“So they don’t find us,” Lucy said.
Zoe nodded. “I have a friend who can help.”
“Where?”
“Dallas.”
“And he can get us to Corpus Christi?”
“Yes.”
Lucy nodded. “Then we go to Dallas, together.”
An old, comforting feeling started to fill Zoe’s bones. They would face trouble hand in hand. Them against the world. Suddenly the deep loneliness that was a result of trusting no one dimmed, and Zoe couldn’t deny the warmth that took its place.
This time she smiled. “Together.”
SEVEN
SEELEY CROSSED THE parking lot outside Memphis Medical Center. McCoy had connected Zoe Johnson to a Dr. Holbert who had seen Zoe regularly until the girl was fifteen, when she abruptly stopped seeing the doctor twice a week. There was hardly any other information from that point to now. It was as if Zoe Johnson had become a ghost, and Seeley intended to find out why.
He walked through the main entrance sliding doors, a burst of hot air hitting him from the overhead heater. The medical center’s lobby was a large, open area with upholstered maroon chairs, shining white floors and matching walls, bright overhead lighting, and a wide wraparound desk set up in the middle.
An elderly woman with silver hair and bright blue–rimmed glasses sat behind the desk and smiled at Seeley as he approached. He gave a friendly grin in return and pulled his badge from the inside of his leather jacket. He flashed it quickly and her face turned serious.
“What can I help you with, sir?” she asked.
“I’m looking for a Dr. Simon Holbert,” Seeley replied.
“Second floor, west side, suite number 12. Is he in some sort of trouble?”
“I just need to speak to him. Do I take those elevators there?” Seeley asked, pointing to the ones on the right side of the room.
She nodded. “To level two. I hope everything’s alright. Simon is such a nice man.” Her face was twisted with curiosity, and her tone begged for details. Seeley was certain this would be the story that filled the break room for days to come. This Barbra, according to her name plate, didn’t seem like the kind who waited one moment to share a snip of gossip if it presented itself.
He thanked her and crossed to the elevators, hit the button, and stepped inside when the doors opened. He could feel Barbra’s eyes on his back as the doors slid closed behind him. After a moment’s ride he stepped onto the second floor. He walked down the wide hallway, its outside wall constructed of glass to show the parking lot below. A pretty nurse smiled at him as she passed. He didn’t miss her flirtatious glance or the appealing curves of her body. He knew her skin was probably warm, her golden hair probably soft, and for a brief moment he wanted her.
It passed as quickly as it had come. The pleasure of her, the joy of human connection, wasn’t for men like him. He’d tried that once, and it had betrayed him.
Seeley refocused on the task at hand. Suite 12 was marked by a black door like all the rest on the right-hand side of the hall. A small plaque on the left side of the door read Dr. Simon Holbert, MD, Child Psychologist. With a sharp twist of the golden knob, Seeley was inside the office.
Another pretty girl was sitting behind a receptionist’s desk in the far corner of the small waiting room. A light tan couch and matching chairs circled a wooden coffee table topped with casual reading materials.
Seeley crossed the room and pulled out his badge. “I need to speak with Dr. Holbert,” he said. “Is he in?”
The girl opened her mouth to speak as the door Seeley had just walked through sounded behind him. It drew his attention as a short bald man stepped inside the office. He wore simple khakis and a white button-down tucked in, paired with a dark brown belt and matching loafers. He had a computer bag draped over his shoulder and a stainless steel coffee thermos in hand.
He matched his online image. Seeley turned toward him, badge ready. “Dr. Holbert?”
“Yes, how can I help you?” Holbert asked, eyeing Seeley’s ID.
“I need to speak to you about a former patient of yours,” Seeley said.
“I’m afraid that information is protected unless you have a warrant.”
“I just need some general information regarding an open investigation. A Zoe Johnson. She would have been a minor the last time you saw her.”
Holbert’s face flinched, and Seeley knew he recognized the name. She’d left an impression, as Seeley knew the doctor hadn’t seen her in over nine years.
“Just a couple of questions,” Seeley pushed. “It could help us protect another girl that we believe Johnson may intend to harm.”
Holbert considered Seeley’s words and motioned to his office. “After you.”
The two men entered the doctor’s office, and Seeley found exactly what he would have pictured: A long, soft couch across from a large plush, worn chair. Stacks of neatly kept books and literature on the brain and emotions. Framed accolades and degrees hanging on the walls.
Holbert set his coffee and bag on a large dark desk in front of the room’s only window. “I’m not sure how helpful I’ll be,” he started. “I haven’t seen Zoe Johnson in some time.”
“But you do remember her?” Seeley asked.
“Yes, of course. She and I spent many years together.”
“Why was that?”
“I’m not comfortable with that, Agent . . . ?”
“Seeley.”
“You know the law, Agent Seeley.”
“Unless she’s a threat to herself and others, which we believe she is.”
“Do you have proof of this, or again, a warrant?”
Seeley swallowed his frustration. The bleeding hearts of the psychiatric community grated on his last nerve. “I was hoping to do this without either of us having to do a mountain of paperwork,” he said. He’d made a read on the doctor moments earlier that he was hoping wouldn’t betray him now. “But if I need one then I’ll have it within the hour, and we can do this the hard way. Surely the last thing you want is for a team of agents to comb through your office and home, top to bottom, without regard to your personal space, looking for any evidence that might lead back to Miss Johnson. That is the last thing I want to have to do.”
“I don’t appreciate the threat, Agent Seeley,” Holbert said.
“I’m just trying not to waste anyone’s time. So as direct as I can be, if I leave without the information I need, you will see me again, in a much less pleasant way.”
The doctor considered what Seeley was selling. “She poses a serious threat to herself or others?”
Seeley nodded.
Dr. Holbert cleared his throat. “Zoe Johnson and her younger brother endured a tremendous amount of tragedy and abuse. They were filled with fear and had built an elaborate story to protect themselves from their past. I was helping them both come to terms with reality.”
“There isn’t a record of her having a brother.”
“She has two, actually—a younger one, Stephen, and a twin. I never met her twin brother. He and their father were long gone when the courts assigned me to the case.” Dr. Holbert started toward the tall filing cabinet across the room. “I really started to make progress with Zoe, but her younger brother was much more difficult.” He reached into the top drawer and drew out a thick manila folder.