True Blend by Joanne DeMaio

Author:Joanne DeMaio
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Joanne DeMaio
Published: 2014-03-04T07:00:00+00:00

Nineteen

SOMEONE TOOK A PICTURE OF me that day?”

“Apparently. All the little things that you thought were memory lapses? They’re not. They’re stalking, Amy.”

She looks up from the photograph. “George, you’re scaring me. Are you sure about this? Because memory problems are a symptom of PTSD.”

George reaches over and traces a soft line around her face. The day is summer still, with only the buzz of cicadas and the call of a blue jay moving through the warmth. “Your memory’s fine. You’re a good mother to Grace.”

“But why would someone just take out Mark’s coffee cup, or leave my radio on? And the teakettle? I don’t get it.”

“It’s complicated. They seem like simple things, but they aren’t. Someone’s playing a serious mind game by trying to undermine your confidence. It’s not getting into your home that matters to them, it’s getting into your head.”

“Why though? What have I done?”

“Nothing, sweetheart. It’s got to all be connected to the heist, somehow.”

Amy studies the photograph again, then hands it back to George. “Do you really think that’s it?”

“I don’t know. If they’re setting things up to make it seem like Grace is in jeopardy in your care, then that throws you off the heist trail and on to something else. It takes the heat off.”

“Oh my God. I’ve got to tell Hayes.”

George folds up the photograph. “Let’s think this through, first.”

“What do you mean, think it through? I need to report this, George. This is serious.”

“Of course it is. But when you tell Hayes, he has to see you’re on top of things. He can’t see the situation the way a stalker might like him to.”

“Which is?”

He presses the back of his hand to his perspiring forehead and squints into the early summer sunshine. “As though you’re coming undone by things.”

“So what do I do?”

“Okay. First we need a written log of everything. Of every incident that’s happened.” To buy me time to get to the bottom of this, he thinks.

“I can do that.”

“And you need evidence that you’ve taken precautions since the crime. That you installed security lights, changed your locks, that I cut the shrubs back from your windows, anything to ensure Grace’s safety.” I need to ensure that if this is Reid, he stops.

“If you’re right about this, I mean, should I get a dog?” She takes the picture from him and unfolds it again. “After Mark died and I stayed on here, my father said I needed a gun. He thought I was too isolated on this property. I didn’t get one, but I did apply for my permit. So do I need that gun now?”

“Amy, Amy.” George tips her chin up. “Slow down. Let’s plan this one step at a time. I’ll stay with you for a while, okay? I’ll move in here or you and Grace can move in with me. Because you cannot be alone.”

Amy shakes her head no with a sad smile and stands then. “I have to be, George. I need to keep working with Grace.

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