Running my hand over his hair and bringing my attention back to our grocery list, I reassure him, “Yeah. Yeah, little king. I’m fine. We only have a few more things to get.”
“Mom,” Noah grumbles.
I jokingly roll my eyes. “I know, I know.”
Satisfied that I’ve been fully admonished, Noah asks, “What else do we need?”
Pulling out my list, I scan it. “Looks like we just need to get spaghetti noodles and then we’re done.”
“I know where those are!” Noah exclaims. He bounds down the aisle before I can tell him to slow down.
“Noah!” I race after him, trailing behind him to the next aisle over. “You can’t just run away from—Oh!” My face pales as Noah accidentally runs into someone. As I realize who it is, my teeth grind together—Dr. Lewis Whitlock.
My stomach bottoms out, and I freeze in place. It’s as if I’m being confronted by a coiled rattlesnake, ready to strike. Sudden movements will make him lash out, but he might do that anyway. That’s the way of the snake. I’m out of options.
“Sorry, sir,” Noah expresses with remorse reflecting in his eyes.
“Well, hello there, buddy. I think I’m in your way.” Dr. Whitlock bends down with his hands on his knees to get his face level with Noah’s.
Don’t you dare, you sick monster.
“Come here, Noah,” I demand in my mom voice. Noah scrambles over to me, and I put my arm around him, securing him in my embrace.
Screw the snake. This mama will step on him and break his neck.
Dr. Whitlock stands up straight. “He’s a beautiful boy,” he remarks, and I hold my breath, keeping a mask over my fury.
I’ve imagined this moment for so many years. I’ve imagined what I would say and do. I want to let every dark secret, every depraved act out into the light. I want everyone to know what kind of man Dr. Lewis Whitlock truly is.
But this isn’t the time or the place. That time will come, and I will end him.
Permanently.
“Excuse us,” I assert curtly. Placing Noah’s hands on the cart with mine, we turn and head for the checkout line.
“But Mom, we still?—”
“Not now,” I cut off Noah with a harsher tone than I mean to, but it doesn’t deter him.
“We need the noodles,” he persists.
“We’ll order pizza instead,” I negotiate, and he seems satisfied with my answer.
Noah helps me push the cart all the way to the checkout line. As we load our items onto the conveyor belt, a prickling sensation travels up my spine. The doctor’s gaze has always made me feel like I need to shower to wash away the grimy fantasies I can see swirling in his brain.
I need to be careful. If he recognizes me, my plan is blown. But even if he does, I’ll still make sure Mystic River Psychiatric Hospital closes for good.
CHAPTER FIVE
KNOX
Amos’s letter burns a hole in my pocket as I take my turn behind the bar during lunch. The itch to open it has been nagging at me all week. The fact that I haven’t is a testament to my willpower, but I’m close to cracking under the pressure.
Griff made it clear that he doesn’t want to know what dear old Amos has to say, and I can’t blame him. When Amos went away for killing our girlfriend, we felt that betrayal deeply. Then, the way the whole town treated us afterward was as if we had killed Scarlett ourselves, only added to our grief. Everyone seemed like they were ready to gather their pitchforks and lynch us. I know they wanted to.
“Knox, I want another,” Benny demands.
“That’s his fifth, Montgomery. You should have cut him off by now,” Sheriff Jackson comments from a few stools down from Benny.
