Page 43 of Last Seen
“And how did you get my address?”
“From Cat, naturally.”
This is a shocking bit of news. Her dad’s plan hadn’t worked at all. Cat did know where they were. Why had she never reached out? Or, conversely, come after them? If she was so dangerous, why had she never tried to hurt them?
“I’m very confused,” Halley says. “Care to enlighten me?”
The doctor glances at the file again, raising her brow in query as if she knows exactly what it is and wants a quick peek. Halley slides it out of reach possessively.
A little sigh. “You need to leave your sister’s situation alone.”
“I thought you couldn’t talk about her.”
“I can’t. Not specifics. I’m making a judgment call here. I did a little checking on you. You’re a smart girl. Top of your class in undergrad at GW, graduated your master’s with honors. PhD by twenty-six, making a name in the forensics industry. On a path to run NISL. Until you left your company out of the blue Monday.” That eyebrow again, an open invitation to share. It probably works wonders with her patients. For Halley, having a stranger digging makes her uncomfortable.
“How do you know all of this? Are you some sort of private investigator?”
“Not at all. Cat thought you had a bright future, and you do. I’d like to help you keep it that way. Here.”
She hands Halley an envelope. It is worn, and thin. “I didn’t want to say anything on the phone. Your sister said if you ever got in touch, to give you this.”
“What is it?”
“A letter, I believe.”
“And you’ve been holding on to this for fifteen years?”
The therapist nods. “Your sister was a complicated woman. You’ve obviously found out a little bit about her past?”
“A little bit? She murdered our mother!”
“And she went to jail for that admission. Granted, it was a juvenile psychiatric facility, but she didn’t have an easy time of it. They rarely do.”
“An easy time ... Dr. Chowdhury, forgive me for being obtuse, but when you go to jail, is it supposed to be cushy? She murdered a woman, the one who brought her into this world. Some would say matricide is a worse crime than killing a stranger.”
The doctor crosses her legs. She is the epitome of a cool customer.
“Interesting that you point that out. Matricide is horrible, and very, very rare for young women. And of course her sentence was supposed to be punishment. But recidivism is dramatically reduced if a juvenile can get the proper support. Counseling, medication, tools to handle their rage. When the environment they’re put into simply exacerbates the problem and creates an even deeper risk-reward system ...” Chowdhury takes a sip of her coffee. “I see you aren’t buying any of this, are you?”
“I don’t see that letting people get away with murder is a good thing.”
The way Chowdhury looks at her makes Halley feel quite prim. No, not prim. Naive. She has a sad, knowing smile, like Halley is a recalcitrant child. “You have a highly developed moral compass. That’s good. Whoever you choose to work for next will be lucky to have you.”
Halley feels the anger that’s been simmering since Ivan called her into his office and blew up her life bubbling up to the surface. Who the hell is this woman? “Doctor, forgive me, but you could have mailed me that letter. Why are you here if you can’t tell me anything worthwhile about my sister’s disappearance?”
Chowdhury smiles, unperturbed by Halley’s aggression. “Cat was one of my favorite patients. She was complicated, without a doubt, but incredibly self-aware. Driven. Smart. Talented. Not unlike yourself. When she went missing, I was very upset. We’d made so much progress. And now ... It’s been so long, I’d almost given up hope. But when you reached out, I admit, a spark relit. You were there, of course, in her defining moment. It was a very powerful psychological event.”
Well, that’s not weird.
“I may have been there, but I don’t remember anything. And every time I try to think about it, there’s an immediate blackout. Like, jet black in my brain.”
“Is there? That’s interesting.”
“But what does it mean?”
“Well, before I offer my opinion, would you tell me how it makes you feel? This darkness?”
“Panicky. Fearful. Frozen. But safe, too. As if whatever is on the other side of it is dangerous, but as anxious as I am, I know nothing will hurt me if I don’t look.”
