Page 124 of Everything She Feared

“I need more information.”

“More information. What kind of information?”

“What happened with the boy that Katie keeps bringing up?”

“What do you mean?”

“I think there’s something beneath the surface with the boy, or in another previous incident. Was Katie bullied? What exactly happened?”

“No, I don’t want to—”

“I also need to know, for a clear understanding, about any violence in your family history, how, or what impact it’s had, oris havingon Katie—what all of this brings to bear on her.”

Sara stared down at the table, shaking her head. “I’m not—I don’t know.” She bit her bottom lip.

“Sara, I need this information if I’m going to help.”

Sara looked at Dr. Mehta. “You said you also have a duty to report any suspicions of abuse.”

“Yes, but I’m here to help.”

“I’m afraid, terrified actually, of you misconstruing or misinterpreting things and revealing them to other parties.”

“Sara, I understand your hesitation,” Dr. Mehta said. “But you must put Katie’s safety above your fears. I’m asking you to trust my professional judgment.”

“I don’t know,” Sara said. “It was a terrible thing. I just don’t know.”

Another long moment passed before Dr. Mehta broke it.

“Let me be as frank and honest as I can,” she said. “You and Katie are grappling with significant inner turmoil over other issues I believe are related to, or have arisen from, Anna Shaw’s death.”

Sara looked at her.

“But you won’t tell me, or help me understand, anything about them. And I can’t help you if you won’t help me with the information I need.”

Sara said nothing.

An alarm bleated on Dr. Mehta’s phone before she silenced it.

“I’m so sorry, I need to get going to the medical center,” Dr. Mehta said. “Sara, think about what I said, and we can talk some more when you bring Katie to the next session.”

Sara thanked Dr. Mehta and watched her disappear into the crowded food court. Then Sara sat alone for the longest time, her thoughts swirling, not aware that far across the noisy food court, one person had been watching.

56

Seattle, Washington

In the timeafter he was onTell-Tale Hearts, Ryan drove through the Seattle metro area, the miles rolling by as he sorted his thoughts.

The person on the show who’d promised him documents hadn’t followed through. And the back of his mind still echoed with the claim from the caller insisting Magda was dead.

Maybe I am wasting my time?

It had always been a fear that he was chasing a ghost.

Will Seattle be another failure, like the other cities?

Stopped at a light, he glanced at his phone and Carrie’s picture.

---