Read Watched: When Road Rage Follows You Home for Free Online

eyes, not from ageing, just because that was how her face was shaped. Charlie loved it when she beamed properly.
    He unlocked the front door and headed into the morning sunshine. He felt the beads of warmth on his face as he stepped towards his car before freezing at the sight which greeted him. Across the front of their driveway, somebody had dumped a binful of rubbish. Food wrappers, rotting fruit and vegetables, soil, and various pieces of broken furniture had been emptied overnight. For a few seconds, Charlie didn’t know what to do. His instant thought was to try to hide it from Esther but that was going to be impossible considering he’d have to clear it away to get off the drive. This wasn’t something that could have blown in on a non-existent breeze: someone had gone out of their way to leave it on their property.
    He continued staring before making his decision and heading back inside.
    ‘Forget something?’ Esther sounded chirpy but the smile disappeared at the dark look on Charlie’s face. ‘What?’
    He grabbed the roll of black bin liners from under the sink, offered a shrug, and strode back outside. Charlie could sense Esther a little behind him but didn’t know what to say to her. This felt like an invasion of their space and there was a worryingly obvious conclusion about who had left it.
    Charlie began picking up the cleaner items and putting them in a bag but Esther rested a hand on his arm.
    ‘Just move the bigger things to the side and go to work. I’ll clear the rest.’
    ‘I don’t want to leave you.’
    ‘It’s just someone’s rubbish…’
    ‘…I know but they left it specifically here. For us.’
    Esther tugged on Charlie’s arm to make him stop. ‘Just go. It’s only your second proper day – you can’t stay here because someone left their rubbish on our drive.’
    Charlie turned, wanting to hug her but feeling something squidgy on his hands from the clean-up. He was about to go inside and wash his hands when he spotted something else. Stepping around his wife, Charlie crouched next to her purple car, prodding at the front passenger-side tyre.
    ‘Someone’s slashed your tyres.’
    Esther stared at him for a moment, eyes narrow, biting on her bottom lip, before moving out of sight to the other side of the car. ‘Here too – front and back.’
    Charlie glanced across to his own vehicle but the tyres, mirrors and windows were all intact. Whoever had done this had gone out of their way to target Esther, not him. If it was just kids messing around, they would surely have gone for the expensive-looking vehicle, not the tatty Fiat.
    Esther stood, peering at him over the car but unable to meet his eyes again. She was trying to sound strong but her voice wavered a little. ‘I’ll call someone out to change the tyres. I’m going to be in all day today anyway. Let’s move this stuff out of the way first so you can get to work.’
    Without waiting for him, Esther edged to the front of the drive and began shunting the larger pieces of wood and scrap off to the side. Charlie joined her in silence, sliding and carrying the items until it was clear. She waited outside while he washed his hands and by the time Charlie emerged, Esther was sitting on her car bonnet, staring out towards the empty road.
    Charlie leaned in and kissed her forehead. ‘Should we call the police?’
    ‘What are they going to say? At best we’ll get a report number but I don’t want to mess up my no-claims anyway, so I won’t use it. I’ll pop next door later and ask if they heard anything.’
    ‘Are you—’
    ‘—I’ll be fine. Have a nice day.’
    He tried to read his wife’s face but her eyes were blank, peering across the road without emotion. Charlie wanted to say something comforting but his mind was empty. Even offering to stay home was ridiculous, as if he was the big strong warrior protecting his maiden. The idea was as offensive as it was stupid.
    ‘What was the car like?’ he