Page 66 of Through the Water

The old woman was more crooked than the Brazos.

“I’m sorry I didn’t quite understand your mumbling. Did you say nothing?” I pushed.

“Well, I…” She danced around it for several more seconds before admitting, “I guess, in hindsight, I did it for you. Saved you from being manipulated by that snake.”

“How in the hell do you figure that?”

So, I was a little defensive.

For whatever reason, the mention of manipulation had triggered some very detailed fantasies involving the aggressor in question and a pair of handcuffs.

Helen mashed her lips together firmly, glaring across the table. “I will not be spoken to like that, young man. I don’t give a hoot who you think you are!”

Clearly, if I wanted the old woman to admit to anything, it was going to require me to stop fixating on a certain redhead.

“Look,” I sighed. “I just want to know what you did, so I can thank you properly. It really sounds like you put yourself out there.”

Helen nodded along to every word, the hard line of her jaw softening. “I did. I most certainly did. The way she was watching you during our lunch yesterday was downright deplorable.”

“Mmm-hmmm…” I mashed my lips together, fighting to remain serious.

“People like that need to be taught a lesson in manners. Someone failed her along the way, so naturally, it fell to me. I was certain she was after you because of who you are, so I might have gone a bit overboard.” She snorted. “That girl read over my notes like she was going to be tested on them later!”

“That’s—”

Impossible.

If what Helen was saying was true, then Ari had dressed up because she liked me enough that she was willing to take someone else’s advice no matter how crazy it seemed. She could have thrown the old woman under the bus when I came to her room, but that wasn’t who she was.

And Helen was a woman in dire need of a few tread marks.

Confused irritation grew into a simmering rage when Helen began cackling again. “That’s not even the best part! Turns out, the little monster didn’t even know who you were until this morning. She saw a newspaper article—oh, you should’ve seen her face! Like someone just ran over her dog!”

Well, she was absolutely correct on one point. There was a psychopath in this facility, and she just happened to be sitting directly across from me.

“Wait—” I released a pained breath, unable to decide which was worse—the fact that Ari had gotten hurt by this hateful and entirely racist bitch of a woman, or that I’d been the cause of it.

I’d finally found a girl who liked me, and I’d let her down—thrown her to the wolves.

Clearly, I deserved every one of the caveats in my life.

I forced a hand through my hair and stared down at the white tablecloth. If I’d done more to put a stop to the condescending way Helen had treated Ari over lunch, none of this would have happened.

“—she was gardening and saw the paper,” the old woman droned. “Then, it was like something took over her body, and she flew into a rage. I was lucky enough to escape with my life. The next patient might not fare as—”

Enough. I held up a finger, silencing her. “Thank you for coming to me with this.”

“Absolutely, we have to stick together in here. Especially you, now that she knows who you are. No one is safe anymore. We can’t even lock our doors at night!”

My control slipped as I got to my feet, briefly unmasking the fury underneath. “I meant, thank you for showing me exactly the kind of person you are. It’ll make my request to have you removed from the facility much easier.”

The fork slipped from Helen’s fingers, clattering loudly against her plate. “You wouldn’t”—

“Oh, you bet your ass I would, and will. My only regret is not doing it yesterday before you had a chance to humiliate Ari. Now, if you’ll excuse me, it seems I have an appointment I just can’t miss.”

I got several feet from the table before turning back, unable to resist one last dig. “Remind me again what you called the director? You know what—never mind. I’m sure it’ll come to me by the time I get to her office.”

As I took the elevator down to the first floor, I couldn’t help but feel that by not giving Ari the benefit of the doubt, I’d earned my final strike.

---