Jasmine was alone in the house. Tim could walk in at any moment. Who the hell was he? She went over every interaction they’d had since he arrived and it became clear he had always had some ulterior motive. Whenever she had questioned him or got in the way he would do something to make her forget. Like sleight of hand. She felt so conflicted about everything. She remembered how tender he had been when they were together, then just a few hours later he was ransacking her parents’ room. She just wished she knew what it was he wanted. It certainly wasn’t her. Her only advantage at the moment was that he probably thought she was still under his spell.

She looked out to the driveway; Tim’s car was there. Her parents wouldn’t be home for a few hours. She was going to talk to them as soon as she had proof. She needed to find out more before she presented her parents with the truth. Something he couldn’t wheedle his way out of with that crocodile smile of his. If she found the right leverage maybe she could just make him leave without telling her parents at all. That was the ideal situation, then there was no danger that he would tell them she had slept with him. She didn’t want to stay in the house alone until they got home. She picked up her phone and called Felicity.

‘Can I come over?’

‘Now? I guess. Warning though, Mum’s off her face. Are you staying?’

‘Probably not, I’ll get my dad to pick me up after work. I’ll walk over now.’ Jasmine put the phone down before Felicity had a chance to protest.

She took the photograph from Belize out of her pocket and studied it again before quickly putting it in her jewellery box to hide it in the hidden tray under the ring compartment. She didn’t want her parents to see it. They didn’t deserve that, not after all the hospitality they had given Tim. They would be terrified, and she couldn’t bear to imagine the look of disappointment on her father’s face. What if he confronted Tim? Tim was much stronger than him, more menacing. In her father’s condition he could get really hurt.

Her instinct that Tim was hiding something in his lodgings seemed completely legitimate now. Every time she got suspicious of him, he had put her off the scent. She knew now though. She knew he wasn’t right. Could she even trust her own judgment anymore? She reminded herself that her parents also trusted him. This wasn’t all on her. There was a spare key in the kitchen drawer, so the next time he was out she would go and investigate.