Dark Spaces by Helen Black Read Free Book Online

the baby of course. It’s the glue that keeps Jack attached.
    A single flake of snow lands on the back of my hand. It isn’t cold. I watch it melt against the heat of my skin, then suck up the drop of water left in its place.
     
    Lilly hung up and punched the air. Alice had spoken. Well, not quite spoken but almost there. Hadn’t she told everyone there was nothing to worry about?
    When the mobile rang again she grabbed it and answered.
    ‘See, Jack, I told you that these bloody doctors don’t know what they’re talking about.’
    ‘Wow.’ The voice was like oozing honey. ‘That’s not the usual impression I try to make.’
    It wasn’t Jack.
    ‘Doctor Piper?’ she said.
    ‘Didn’t we agree that you’d call me Harry?’
    ‘I don’t believe we discussed it.’
    ‘Okay then,’ he said. ‘Miss Valentine, I’d much prefer it if you would call me Harry. Everyone does.’
    ‘Okay, Harry.’
    ‘And what about you?’ he asked. ‘Any preference as to how I address you?’
    ‘Lilly’s fine,’ she said.
    ‘Lilly.’ He let her name hang in the air as if admiring something exotic. ‘Well, Lilly, you left the Grove without telling me what you thought of my patient.’
    ‘Your gatekeeper said you were in an important meeting and couldn’t be disturbed.’
    In fact the nurse had been snotty with Lilly, pointing out, unnecessarily, that Doctor Piper was a very busy man. Lilly had wanted to inform her that she wasn’t exactly a lady of leisure herself, but thought better of it.
    ‘Elaine does like to look after me,’ Harry chuckled, ‘but I would like to pick your brain if you have the time.’
    ‘Pick away.’
    ‘I have to do the rounds in a second,’ he said. ‘How about we have a chat after that?’
    ‘Sure.’
    ‘Over lunch? I don’t know about you but I’m usually famished by one o’clock. I was always the naughty little boy who opened his sandwiches during morning break.’
    Lilly laughed. She’d been on free school meals and had spent her mornings so hungry she’d had to stop herself from eating the desk lid.
    ‘Shall I swing by your office around twelve thirty?’ he asked.
    ‘That would be lovely,’ Lilly replied.
    The answer machine winked and there were over thirty unanswered emails for Lilly to attend to but she didn’t have time for that now. Instead, she set off in search of comb, perfume and lippy.
    With her curls tamed into a vague approximation of real hair, and her throat and wrists dabbed with Chanel No. 5, Lilly felt almost human. Just a slick of mascara and she’d be ready for action. A rummage at the bottom of her bag revealed only a set of broken headphones and a pair of Alice’s socks so she patted herself down and delved into the detritus collected in the nether regions of her pockets. As she pulled out the revolting wad of tissues and biscuits she didn’t find mascara, but she did discover the piece of paper Chloe had forced upon her.
    The thought of where it had been prior to its handover made Lilly shiver and she leaned to the bin and let it fall. But as she turned away, she stopped. Chloe had been so very insistent. There had been something very specific in her actions. Sure, Chloe was an inpatient in a mental facility where unusual behaviour wouldn’t be, well, unusual, but Lilly recognized desperation when she saw it.
    She bent over and retrieved the paper with her finger and thumb. Then she placed it on her desk and smoothed it open, ignoring the faint smell of sweat and worse.
    There were three words scrawled in pencil. They were smeared and smudged, but still legible.
     
    Please Help Us.
     
    ‘You smell wonderful.’ Harry Piper closed his eyes and inhaled. ‘Chanel. My first wife never wore anything else.’
    Lilly felt embarrassment splash her cheeks like an experimental artist as she took a seat across from him in the restaurant.
    ‘First wife,’ she said. ‘Have there been many more?’
    He held up three fingers. ‘Not a great track record, I