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smile. “We can try. I’d like to find out exactly
what happened to you, for Clare’s sake. She’s become a bit obsessed with your
deaths.”
    Tom
and Lynne nodded sadly. Lynne said, “We know. She needs to move on with her
life.”
    Grace
didn’t want to get into a conversation about how hard it was to get over your
parents’ death. She said, “Let’s give this a go. Is that the watch on your
table, Tom?”
    “It
is,” Tom said. He took his wife’s arm and steered her over to the watch. They
put their hands on top of it and waited for Grace.
    Please
work, please work. Grace walked towards the watch and carefully placed her hand
on top of the two ghostly ones. A chill went up her arm.
    “Now
what?” Lynne said. “Are we going to zoom through time and space?”
    Tom
tutted. “You’ve been watching too much TV. I don’t see how this can work.”
    Grace
quietly said, “It has worked, look around you.”
    Lynne
gasped. “We’re in our house! Look, Tom, there we are. You at your table and me
looking at you. Look at my hair! I knew that style didn’t suit me.”
    Tom’s
eyes widened. “I don’t believe it. Do we have to stay here touching this watch?
Will the vision fade if we move?”
    “I
think it’s safe to move,” Grace said. She removed her hand, Lynne and Tom did
the same. The vision remained.
    “Now
what do we do?” Lynne whispered.
    “We
wait. You don’t have to whisper, they can’t see or hear us,” Grace said.
    They
didn’t have to wait long. There was a knock at the door. The Lynne in the
vision went to answer it.
    She
returned with Eddie Tominski.
    Even
the past version of Eddie Tominski sent Grace’s heart racing. The shark smile
on his face made shivers of fear shoot down her back.
    Something
awful was about to happen. Grace didn’t want to watch but she knew she had to.
     
    Chapter 12
     
    In
the vision Tom stood up to greet Eddie. It was easy to see that Tom’s smile was
forced.
    Eddie’s
smile widened as if he wanted to eat Tom. He held a basket in his hands, it was
covered in cellophane with a bow at the front.
    Eddie
offered the basket to Tom and said, “I think it’s time we sorted out this loan
business, don’t you? It’s obvious that you’re struggling with the payments.”
    Tom
took the basket as if it was an unexploded bomb. He gingerly put it down on a
table. He looked back at Eddie and said, “We can’t pay you any more money,
Eddie. We’re struggling with the payments already. We’ll probably have to sell
the house.”
    There
was a sob from the vision Lynne. She came to stand next to her husband. There
were tears in her eyes as she said, “Please, Tom, don’t say that, I can’t bear
it.”
    Eddie
gave an exaggerated sigh and said, “You knew about the terms when you signed
the loan agreement. So many people don’t read the small print.”
    Tom
gave a bitter laugh. “I never thought I’d be one of those people. What are you
here for, Eddie?”
    Eddie
held his arms wide and said, “This is your lucky day. I’m a very busy man and I
don’t have time to chase up all these debts that people owe me. I’ve decided to
let you off.”
    “What?
What do you mean?” Tom said, suspicion growing on his face.
    Eddie
gave a benevolent smile. Grace could see how false it was.
    “You
don’t owe me any more money. I appreciate that you’ve paid as much as you can.
I can see that I’m not going to get much more from you.”
    “What’s
the catch?” Tom asked.
    Eddie
laughed. “No catch. I’ve got other loans to collect on, I don’t need yours. As
a gesture of my sincerity I’ve brought you this basket of luxury goods. I hope
you’ll accept it.”
    Lynne
burst out, “Do you really mean it? Is our loan paid off? We don’t have to sell
the house? Or our business?”
    Eddie
gave them a jovial smile as if he was a modern day Santa. “That’s exactly what
I’m saying.” He gave a cough. “Sorry about that, I haven’t had a cup of tea
since this