Approaching Menace Read Free Page B

coming.”
    “So it seems.” Hanover’s tapping stopped.
    Outside, a crash resounded.
    “Thun-der,” said the client. He liked the word’s sound, enjoyed the way it felt rolling through his mouth. And she—she didn’t like thunder at all.
    “Let’s get back to our discussion.” The chair squeaked as Hanover left it.
    We never had a discussion, thought the client; you did. His outer vision let him spy the doctor moving toward him.
    “You are here for a reason,” the doctor said. “I know it’s not of your choosing.”
    The client grunted. Absolutely not.
    “But you were accused of those atrocities.”
    And I will do them again.
    Getting no response, the therapist continued. “Because of that, you paid a price.”
    The client nodded, still staring outside but no longer noticing what was out there. Public humiliation for being accused had been much more of a price than was necessary. Hanover had no business mentioning those other things. He’d said that himself during their first session.
    “You were found guilty of the other charge.” The therapist’s voice rose in a tone hinting of superiority. “I know you had counseling. And I’m sure it helped.”
    Yes, I can control some urges now. Some of them. I cannot get caught stalking them.
    “But to make certain you won’t revert to that behavior, you need to meet with me. And the judge did not order you here to check the view outside.”
    Tension in the client’s shoulders released as he slammed his fists against the window. Its panes shuddered. He narrowed his eyes. Don’t you wish you could have witnessed their faces contorting right before their lives left?
    “Vicious things were done to those women.” Hanover’s voice scolded like a mean father’s while his words droned on.
    The client retained a wry smile, listening to rain now slamming against the window. What direction was it heading? Was this thunderstorm traveling east, right across the state line? Were thick black clouds building into monstrous shapes rushing along the sugary beaches of Florida’s coast and up to their town of Windswept?
    If not, it would be such a pity. Her terror of storms looked so delicious.
    Hanover coughed, a ploy to attract his attention. “Maybe I shouldn’t have brought up the murder charges, because even with all of the evidence, you did get off.”
    Eyeing thick rain sheets, the client wore a genuine smile.
    “But you were convicted of the other.”
    The client could feel Hanover stepping closer, moving into his space.
    Hanover went on, surely hoping to close in for the kill. “And what exactly made you do the things you did?”
    A flash of lightning made the suave doctor jerk toward the window.
    Watching Hanover’s stricken face, his customer gave the reply. “Fear!”

Chapter 2
    Beethoven’s Fifth flooded the den, but Colin was no longer there.
    Josie peeked through the open door of the hall bathroom. His toothbrush stood in its holder beside an open tube of toothpaste.
    The door to his bedroom was closed. Since no light shone beneath it, Josie entered without knocking or asking permission.
    A glow from the hall draped across the red and white bed lamp, picking out the Biddy Football trophy on the shelf above his headboard. Colin still wore the clothes he’d had on, a sure sign of his exhaustion. He had pulled back the covers. He was asleep on his stomach, one leg straight. The other had his knee cocked, forming a small triangle. His right arm gathered his pillow into its crook.
    She leaned close to his face.
    His warm breaths sounded labored. Not nearly as bad as sometimes. No rattles.
    A good sign. Maybe he was getting better.
    The instinct came to take off his jeans and jersey and slip him into pajamas. She quelled that urge, wordlessly chiding herself for taking so many of their mother’s habits. Who else kept a house so tidy it seemed as if no one lived in it? This child’s body did not function perfectly. He didn’t need perfection thrust upon