Brainstorm by Margaret Belle Read Free Book Online

true, you could be the only witness.”
    “But the police reopened the case because of an anonymous
tip – that means I’m not the only one
who knows it was him.”
    “Yeah, anonymous ,”
he said. “They have no idea where the tip came from. It panned out, but an
unknown person isn’t going to be of any help at the time of trial.”
    It’s getting hot in
here, I thought, and I took a deep breath. “Look, I have what’s known as
Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I’ve had it for twelve years. I’ve managed to
control it for the last ten, but the strain I’ve been under with my clients and
Harley – well, I had to start seeing someone again because stress is the one
thing that can bring it back full-on. I don’t want that. That’s why I don’t
want to get involved in the Danny Stearns thing.”
    If he was shocked, he didn’t show it. I guess in his line
of work, it wasn’t even close to the worst thing he’d ever heard. “I’m not
familiar with that,” he said, “are you on medication for it?”
    I nodded. “To help me sleep and to relieve stress.”
    “Ask your therapist, or whoever it is you see, for
guidance about speaking to the police in Rochester. It’s your duty to provide
information that could help put Stearns away.”
    Again, what felt like tiny hot teeth nipped at the back
of my neck, and heat built throughout my body. “They already know about me?”
    “Of course,” he said, “I couldn’t sit on information like
that.”
    I was suddenly fatigued and wanted to go. “I have to
leave.” I put my napkin on the table and stood up.
    Jack reached for my wrist. “Take a day. Talk to your
therapist. I don’t want anything to happen to you, but you’re going to have to
talk to them, Audrey, so you have to find a way. ”
    This is not how I had envisioned our lunch going. Not
having been involved with a member of the opposite sex for a long time, I’d
felt the thrill of new possibilities when he’d asked me to join him; I
certainly found him attractive. But now that he’d reported our conversation
about Danny Stearns, fear and trepidation were thrown into the mix. I left the
restaurant with my head spinning.
     
     
    I wasn’t in the best frame of mind to have it out with
Harley, but I headed to the hospital to do just that before she was released; I
wanted her in a confined space where she couldn’t run. I found her still in her
bed. Good.
    “Hi Audrey,” she said with a big smile. “I’m out of here
as soon as the doctor comes back and signs my release papers; the nurse said it
should be no more than a couple of hours. I can’t wait. I’m going stir crazy in
here.”
    “Not so fast,” I started. “I went to your house yesterday
to check on your grandmother.” I watched as her smile faded. “I was worried
about her because of the storm, but there was no sign of any grandmother
there!”
    Harley’s face turned ashen. “I told you a neighbor was
looking in on her. Maybe she was next door.”
    “No hard candy, no doilies, no old lady smell,” I said,
feeling mean, “no old lady at all. But there was plenty of evidence that some
guy lives there. Who is he? And why have you been lying to me all this time?”
    She covered her face with her hands and started to cry.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. You don’t understand.”
    “You bet your ass I don’t understand,” I said too loudly.
I had to be careful. I didn’t want a nurse to come in and make me leave. “Out
with it.”
    “I had to tell you I lived with my grandmother. I needed
an excuse to leave the office whenever I had to and it was the best, most
logical story I could think of.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    She dropped her eyes and fidgeted with the blanket. “My
boyfriend.”
    “Keep going,” I said, not knowing whether to believe her,
wondering if this was going to be just another lie to cover up the first one.
    “He’s abusive. He’s jealous and controlling, and when he
calls and tells me to come