Maisie's Secret: A Collection of Psychological Thriller and Contemporary Stories

By Helene Fermont

Maisie's Secret

 

HIDDEN AGENDAS & EVIL INTENTIONS

 

A collection of ten psychological thriller and contemporary stories

 

STORIES INCLUDE:

 

Maisie's Secret

Lies

The Things We Do For Love

Who'd Have Believed It?

A Husband For All Seasons

In Hindsight

A Walk In The Park

Deception

Broken Promises

Don't Call Me Sweetheart

• Language: English
• Publisher: Helene Fermont
• Release date: Jul 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781838479633

Helene Fermont

Born into a bilingual family (Swedish/English), Hélene Fermont enjoyed an idylic childhood on the outskirts of Malmö, Sweden’s third largest city and major cultural hub. Growing up in the 1970s, she had a brief musical career on Swedish TV and radio prior to pursuing a career in teaching and a practising psychologist. Hélene lived in London for over 20 years but has recently returned to Sweden. She is currently working on her fifth novel, The Matchmaker.

Book preview

Maisie’s Secret

Maisie’s Secret

A COLLECTION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER AND CONTEMPORARY STORIES

Hélene Fermont

West Harbour Books

Copyright © Hélene Fermont 2021

Published in 2021 by West Harbour Books

The moral rights of the author have been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.

All characters and events in the publication, other than those in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any for or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher, nor be circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on subsequent publisher.

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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Paperback ISBN 978-1-8384796-2-6

E book ISBN 978-1-8384796–3-3

www.helenefermont.com

For all the special people in my life. You know who you are.

For my kind readers, whose comments and reviews mean a lot to me.

Last but not least, for my faithful, gorgeous cat and writing buddy, Teddy.

I hope you will enjoy reading my second collection of stories as much as I did writing it.

With much love, Hélene

Contents

Maisie’s Secret

Lies

The Things We Do For Love

Who’d Have Believed It?

A Husband For All Seasons

In Hindsight

A Walk In The Park

Deception

Broken Promises

Don’t Call Me Sweetheart

Afterword

Also by Hélene Fermont

About the Author

Maisie’s Secret

It was too late for regrets. Maisie brushed aside doubts and bad memories as she walked downstairs from her spacious bedroom in the big Victorian house she had lived in alone since her parents died last spring. After she buried them in a small church in the countryside not far from the home they shared with their only child, Maisie knew life would never be the same without them.

Locking the front door, she looked around her at the seemingly carefree people on the pavement thinking how odd it was that life went on as if nothing had happened. She’d been thinking the same for nearly a year after losing the people she had known all her life. Pulling up the collar of her new coat, she headed for the nearby station. It had been a hard year, living in the house all by herself with no one to care for her and talk with. Not even a special man to love and care for her. Pulling the coat tighter around her body, she ran down the dirty stairs to the train that would take her to Marble Arch and her new position at Boots Pharmacy.

Seated inside by the entrance, she removed her black leather gloves and felt someone’s stare on her. Glaring, an old brown-eyed, bald man leaned forward and said, I know who you are. You’re Maisie Brown, Nina and Barry’s daughter. I’m sorry for your loss. How come you’re still living in that house? His voice was ice cold.

Wishing she’d not bothered to travel to work that morning, Maisie’s eyes locked with his. That’s none of your business. Have you been spying on me? Her eyes searched his for an answer. He must have been stalking her.

"You killed them, your own parents! I knew it from the moment I heard they died," he hissed at her as she tried to calm down and attempt to say something, anything.

You’re insane! I loved my parents. Stop harassing me! You don’t know anything about me. Why are you doing this, following me and making crazy accusations? Her voice faltered, hands clammy with fear. She had seen him at her parents’ funeral, he’d been standing in a corner inside the church, making her think he was an old friend her parents had never told her about. She’d forgotten about him until he turned up at the house, ringing the doorbell, one early Sunday morning, offering his condolences. She’d refused to let him inside.

After that day, he didn’t leave her alone, always lurking about when she least expected it and not owning up to his intentions. Today was the first time he’d followed her inside the train and accused her of killing her parents.

Watching her closely, the man shook his head. Did you really imagine you’d get away with what you did? Nina and Barry were my oldest and dearest friends. We attended the same school and college, same class and friends. They were childhood sweethearts and meant for each other. Everything changed when they had you! he whispered, eyes blazing.

Numb with fear, Maisie said, You’re mistaken. We were a happy family, just the three of us! What have you got against me, what have I done to make you hate me so much? Answer me! She was close to fainting. Who was he and why did he accuse her of killing her parents? She wished again she’d stayed at home and not bothered to travel to work.

Feigning a smile, the man started to laugh. It wasn’t a loud laugh, only sinister and aimed at making her more scared. "I know. Your fake tears and insistence you’ve no idea what I’m talking about don’t fool me! Nina and Barry are dead because of you; my best friends were murdered by their own daughter."

She was about to scream at him to stop following her and making false accusations when without warning, the man grabbed her right arm and squeezed it so hard she screamed in pain. Her loud crying and his grip on her arm incurred much attention from the other people on the train.

Everyone’s eyes were on them, and one young man shouted, Let go of her arm or I’ll make you!

Be my guest! This woman’s a murderer! I’m taking her with me to the police station at the next stop.

Too scared to answer back, Maisie looked at the young man and cried, Please don’t believe what he said. I don’t know this… this awful man. I loved my parents and would never harm them. Daring to look at her assailant, she asked, Why are you accusing me of something I’m not guilty of? Her eyes fixed on the man whose grip on her arm made her wince in pain.

Suddenly, it dawned on her who he was. He’d visited her parents when she was younger. They’d referred to him as