Page 39 of Absent Feeling

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

Amberlooked around warily as she and Simon approached Chris Avery’s home. Onceagain, she was in a position where they might be about to walk up to themurderer they were looking for and ask him questions that might see him reactwith violence. They already knew that Avery was a killer, after all.

“Staycool this time,” Simon said as they walked up to the small house just outsidethe center of town. It was wedged between a grocery store and a used car lotbut looked well cared for. It was freshly painted and clean, with obvious signsof repair where needed.

“Ionly reacted last time because I thought Dr. Harvis was going for a knife,”Amber pointed out.

“Andyou assumedthatbecause you’re going in assuming that everyone we speakto is a dangerous criminal who is out to kill us given even the slightestchance.”

Ambercouldn’t really argue with that when it was a pretty accurate summary ofeverything she was feeling right then. Then again, it was what the FBI traininghad taught her to feel in moments like this. They’d spent a lot of the courseemphasizing how quickly situations could turn violent, and how dangerous itcould be for the agents involved if they didn’t gain control of thosesituations straight away.

“So,at what pointshouldI do anything?” Amber asked.

Sheheard Simon sigh. “Just wait for my cue, Amber.”

Again,it felt like a reminder that this was not an equal partnership. Simon was theone in charge here, while she was just there to … what? Provide ideas? Solveany puzzles that showed up? Far too often on this case Amber had the feelingthat she didn’t quite know why she was there.

Evenso, for now, she was willing to wait for Simon to act before she did anything.Amber could accept that she’d jumped the gun when it came to Dr. Harvis, andshe was willing to hold back more here.

Simonrang the doorbell, waiting with more patience than he had with some of theirother suspects. Amber guessed that after everything that had happened with Dr.Harvis, he was being much more cautious. She could still see the determinationon his face now though because it was starting to get later in the day and thepressure on him to solve the case would be growing. Palliser wouldn’t want anymore victims.

Amberdidn’t want any more victims either. They had to stop this killer. She foundherself hoping that her hunch about an outpatient was right, and that ChrisAvery was the man they were looking for.

Amberheard the rattle of several locks on the far side of the door and finally itstarted to creak open. The man who stood there in the doorway was probably inhis forties, with short, dark hair and square features. He was in shape, withbroad shoulders and muscular forearms. He was wearing a dark sweatshirt, withthe sleeves rolled up almost to the elbow, and dark slacks and sneakers. Helooked at the two of them with a note of suspicion, which he seemed to noticeafter a couple of seconds, replacing it with a more welcoming look.

“Hi,what can I do for you?” he asked.

Simonheld up his badge. “Mr. Avery? We’re with the FBI. We’d like to ask you somequestions if that’s all right?”

Therewas a moment of hesitation there from Avery, followed by a brief nod. “You’dbetter come inside.”

Heshowed them into a house that was sparsely decorated, almost with no sign ofsomeone living there. The whole place had an almost institutional feel to it,as if Avery had grown so used to that at the Guisborough Wellness Institutethat he couldn’t imagine a living space any other way. He showed them throughto a living room where there was an armchair, a couch, and a small side table.Amber and Simon sat on the couch while Chris Avery took the armchair.

“What’sthis all about?” Avery asked.

“Mr.Avery,” Simon said, “is it true that you’re currently an outpatient at theGuisborough Wellness Institute?”

Ambercaught the look of pain and worry that crossed Avery’s face. “That’s right. Igo there every week for my sessions.”

“Andyou were previously an inpatient there?” Simon asked, in what was obviously acareful tone.

Thatgot another flicker of pain that made Amber worry this was going to be anythingbut easy.

“Ifyou’re asking me the question, then you know the answer,” Chris said. “You knowwhat happened, what I did. I spent years coming to terms with it, doing thework to fit back into society.”

“Andhow is that going?” Simon asked.

Now,the expression on Chris Avery’s face wasn’t pain, it was anger.

“Whydon’t you stop dodging around the topic?” he demanded. “You’re here to check upon me, right? Someone told you that I wasn’t taking my meds. Someone decidedthat they wanted to put me back in there.”

“Youaren’t taking your meds?” Amber asked, echoing his words, wanting confirmation.If that were true, then there was a chance that it could have triggered all ofthis.

“Theyslow me down, make me feel as if … well, that’s the problem. Idon’tfeelanything. They just numb me, turn me into some kind of zombie, and that’s meantto be me cured?” The volume of Chris’s voice rose with every word, until healmost shouted the last one.

“Mr.Avery, we’re just here to ask you some questions,” Simon said, obviously tryingto keep the situation calm. “When you were taken into the Guisborough Wellness Institute,did they administer a Rorschach test to you?”

“ARorschach test?” Now, Avery was on his feet, clearly agitated. “They asked mewhat I could see. They made it sound like there were no wrong answers, but theytwisted my words! They made me sound like a monster!”

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