“Mrs. Anderson,” I called out from behind the desk in my office.

“Yes?” she called back.

“Could you come in here?” I signed the last of the papers she’d left on my desk that morning and closed the folder.

“All done?” she asked as she bustled into the room. She stood on the other side of my desk with her hands clasped neatly in front of her.

“Yes,” I said with a weary sigh. I lifted my hands to my eyes and rubbed them.

“Is there anything I can do for you?”

I shook my head, a smile I didn’t feel crossing my lips. “I don’t think so.”

After my mom and Jamie left this morning, I’d come in to the office, because staying home and doing nothing wasn’t getting me anywhere. I’d just obsess about where Lynn was. I wouldn’t get anything else done. At least here I could stay busy, and make the hours until Lynn found her way home go faster.

I held the file out to her and she took it, flattening it against her chest.

“Have you heard from Lynn yet?” she asked.

I shook my head. “Not yet.”

“That girl who was here…” She stopped and shook her head, biting her lips together.

I looked up at her. “You mean Ash?”

She harrumphed. “That young lady has no manners at all.”

Yep. She’s rude and abrasive and awesome, all wrapped up in one dark package. “I’m sorry she wouldn’t listen to you. She’s a friend of Lynn’s, so I’d hoped her showing up was a good thing.” I shrugged. “I hoped she’d at least talked to Lynn.”

“So what happens next? You just…wait?” Her eyes brimmed with sympathy and compassion.

“What else can I do?” I drummed my thumbs on the desk. “Her friends are looking for her. They’ll find her, even if I can’t.”

“Should I brace myself for more visits from her friends?” Mrs. Anderson looked down her nose at me.

I scrubbed my chin with my palm. “Hell, I don’t know. Probably.”

She clucked her tongue. “There’s no need for profanity.”

Mrs. Anderson had worked for my parents for years. I grew up digging through her desk drawer looking for candy she’d hide just for me. When I finished my residency and came to work with my parents, she’d taken over as my assistant. I didn’t dare call her a secretary to her face. She was integral to the practice. Her knowledge of mental health care was second to none. She’d seen a lot through the years, but she was still a stickler for manners.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said with a smile I didn’t feel. “I’ll try to keep the profanity to a minimum. It’s been a hard week.”

Her gaze softened. “I know it has. It’ll get better. These things have a way of cycling around.”

“I hope so.”

“Your mom was telling me that Jamie came to see you.” She pretended to rearrange the pens on my desk.

“Yes, she came by this morning. Lynn asked her to work on my car.”

“That girl’s a gem. Not like that other one.” She clicked her tongue against her teeth again. “Next time you see Jamie, tell her I have some peanut butter cups in my drawer just for her, will you?” She turned to leave, but then turned back. “And you can tell that Ash, or whatever her name is, that the next time she calls me the b-word, I’ll be forced to wash her mouth out with soap.” She nodded, squared her shoulders, and left my office, closing the door behind her.

I’d like to see Mrs. Anderson try. I wasn’t sure which one would come out on top. It might be Mrs. Anderson, because she had goodness and light on her side. But Ash…she was fierce.

Mrs. Anderson suddenly flung my door open and rushed back into the room. “You have a call on line two.”

“Who is it?” I asked, but I was already reaching for the phone.

“It’s her,” she said, out of breath.

I picked up the phone. “Lynn?” I said, my heart pounding.

“No…” the female voice said slowly. “Definitely not Lynn.” She laughed, a silky, delicious, evil sound.

“Who is this?” I demanded.

“Oh, come on, Mason. It hasn’t been that long.”

I was afraid to guess. Terrified, actually.

“It’s Shelly.” She didn’t say anything else.

“Is Lynn with you?” I rushed to ask.

She made a noise in her throat that I could hear through the phone. “Tsk, tsk, Mason. Can’t you even tell me hello? It’s been years.”

Yeah, and I’d hoped to keep it that way. “Where is Lynn?” I asked. “Is she okay?”

“Lynn’s fine,” she said.

“Let me talk to her.” I sat forward in my chair, resting my ass on the edge of the seat, my elbows on the desk.

Shelly let out a tiny sound that dragged across my heart like silk embedded with sharp shards of glass. “She’s not here right now, Mason. I just wanted to let you know that I’ve spoken to her.”

“She’s all right?” Please let her be all right.

“I wouldn’t go that far—”

“What have you done?” I jumped to my feet so fast that Mrs. Anderson backed quickly toward the doorway.

“I haven’t done anything. Yet,” she purred. “Gotta run.”

“Shelly!” I cried.

“Yes, Mason?” she said softly. Piercingly.

“Shelly, why did she leave? Did you do something?”

“Mason.” She heaved a sigh. “This time, it’s all your fault, my love.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Think about it, Mason. You’ll figure it out.”

The line went dead.

“Shelly?” I called. “Shelly!” I cried a little louder, pounding my finger on the button that hung up the phone. She was gone.

I slammed the phone back on the cradle. “God damn it!” I shouted, grabbing my hair in my fists and tugging.

Mrs. Anderson backed quietly away and shut the door behind her.

I kicked my desk chair back into place and sagged into it. “I didn’t do anything,” I whispered.