Kurt and his ex-wife both blamed Karen. Haley had lied to them about where she’d been going that night. Kurt pointed out that he’d asked Karen to stop seeing Haley, but she’d met with her anyway, and just look what had happened. She must have said something to Haley during their secret dinner that helped push their girl over the edge.
Karen didn’t have it in her to fight with Haley’s grieving parents. She didn’t go to the funeral. She knew she wasn’t welcome.
Just three weeks after the burial, Karen had her first meeting with Amelia Faraday. For a while, Amelia reminded her so much of Haley, it hurt. But since then, she’d gotten to know Amelia, and really couldn’t compare her to anyone.
The telephone rang, and Karen jumped up from the breakfast table. She figured it was Amelia again, and grabbed the phone before Jessie even had a chance to wipe off her hands. “Hello?” she said into the phone.
“Is Karen Carlisle there, please?” The man sounded as if he had asthma or something. His breathing wasn’t right.
“This is Karen,” she said.
“Um, my name’s George McMillan. My niece is one of your patients, Amelia Faraday….”
“Is Amelia all right?”
“She isn’t with you?” he asked. “I just spoke with her five minutes ago, and she said she was at your house.”
“Well, I’m sorry, Mr. McMillan, but she isn’t,” she replied. “Amelia called me, too. She indicated there was some kind of emergency. Is everything okay?”
“No, it’s not.” He cleared his throat, but it still sounded like something was wrong with his breathing. “She- she had this
“Yes, Amelia has mentioned her.”
“Well, see, they went away for the weekend at the family cabin on Lake Wenatchee, and Amelia was convinced they’d all been killed last night.” His voice cracked, and Karen realized he was crying. That was why his breathing sounded so strange. “And she-she was right. I talked to someone who lives near the Lake Wenatchee house, and this neighbor, she found the bodies.”
“Oh, my God,” Karen whispered. She sank down in one of the chairs at the breakfast table. “I’m so sorry….”
Karen heard him trying to stifle the sobs. He explained how he’d spoken to this neighbor-and then the police in Wenatchee. It appeared as if Amelia’s father had shot his wife and sister-in-law with a hunting rifle, and then he’d turned the gun on himself.
“My God, Mr. McMillan-George-I’m so sorry,” she repeated. “Poor Amelia. You-you said she had a
“Yes, but she doesn’t know yet that it’s true. I called and tried to persuade her to come over here. But she said she needed to see you. I–I couldn’t tell her over the phone what happened…”
Karen’s front doorbell rang. Rufus started barking and scurried toward the front of the house.
“I think that’s her at my door right now,” she said into the phone. She turned to the housekeeper. “Jessie? Could you? If that’s Amelia, could you please have her wait in my office?”
Jessie nodded, wiped off her hands and started out of the kitchen. “Rufus, knock it off!”
“Mr. McMillan, are you still there?” Karen said into the phone.
“Yes. Would you-would you mind driving Amelia over here? We live in West Seattle. I don’t want her to be alone. And it might help my kids if their cousin was here.” His voice cracked again. “They’re playing outside. They still don’t know. My son’s eleven, and my daughter-she’s only five years old. God, how am I going to tell them their mother’s dead?”
Karen’s heart ached for him. “I can drive Amelia over,” she said finally. “It’s no problem, Mr. McMillan. But if I insist on taking her to your house, she’s bound to figure out something’s wrong. Would you like me to tell her what happened?”
She could hear him sigh on the other end of the line. “Yes. Thank you, Karen. Thank you very much.”
When she clicked off the phone, Karen could hear Jessie talking to Amelia: “You sit tight, hon. She’ll be with you in a jiff. Rufus, get down!”
Pulling the dog by his collar, Jessie lumbered back into the kitchen and gave her a wary look. “Whew,” she whispered. “That poor girl has the fidgets something fierce. She’s practically bouncing off the walls in there. I think she’s been crying, too.”
Karen took hold of her arm. “Jess, do we still have some of Dad’s sedatives?”
“You mean those light blue pills that made him a little dopey?”
Karen nodded. “Yes, the diazepam, for anxiety.” It was times like this Karen wished she were a psychiatrist rather than just a therapist. Then she could have the proper medications on hand, instead of making do with some secondhand sedatives that were probably beyond their expiration date. “Amelia’s going to need something to calm her down. Do we still have those pills?”
Jessie nodded. “On the crap shelf in the linen closet. I’ve been bugging you to let me clean that out. Good thing you never listen to a word I say. I’ll get them.” Jessie headed up the back stairs.
Karen went to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water for Amelia. She gave Rufus a stern look. “Stay,” she said. Then she took a deep breath and started toward her office at the front of the house.
The room used to be her father’s study, and had always been one of Karen’s favorite spots in the house. It was very comfy, with a fireplace and built-in bookshelves. But Amelia didn’t appear at all comfortable. Dressed in jeans, a black top, and a bulky cardigan, she nervously paced in front of the sofa. Her wavy black hair was a windblown mess. Jessie was right. It looked as if she’d been crying.
She rushed to Karen and threw her arms around her. Karen wasn’t in the habit of hugging her patients. But she held onto Amelia and gently patted her on the back.
“Where were you?” Karen asked, finally pulling away a little. “I thought you were going to wait for me here.”
Tugging at a strand of hair, Amelia looked down at the floor and shrugged. “Well, I waited for Jessie, like you said to. But after about ten minutes, I got kind of anxious. So I just drove around for a while.”
Karen bit her lip. “You, um, you didn’t by any chance track me down at the Sandpoint View Convalescent Home? I thought I saw you there about twenty-five minutes ago.”
“I have no idea where that even is,” Amelia replied, wide-eyed. “What are you talking about?”
Karen shook her head. “Never mind. It’s my mistake. Here, I got you some water. Sit down, try to relax.”
“I can’t sit down,” Amelia said, pacing again. “I have a feeling something’s happened to my parents.”
“I understand,” Karen said. “I just got off the phone with your uncle. He called. He was worried about you. He told me that…” She hesitated.
Amelia stopped pacing, and turned to stare at her.
Jessie came to the door with the diazepam and handed the bottle to Karen.
“Thanks, Jessie,” Karen said. “Could you close the door, please?”
Jessie slid shut the big, bulky pocket door that came out of the wall. Karen shook two pills into her hand. “Amelia, I want you to take these. They’re like Valium. They’ll chill you out a little.”
But Amelia didn’t move. She just kept staring at Karen. Tears welled in her eyes. “You want me to take a sedative? What did Uncle George tell you?”
“Take the pills, Amelia.”
“Oh, my God,” she said, wincing. A shaky hand went over her mouth. She sank down on the sofa. “Then it’s true. Aunt Ina…my Mom and Dad…they’re all dead, aren’t they?”
Karen swallowed hard and nodded. “I’m so sorry….”
Chapter Six
