Excerpt from The Watcher by Charlotte Link, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

'Most of them probably have a family and don't have time for me.'

'Right, because you're the only divorcee pensioner in all of England,' replied Keira sharply. Do you want to sit in front of your television in your flat every night for the rest of your life under a cloud of despair?'

'And get on my daughter's nerves?'

'I didn't say that.'

'This block is oppressive,' said Carla. 'No one shows any interest in the others. And the lift is always coming up to me, and then no one gets out.'

'What?' Keira sounded irritated.

Carla wished she had not said that. 'Well, I just noticed it. That it happens quite often, I mean. Apart from me, no one else lives up here. But the lift is always coming up.'

'Then someone is sending it up. Or that's the way the lift is programmed. That it automatically goes to the different floors.'

'But it only started in the last week or two.'

'Mum . . .'

'I know. I'm getting a little odd. That's what you think. Don't worry. I'll get my life back on an even keel somehow.'

'Of course you will. Mum, Johnny is screaming again and . . .'

'I'll leave you! It'd be nice if you and Johnny would visit. Maybe one weekend?' 'I'll have a look and see if there's a good time,' said Keira vaguely. Then she quickly said goodbye and hung up, leaving Carla with the feeling that she had been an annoyance and a burden.

She is my daughter, she thought defiantly. It is normal for me to call her now and then. And for me to tell her when I am not feeling well.

She looked at her watch. It was just after ten.

Nevertheless she decided to go to bed. Perhaps to read something. Certainly in the hope of falling asleep quickly.

She was just about to go to the bathroom to brush her teeth when she heard the lift again. It was coming up.

She stood in her hall, her ears pricked.

I really wish that someone else lived up here too, she thought.

The lift stopped and the doors opened.

Carla waited. For nothing to happen, no sound, nothing.

But this time she heard something. This time someone left the lift. There were steps. She heard them quite clearly. Steps outside in the corridor, which was no doubt brightly lit.

Carla swallowed. Her throat was dry. She felt a prickling sensation on her skin. Now don't let it get to you. First you got worked up because no one got out, and now you are getting worked up because someone has.

The steps approached.

This way, thought Carla. Someone is coming to my door.

She stood paralysed behind her front door.

Someone was on the other side. When the doorbell rang, the spell was broken. The bell was normal life. Burglars don't ring the bell, Carla thought.

Nevertheless she took the precaution of looking through the peephole first.

She hesitated.

Then she opened the door.

Excerpted from The Watcher by Charlotte Link. Copyright © 2014 by Charlotte Link. Excerpted by permission of Pegasus Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.