A Reagan Keeter Box Set: Three page-turning thrillers that will leave you wondering who you can trus Reagan Keeter (most difficult books to read TXT) 📖

followed the hallways to his mother’s room. Residents shuffled past him, some with staff help, some on their own. With each visit, he recognized more of them, but only one did he know by name. Natalie Winder. She was a small woman who moved slowly, a friend of his mother’s. Ms. Winder—she didn’t like to be called Natalie by anyone a generation younger than her—was headed in the same direction he was. She was wearing a white sweater, tan slacks, and white slippers. As far as Jacob could tell, her bouffant hairstyle hadn’t changed since the sixties.

He said hello as he passed. Another thirty paces down, he reached his mother’s room. The door was closed. That was unusual. She liked to see the people crossing back and forth. It made her feel like she wasn’t alone. He turned the knob. The door was also locked. That was even more unusual. Jacob told himself she could be in the cafeteria or any of a dozen other places she might visit on a good day, but that still didn’t explain the locked door.

He knocked and, instead of his mother’s voice, heard Ms. Winder say, “You’re looking for Lizzy?”

It was a stupid question, Jacob thought. Elizabeth was his mother. This was her room. Of course he was looking for Lizzy. But he kept his answer to a simple, “Yes.”

She closed the distance between them and craned her neck up so she could look him in the eyes. “You don’t know? I would have thought they’d have told you. They moved her downstairs. End of the hall. Do you know Ms. Locklear?”

Jacob shook his head.

“They put Lizzy with her. She’s got these little paper flowers stuck to her door. You can’t miss it. Personally, I think they look stupid. I told her to take them down. But she likes them and won’t listen to me.”

Jacob thanked Ms. Winder, then took the stairs down one flight and quickly found the door with the flowers on it. His mother was alone, sitting on one of two beds inside, a photo album open in her lap.

“Mom, what’s going on? What are you doing here?”

She looked up. He could tell from the way she smiled today was one of her good days. “Come sit with me. Do you remember this?” She pointed to one of the pictures. In it, much younger versions of himself and his mother were standing at the top of the John Hancock Center. Beyond the windows behind them, miles of city stretched out in miniature. They had been on one of their “vacations.” Lizzy could rarely afford to take them anywhere beyond the suburbs, but she did her best to make up for it with trips like those.

Jacob often found her looking at old photo albums on her good days. She loved to reminisce. Although he thought she colored the past in a way that made it seem better than it was, where was the harm in that?

“I remember it.” Jacob sat down beside his mother. He gently took the photo album from her, closed it, and placed it on the bed. “Mom, what’s going on? Why are you in this room?”

“They moved me.”

“When?”

Felix Winkler, the nursing home administrator, appeared in the doorway. He had an arrogance about him Jacob had never cared for. “This morning,” he said. “We’ve been trying to reach you for days now.”

Jacob knew that was true. He’d been avoiding their calls. However, their reason for calling, and his reason for not answering, didn’t justify what they had done. “You can’t just move her.”

“Let’s talk in the hall.”

Jacob reassuringly cupped one hand over his mother’s two. “I’ll be right back.” He followed Felix into the hall and closed the door. “What are you doing putting her in there?” he asked.

Felix was somehow both slight and pudgy, a wisp of hair brushed across his bald spot as if that would be enough to hide it. He didn’t look like he was good at confrontation. But he held Jacob’s gaze firmly when he said, “You’re two months late. Private rooms are in high demand. If you can’t afford to pay for yours, we can’t keep her in it.”

“I’ll get you the money.”

“Please do. We can keep her in this room for a month or two, but if the account isn’t brought current by then . . .” Felix let the threat hang in the air. He didn’t have to mention the word “eviction” explicitly. It had all been spelled out in the paperwork Jacob had signed when he moved his mother in.

“I said I’ll get you the money.”

“I hope so.” Suddenly Felix’s mood changed. His eyes brightened and he smiled. “Anyway, they’re serving Chicken Florentine in the cafeteria tonight. It’s quite good. Stick around if you can.”

Jacob snorted and returned to his mother’s room.

Liam Parker

Patricia told Liam that Elise had been arrested twice, once for prostitution and once for possession. She’d avoided jail time for the prostitution charge but did one year at the Redwood Penitentiary for the drugs.

He didn’t ask any questions. He needed time to process the news. He thanked Patricia for the information and told her he would call later. Then, after an uneventful dinner with the kids at Chili’s, he headed over to Ava’s to blow off some steam.

It was becoming increasingly clear that Liam knew very little about Elise. If all the secrets he’d learned after she died had been revealed sooner, he might have walked away from the relationship. No, he would have walked away from the relationship. But with Bash gunning for him and no relationship to walk away from, Liam was bound to Elise’s ghost for the time being.

At a red light, he pulled up Ava’s app and requested permission to play. While he waited for a response, he called the attorney who’d handled his divorce. Ever since he’d stepped off Catherine’s stoop, he’d been planning on making that call in the morning. He hated to bother the lawyer after hours. But her threat was only