I mean concerned.”

She folded her arms. “I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself. And he was harmless.”

“Don’t be stupid, Helen. You can’t just trust people. He could have done anything. Any man can …” His voice tailed off. “Some men.”

“Who is he anyway? What’s he done to get you and Louisa so paranoid?”

Gary looked away again. “I don’t know him.”

He had replied too quickly. Was he lying?

Helen turned towards the hall. “I’ll go and ask Louisa.”

Gary grabbed her arm. “Don’t.” His fingers were digging in. He realized and let go. “Sorry, I didn’t mean … It’s probably best if you give Louisa some space for a while.”

“So tell me why that man sent her into meltdown?”

“It sounds like the same man who trashed her garden a few months ago. He pulled up all the plants and smashed the fountain in the pond. He was about to hack down the wisteria in the front when they came home. It cost Damian a fortune to put it right.”

She thought of the first time Sascha had spoken to her, blunt and accusing when he realized she was English. She could see that anger turned on a British garden. “Did they call the police?”

“Damian told him to get lost. As far as I know he hasn’t returned until today, although I think I saw him parked up outside school once.”

The face she saw at the Howards’ fence, was that Sascha? She ought to have told Gary but it seemed a bit late to mention it. “Will they call the police now he’s come back?”

“No idea.” He looked away.

He was doing it again, shutting her out. She was sick of him withholding things. “I’ll ask Sascha when I see him at the pool,” she said.

“God, Helen, you know his name? You need to keep away from him. You can’t go there after this. He might be dangerous.”

“I was alone in the car with him and he was fine until we got to Number Ten. Whatever his quarrel with the Howards, it doesn’t involve me.”

“Of course it involves you. You’re part of this community whether you like it or not. We owe it to our neighbours to show some solidarity.”

He sounded like Louisa again. Helen was surrounded by the neighbourhood mafia and Gary was doing his best to join it. Her resentment boiled over. “Why don’t you show me some solidarity? Don’t you dare take the pool away. I’m bored brainless here. You’ve taken everything else. My career, my house, my swim squad.” She broke down and sobbed.

Gary rested an arm around her shoulders. “I’m sorry. I know it’s been hard for you to give up your career. But it’s not forever. Why don’t you ask Damian about the supply list for teachers?”

She shook off his arm. “How nicely do you want me to ask Damian Howard? How high up the waiting list do you want me to go?” She looked him in the eye. Surely he knew about his head teacher’s extracurricular antics. His face hardened, then he nodded. An unspoken understanding passed between them.

He pulled her towards him and she felt his lips on her hairline. “I shouldn’t have said that about the pool. It’s up to you.”

She wanted to stay mad at him despite the warmth of his breath through her hair. She forced herself not to respond.

He held her at arm’s length. His fingers played on her shoulders, soft and conciliatory. “I want you to be happy.”

“I want that for both of us,” she said. She kissed him.

She felt him relax, let out a sigh. He must be as relieved as she was that the squall had passed.

“I was going to tell you about something that you might like, but it can wait,” he said.

“What? Tell me.” She suddenly thought of half-term. Perhaps he was going to surprise her with a trip. She still hadn’t mentioned her idea of visiting the German lakes, maybe he’d come up with the same thing.