The ringing of her phone punctured her dreamy mood. She glanced at the unfamiliar number on the screen and considered letting it go to voicemail. But it might concern one of her patients.
‘Dr Cartwright?’
A youngish voice, faint but defiant. ‘Who’s calling?’ Erin asked.
‘I’ve been arrested. I need you to pick me up.’
‘Who is this?’ Assuming it was a prank, Erin was about to hang up, but then the penny dropped. ‘Cassie, is that you? What’s going on, where are you?’
‘In Lansford, at the police station.’ Her voice quavered. ‘
I’ll be right there.’ Erin’s heart flipped over in surprise. Cassie wanted her help.
As soon as the train pulled into the station, she ran to her car. By the time she hurried into the police station, thirty minutes had passed. Erin was flushed and out of breath. They would think she was hysterical if she didn’t pull herself together, so she bent to sip cold water from a drinking fountain and smoothed back her hair, before approaching the duty officer and stating her name.
He gave her a weary look. ‘Are you the girl’s parent or legal guardian?’
‘I’m her doctor,’ Erin said. ‘Can you tell me what the charges are?’
In her floaty summer dress and strappy sandals, she didn’t look like a doctor, but she had proof, of course, in case he asked.
He hesitated for a moment before turning to consult the booking sheet. ‘Trespassing, vandalism, disorderly conduct. All Class-B misdemeanours. No bail’s been set. She’s got a court date next week. If you’re planning to sign her out, I’ll need to see some ID.’
As he wrote down the number on her driving licence, Erin could hear the rattle of keys and the clanging of doors. A female officer escorted Cassie from the cell block. When they reached the desk, the sergeant handed Cassie a brown envelope with her things – wallet, keys, shoelaces, belt – and asked her to sign for them.
Cassie avoided Erin’s eyes as she grabbed the envelope and retreated to a wooden bench to lace her sneakers. ‘Like I’m supposed to, what, hang myself with my shoelaces?’ she said when she caught Erin looking at her.
Erin turned away to address the officer. ‘Do you need anything else?’
‘No, we’re done here.’ He tossed his pen on the desk. ‘But if you want my advice, Dr… er, Cartwright,’ he said, reading her name off the form. ‘You might want to scare the crap out of that girl. Kid like that…’ he jerked his thumb in Cassie’s direction. ‘It starts with minor stuff, you know? But then it escalates. Drugs, petty larceny, or worse. I’d hate to see her back here in six months.’
Cassie waited by the front door, arms across her chest in a posture of defiance. Smudged eyeliner, a bruised lip. A tiny gold hoop threaded through her left nostril glinted under the fluorescent light.
Behind the wheel of her car, Erin waited for Cassie to settle in before starting the engine. The lights in the empty car park cast a sulphurous glow on the deserted street.
‘I’m glad you called me.’
Cassie was hunched in the seat, her head turned away.
Erin waited. ‘How did you get my number?’
Cassie looked down at her hands, examining the fingers black with ink. She sniffed the back of her arm. ‘I stink. That cell was gross. Can you take me home now?’
Erin folded her hands in her lap, listening to Cassie breathe. If necessary, she would wait all night. This time, she wanted some answers.
A noisy sigh. ‘When they were checking me out of that loony bin of yours, I got a look at the computer screen. Your phone number was right there with your address and birthday, and everything. I’m guessing the lady at the front desk isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer.’
Her birthday? ‘Did you send me a birthday card, back in March?’
‘Maybe.’ Cassie slid down on her tailbone and closed her eyes. ‘I’m tired. Can we go now?’
Erin started the car and pulled into the street. ‘Where to?’ Cassie snorted ‘You know where I live. I’ve seen you drive by my house like a million times. I could report you for stalking, you know.’
She waited for more, but Cassie seemed deflated. Spending a few hours in a jail cell would knock the stuffing out of anyone.
So, mystery solved. Cassie had sent her the birthday card. No reason to have panicked. It was a good sign. In her own troubled way, Cassie had made the first move in what would undoubtedly be a complicated game of ‘catch me if you can’.
Erin couldn’t help but smile. That bridge she’d been waiting for? It had appeared at last.
37
The Meadows
Lansford, New York
July, Present Day
‘Dr Cartwright? It’s Lydia Belmont.’ Her voice was muffled by the hum of traffic. ‘I’m calling about Tim Stern.’
‘Is everything all right?’ In the middle of a staff meeting, Erin signalled to Niels that she needed to step outside.
‘He’s in the hospital.’
‘Where? Greenlake?’ She felt a twinge of unease.
‘No, in Burlington. He was admitted to their psych ward two days ago.’ Lydia paused. ‘They had to forcibly restrain him. When I called this morning, he was still heavily sedated. I’m on my way over there now.’
The shock of the news struck Erin speechless. How long had Tim been at his father’s? Not more than three weeks, or was it four? ‘Did he stop taking his meds?’
‘I don’t know about that,’ Lydia said. ‘They only mentioned that he was in an extremely agitated state when he was brought in. Nearly incoherent, at first.’ She fell silent. ‘He said his father tried to kill him.’
A strange paralysis gripped Erin’s limbs, and for
