I SEE YOU an unputdownable psychological thriller with a breathtaking twist by PATRICIA MACDONALD (bookstand for reading txt) 📗

Hannah stopped to speak to Lisa, who was headed back inside the house. ‘I’m going to take Rayanne to the hospital. She’s too upset to drive.’

‘OK. Sure,’ said Lisa.

‘If you’re hungry, there’s some leftovers in the fridge . . .’

‘Go. I’ll be fine,’ said Lisa. ‘All I want to do is sleep.’

It was four a.m. by the time Hannah returned home with Rayanne in tow.

Chet had spent hours in the emergency room, and in X-ray. It was hours more before he was resting comfortably in CCU and Rayanne was able to see the doctor. She kept urging Hannah to leave her there, that she would get a taxi home. But Hannah couldn’t bring herself to do it. There was so much lonely downtime at the hospital. She just wanted to keep her friend company in these most stressful hours. Rayanne finally saw a doctor at around three o’clock, only to learn that Chet’s condition was stable now, but was going to require surgery. Rayanne was advised to go home and get some rest. The two women walked out into the starry night, crossed the parking lot and got into Hannah’s car.

‘I can’t thank you enough,’ said Rayanne.

‘Don’t be silly,’ said Hannah. ‘You’ve always been such a help to me.’

Once in the driveway, Hannah made sure that Rayanne was safely in her house and the lights were on before she went into her own quiet home. She only turned on a few lights, not wanting to wake Lisa and Sydney, who were, most likely, fast asleep. She wished, more than anything, that Adam were home, and she could crawl into bed beside him, and rest up against his strong, warm body. But he would be gone for another day. Despite her own exhaustion, she was keyed up, and not quite ready to get into bed. She took a shower, got into her pajamas and a robe, and made herself a cup of cocoa. She still did not feel sleepy. She didn’t want to turn on the TV. The noise might disturb the sleeping girls.

Finally she went into the living room, sat down in the corner of the sofa and picked up her iPad. She wanted to flip through screens looking at recipes or movie-star news or anything that would require no thought or energy.

The headlines on her home page were not very intriguing. Luckily, not a lot seemed to have transpired in the world since she had last looked. She noticed that she had a few new emails. The advertisers never slept, she thought. They never quit. She opened her email account, and saw that, as she suspected, she had breathless offers from the usual companies. She deleted them one by one, and then she noticed that she had an email from Taryn Bledsoe, the mother of Alicia, one of Lisa’s high-school friends with whom Lisa still hung out occasionally.

The email had no title but for a series of exclamation points, and it did have an attachment. Hannah frowned at it curiously. She and Taryn, who worked as a legal secretary, had been friendly when Alicia and Lisa first went to high school together, but their relationship had been strained when the girls were suspended for a prank they pulled together. In recent years, though the girls remained friends, Hannah had hardly seen Taryn. Hannah opened the email and looked at it. It was only one line. ‘This is called asking for trouble.’

Hannah’s heart started to pound. Trembling, she opened the attachment. It was a photograph of Lisa. With the superb technology of current phones, the photograph was crystal clear despite the fact that it was taken in a dark bar. Lisa was wearing a blouse which was unbuttoned to reveal a black push-up bra. She was hoisting a bottle of Jack Daniel’s to her lips, her eyes merry. Hannah’s scalp prickled and her stomach churned as she stared at it. The photo was dated and timed that evening. The time when Hannah was picking up Sydney. The time when Lisa was unreachable, ‘delayed’ at the hospital by an emergency.

EIGHT

Hannah thought about waiting for morning. She knew how tired her daughter was. How badly she needed her sleep. But right at this moment she didn’t care. She went into Lisa’s room and shook her.

Lisa’s eyes shot open but they looked merely puzzled at the sight of her mother. ‘What?’

‘Get up,’ she said. ‘Come with me.’

Lisa was too groggy to argue. She pulled on her robe and followed her mother down the hall to Hannah’s room. ‘What’s going on?’ she mumbled.

Hannah closed the door behind them and turned on Lisa. She held up the iPad with the photo on it. ‘Do you want to explain this?’

Lisa squinted at the image. ‘Is that my iPad?’

Hannah stared at her. ‘No, it’s ours. And I want an explanation.’

Lisa shrugged. ‘What is there to explain?’

‘You told me that you were held up by an emergency at the hospital. Instead, it appears that you went out drinking when you were supposed to be picking up your child.’

Lisa frowned. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘Don’t deny it, Lisa. This photo has a date. And time.’

Lisa yawned. ‘All right. Yes. I went out. I figured that you would get Sydney. I needed to relax. I had a drink. Couldn’t this have waited till morning?’ she asked, rubbing her eyes.

‘Are you kidding me?’

‘Sorry. You’re right. Sorry,’ said Lisa.

‘Sorry? That’s all you have to say? Besides the fact that you neglected your child and lied to me about where you were,’ Hannah cried, ‘you were in a public place! Under the terms of your bail, alcohol is forbidden.’

Lisa rolled her eyes. ‘The alcohol police.’

‘They can revoke your bail if you get caught.’

‘I’m not going to get caught,’ said Lisa with a sigh.

‘Oh, really? This picture might be on the front page