I Am Watched By You: The Man Behind the Woman

By Don Bickerdike

What would you do if you discovered uncanny clues and secrets after a loved one had passed? Don Bickerdike's first Psychological Thriller, "I Am Watched By You: The Man Behind the Woman" (Book 1 of his Best-Seller Psychological Thriller Series) is a Psychological Thriller which was inspired by real life clues discovered by the author after his mother had passed. Don Bickerdike writes this chilling thriller in which Matthew Best and Beth Seller discover the clues left behind by Matt's mother (Leah) about "Buddy Person" who was Leah's first husband. Together, Matt and Beth become a great "Best-Seller Team." Leah made a promise to Matt that she would give him the rights to her best-selling novel which became Matt and Beth's primary source of clues. This leads them on an exhilarating adventure in which they try to discover who has been watching them and sending them cryptic messages. Who is Teresa? Who is Terrance Driscoll? What happened to Buddy Person? How did Father Gregory , Faye Morgan and others disappear, only leaving behind cryptic notes? Most importantly, who was Loni Berlize, besides being a famous award winning advocate, and why did it appear that she had no traceable background or past? This psychological suspense story is a gripping tale that ends with a twist and a shocking conclusion but not before adding unlimited twists, turns, and kindled fires along the way. How far would you go to discover answers to these chilling questions and clues?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Deep Perspective Books
• Release date: Sep 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781648190117

Don Bickerdike

Don “D.P.” Bickerdike’s messages are simple: “Nobody is perfect” and “Everything has a solution.” When you read his books it is like sitting down comfortably with your favorite drink having a casual conversation with him. The reader easily sees Don’s transparency and humility. He is the first to admit that he falls short in measuring up to high standards, but at the same time he shows you that there is always a way out of any mess.His fiction novels and short stories have basic spiritual overtones while Don often focuses on the “human factors” which none of us can avoid. His non-fiction books cut to the chase without all of the sugar-coating. As Don finds his lifetime treasures he freely shares them with other people through his many books. During your casual conversations with him he continues to be authentic.Beyond the overtones which hint to his spiritual insights, Don Bickerdike provides interesting and compelling stories designed to intrigue and entertain both the spiritual and non-spiritual readers. At the end of each story, the readers are often nudged into considering which side of the fence they truly stand on.When not writing, Don enjoys jogging and traveling with his muse near Tucson, Arizona.

Book preview

I AM

WATCHED BY

YOU

THE MAN BEHIND THE WOMAN

Best-Seller Psychological Thriller

Book 1

DON BICKERDIKE

I Am Watched By You: The Man Behind the Woman (Best-Seller Psychological Thriller Series Book 1)

By Don Bickerdike

www.DPBickerdike.com

[e-mail]

Cover design, and Interior Layout by: Deep Perspective Books, Tucson, AZ

Copyright © 2020 Don Bickerdike

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any unauthorized information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher, except where prohibited by law.

ISBN-13: 978-1-64819-009-4 (Paperback.)

ISBN-13: 978-1-64819-010-0 (e-Book/MOBI)

ISBN-13: 978-1-64819-011-7 (e-Book/EPUB)

Library of Congress Control Number:

2020942483

This is the first book in Don Bickerdike’s Best-Seller Psychological Thriller Series.

D.P. Bickerdike has also written the Cloak King Trilogy which includes the following books:

Cloak King: Royal Blood (Book 1);

Cloak King: Intertwined (Book 2);

Cloak King: Plucked Out of Time (Book3)

For my mother who left clues behind that she knew we would find. Though the clues were not enough to complete the circles, I took creative liberties with them to create this book of fiction.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE - Witnessing the Darkest Secret

CHAPTER TWO - Friendly Blast from Mom’s Past

CHAPTER THREE - Father Gregory’s Biggest Regret

CHAPTER FOUR - Private Investigator’s Promise

CHAPTER FIVE - Trusting the Last Eye-Witness

CHAPTER SIX - Friendly Message Before Sleeping

CHAPTER SEVEN - Investigating Terrance Driscoll

CHAPTER EIGHT - Private Investigators Trusting Clues

CHAPTER NINE - Friends and Dark Secrets

CHAPTER TEN - Escaping the Darkest Secret

CHAPTER ELEVEN - Surprise Meeting

CHAPTER TWELVE - Completing the Circle

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - Award Winning Beth Seller's Novel Ideas

CHAPTER FOURTEEN - Author’s Notes

CHAPTER FIFTEEN - About the Author

CHAPTER SIXTEEN - Connect with Don D.P. Bickerdike

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - Other books by Don D.P. Bickerdike

CHAPTER ONE

Witnessing the Darkest Secret

I discovered a big secret. I know how big this secret is now. When I tell you the details you will understand, but I honestly want to know what you would do if you found out a secret this big.

Of course, I stumbled across this information in bits and pieces. It was not as if I was looking for something on purpose. I wasn’t snooping.

I, Matthew Best, had been my mother’s full-time caregiver along with my girlfriend, Beth Seller. We helped my mother fight her cancer. We called ourselves Team Leah as part of the motivation for her to survive as long as possible. I tried to make her laugh every day as part of the effort to help her live longer. Nothing was too serious to joke about including me poking fun at the idea that Beth and I would eventually get married and the newspaper would announce the Best-Seller Wedding. Mom did survive many months longer than her diagnosis predicted, and we had long talks together.

One of these talks was a brief story about her first husband, Buddy Person who she had married in the early 1950s near Stockton, California. She had mentioned that Buddy was artistic and was associated with a wealthy wine family in Northern California and also a famous artist, but she remained mostly vague of details. I had asked his name, and she told me, but that was the end of that conversation. My mother had a way of shutting down a conversation as if she had signed away her rights to discuss any details. I recalled that she had told me decades earlier that Buddy had died tragically in a boating accident, being split into two, and she never wanted to discuss it. Now that she was nearing her final stages of life, however, I was curious about who Buddy was during that crossroad of her life.

I had encouraged my mother to write stories down so that she would not end up with any regrets. And though she wrote some notes to me and others, she also began to write a mystery novel that she wanted me to publish for her. Unfortunately, Mom’s passing came before I could publish her final work.

Though Mom’s passing was tragic, I was able to grieve and finally begin to sort through her belongings. This is when I discovered the details that unraveled her biggest secret.

You’ll have to follow the bread crumbs with me, just as I had discovered them with my mate, Beth Seller. Beth was a part of Team Leah and was incredible in helping Mom and me deal with the different stages we encountered. The final stage was to pick up all the pieces that Mom had left behind. Within these pieces, a few stuck out as being unusual, and we followed the trail.

My mother had left behind various clues. A few of her first paycheck stubs from the 1950s were kept in her safe. Her name, Leah Person, was on her payroll checks. Though my mother told me that Buddy’s last name was Person, it did not click right away. I later realized that this did not simply mean that Leah was a person cashing a check, which I had mistakenly assumed was how old checks were written. Instead, it represented her married surname, Person.

Beth and I searched through photos. We assumed there had to be at least one photo of Buddy Person. After meticulously sorting through the photos, Beth found it. It was in one of those cardboard graduation frames along with a photo of Leah. The inscription on the back identified the young man as Buddy Person.

The next clue came from searching Internet databases to find this same photo in a yearbook. Thankfully due to technology, it did not take long. Buddy was found in the Stockton High School yearbook, along with his artwork.

We later found a photo of Buddy and Leah on their wedding day. Mom once told Beth and me that, though Buddy’s parents did not approve of the marriage, they drove them to Las Vegas so they could get married. My mother also claimed that the marriage had later been annulled.

These were all odd facts that did not seem to match up. At least they didn’t until I read my mother’s novel transcript. My mother had written about a young man in a small town who was outed and run out of town due to his lifestyle. He returned years later, as a transgender woman, to take revenge on those who had persecuted him earlier in life.

Beth and I also came across a small booklet that Mom had written within among various accounting and recipes as if intentionally hidden in plain sight. It is here that she began to talk about Buddy and their life together. She talked about how they met at a swing dance club. My mother had often taken trips to San Francisco with her girlfriend, and they met Buddy and Buddy’s boyfriend while at the swing club.

My mother specifically wrote it this way. This was Buddy’s boyfriend. The reference seemed a bit odd, and at first, I thought that this was an innocent reference. As we found more clues, however, this tapestry began to paint a picture as if insinuating that these two couples had made an arrangement. Though it was not clearly stated, I wondered if they had each married a person of the opposite gender despite the closeness they each had with the same gendered boyfriend or girlfriend.

We researched further, based on the subtle clues that were starting to add up. I found a reference on a genealogy site that showed Buddy Person’s name, along with