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

perfect sense. Troy must have needed the money, and Lisa lent it to him. Even though she couldn’t afford it. You know how impulsive she can be.’

‘I know,’ he said.

‘I know,’ Sydney crowed, poking her forefinger into her mound of mashed potatoes.

‘You are making quite a mess,’ said Hannah cheerfully.

‘Wait till she gets to the chocolate pudding,’ said Adam.

‘Pudding!’ Sydney exclaimed, waving her spoon in the air.

After Hannah got up to fetch the pudding, and Adam wiped Sydney’s chin, they resumed their conversation where they left off. ‘It’s the only explanation that makes sense,’ said Hannah. ‘Maybe Troy was worried about his brother that night, and had too much to drink. He must have gotten a little high and fell asleep, and didn’t realize what was happening with the gas . . .’

‘It makes perfect sense. No jury could convict her after today,’ said Adam confidently.

‘No,’ said Hannah, as if she were sure. ‘They couldn’t, could they?’

‘All gone,’ cried Sydney, whose lips were surrounded by a ring of chocolate.

Adam lifted Sydney from her booster seat. ‘I think this little lady needs a bath, don’t you?’

‘I do,’ said Hannah, smiling. ‘I’ll clean up the dishes.’

Adam carried his giggling granddaughter to the bathroom, while Hannah carried the dishes to the sink. Out of the kitchen window she could see a light on at Chet and Rayanne’s next door. But the cars were gone. She assumed that Jamie had made it home from Portland, though she had not yet set eyes on him. Chet’s surgery was to take place in the morning. They were probably at the hospital, spending those last anxious hours with him.

Please, God, she thought. Be good to Chet and Rayanne too. The way you were to us today.

Then she plunged her hands into the foamy dishwater and began to scrub the pots, almost tempted to whistle. Lisa would be home soon. Justice would be done. She sighed, and closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the relief she hadn’t felt in ages. From the bathroom, she could hear Adam making motorboat sounds and Sydney in the tub, squealing with delight.

THIRTEEN

‘I hate going to the hospital,’ Adam said the next morning as they drove in the direction of Vanderbilt. ‘Even to visit.’

‘I know, but we have to,’ said Hannah. ‘There’s a parking spot.’

Adam pulled the car into the spot. ‘I know we do. I’m just being grumpy. I want to support Rayanne. I’m sure she is at her wits’ end.’

‘Thank goodness she has Jamie with her. I hope Chet will be all right.’

Adam parked near the visitors’ entrance and they went inside and rode the elevator up to the fourth floor. Rayanne had told Hannah that they were waiting for news, in a lounge down the hall from Chet’s regular room. Hannah glanced at the clock above the nurses’ station as they got off at the fourth floor. Chet’s surgery had been due to start at seven. It was now nine. That meant that it should be half over. They walked down to the lounge and looked into the open door.

Rayanne was sitting with two other people in a corner of the lounge. She looked up and saw them, and her sad eyes lit up. Hannah hurried over to her friend and enveloped her in a hug.

‘Thank you for coming,’ said Rayanne. ‘I know you have so much on your own plate. But it helps to see you here.’

‘Court doesn’t start till ten today. We wanted to stop in before we went. Any news?’ asked Hannah.

Rayanne shook her head. ‘A nurse came out and told us that there were some delays but not to worry.’

‘Right,’ said Hannah. ‘I’m sure you’re not worrying a bit.’

The young man sitting opposite Rayanne stood up and extended a hand to Adam. ‘Hey, Mr Wickes.’

Adam brushed the proffered hand aside and gave the young man a bear hug.

‘Jamie! Good to see you.’

Jamie turned to Hannah with a big smile. She could hardly believe it was the same scrawny kid who used to play with Lisa. He had filled out and grown a few inches. Hannah embraced him too. ‘Hi, Jamie. How are you doing?’

Jamie shrugged. ‘Hanging in there. This is my girlfriend, Greta,’ he said proudly. Hannah shook hands with the fresh-faced blonde girl beside him. Greta beamed back. She had perfect teeth and a ring in one nostril.

‘It’s good you both could be here for this,’ said Hannah.

‘Oh, of course we’re here. Wouldn’t let my mom go through this alone.’

Hannah smiled at the newly confident young man. You never know, when kids are little, she thought, which ones are going to emerge as winners. Jamie had always seemed the most unlikely of successes, but clearly he had become someone with lots of possibilities, and had a girlfriend who, judging from her admiring gaze, saw him as a catch. ‘You always were a good kid.’

Jamie blushed but did not object. Rayanne grabbed his hand. ‘I don’t know what I would have done without him. And we’re so grateful to Lisa, of course. I swear she saved Chet’s life when he collapsed.’

‘Yeah, Mom told me about that,’ said Jamie. ‘Thank God she was there.’

‘Thanks. I’ll tell her you said that,’ said Hannah, beaming. It was wonderful to hear praise heaped on Lisa. Not exactly what she had been experiencing the last few days. ‘Your mom’s been bragging about your new job,’ she said. ‘Sounds like you’ve landed a really great position.’

‘I’ve been lucky,’ he said modestly.

‘You like it out there in the north-west?’

‘It’s God’s country,’ Jamie said firmly. ‘We love it.’

‘Well, we’d rather have seen you under different circumstances,’ said Adam, ‘but all the same it’s good to set eyes on you again.’

‘Same here,’ said Jamie.

‘I wish we could stay longer but we have to