Locke 2 (Blackwater Boys #4)

Forty-One

Kali

T he office was the same as when I’d last been here. Including Yawn-Hater who narrowed her eyes at me when I walked through the door. I heard her immediately tap away at the keyboard, probably checking to see if I had an appointment.

The room was empty. No waiting patients, but I did hear a soft murmur in the backroom, so someone was being seen to.

I strode to the desk and smiled brightly at Yawn-Hater, whose name was actually Keely. “Hi, I was hoping to see a doctor. I’ve been here before.”

“Yes,” she said, knowingly. “You have. Do you have an appointment?”

I made a sad face. “No, I don’t, but it looks really quiet here, so I was hoping to come in as a walk-in.”

“Full name.”

“Kari Price.”

She tapped away at the keyboard. “You saw Dr Abbott last.”

“Yes.”

“He’s not present.”

“What about Dr Kensington?”

Keely made a face. “Dr Proud might be your next available doctor. He’s not currently seeing someone. Dr Kensington, however, is with a patient—”

“I can wait for her,” I cut in, before adding with a wince, “It’s lady problems, and I’d rather deal with a female.”

Keely tapped away. “I need to see your medical card, otherwise it’ll need to be paid in cash—”

“I have cash.”

She tapped away some more. “Have a seat, please.”

I strode around the room instead, feeling anxious. It wasn’t long before an elderly lady left the patient room, and I was called in. I passed Doctor Abbott’s office, with all the beautiful pictures on the wall. The room was dark, so he wasn’t in. I felt relieved by that.

I was led into another room. I took a seat and barely gathered my thoughts when the door opened.

“How are we going?” asked Dr Kensington as she breezed into the room.

I gaped at her for a moment. She was a stunning blonde woman with huge green eyes and a killer smile. This clinic employed some ridiculously good-looking doctors.

“Good,” I answered, suddenly anxious because I didn’t know how to bring up Lenny. How did those Blackwater boys do this?

“You saw Dr Abbott about your anxiety, right?” She was reading this information on a laptop opened in front of her. “Were you hoping for this to be a follow up on that medication he prescribed?”

“Um…yeah, ” I stumbled over my words. “I’m a TA at the school, so there’s been a lot of anxiety lately.”

“Little kids?”

“Kindergarten.”

“Oh, no.” She made a sympathetic face, but I chalked it up to doctor acting. “Kids are tough that age.”

“Are you a parent?”

Now her face fell. “No.”

She said that in a quiet tone. I studied her carefully, wondering what that was about. “Good thing,” I said, trying to be positive. “At least you can walk away from a kid going crazy when the bell rings. Can’t do that at home.”

Her laugh was high pitched and fake. “Well, I was prepared for it. We wanted to have one, but the marriage fell apart.”

Oh, shit. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

She shrugged. “Probably a good thing. He’d have gone on his precious weeklong fishing trips and I’d have spent my days child rearing without him. Worked out well in the end.”

This was really sad and interesting, but we were getting way off topic. “That’s selfish. I see a lot of that at the school. My anxiety actually spiked because one of the little boys in class just left out of the blue. His name was Lenny, and his mom didn’t seem all that present with him.”

She looked away from the laptop and at me, studying me. I cleared my throat, continuing. “So, anyway, I…” I stumbled again and shut my eyes, feeling embarrassed because this was not going to plan. “I’m having a tough time…with Lenny…”

“Lenny McClane,” she spoke, finally.

I opened my eyes to look at her. Her eyes had narrowed on mine. She was wary. “Yes, that’s him. Do you know him?”

She wasn’t stupid. She abandoned the laptop, crossing her arms as she came closer to me. “You don’t forget a boy like Lenny McClane.”

“No, you don’t.”

It felt like her eyes were digging into my being. “Is this truly about your anxiety, Kari?”

I gave her a flat smile. “No.”

She nodded, all too aware. “What is it about?”

“Lenny’s aunt said you saw him when he got sick.”

“I did.”

I swallowed, clearing the lump in my throat. “How did he seem to you?”

“Well, he had a bad case of the flu, and his chest was congested. I didn’t feel a follow-up was required, but apparently the mother did.”

My brows came together as I reflected on the timeline. “You saw him once, though.”

“I did. I was supposed to see him the second time, but I had to cancel my appointments that day for personal reasons.” The way she said personal reasons made me think it had something to do with her failed marriage.

I tilted my head to the side. “I’m confused, so then you didn’t see him.”

“He still came in.”

“How did that go?”

She shrugged. “I imagine it went well. A doctor saw him, and nothing was prescribed for him.”

My mind raced. Locke had produced all medical records. “Why wasn’t that appointment recorded?”

She gave me a funny look. “Well, it would have been. We keep records of all patient interactions.”

Not this one.

And why would Tammy have pushed for a follow-up appointment if she hadn’t even been present for the first appointment that she didn’t even want to go to?

I didn’t argue that point, though. I just gave her a fake smile. “I see.”

She continued to watch me, and I couldn’t read her expression, but she seemed unsettled. In a quiet voice, she said, “His mother upset me, too. She came around when he was done and had a big go at her sister. She clearly didn’t want him to be seen. I didn’t like the state he was in. Physically, he was fine, but emotionally…” Her eyes refocused on mine. “Is there anything else you want to ask?”

Though she didn’t tell me a whole lot, she didn’t have to tell me anything. I shook my head slowly. “I didn’t think you’d be so open.”

Her smile was tinged with sadness. “I’m walking a fine line between professionalism and being a human being who recognizes when someone truly cares about a child.”

My eyes ached. “Thank you.”

I got up to leave while she pretended to be preoccupied with her laptop, but her face had fallen. Maybe it was the reminder of Lenny. Maybe he got through to more people than I realised. I stopped at the door, that same niggling feeling returning at the back of my mind. I looked over at her. “One more thing.”

She looked up at me and waited.

“Who did Lenny see?”

Her face twisted. A look of annoyance washed over her. “Dr Abbott.”

I stilled. “Oh.”

“But he can’t help you.” A bitter smile spread. “He’s on one of his precious fishing trips at his cabin.”

◆◆◆

Yawn-Hater wasn’t at her desk. I waited by it, cash in hand. I was in a bit of a trance. That niggling feeling hadn’t gone away. I was supposed to be tying up a silly loose end, but that loose end just split in two, and another dangled before me and there was nothing silly about it at all.

I walked around the entrance room, my eyes lingering on the pictures on the wall. This time, I lingered longer, studying each one carefully. The log cabin with a red roof looked sturdy, the logs weathered, yet it had that homely, rustic charm. There were photos everywhere of a little boy with his father around the mountainside, sometimes by the cabin, other times before a river, fishing rods in hand. I studied the little boy, picturing Nick now, handsome and tall. In the photos, he was smiling, but never with his teeth and never so wide that it met his eyes.

I moved along the wall, and it was like a reel of Nick’s life. He grew up steadily, and as he grew into his body, his face changed shape from round to long, his jawline more pronounced, and his shoulders broadening. He went through different hairstyles. Chin length, then short, then long enough to cover his forehead. My gaze lingered on his graduation photos. His hair was cropped short, his cheeks were covered in a neatly trimmed beard. His smile was big, teeth and all, as he stood next to his father who did not smile at all. I lingered on the father and felt a little chill run down my spine. His eyes looked cold in this particular photo. Nothing like the photos of him at the cabin when he was genuinely happy.

“Look at him again,” Aurora said at my side. “At Nick.”

I did as she said. “Now what?”

“You can feel something, right?” She pointed to her chest. “In here.”

I noticed she had white gloves on. “Why did you put your dress gloves on?”

“I’m getting ready for the farewell party,” she answered.

“What farewell party?”

She smiled brightly. “It’s going to be great.”

“Aurora—”

“Look at the photo, Kali,” she cut in, and the smile vanished. Her eyes turned darker, her expression grim. “Stop distracting yourself and look at the handsome doctor. What do you see?”

I looked back at the photo and shook my head. “Nothing.”

“Keep looking.”

I kept looking.

“Are you ready to pay?” Yawn-Hater cut in from behind me, her heels approaching her desk.

I didn’t respond. I kept my gaze glued to the doctor’s smiling face. A long handsome face. With a beard—

Oh, no.

Aurora smiled again. “We’re going to be dancing together! A teacup party to start with—”

“Miss Price?”

“Then I want to go to the ballroom and dance with the handsome prince, and it’ll be the best fairytale story—”

Shaking, I slowly pulled out my phone and pulled up my camera. I raised it high and snapped a photo of the doctor.

“Excuse me,” she snarled now from beside me. “What are you doing?”

Skin prickling with annoyance, I looked at her coolly. “I’m taking a fucking picture.”

Her eyes bulged. She looked momentarily speechless. Good.

Turning away, I walked to the desk. Aurora skipped beside me, humming a tune and twirling in circles. I set the cash down on the desk and then raised my head to look at one more photo.

The rain-soaked log cabin stood with smoke curling from its chimney. In front of it, a bearded Doctor Nick Abbott smiled, a rifle casually slung over one shoulder.

This time that toothy smile had reached his eyes.