She couldn’t figure him out, but there was something very off about Tim. Jasmine felt as though he had engineered this, like he wanted to be here in this room with them. Like he was trying to get closer to them, to be part of the family. Jasmine knew her parents tried to think the best of everyone though – they often said that the world would be a better place if everyone just tried to make one person’s life better – but she sometimes wished they weren’t so trusting. She would keep an eye on Tim. She would have to – no one else was going to.

Chapter Four

Now

I push down on my suitcase, trying to zip it closed. I remember the last time I used it how annoying it was and I make a mental note to throw it away after this journey. I have made this same mental note several times in the past but as soon as I return home I put it away and forget about it.

I can’t stop thinking about the missing girl. I need to be there. I fear if I don’t go then she will never be found, like the girl who went missing when I was younger.

I hear Chris in the next room putting Lloyd to bed. I know I should do it as I am the one who is leaving but I just want to get on the road. I think this time apart will be good for us – for me, anyway. I need to be a better wife, a better mother. Maybe going back there will make me realise how far I have come. I can barely remember the person I used to be. It’s like I have been running for so long and trying to be different from my own mother that I have completely lost myself. It’s hard to be a good example when you barely feel like a person at all.

‘I don’t understand why you have to leave right now. At least wait ’til morning. We can have a nice breakfast. You can’t check in to your hotel until the afternoon anyway,’ Chris says.

‘I booked the hotel from today so I can check in as soon as I get there.’

‘I see. You just can’t wait to get out of here, can you?’

‘Don’t be like that. I wish I could explain it to you, but I can’t.’

‘This again? You think you’re the only person who had a rotten childhood, but you aren’t.’

‘I’m not saying that, I never said that.’

‘Then tell me what the big deal is. Why can’t you just wait until Friday when I can come, too?’

‘I will tell you, just not now. Please just let me do this on my own.’