Silent Witness Read Free Page A

important to what he hoped to achieve now that he’d moved back, he’d been trying to brace himself for it, trying to prepare how he’d act, what he’d say. But he hadn’t expected the encounter to be this soon.
    Not here, sleeping in a chair beside the hospital bed with her arm outstretched protectively over the sedated child.
    Not now.
    His heart skipped.
    Her features were exquisite—smooth skin, gently sloping nose, cheeks rosy with sleep. Her teenage lankiness had blossomed into softly rounded, female curves. The golden highlights in the loose bun tucked behind her neck caught the sunlight from the window. She was even more beautiful than he remembered.
    He didn’t think he had made a sound but her eyes shot open.
    The electric shock of sky blue looking back at him pierced his heart and froze him in place. A slow, sleepy smile tugged at the corners of her mouth when she saw him. Happiness lit her eyes, basking him in sunshine. He had missed this so much over the years—and then she came fully awake. The smile faded. The brightness dimmed. Being a psychiatrist, Adam recognized the flash of pain and hurt that danced across her features before she masked her emotions with another one—anger.
    “Adam.” He tried not to wince at the cold tone in her voice.
    “Good morning, Lizzie.”
    He knew it would be difficult seeing her again, but even years of studying human behavior hadn’t prepared him for the waves of shame and pain that engulfed him. After what had happened to her brother, Luke, Adam had believed he was doing what was best for Lizzie when he left. At the time, he’d convinced himself that he’d be the only one who would be hurt.
    It took just a glance at her face to make him realize just how wrong he had been—about everything. He’d abandoned her when she’d needed him most. He had made a huge mistake and compounded it with more wrong choices. He’d failed her. After all these years, there was probably nothing he could do to fix it.
    But he was going to do his best to try.
    “Good morning.” The soft, wistful sadness in her tone made him feel as if someone had reached inside his chest and squeezed his heart. “I heard you were back in town.”
    “I didn’t expect to see you this morning.”
    She smiled sadly and shrugged. “Why would you?”
    It was the words not spoken that filled the room and heightened the tension between them. The mild censure in her last question was understandably deserved. He’d left without a word and he had returned—still, without a word.
    She stood up, stretching her arms and back like a cat after a summer nap, and stepped forward. “I suppose we should talk.” She nodded toward the tiny body covered with white sheets lying on the bed. “About Jeremy.”
    “How long have you been here?” He moved toward the bed to check his patient’s monitors.
    “All night.”
    That surprised him and he turned to look at her. “Why? Doesn’t he have any family? Grandparents?”
    “No. Kate told me that Dave lost his family in a car accident when he was a teen. Her father died of a heart attack a couple years back. Her mother’s alive but has dementia and is living in a nursing home in Poplar Bluff.”
    “Aunts? Uncles?”
    “My team will check it out but I don’t think so.”
    “Poor little guy. As if autism wasn’t a big enough challenge for him.” He brushed his hand over the sleeping boy’s head and then turned his attention back to Liz.
    “So, why did you stay? You have a guard right outside the door.”
    “He’s afraid of uniforms.”
    “What?”
    “Jeremy.” She stretched again and rubbed her lower back as though trying to work out a kink. “Kate…that’s his mother… was his mother…” She bit her lower lip, frowned and looked across the bed at him. “Anyway, she told me once that Jeremy is terrified of people in uniforms. I thought the sight of the medical and police uniforms might send him over the top. I’ve met Jeremy a couple of times