Behind Closed Doors Read Online Free PDF Page B

makes her look sophisticated, or trendy, or something, but when she’s all got up in her miniskirt and a top made for maximum exposure . . . I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t say it about my own daughter, but it makes her look, well, you know what I’m saying . . . and she’s not like that, not really. It’s just a front she puts on, like she’s trying to make herself seem more grown up than she is. I keep trying to tell her it gives the wrong impression.’
    Knowing better than to take a father’s word for his daughter’s morals, Andee said, ‘Do you have any photographs of her when she is made up? Or some video, perhaps?’
    He was shaking his head. ‘I don’t know. There might be something in her room, I suppose. Shall I go and look?’
    Guessing if there was anything it would almost certainly be on Sophie’s phone, Andee said, ‘In a moment. First of all I’d like to ask about money again. Does she have a bank account?’
    He nodded. ‘I don’t think she’s got anything in it though, she’s always broke.’
    ‘Does she have use of a credit card?’
    ‘No. I’ve told her she’s too young for that. Not till she’s earning her own money.’
    ‘And what about her passport? Have you checked whether she took it with her?’
    The anguish in his eyes was terrible as he looked at her. Apparently he hadn’t considered the possibility that Sophie might have ventured beyond British shores. ‘Heidi keeps them in the drawer,’ he said, pointing to a dresser.
    Realising he was afraid to know the answer, Andee went to open the drawer herself, and finding three passports she held up Sophie’s for him to see.
    If he felt any relief it wasn’t evident as he rubbed a hand over his balding head and tried to steady his breathing.
    Returning to her chair, Andee went on, ‘We need to talk about boyfriends. Do you know if she had one?’
    As he looked at her he flushed with what appeared to be embarrassment. ‘I’m not sure she’d have told me even if she did. You’re probably best to ask Heidi about that.’
    ‘OK, so why don’t you tell me what you can about her as a person. What sort of changes have you noticed in her lately?’
    Bleakly he said, ‘Like I told you just now, she’s suddenly trying to be all grown up, which I suppose is to be expected at her age, but her attitude . . . She can be as sweet as you like one minute, and the next she’s got all this hostility pouring out of her. If you didn’t know us you could be forgiven for thinking she came from a bad home, the way she carries on. She doesn’t seem to realise how lucky she is compared to some.’
    ‘When did all the hostility begin?’
    His eyes drifted to nowhere. ‘About nine months ago,’ he said quietly. ‘We kept putting it down to changing hormones and all that, and I expect that’s a big part of it, but I can’t help worrying that her nose has been put out of joint since Archie came along.’ His eyes flicked to Andee. ‘She doesn’t ever bother with him,’ he sounded hurt and bewildered, ‘her own brother, and if we ask her to do anything for him . . . Anyone would think we’d asked her to pull out her own teeth.’
    ‘And before he was born, you were close, the three of you?’
    ‘Definitely. Well, me and her always were, and she got on brilliantly with Heidi when we were first together. Actually, right up until Archie . . . Heidi’s always been really good to her, and if Sophie was being honest she’d say the same. They were forever in each other’s pockets, went everywhere together, and when Heidi got the job managing this site . . . Well, you should have seen Sophie. Over the moon she was, thought all her Christmases had come at once to be living on a holiday park. I think she still likes it here, but it’s not so much about magicians and playgrounds now, as discos and crushes on the punters or the cabaret acts.’ He shook his head despairingly. ‘I should have listened to her more, tried to understand that