Page 88 of The Devil You Know
Seriously? Wow. George rocks.
The doors slide shut and we begin our express journey to the tenth floor. George shoots me the tiniest of smiles, which I return.
When we get to the tenth floor, I shoot out of the elevator like a bullet. (Okay, bad analogy.) I sprint down the hall to Ryan’s office, practicing the speech I’m planning to recite to convince him that life is worth living. I nearly slam into a startled young guy in scrubs during my race to the end of the hall.
Except when I get to the office, the sign with Ryan’s name on it is gone.
“Hey!” I bark at the guy in scrubs. “What happened to Dr. Reilly?”
The guy hesitates, as if he’s not sure he should say anything. “He resigned.”
“Heresigned?” That sick feeling in my stomach intensifies. “When?”
“Two days ago.”
Two days ago.
Ryan hasn’t been to work in two days.
He lives alone. He has no wife or girlfriend. If he were lying dead in his house, would anyone know?
Oh God…
My knees go weak. I have to hang onto the wall to keep from falling to the floor. The guy in scrubs gives me a concerned look. “Are… are you okay, ma’am?”
“Do you know where he lives?” I manage.
He blinks at me. “What?”
“Do you know where Dr. Reilly lives?” I say more loudly this time.
I see the hesitation on his face. He knows. He just isn’t sure if he should tell the crazy lady who is practically having a nervous breakdown in the hallway.
“Please tell me,” I say. “Please.Please.”
Chapter 35
Ryan is dead.
I’m so sure of it. I’m like ninety-nine percent sure. He quit, went home, and then blew his brains out.
Yet for some reason, I’m speeding to his house as fast as I dare. I’m not entirely sure why. It’s almost certainly too late to stop him. So why am I rushing?
As I stall at a stoplight, my stomach turns again. What am I going to find when I get there? If Ryan really shot himself two days ago, his body is probably already rotting. I’m going to find a room covered in blood and brains and a rotting corpse.
And then the police will come and I’ll have to answer endless questions. And his family might show up. His mother and his sister. I’ll have to deal with them discovering that their son/brother is dead.
Maybe I shouldn’t go over there. Maybe I should just call the police now.
But it’s too late. I’m already rounding the final corner on my drive to the house that Ryan is renting. I find it atthe end of the block, the lush green lawn and pleasant white-shuttered house belying the horror that may wait for me inside.
Before I can change my mind, I throw the car into park and get out. I see Ryan’s car in the driveway, so he’s definitely inside. There don’t appear to be any lights on in the house, but that doesn’t mean much considering it’s the middle of the morning. I walk up to the front door and stand there a full sixty seconds, gathering my nerve.
And then I knock.
I wait. I wait ten seconds. Twenty. Thirty…
He’s dead. I know it. He’s dead.
