Page 98 of Locke 2

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, butemotionally…” 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 endjust 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.

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