Page 31 of Never Lie
“Fine,” I grumble. “But you promise you’ll hurry back?”
“I’ll be back before you can say ‘dream house.’”
I amnotsaying “dream house.”
I clear our plates away, while Ethan goes over to the front door, where he left his coat and boots. I watch him shove his feet into his black boots, suppressing the urge to cling to his leg and beg him not to leave me here. Then again, in the light of day, the house isn’t nearly as frightening. And when I see the portrait on the floor, facing away from me, it seemed impossible that it was up on the wall last night. It seems more like some sort of crazy dream.
Ethan blows me a kiss from the front door, then he stuffs his beanie onto his blond hair, and then he’s gone. And I’m all alone.
I take a few slow, deep breaths, trying not to panic. I wish there were a television in this house so I could zone out in front of a screen, but I haven’t been able to find one in all my travels. I guess Dr. Hale didn’t have a television. What sort of psychopath doesn’t own a television in this century?
It only makes me want to learn more about her. And of course, my thoughts immediately go back to the cassette tapes.
Ethan won’t make it back from the car for at least half an hour. That will give me time to listen to at least part of a couple more tapes. I’m dying to know what happened in the session after the one I just listened to. Why did she agree to take that man back? Dr. Adrienne Hale does not strike me as a pushover.
Before I can second-guess myself, I hurry to the bookcase in the back. I don’t even hesitate before I locateThe Shiningand tug on the spine. I hear that now familiar click and I slip inside the room, grabbing the cord to turn on the light.
This time I decide to swipe a bunch of the tapes. I can stash them in one of the drawers in the office. I take all the EJ ones recorded after the tape marked in red. Then I take a selection of other tapes from around the same date. It must’ve been right before Dr. Hale disappeared, because there’s nothing recorded later than that.
I’m going to hear the information that the police missed. I’ll listen to everything that happened to Dr. Hale in the months leading to her disappearance. The mystery that the entire country was talking about for almost a year.
I scan the shelves one more time. That’s when the one tape labeled differently catches my eye once again. LUKE. The boyfriend. The one the police thought killed her. Why does she have a recording of him? Was he her patient? But if he was, why is his tape labeled differently than all the others?
My mother always said I’m too curious for my own good.
I grab the LUKE tape and add it to the pile. I’ll have time to listen to at least one of these tapes before Ethan gets back.
I close the door to the hidden room and carry my stack of tapes to Dr. Hale’s office. I stash them in the bottom drawer of her desk, where I found the scissors last night. I select one of them at random and pop it into the tape recorder.
My finger hesitates over the Play button on the tape recorder. I desperately want to listen to these tapes, but there’s one thing I need to do first.
I get up and close the door to the office.
Okay, now I can listen.
Chapter 19
Transcript of Recording
This is session 89 with GW, a 68-year-old widow who suffers from paranoid delusions.
“Hello, Dr. Hale.”
“Please have a seat, Gail.”
“Oh. Yes. Of course. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. I want you to be comfortable when we’re talking.”
“Yes. I know. I just… I feel like…”
“Are you okay? You seem especially anxious today. Your hands are shaking.”
“I just…”
“Are you taking the medications I prescribed?”
“No. I’m afraid not.”
