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

‘A file in a cake,’ said Lisa, only half joking.

‘It won’t be long and you’ll be home.’

‘Yes. But with a record. This is ruining my life. I wish I’d never gotten involved with that idiot.’

‘Troy.’

‘Yes, Troy. What a mistake.’

Hannah thought back to Adam scouring Lisa’s hard drive. Looking for the search that wasn’t there. She pictured Troy’s sister, watching her almost pityingly after the trial. Then she shook her head. ‘It’s all over now,’ said Hannah. ‘Let’s think positive. Sydney sends kisses.’

‘Great,’ said Lisa.

‘See you later,’ said Hannah, but before the words were out, Lisa had hung up.

For a few moments, Hannah sat, staring at the phone. Then she sighed and put it back in her pocket. She scooped up Sydney, took her outside to water the flowers and then she watched Sydney play with the water from the hose until it was time for her nap. After Sydney was settled in her bed, Hannah went back to the living room to read. The thought of the drive to the county jail was unappealing, but once Adam got home she was determined to go and see her daughter.

A knocking at the back door roused her, and she went to see who it was.

Jamie stood on the doorstep.

Hannah smiled at him, puzzled. ‘Jamie. How are you?’

Jamie met her eyes briefly and looked away. ‘I’m OK.’

‘I heard you leaving the house this morning,’ said Hannah. ‘Did Greta get her flight all right?’

‘Yes. Just fine,’ he said. ‘Thanks.’

‘Your folks?’ Hannah asked, frowning.

‘They’re fine. Can I come in, Mrs Wickes? I need to talk to you.’

‘Sure,’ said Hannah. ‘Come on in.’

Jamie came into the kitchen. He was a slim young man, tall with broad shoulders. Today he was wearing a neat oxford-cloth shirt and jeans. There was nothing hip-hop about Jamie. His hair was a little bit spiky, in his one concession to fashion. He turned to Hannah. ‘Is Mr Wickes here?’ he asked.

‘No, he’s at work. Did you need to talk to him?’

Jamie frowned. ‘It might be better if it was just you and me.’

‘OK,’ said Hannah, feeling a little puzzled by his troubled air. ‘Come on in the living room,’ she said, leading the way through the house. ‘Have a seat.’

‘Where’s Sydney?’

‘Taking a nap,’ said Hannah.

‘She’s a nice little girl,’ said Jamie, nodding. ‘Greta was crazy about her.’

‘You think you two will . . .’ Hannah let it go, seeing the look in his eyes.

‘Maybe . . . someday,’ he said, frowning. ‘Look, I need to just . . . say this before I lose my . . . nerve.’

Hannah pulled back from him. ‘Say what? You seem so . . . worried.’

‘Worried. That’s a good word for it. I am worried. I didn’t even tell my mother I was coming over here because I didn’t want to discuss this with her. Or my dad.’

‘Well,’ said Hannah carefully, ‘if you’re concerned about something, you might as well just . . . say so.’

Jamie nodded but still he hesitated.

‘Jamie?’

‘Right. OK. You remember how Lisa and I used to be friends when we were . . . younger.’

‘Sure,’ said Hannah. ‘You two were inseparable as children. And you stayed friends for a long while there.’

Jamie frowned, his gaze faraway. ‘Did she ever tell you,’ he asked, ‘why we stopped being friends?’

Hannah shook her head. She was not going to repeat Lisa’s assertions that Jamie was too stupid to be friends with. Hannah always suspected that Lisa was just covering up her hurt feelings when Jamie got involved with sports and NASCAR. She thought that maybe he had come to find it embarrassing to be known as the friend of someone younger, even if she was in the same grade. Lisa was plain and brainy and uncool in the eyes of the older boys. ‘I thought you two just grew apart,’ said Hannah. ‘You were a little older than her. It was just one of those things,’ she said.

Jamie frowned. ‘No, it wasn’t,’ he said.

‘It wasn’t?’ said Hannah, taken aback.

‘It was something very specific,’ he said.

‘OK,’ said Hannah. Part of her wanted to say, do we have to deconstruct this long-gone friendship right now? I am so weary from all that has happened. Is this really the time and place? But she stayed silent.

Jamie glanced at her, and then looked away. He was kneading his hands together absently, rubbing the backs of his hands with his long fingers. ‘I have a very important reason for bringing this up. I wouldn’t be troubling you with it otherwise. You’ll understand when I tell you.’

‘OK,’ Hannah said again, nodding. She was overcome with a feeling that she was going to regret listening to Jamie’s explanation. She wanted to stop him but couldn’t think of a good reason to do so.

Jamie took a deep breath. ‘I’ve tried not to think much about this over the years. It was too upsetting. But I was following the trial, particularly when Lisa took the stand and talked about Troy Petty. About being disgusted, finding him . . . you know . . . with Sydney.’

Hannah watched his face, wondering what in the world he was getting at. ‘Well, unfortunately there are men like that,’ she said. ‘Pedophiles.’

Jamie looked up at her, anguish in his eyes. ‘I would never mention this to you, but there’s an innocent life involved here.’

‘Jamie, I don’t know what you’re getting at but I’ve got to tell you,’ Hannah snapped, ‘this is all becoming too weird . . .’

‘All right. All right,’ he said. ‘Look. Something happened when my father’s sister and her family came to visit. I was about . . . I had just turned seventeen that summer.’

Hannah dimly recalled the visit. Chet’s sister lived in Arizona, and came only rarely to Tennessee. ‘I remember that,’ she said.

‘My cousins, Shane