patient now.”
“Do you care?”
“Not really. I think it’s a lot harder for therapists in small towns to keep that confidentiality thing going.”
He folded back his magazine. “She’s dating the guy. Don’t you think she’s going to tell him everything anyway?”
“Elena’s ethical. I don’t think so.” She wedged her feet on the table in front of her. “Are you concerned about that?”
“I figure everyone in town has gotta know I have issues after being imprisoned for that long.” He pointed to the magazine. “I want to finish this article before Michael comes out.”
Devon jumped up and paced the small outer office. Several minutes and three turns around the carpet later, the door swung open and a smiling Michael, clutching a lollipop, exited with Elena close on his heels.
“Until next time, Michael.”
He galloped toward Devon and held up his candy. The galloping was more in line with Michael’s typical mode of movement than the floating he’d been doing lately. Galloping was a good sign.
Kieran stood up and stretched. “My turn now.”
Michael walked to Kieran and tugged on his pocket. When Kieran looked down, Michael held up his lollipop still in its wrapper.
“That’s okay, Michael. You keep that one for yourself and I’ll get my own from Dr. Elena.”
Kieran turned at the door. “You’re going to wait here, right?”
“We’ll be here.” Devon patted the side of her large bag. “I brought a few things to occupy Michael while we wait, and Elena has a toy chest in the closet.”
Kieran and Elena disappeared into her office, and Devon sighed and slumped in one of the chairs. Elena had to help Kieran overcome these nightmares or he’d never trust himself at night alone with her and Michael.
She unzipped her bag and pulled out a puzzle and an easy reader. Michael had been working on sounding out letters before the murder. She held up both. “Which one?”
He pointed to the puzzle and she opened the box and dumped the chunky pieces out on the table for him. He sat cross-legged in front of the table and lined up the pieces in order according to color.
Devon grabbed the celebrity gossip magazine again since that’s about all her mind could handle right now. She didn’t hear any agonizing screams from the office, so maybe Elena hadn’t put Kieran under today.
A half an hour into the session, Devon’s cell phone chirped once. She slipped it out of her pocket and checked the display-a text message from Detective Marquette. Her breath quickened as she punched a button to read the entire message.
What was Detective Marquette still doing in town? Devon checked the time on her phone and glanced at the closed door. There was only one pizza place in Coral Cove, Vinnie’s Pizza, near the police station.
Kieran didn’t want her out and about on her own, but she had her pepper spray and she
She scrambled through her purse for a pen and a piece of paper. She found the receipt for her tires and scribbled a note on the back, giving Kieran her location for the meeting with Detective Marquette.
She slid the note between the door and the doorjamb, propping it against the door handle, and then leaned over the table where Michael was playing. “We’re going to meet a friend by the pizza place and then maybe Kier… Daddy can meet us there for lunch when he’s done.”
Michael helped her sweep the puzzle pieces into the box, and they left the office. The pizza place was close enough to walk there in ten minutes, so Devon grabbed Michael’s hand and joined the tourists milling along Coral Cove’s main drag. Safety in numbers.
She spotted the red-and-white-striped awning of Vinnie’s up ahead and knew they had an identical awning in the back on the alley it shared with the police station and a few other Main Street shops.
Marquette had probably parked in the back and wanted to meet with her before he drove back to the city. Must be something he didn’t want the Coral Cove P.D. to hear.
She turned the corner of the street before Vinnie’s and headed into the alley where a breeze ruffled the ends of her hair. The buildings on the east side blocked the sun, creating a cool, shaded refuge from the heat.
A car crawled toward her, and she swept Michael up in her arms and sidled along the brick facade of the buildings. The blue minivan cruised past and turned onto Main Street.
Scaffolding blocked Devon’s way, so she stepped back into the middle of the alley again. Workers had been replacing the bricks along the tops of the buildings in this row and the red slate tile roofs.
She strode toward Vinnie’s red awning and glanced both ways as she parked herself and Michael under the flapping canvas. She must’ve beat Detective Marquette out of his meeting. She zeroed in on the beige door, which led into the back of the police station farther down the alley.
Another couple of pedestrians passed, using the alley to head into the back door of another business. At least Detective Marquette had picked a fairly populated place for their meeting, or maybe he thought Kieran would be with them.
Would the detective have called her out for a meeting if he had known she’d be solo? She rolled her shoulders back a few times, and smiled at a woman pushing a stroller through the alley toward the park on the other end. It wasn’t as if this was some deserted spot in the dead of night.
As the woman and the stroller turned out of the alley, Devon licked her lips, her gaze darting back and forth. Maybe it wasn’t a deserted spot in the dead of night, but she wished Marquette would hurry up or she’d go into the police station to get him…whether he wanted this meeting hush-hush or not.
KIERAN FELT BETTER already, and he hadn’t even undergone hypnosis yet. He folded the prescription for the sleep aid Dr. Estrada had given him and stuffed it in his pocket. She’d assured him that the drug would knock him out cold at night-no chance for sleepwalking.
He planned to test it out tonight. Of course, if he was out cold and someone threatened the house or its occupants, how could he be any help to Devon and Michael? He’d have to figure it out.
“So we’ll try the hypnosis next time?” He shook hands with Dr. Estrada.
“Yes. That should really help your memories come back, since they seem to be slipping through bit by bit already.” She opened the door of her office and a piece of paper floated to the floor.
Kieran crouched down to retrieve it for her and on his way up, he peered into the empty waiting room. His heart thumped against his ribs as he handed the paper to Dr. Estrada.
She glanced at him over the top edge of the paper. “This is for you.”
He snatched the paper from her hands, and then crumpled it in his fist. Why would she go out? He closed his eyes and dragged in a breath. It was daytime and she was on her way to meet a homicide detective. He couldn’t stay chained to her side.
“Do you know where this alley is?”
“It cuts through Main Street to the park, behind the police station. When you get out to Main Street, hang a left and it’s the second alley on your right. It’s more like a little through-way than an alley.”
He thanked her for the session and despite himself, jogged down the stairs to the sidewalk. He noticed Devon’s car still parked on the street, so she must’ve walked.
Once on Main Street, he weaved between the tourists window shopping. He saw the sign for Vinnie’s Pizza and cut down the street before it. Then he ran to the entrance of the alley. Panting, he stuttered to a stop and surveyed the alley.
A small van trundled toward him, a few surfboards strapped to the roof. A couple of boys careened past on skateboards and jumped over the cement steps behind a business.
His chest heaved and his breathing slowed. He located the red and white awning for Vinnie’s. He waved. “Devon!”
