“Okay, there was a murder last night, same M.O of Ryan’s first kill,” I say sitting opposite her. She stops eating and wipes her mouth on a serviette and then sips her water.
“Bashing an innocent man’s skull in for no apparent reason?” she asks with an attitude.
“A school teacher in his classroom. The power was cut and all the CCTV ran off the main power. By the time the generator back up came on, the killer had been and gone.”
“Was this your daughter’s school?” she asks and then freezes.
How the fuck does she know I have a daughter? Unless Ryan knows and has spoken about her in his sessions.
“How do you know I have a daughter?”
She stares at me with her mouth open and closing.
“Motherfucker.” I jump out of my seat and run to my car. I bring up the GPS I have tracking Ryan’s phone and it tells me he’s at his new place.
He’s not there and I can see his phone on the counter through the windows. Donovan called me on the way over here; John is doing the autopsy straight away and has some information for us.
I’M THAT GIRL, THE ONE who waits for her husband to leave and then follows him. I’m repulsed by myself and by him and I swear to all the Gods that if I see him kiss or touch another woman, so help me, he will die from a thousand nail marks in his flesh. He’s gone inside and I creep up to the place and look through the window. He’s called over by a woman stuffing her face with pasta. She’s blonde and skinny and younger than me but I can hold my own, even high school boys think I’m hot. Oh kill me now, I really just let that thought have life. I’m ashamed of my actions and my thoughts.
Blake doesn’t appear intimate with her and before he’s even ordered, his face contorts in rage at something she’s said and then he stands and I quickly hide around the corner. I sneak a look and see him rushing over to his car and driving off. A few minutes later the woman, Jenna, is leaving too. I watch her get into a red Lexus and then follow her.
My insides are curdling when I follow her to Bluewater; this is where Ryan is being held. She pulls into a special private parking space reserved for Doctors and my head won’t stop spinning. I manage to pull into a space and turn the car off. It takes me twenty minutes to calm my breathing and exit the car. I hate even being this close to Ryan. He destroyed so many people and he stole my parents for no other reason than a sick game. The sorrow of their death whips my insides up like a tornado tearing through me. My legs are weak and I’m not sure if I can even enter. The guards and iron gates are intimidating. But there is an entrance via a gate manned by a guy in a box with a glass window.
“Can I help you, Mam?”
“I need to see one of the Doctors here. Jenna?”
“Name.”
“Melody Braxton,” I answer meekly.
He types into a computer and turns to me. “You don’t have an appointment, I need to call through.”
He picks up a phone, presses a button and speaks into the receiver and then a loud buzz and clanking sound pierces the air. I nearly die from the shock. He grins at me when he sees my hand dart to my heart and the color drain from my face.
I enter timidly, looking around at the guards. A huge wall surrounds a castle-like estate. It’s freaking huge and I have no reason to be scared but I’m terrified when the buzzer sounds again and the gate clanks shut. I take a few steps and pull open a door to a reception lobby. I’m asked for any weapons or metal objects and told to go through the metal detector, and then I’m patted down thoroughly and told to go ahead. I don’t have to speak to the receptionist because Jenna is waiting for me and tells me to come in to her office.
“Take a seat.” She gestures and I want to refuse and just scream at her to tell me what the hell she was doing with my husband, but my legs are about to give out and I need to sit. “This is unexpected.” She laughs nervously. “Your timing is not the best. Would you like to schedule an appointment? I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have then and-”
I hold my hand up to stop her mid-sentence. “What’s going on with you and my husband?” I have a million questions running through my head but I can’t get any together but that one.
She stands and walks around the table then sits on the corner, grasping her hands into her lap. She’s only an arm’s reach away and if she says anything that I could never imagine happening in our marriage I may never leave this place because I will grab her and rip her black rooted hair from the follicles. “I’m limited in how much I can tell you, but I will tell you I’m his brother, Ryan’s, psychiatrist.”