Melissa’s friend Nanette wanted her to see a doctor for the bump on her head to make sure it wasn’t a concussion, but Melissa insisted she was fine.
Filling her friend in on the latest, Melissa found it hard—even for someone who was normally calm—to keep her anger in check. She wanted nothing more than to find Katie and slowly torture her to death.
“You really believe Katie is behind all that’s happened?”
Melissa nodded, wishing she could tell her friend to change the subject, but knowing that would be rude—and might also cast suspicion on her.
“I don’t understand,” Nanette said, brows drawn together in confusion. “Why would she do such a thing to you? Despite the letter she sent and any past problems, I don’t understand why she’d turn on you after you did so much for her.”
Melissa took a deep breath. Should she tell Nanette the one part of the story she hadn’t revealed? “Because I wasn’t very nice to her when she was with me, that’s why.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just what I said. I basically taunted her, and well…”
Nanette was too stunned for words at first. “You?” she finally asked.
Melissa remained silent, staring at her glass of diet soda.
“That doesn’t sound like the Melissa I know.”
Melissa still didn’t respond. What could she say?
“I know you were less than thrilled when the letter got delivered to the wrong person, and I know you feel that Niall was pushed over the edge by it, but it just doesn’t seem like you to taunt someone for that—especially if they’d just lost their husband and their ability to function.”
“It’s definitely something I’ve never done before.”
“I suppose it’s safe to say you’re not proud of yourself.”
“Actually, I have no regrets.”
Nanette stared at her longtime friend in disbelief.
“I know I’m supposed to feel terrible about it, but I honestly don’t. Maybe after all the years of treating people with problems, I’m finally the one who isn’t all there.”
Stunned into silence, it was a moment or two before Nanette could speak. “Well, I guess only you can know that. Now what?”
“Now we wait until the authorities catch up with Katie and whoever’s been helping her.”
“You think she had help?”
“She had to. There’s no way she could have been faking her condition all this time—nobody can act that well. Even if she’d improved more than she let on, she couldn’t have gotten strong enough to pull this off on her own. Someone’s helping her for sure.”
“But who? She had no family and hardly any friends.”
“The daycare workers are the only possibilities that come to mind. But even though they’ve been questioned, there’s simply no evidence yet. There’s no way to prove who’s involved—but I have an idea.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m going to follow the worker who spent the most time with her, the one I suspect is most likely responsible for helping her.”
“Follow her where?” Nanette asked, her curiosity and concern growing.
“I’m going to leave work early tomorrow or the next day. Then I’ll wait in the parking lot of the daycare center, and as soon as I see her exit the building, I’ll follow her home and see if I can find out if Katie is with her.”
“Wow. Just be careful.”
“I will.”
“Yeah, but shouldn’t the police be doing this?”
“I don’t know that they’re taking this all that seriously or putting that much effort into it. I’m sure they’re following up on as many leads as they can, but I doubt they’re taking the time to stake people out.”
“That’s too bad,” Nanette said.
“Yeah, it is,” Melissa agreed, knowing it would probably be up to her to figure out where Katie was and who was helping her.
ns216.73.216.122da2
and then Add to home screen.