The Good Listener (20 page)

My phone started to ring, and I saw that it was Joel but there was nothing to say.

It started to ring again and glancing at it, I saw that it was Blake.

“Hello,” I answered concerned.

“I have some other things that I want to say.”

I sat up, dried my eyes and pulled myself together.

“Okay, I’m listening.”

****************************************

Chapter SEVEN

The alarm wailed once again and first I headed to look at the monitor, to see if I saw anyone there.

I didn’t.             

I headed to turn off the alarm and lingered for a second.

I was staring at the front door.

I hadn't seen anyone on the monitor but someone was definitely there.

The door knob turned cautiously as though they were hoping that they would get lucky, and it would be unlocked.

“Who’s there?”

I tiptoed towards the window to see if I could get a glimpse of who it was but it was as though they knew that I would be somewhere watching.

They never moved off of the porch.

I didn’t see a car or anything out of place and slowly I backed away from the window and headed back to the monitor.

But I was too late.

No one was there.

The porch was empty, but I knew for a fact that someone had been twisting the door knob.

I headed to get my phone to call my husband.

Just because I didn’t want Joel home, didn’t mean that I didn’t need him there.

And after calling him three times, he answered, listened to me babble, and he said that he was on his way.

“Did you see anyone?”

“No. But they were jiggling the door knob. I was standing right there.”

He went back outside to look around but of course, whoever it was is long gone.

“Maybe you could stay here. We could be like roommates, until we divorce and figure out what we are going to do with the house,” I suggested.

“Hannah.”

“Please. Spare me the bull crap that you are about to say. Could you at least stay here? So that I feel safe until it’s done? It’s the least that you can do,” I growled.

He looked at me as though he knew that I was serious and as though he knew that it was his fault.

“Okay.”

He headed towards the spare bedroom, and I headed towards the master.

I climbed into bed and snuggled under the covers.

I noticed that the light was flashing on my phone, signaling that I had an alert.

I checked it, and I saw that it was a message from Blake,

My heart dropped, and I sat up in the bed to read what the message said.

“It was him. It was Joel at the door,” the message said.

~***~

“So you were sitting outside my house again? I thought that we discussed that you should call and not come by or watch my house Blake.”

“It was late. I went for a drive, and that’s where I ended up. I saw him. He parked even further down the street than I had. He walked to the house and right up to the front door. I saw the lights come on, and he just stood there. After a while, he took off running. I left shortly after that,” Blake said.

“He has a key. Why wouldn’t he just use the key?”

“I don’t know Hannah. You’re the therapist. And he’s your husband.”

Why would Joel set off the alarm on purpose?

Was he hoping that I would call him to come over?

He had to have known that wiggling the door knob would have scared me half to death.

But he would have known exactly where to be and stand so that he didn’t show up when I checked the monitor.

Was this his twisted way of trying to come back home?

“I won’t come by your house again. I don’t want to scare you off and make you not want to help me.”

“I would appreciate if you wouldn’t. And besides, I’m not going to give up on you. As long as you continue to come, so will I. But if I catch you watching my house Blake, there will be consequences.”

“Why aren’t you afraid of me? After all that I have told you, why aren’t you scared of me? Why do you still want to help me?”

Who said that I wasn’t afraid of him?

I was definitely scared of what he was capable of.

I just didn’t show it.

“You’re not the first patient that I have had with similar issues,” I lied.

He was the first.

And the last.

“Besides, I’m not sure that I would be safe after everything that you have told me if I tried to walk away.”

“I never said that I would hurt you, Hannah. I only said that if you tried to go to the police with my confessions there would be a problem. But if you chose not to help me, I would carry on and deal with life the way that I always have. Urge after urge. Victim after victim. Identity after Identity. It’s really just that simple. But I knew you were the one for the job. What are you going to do about your husband?”

“What are you going to do about Summer?”

Blake smirked.

A knock came to the door and in walked the police and Blake and I both looked at them with curiously.

“Hello. How can I help you?”

“Dr. Lewis, we need to ask you some questions.”

I looked at him confused.

“Blake, can you excuse me for a moment.”

“Blake Griffin? We need to talk to you too,” the officer said.

I looked at his face as he was escorted out of the room and another officer sat in front of me.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I have a few questions to ask you about Ms. Summer Waters.”

My heart started to beat fast, but I didn’t say anything.

“She has been reported missing. For a couple of days now and we want to know if you have seen her.”

I shook my head immediately.

“No. I haven’t.”

“Since when? We know that she used to work for you. Is that right?”

“Yes. I fired her a little while ago.”

“For sleeping with your husband?”

My skin started to crawl.

“Yes.”

“Apparently, she was last seen getting into an altercation with you outside of her home. Witnesses say that you were about to attack her, but Mr. Blake was there to intervene, is that true?”

“Yes. I was upset. But---,”

“And you also made a visit to your husband’s job that day and publicly confronted him about the affair with Summer correct?”

“Yes, but what are you implying?”

“I’m not implying anything Mrs. Lewis. I just want to make sure that we have all of the facts straight. She went missing that same day. No one has seen or heard from her since. Her parents tried calling her and going by, but she wasn’t there.”

“Her parents? They are out of town correct?”

“No. They live right here in the city.”

That was weird.

Summer had told me that her parents lived out of town.

Maybe they moved back recently.

“And you haven’t seen her since that day?”

“No. I haven’t.”

But I was sure that Blake had.

“Any idea of where she might go? What was said between the two of you that day? Did you threaten her?”

I didn’t like the way that the conversation was making me feel.

More than likely if something was wrong with Summer, the killer was outside talking to the other officer.

It surely wasn’t me.

“No. I didn’t threaten her. She admitted to sleeping with my husband numerous of times. I was upset. But I’m over it.”

“How is that?”

“I’m getting a divorce. So, it really doesn’t matter what was between them anymore.”

“Yeah. Your husband told us that. Do you think that he has seen her since then?”

“I don’t know. And I don’t care.”

“But he’s back at home now right?”

“I’m sorry I can’t be of much assistance. Yes, she had an affair with my husband, but I haven’t seen her. And I don’t want to,” I said standing up and waited for the officer to stand up as well.

“We will be in touch,” he said making his exit.

“For what?”

“Like I said, we will be in touch.”

And with that, he went on his way, and a few minutes later, Blake came back into the room.

I stared at him as he got comfortable on the couch.

He didn’t look uncomfortable or anything by what had just happened but of course, he wouldn’t; he was a psychopath.

“So.”

“So what?”

“What did you do to her Blake?”

He looked innocent.

“Nothing. I didn’t touch her. I would tell you if I did. But I didn’t.”

“You didn’t kill her?”

“Nope.”

Of course, I didn’t believe him.

“Where is she?”

“I don’t know.”

“What did you do to her Blake?”

“Nothing. What did you do to her Hannah?”

“Nothing of course.”

“Doesn’t seem like the police think that now does it?”

“What did they say?”

“All of their questions were about you. So, you tell me.”

No.

I didn’t do anything to her.

I was simply going to let karma have its way with her.

“I haven’t seen her. Not since that day.”

“Of course, you haven’t…. But Joel has.”

~***~

“Was that you that night? That set off the alarm?”

I asked Joel.

I knew that Blake was telling the truth, but I also knew that Joel was going to deny it.

“What? No. Why would I do that? I would have just used my key. You called me and woke me up out of my sleep to come here with you.”

He was sitting on the couch.

He had been there for a little while now, sitting around all day, doing nothing.

Of course, I’d gotten him fired from his job, but I didn’t feel bad.

I didn’t feel an ounce of sympathy for him.

He didn’t feel any for me while he was fooling around on me and lying to my face.

“Have you seen Summer?”

“No. I take it that the police came to see you? They came by here to talk to me too. I told them everything that I know. But I haven’t seen her.”

“When was the last time you saw her?”

“I don’t know Hannah. A while.”

“What’s a while?”

He looked at me as though I was frustrating him.

“The day that you came by my job. That night I saw her.”

“Why?”

“She wanted to talk. About you. We didn’t have sex. I swear.”

“Liar.”

“I’m not lying Hannah. She called me crying. She was emotional. She said that you were the only friend that she ever had, and she messed it up. I went by once I gathered all of my things up at work. I was so angry at you. Maybe I did go by to do something that I thought would have made me feel better and because I was frustrated with you but I couldn’t do it. I’d already hurt you enough. I didn’t do anything. That was the last time I saw her. And I told the police the same thing.”

I was sure that she was going to show up sooner or later.

Blake said that he didn’t touch her, and I was hoping that he hadn't.

But the good thing was that if she was missing, he couldn’t kill her.

If she was actually the woman that he was after and if she was still alive, her being missing was maybe the safest thing for her at the moment.

“Hannah, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry for what I did to us. I want to make it right. Please tell me how to make it right.”

“Really? You really want to make it right?”

Joel nodded.

“Then make sure you sign the divorce papers when its time,” I spat at him.

“Hannah.”

“Did China know?”

“Know what?”

“Everything Joel. Everything with you and Summer. Did she know?

Joel looked at me.

“Yes, Hannah. Yes, she knew.”

Yet again Blake had been right.

I didn’t bother to respond to him.

I shook my head, and I headed out the door.

I wasn’t going to the office.

Since I didn’t have any patients at the moment, other than Blake, I had some free time to do a few things for myself.

It would have been the perfect time to spend with my husband if we were on better terms, but since we weren’t, I figured that I would just spend some time alone.

A nice quiet lunch was just what the doctor ordered.

But that was short lived.

“Anybody sitting here?”

I looked up from my lunch.

It was the same officer from the other day.

He sat down before I could answer him.

“Have you found her yet?”

“No. We haven’t. And something tells me we won’t find her alive,” he said.

“What makes you say that?”