Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“Yeah, so because she was carrying it around, I told her she needed to see someone, but we did what you guys did and saw a lot of people Rissa couldn’t stand. Either their approach with her was too simplistic, or they wanted to talk about parts of her life that didn’t pertain to what she was going through, or there was the one guy who thought perhaps if she had a partner to come home to, everything would be better.”
“He”—of course it had to be a he—“thought she needed a man.”
“Yes.”
“So what did she finally do?”
“Well, I was talking to Rissa on the phone one day, and Duncan overheard. He recommended a psychologist he refers his detectives to.”
I glanced over at Aaron. “You have a guy?”
“No, Duncan has a guy. Weren’t you listening?”
“Would you like his number?” Miguel asked me.
“Yes, please,” I said quickly, shooting Aaron a death glare.
I was in a strange place over this whole thing, because even though I wasn’t sure the kids needed help, I didn’t want them to be like me and have odd things pop up throughout their lives when they least expected it, so I had agreed with Eli Kohn that they needed to talk to someone.
I got the man’s name, Kurt Butler, and called once we were dropped off where we’d parked. It turned out he had an opening in his schedule, and gave me his address in Elk Grove Village. It was a bit out of the way, thirty minutes, give or take, but I ordered the kids to get in the van, and off we went.
Thinking I’d be looking for an office building in Busse Woods, the closer we got, I realized I was going to a house. It was on one of the most idyllic streets I’d ever seen, which was saying something since I lived in Oak Park. There were trees of all sizes, every yard was shaded, and every house had a wraparound porch. All of them could be seen from the road, except for the one I stopped in front of.
The property was surrounded by immaculately kept boxwood, and directly behind that were large arborvitae, planted, I could only assume, for privacy. In the midst of all the flora was a wooden gate, the only place where you could see into the yard filled with trees and bushes and flowers, and to the right, what appeared to be a small bamboo forest. It was lush and lovely, and I led the kids inside, staying on the cobblestone path that meandered far from the front gate, finally reaching the wide steps of a house where a man was sitting flanked by two beautiful Dobermans and what looked like an Australian shepherd puppy. A pair of binoculars hung by a leather strap from his neck, like he might have been birding while he waited for us.
“Hello,” he greeted us, standing and descending the steps. He was taller than me, maybe right at six feet, with lovely gunmetal-gray eyes and blond hair shot through with platinum. Handsome, with lean muscles and wide shoulders and a great smile. “I’m Kurt. Nice to see you all.”
“Are the dogs friendly?” Hannah asked him.
“Of course,” he assured her, his voice warm, gentle. “I mean, the Dobermans are,” he groaned, shaking his head. “That one,” he began, grimacing, as the Aussie took a step off the porch, fell down three, recovered, got her feet under her, and sort of galloped over to Hannah, bumping into her legs when she arrived. “Is a goofball,” he finished.
Hannah crouched down, laughing as the dog tried to climb all over her.
“One of the things I do is train dogs to help kids who have to go to court. They sit with them while they testify, and—Dot, don’t lick her eyes out—and we’ve been working together, but I don’t think she has the temperament for it. Not all dogs of a certain breed are the same, and really, that’s part of the fun.”
“What will happen to her?” Hannah asked, worried, staring at Kurt.
“She’ll go back to her foster family, who didn’t want to give her up in the first place, and live happily ever after.”
Hannah showed her relief with a beaming smile.
“Come on around the back. I wanna show you all something.”
Following him, staying on the path, Dot sort of gamboled along, nearly nose-diving a couple of times and trying to kill Jake by running in front of him or between his legs while the two Dobermans flanked us all like bookends.
We reached the backyard, where there was what looked like a forest as far as the eye could see. Kurt immediately lay down in the grass, elbows up, using the binoculars. The boys were all dressed like he was, in jeans and boots; Kurt was in a Henley, they were in T-shirts, but Hannah was in a sundress, so she couldn’t lie down.