The Good Listener Read online

  I shook my head immediately.

  “No. I haven’t.”

  “Since when? We know that she used to work for you. Is that right?”

  “Yes. I fired her a little while ago.”

  “For sleeping with your husband?”

  My skin started to crawl.

  “Yes.”

  “Apparently, she was last seen getting into an altercation with you outside of her home. Witnesses say that you were about to attack her, but Mr. Blake was there to intervene, is that true?”

  “Yes. I was upset. But---,”

  “And you also made a visit to your husband’s job that day and publicly confronted him about the affair with Summer correct?”

  “Yes, but what are you implying?”

  “I’m not implying anything Mrs. Lewis. I just want to make sure that we have all of the facts straight. She went missing that same day. No one has seen or heard from her since. Her parents tried calling her and going by, but she wasn’t there.”

  “Her parents? They are out of town correct?”

  “No. They live right here in the city.”

  That was weird.

  Summer had told me that her parents lived out of town.

  Maybe they moved back recently.

  “And you haven’t seen her since that day?”

  “No. I haven’t.”

  But I was sure that Blake had.

  “Any idea of where she might go? What was said between the two of you that day? Did you threaten her?”

  I didn’t like the way that the conversation was making me feel.

  More than likely if something was wrong with Summer, the killer was outside talking to the other officer.

  It surely wasn’t me.

  “No. I didn’t threaten her. She admitted to sleeping with my husband numerous of times. I was upset. But I’m over it.”

  “How is that?”

  “I’m getting a divorce. So, it really doesn’t matter what was between them anymore.”

  “Yeah. Your husband told us that. Do you think that he has seen her since then?”

  “I don’t know. And I don’t care.”

  “But he’s back at home now right?”

  “I’m sorry I can’t be of much assistance. Yes, she had an affair with my husband, but I haven’t seen her. And I don’t want to,” I said standing up and waited for the officer to stand up as well.

  “We will be in touch,” he said making his exit.

  “For what?”

  “Like I said, we will be in touch.”

  And with that, he went on his way, and a few minutes later, Blake came back into the room.

  I stared at him as he got comfortable on the couch.

  He didn’t look uncomfortable or anything by what had just happened but of course, he wouldn’t; he was a psychopath.

  “So.”

  “So what?”

  “What did you do to her Blake?”

  He looked innocent.

  “Nothing. I didn’t touch her. I would tell you if I did. But I didn’t.”

  “You didn’t kill her?”

  “Nope.”

  Of course, I didn’t believe him.

  “Where is she?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What did you do to her Blake?”

  “Nothing. What did you do to her Hannah?”

  “Nothing of course.”

  “Doesn’t seem like the police think that now does it?”

  “What did they say?”

  “All of their questions were about you. So, you tell me.”

  No.

  I didn’t do anything to her.

  I was simply going to let karma have its way with her.

  “I haven’t seen her. Not since that day.”

  “Of course, you haven’t…. But Joel has.”

  ~***~

  “Was that you that night? That set off the alarm?”

  I asked Joel.

  I knew that Blake was telling the truth, but I also knew that Joel was going to deny it.

  “What? No. Why would I do that? I would have just used my key. You called me and woke me up out of my sleep to come here with you.”

  He was sitting on the couch.

  He had been there for a little while now, sitting around all day, doing nothing.

  Of course, I’d gotten him fired from his job, but I didn’t feel bad.

  I didn’t feel an ounce of sympathy for him.

  He didn’t feel any for me while he was fooling around on me and lying to my face.

  “Have you seen Summer?”

  “No. I take it that the police came to see you? They came by here to talk to me too. I told them everything that I know. But I haven’t seen her.”

  “When was the last time you saw her?”

  “I don’t know Hannah. A while.”

  “What’s a while?”

  He looked at me as though I was frustrating him.

  “The day that you came by my job. That night I saw her.”

  “Why?”

  “She wanted to talk. About you. We didn’t have sex. I swear.”

  “Liar.”

  “I’m not lying Hannah. She called me crying. She was emotional. She said that you were the only friend that she ever had, and she messed it up. I went by once I gathered all of my things up at work. I was so angry at you. Maybe I did go by to do something that I thought would have made me feel better and because I was frustrated with you but I couldn’t do it. I’d already hurt you enough. I didn’t do anything. That was the last time I saw her. And I told the police the same thing.”

  I was sure that she was going to show up sooner or later.

  Blake said that he didn’t touch her, and I was hoping that he hadn't.

  But the good thing was that if she was missing, he couldn’t kill her.

  If she was actually the woman that he was after and if she was still alive, her being missing was maybe the safest thing for her at the moment.

  “Hannah, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry for what I did to us. I want to make it right. Please tell me how to make it right.”

  “Really? You really want to make it right?”

  Joel nodded.

  “Then make sure you sign the divorce papers when its time,” I spat at him.

  “Hannah.”

  “Did China know?”

  “Know what?”

  “Everything Joel. Everything with you and Summer. Did she know?

  Joel looked at me.

  “Yes, Hannah. Yes, she knew.”

  Yet again Blake had been right.

  I didn’t bother to respond to him.

  I shook my head, and I headed out the door.

  I wasn’t going to the office.

  Since I didn’t have any patients at the moment, other than Blake, I had some free time to do a few things for myself.

  It would have been the perfect time to spend with my husband if we were on better terms, but since we weren’t, I figured that I would just spend some time alone.

  A nice quiet lunch was just what the doctor ordered.

  But that was short lived.

  “Anybody sitting here?”

  I looked up from my lunch.

  It was the same officer from the other day.

  He sat down before I could answer him.

  “Have you found her yet?”

  “No. We haven’t. And something tells me we won’t find her alive,” he said.

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Well, for starters, I want to share with you something that I found.”

  He pulled out an envelope.

  It looked like the letters H-A-N-N and then half of an A was written in what looked like dried up blood.

  “We found this in Summer’s house. Underneath the coffee table. Now, I’m no genius or anything, but it looks like she was trying to spell out your name. Am I right?”

  I didn’t know how to respond.

  “Tests were run against prior lab samples from do
ctor’s visits, and it confirmed that it is, in fact, Summer’s blood. And so were the few spots of blood that were on the floor. So, why would a bleeding woman try to write your name with her blood?”

  I shook my head.

  “I don’t know.”

  “And you are sure that you didn’t have anything to do with her disappearance?”

  “No. I didn’t. I was angry, but I wasn’t angry enough to do anything to her. I don’t know where she is.”

  “Hmm, yeah, neither do I. But I’m going to find out.”

  And with that, he walked away.

  I didn’t actually breathe until he was out of sight.

  What was happening here?

  Why did I get the feeling that he was accusing me?

  I didn’t kill her.

  I hadn't seen her.

  I pulled out my phone, and I called her number.

  It went straight to voicemail.

  Her mailbox was full so I couldn’t leave a message.

  Where are you, Summer?

  I got my food to go, and I drove by her house.

  Her car was there.

  But the tape around the house indicated that she was definitely not inside.

  Where is she?

  She didn’t leave in her car, so obviously she hadn't driven anywhere.

  So she had to have left with someone.

  And they’d found blood.

  So, something had happened.

  But why was she attempting to spell out my name?

  I headed home to find Joel sitting on the porch.

  He seemed to have been lost in his thoughts, and I sat beside him.

  The psychologist in me felt the need to pry.

  I hadn't done anything to her, but I was about to see if Joel had.

  “Why did you do this to us?”

  “I’m so sorry Hannah. I really am.”

  “Did you kill Summer Joel?”

  He shook his head.

  “No.”

  “If you did, the sooner that it’s out the better.”

  “I didn’t kill anybody. She could be anywhere. They aren’t really even sure if she is missing. They just haven’t seen her in a few days. Maybe she wanted to get away.”

  “The police approached me again, which means they are probably following me. They said that they found blood in Summer’s house. And the officer also showed me a piece of paper that had most of the letters of my name, written in her blood. I feel like something bad is about to happen.”

  “She was alive when I left her. I swear. You didn’t…”

  “Don’t even ask me that Joel. No. I didn’t. I was mad. Yes, I was upset to find out the truth, but I wouldn’t kill her. I wouldn’t.”

  “Then who would?”

  Funny that you should ask…

  ~***~

  “Do we still need these sessions?”

  “You haven’t fixed me yet.”

  “But the woman that you wanted to kill is missing anyway. So technically, you have nothing to worry about.”

  “I never confirmed that it was her. I said let’s pretend that it was.”

  “So it wasn’t, isn’t her?”

  “Maybe. Maybe not.”

  I was so frustrated that I was about to cry.

  I just wasn’t in the mood for his nonsense.

  “The police think that she’s already dead.”

  “If she is, I didn’t do it.”

  “It seems as though they are trying to blame me for her disappearance or even worse, a possible murder.”

  “Did you?”

  “Why is everyone asking me that? No, I did not.”

  Blake shrugged.

  “Well, maybe she’s just missing. Maybe she was ashamed, and she just went away. Maybe she took a trip.”

  “No. The police found blood.”

  Blake looked away.

  He knew something.

  “Did Joel do it?”

  He was always somewhere, watching. He had to have seen something.

  “Do you think that he did it? Is your husband capable of murder?”

  “No. I don’t know. But I didn’t even know that he was capable of adultery either.”

  “People and papers lie.”

  Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

  So he’s said.

  “Well, I’m innocent, so I’m not going to worry about it. Hopefully, she will show up, and if she doesn’t, that has nothing to do with me.”

  “Well, okay then.”

  “So, how have you been feeling lately?”

  “Fine.”

  “And you are still planning to go?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you are still planning to kill?”

  “Yes.”

  “I know that you know where she is.”

  He shrugged.

  “I thought we weren’t talking about Summer anymore.”

  I couldn’t help it.

  I had a bad feeling that he or Joel or maybe both of them together were up to no good and maybe the joke was on me.

  Maybe they were both trying to frame me.

  People lie.

  Papers lie.

  So my question was what was the truth?

  Who was telling the truth?

  “Sometimes you have to see what isn’t there.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “If you have to focus on your personal life, I can just…”

  “No. I’m fine. Let’s get started.”

  “I remember the way that she used to smell. My real mother. I often buy a lotion or spray that has the scent of Warm Vanilla. That was her favorite. Do you like that scent?”

  Actually, I didn’t.

  But I figured that saying yes might get me a little further than telling the truth.

  “Yes.”

  “Every day, for a while, I would take a whiff of it and then a memory would remind me that I hate her. I hate her for not caring enough about me to live. For not loving me enough to fight through her depression, instead of letting it win.”

  “If you could see your mother, one last time, right here and right now, what would you say to her?”

  He thought about it.

  “I would ask her to forgive me.”

  “For what?”

  “I haven’t done it yet.”

  I looked at him.

  What was he talking about now?

  “For killing your victim?”

  “No. For something else.”

  “Do you think that she would forgive you? If she was alive and for whatever you are referring to?”

  “No. But I would ask for it anyway. Most people never ask to be forgiven. They do something wrong, or make a mistake, and then they just wait to see what the outcome will be. They never truly want to be forgiven. They simply want a second shot at messing up again.”

  “What does all of that mean Blake?”

  “Nothing.”

  Blake started to hum.

  I tried to catch the tune but it seemed as though he didn’t want me to.

  He would hum a little.

  And then stop abruptly.

  After a few breaths he would hum again.

  “Blake. Are you okay?”

  He nodded.

  “Yes. For the rest of the session, can I just sit here and hum?”

  And without responding, he did just that.

  He hummed and I watched him.

  He really was a nut case.

  ~***~

  I watched the story about Summer on the news.

  Her parents whom I had never pictured looking the way that they did, begged for anyone to come forward with information on her.

  They were calling it a suspected kidnapping or possible homicide and were asking for clues.

  I turned up TV as the officer started to speak.

  “We are actively searching for Ms. Waters. We do have a few leads, but we can’t disclose that information at this time.”

  Ugh.

  Joel was watching along wi
th me, and I tried to read his body language to see if he was uncomfortable by what he was watching.

  I couldn’t trust him any further than I could see him

  He was the last one to see her alive and since apparently he was really good at lying, he could very well be the one responsible for her disappearance.

  “This is crazy,” he said.

  “Yes, it is. I just hope that she’s okay.”

  “You know I never loved her right? I only loved you. It was just a stupid mistake, Hannah.”

  Don’t you mean mistakes? It was numerous of times. It was an affair Joel. And you involved China in it too.”

  “No, I didn’t. China saw it on her own.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She didn’t know who at first, but she picked up on it as soon as it started happening and she forced me to tell her who it was. She saw it. But you didn’t see it because you weren’t looking. You were too busy to see.”

  “Don’t you dare blame this on me, Joel.”

  “I’m not blaming you Hannah.”

  “Why didn’t China tell me? She was my best friend.”

  “She wanted to. She even threatened to a few times. But I would make promises that I wouldn’t keep. And then finally, she stopped saying anything about it. As though she wanted to pretend as though she didn’t know. Even when I told her what I was doing that night that you guys went to dinner, she’d convinced her mind to believe the lie that I’d told you, even though she knew the truth. Don’t blame her. She was your friend Hannah. She was just in a messed up situation. And I put her there.”

  If she were any kind of friend, she would have told me. We told each other everything.

  Before we could continue the conversation, there was a knock at the door.

  I answered walking towards the front door to answer it.

  “Mrs. Lewis, we have a warrant to search your home, and we need to take you down to the station. This officer will escort you down there for questioning.”

  “I’ve already been questioned.”

  “Some other things have come up.”

  “Like what?”

  “I’m not at liberty to say. But they are pertaining to an ongoing investigation involving Summer Waters. Please go with the officer.”

  “Am I a suspect?”

  “We just want to talk and ask you a few questions.”

  I followed the officer, and the other one entered the house.

  “I’ll call our lawyer,” I heard Joel yell behind me.

  I couldn’t believe this was happening.

  My neighbors started to come out.

  Some yelled out to me, others just watched.

  My reputation was ruined that was for sure.