The room was small, stuffy. He was close enough that she could smell him, an unpleasant odour of unwashed clothes and poor personal hygiene that made her press her lips together and screw up her nose. She resisted the temptation to move away and held out her hand for the photograph he continued to wave.

He took a final look at it, then put it into her hand and stepped back to resume his perch on the bed.

Jodie waited a beat before looking at the photograph. She hadn’t known what to expect so was mildly surprised to see it was nothing more ominous than a photograph of her and Victor.

The fourteen-year-old Jodie looked happy, a wide smile on her young, smooth cheeks, her hair hanging loose around her shoulders. Victor’s arm was draped around her waist, and he was looking down into her face as she looked adoringly up at him. She had been so young, so innocent. Jodie’s fingers tightened on the photograph. It was a long time ago. ‘I don’t understand.’ She frowned and looked at Victor sitting on the edge of the bed like a goblin, an expectant smile on his lips. ‘Why are you showing this to me?’

His smile grew and he pointed to the photograph. ‘Don’t tell me you don’t see it, Jodie. Look at the love that is shining between us. It’s never faded, not in all the years. We loved one another then, we still love one another.’

Jodie dropped the photograph as if it had burned her, a half-laugh of disbelief, half-cry of despair escaping from her clenched lips. ‘You’re mad,’ she said, backing away.

36

Victor bent and picked up the discarded photo. ‘You know I’m right. That man, that Flynn is just a boy. You need an older man, you always did.’

He watched as Jodie tried to fight the truth. She’d understand eventually, the same way he did. It was why he’d never been able to let her go, why he’d followed her for years.

‘You’re mad,’ Jodie said again, shaking her head. ‘I was only a child, a vulnerable child, you groomed me, manipulated me.’

Victor smiled at her. ‘You know that’s not the truth. You were brainwashed by your mother, by social services. They didn’t understand. Think about it… you’ve never married, never had a long-term committed relationship, have you?’ His smile grew as he saw the truth in her eyes. He could read her as easily today as he could all those years ago. ‘You see, you know I’m right. You love me.’

He saw her confusion, understood it. Hadn’t he misunderstood for years, hate and love… such close emotions, he’d confused them but now it was clear… it would be clear for her too… soon… he wouldn’t stop until she understood… he’d keep trying to persuade her.