Page 136 of Power of the Mind

A slow rolling bead of blood ran from the blade’s edge to my collar. I felt its slow journey and wanted to cry, fearing it would set Diem off and the next cut would be worse.

I pleaded wordlessly for Diem to stay back. Hilty might not want to hurt me, but in a panic, if cornered, he might not have a choice.

“Tallus.” Diem’s voice was thick and quiet. Pain radiated from his stormy eyes.

“I’m okay. Stay calm.”

“Why are you looking into my ex-wife?” Hilty asked, extending the blade at Diem to keep him at bay.

“It’s stupid.” I tried for a nonchalant chuckle, but it failed on every level. “Honestly, I was making fun of a friend who wanted to go see her. I looked up her reviews to dissuade him and prove psychic readings were bogus. I fell down a rabbit hole. It wasn’t on purpose. It was… I only did it because…”

“Why?” Hilty shook me, and my glasses slipped from the bridge of my nose, tumbling to the ground.

The world became an indistinct blur.

There was too much to explain, and it would sound too unbelievable to Hilty, who skated the edge of panic. Too fabricated.

Maybe Memphis was right and I’d blown Madame Rowena’s reviews out of proportion because I’d wanted an excuse to see Diem. But it hadn’t been for nothing. Look what we’d found.

“Diem’s a… friend,” I explained, wishing I could see the big guy and judge his reaction. “I asked him to check her out for fun. It was… stupid. I didn’t think we’d find anything, but…”

“Who have you told?” Hilty asked.

“About what? The dead clients? No one.”

“Bullshit.” He swung the knife back at my throat, and that time, the tip pierced the underside of my chin, forcing me to raise my head, exposing my neck. More blood trickled from the previous cuts. “Who knows?” Hilty asked again.

“No one.” Diem’s voice came out calmer than I expected. Closer. He was on the move.

Hilty backed up, dragging me with him until we collided with the wall.

“Why are you here, doc?” Diem asked. “So far as we were concerned, this had nothing to do with you. We eliminated you as an active participant about fifteen minutes before you showed up.”

“I’mnotinvolved. That fucking liar of a woman. I didn’t know she was still in contact with Row. I never would have hired her. I felt bad. We were friends once. Goddammit. I was blissfully ignorant until last week, but you idiots got me involved. I want nothing to do with this.”

I caught movement in my periphery as Diem inched closer.

We couldn’t retreat.

“Diem, stop,” I whimpered, quietly placating the man. Pleading.

The blurry movement stilled.

“Lower the knife, William. Let’s chat,” Diem said.

An extended silence filled the room. Diem’s use of the doctor’s first name seemed to have brought him to his senses. After a moment, Hilty lowered the knife arm.

No longer having to crane my neck, I blinked unseeingly at Diem before scanning the floor for my glasses, but I was too blind to locate them.

“I had no idea she was up to anything,” Hilty said. “When you two showed up and asked if I’d been in contact with her, I told you the truth. I knew she was in the city. I knew she was practicing legally, but we hadn’t spoken in decades. When Sandy came to me… She seemed genuine. I was conned. Please. I’ve remarried. I have three children. Grandchildren. My life is calm. I’m settled. I was toying with the idea of finally retiring so the wife and I could travel while our health was still good. Then, I discover my goddamn lying secretary is stealing specific client files right out from under my nose, copying them, and selling them to my ex-wife. When I looked up those old patients and discovered almost half of them were dead, I knew… I knew that… Row has always been… She has a dark side to her. I fired Sandra the next day. But I couldn’t report it. Do you know how that would look?”

“You knew she was Sandra?” Diem asked.

“Yes. She told me she changed it to hide from her ex. I didn’t question it. She was always a sweet girl.”

Like we’d assumed. Hilty’s old ties to Rowena compromised his situation. Eleven dead people, all his old patients, would look suspicious as hell. Hilty would be investigated. Even if they found him innocent, his reputation would be ruined.

“How is she killing them?” Diem asked.

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