Page 132 of The Last Good Man

Her voice hums quietly in the background when I look around the room.

The curtains are pulled to the side as the beautiful view of the street streams in.

Streetlights glow along the sidewalks, illuminating the historical buildings.

I push out of my seat and move closer. The street is quiet, and to my chagrin, it’s also empty.

My mind goes to Jax and that fateful night when I met him last Thursday.

So many things have happened since that night, mainly in his absence.

I pivot slowly,and inspect the room.

My eyes fall to Aretha’s notepad. I’m not interested in what she thinks about me.

She usually gives me a copy of her edited notes. I never bothered to read them, and she never asked me to do so.

But as I look to my left, I notice her planner on her desk. It’s open, face up, with a pencil on it.

I listen to the noise outside before inching closer. At first, I peer atherschedule upside down before moving behindherdesk and moving my finger down the list.

She’s seen six clients today, and I spendverylittle time on their names. They’re notimportantto me.

And then I freeze. What?

I’m the last client of the day?

Has she moved Jax’s session to another day?

I leaf through her planner, feeling horrible for spying on my therapist.

I check every day. His name is nowhere. Does he use a different name?

I go back to last Thursday.

He must’ve been on the schedule. Even if he used a different name, she must’ve written it down.

My fingers creep down to my name.

Melody Hill.

And then nothing.

She doesn’t have him on her schedule. Yet she confirmed he was her client.

That is odd.

I’m so tempted to go through her drawers and check the notepads. I’m sure that’s illegal, but I don’t want information on anyone else. I justwanthim. And so I go. Set myself in motion. Cross the line.

Become a thug.

I bend a little to reach the drawer where she keeps the notepad with my name.

If she has like thirty of them, I’m screwed.

Luckily. Aretha is organized, and I quickly find all the files stacked alphabetically.

It takes me five secondsnotto find a notepad with his name.

---