Amber Hunt - See How Much You Love Me: A Troubled Teen, His Devoted Parents, and a Cold-Blooded Killing

Dear Reader:

The book you are about to read is the latest bestseller from the St. Martins True Crime Library, the imprint The New York Times calls the leader in true crime! The True Crime Library offers you fascinating accounts of the latest, most sensational crimes that have captured the national attention. St. Martins is the publisher of John Glatts riveting and horrifying SECRETS IN THE CELLAR , which shines a light on the man who shocked the world when it was revealed that he had kept his daughter locked in his hidden basement for 24 years. In the Edgar-nominated WRITTEN IN BLOOD , Diane Fanning looks at Michael Petersen, a Marine-turned-novelist found guilty of beating his wife to death and pushing her down the stairs of their homeonly to reveal another similar death from his past. In the book you now hold, SEE HOW MUCH YOU LOVE ME , Amber Hunt explores the case of a troubled teenager and the brutal deaths of his parents.

St. Martins True Crime Library gives you the stories behind the headlines. Our authors take you right to the scene of the crime and into the minds of the most notorious murderers to show you what really makes them tick. St. Martins True Crime Library paperbacks are better than the most terrifying thriller, because its all true! The next time you want a crackling good read, make sure its got the St. Martins True Crime Library logo on the spineyoull be up all night!

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Executive Editor, St. Martins True Crime Library

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To the countless nameless victims of crime, caught in the ripple effects of others unthinkably selfish deeds.

Contents

CHAPTER 1

He stood behind her, a hammer clenched in his hand. He was silent, and she was oblivious. The hammers handle was smooth in his palm. He stared at her as she typed absentmindedly on the family computer. He was still for a long time and he held the hammer at his side as he eyed his mothers head.

Mary Jo Hadley sat in a bluish gray, cloth-covered desk chair, staring at the computer monitor. It was an awkward place for a computer, right in the middle of the kitchen. It was housed in a cheaply made computer deska birch-colored fake-wood number that didnt match the rooms other wooden furniture. But then nothing really matched in this house. A china hutch to the left of the computer desk was a mahogany-stained woodreal woodthat was pretty close in color to a trunk the family used as a coffee table on the other side of the combined kitchen and living room setup. Like a lot of Florida homes, the Hadleys featured a great room in addition to a more formal sitting room, and the floor was an off-white tile, a material that helped keep the great room cool and, in theory, was easy to clean. In reality, it often wasnt clean. The tile grout had darkened over the years, and no amount of scrubbing ever got that floor completely sparkling anymore.

Near the coffee table trunk was a dresser far lighter in color, almost yellow in fact, and pastel-colored clothes peeked out of a top drawer. Across the room, the kitchen boasted dark cabinets, cheap ones, like the kind youd expect to see in a mid-range apartment. The appliances were out of date and a little dirty. Its not how Mary Jo had necessarily envisioned the house when she and her husband moved in twenty-five years ago, but itd been through a lot, serving as home first to the young couple, and then to two boys as they grew and grew and grew. Ryan, the older, had just moved out a month or so ago. Tyler was six months shy of eighteen, almost a man now. Not that he was acting like a man yet. In fact, in the past year Tyler had become quite a handful. Hed always had a bit of a dark side, a melancholy undercurrent that would come and go. But lately, it was coming more often than going. Hed even begun saying lately that he wanted to kill himself. That tore at Mary Jos heart, and shed searched on the family computer for therapy in which she could enroll her once towheaded boy. At seventeen, though, he wasnt towheaded anymore. He was six foot one and awkward and he had his mothers eyes.

And now he was standing behind her with a hammer in his hand.

* * *

A few blocks away, Daniel Roberts was catching his breath. Hed been running away from the Hadley home, though he wasnt entirely sure why. Hed stopped by to visit with his friend Michael Mandell. Michael was Dannys best friend, and Tyler was Michaels best friend, so even though Danny wasnt as crazy about Tyler as Michael was, the three hung out together about once a week. Theyd drive around, hang out with Michaels girlfriend, smoke a little weed. Michael didnt drink, but Tyler and Danny did, so sometimes they drank together. Typical bored, rebel-without-a-cause teenage stuff.

This visit started out weird and just got weirder. Danny had ended up getting stuck at Tylers after Michaels battery died and he couldnt give him a lift back. It was a little awkwardit was Dannys first time even being at Tylers house, after alland Tylers folks werent home. Hed heard such awful things about Tylers parents, too. That his mom never let him leave the house. That his dad beat on him regularly. He couldnt count how many times Tyler joked about killing them. As Michael left the house with his father, whod swung by to pick him up, leaving Danny behind to potentially meet the infamous parents, he snuck in a word with Michael. He didnt want to be there, man. Tylers folks were such assholes.

Theyre not so bad, Michael assured him. Tyler makes them sound like theyre horrible, but theyre nice. Just chill out and when they come home, say you walked all the way here and just wanted to hang out with Tyler.

Danny felt better. Hed try to get Tyler to drive him home, but if the folks came home first, hed just explain that he was there to hang out. No big deal. Maybe they were regular parents after all. Tyler always did sound like he was joking when he said he hated them. Sure, the jokes got a little pointed, like the other day when Tyler said hed bought the pickaxe and had come so close so close to killing them. That kid had a twisted sense of humor.

So Danny made chitchat and sized up the home.

Hey, its really nice here, he told Tyler.

Tyler scoffed. This isnt nice. Your house is nice.

Danny wasnt sure why the reaction. He looked around. The place wasnt a dump. There was obviously plenty of food. Paintings and photos hung on the walls. The fireplace in the great room was a nice touch, too. Maybe it was because hed envisioned Tyler living in more of a prison than a home, but the place was surprisingly normal. Hell, there was even a screened-in pool in the backyard. Sure, it was nice.

Youre lucky. You have your own laptop, Danny tried again.

No, no. Tyler shrugged him off.

A few minutes passed. It was still kind of uncomfortable. He wanted Tyler to just drive him home. That was another thingTyler had a car. He had a car, and he always had moneylike, lots of money, sometimes six or seven hundred-dollar bills in his wallet. Tyler maybe didnt have it as bad as hed made it sound all these years. Danny decided to ask for that lift, but just as he started the sentence, he noticed an SUV pulling into the driveway. For a split second, he and Tyler froze. Then Tylers reaction was swift and surprising.