The Return

Chapter Forty Six

Holly

10:12.

The Chroniclers sat in darkness beneath a streetlamp in Crescent Hills's parking lot. Holly's curiosity was tipping fast into restlessness. There was nothing sinister about a psychiatrist working in a rehabilitation center. However, Holly had an inkling there was more to his involvement in this case than anyone was letting on.

"What do you think she's going to tell us?" Cody leaned forward from the back seat.

Holly picked at a loose thread on her green sweater.

"Maybe he did it." Heaven contributed. She had her eyes on the entrance to the rehabilitation center. The windows were aglow with life.

Why in God's name were they still open?

"How though?" Rowan fumbled with her seatbelt.

"Micro-dosing," Holly could hear the tension in her voice.

"Why would he drug his patients?" Cody asked.

Kyle tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. "A marketing strategy?"

Sweat prickled Holly's pits.

"To keep the patients coming back?" Heaven's face was all sharp angles under the warm yellow glow of the street lamp. "A little at a time every time to keep them hooked." She considered it.

It wasn't uncommon for patients to relapse.

"So, Scarlett Leighton was slowly being drugged by her own psychiatrist." Rowan said unruffled.

"Look!" Heaven suddenly screamed.

Nadine padded across the parking lot. She slipped into her car and pulled out of her spot.

"Should we follow her?"

Kyle nodded turning the key in the ignition.

Nadine led them to the intersection of West Taylor St and South Racine Avenue. They pulled up behind her.

Holly didn't wait for Kyle shut off the headlamps. She hurried outside.

She knocked on the passenger window. It rolled down. Nadine's face was blank. "Get in."

Holly joined the rehab nurse in her Toyota sedan.

She clicked the central lock.

They were silent for what felt like ten minutes.

"If word gets out that I was digging into the past, I'll lose my job." Nadine said briskly staring at her hands.

"We want to know what he's hiding. Even if he didn't kill her, he has to know something that can point us in the right direction."

"You're getting closer to the truth and I don't think you're ready for it."

"We won't put your name in the article, it will be anonymous—"

Nadine's eyes widened. "Article? You can't publish anything about this." She looked tired, the bags beneath her eyes prominent.

"We need to know what happened."

"You can't publish this," She held Holly's stare. "Promise me, this won't get out to anyone, I need you to swear it or the deals off."

Holly thought about it. She hated lying but she did what she had to do. "Fine."

"I wasn't able to get the real deal, he keeps that under lock and key and if it goes missing..."

"You'll lose your job."

She nodded quietly.

"You're doing a good thing; there's so much people don't know about Scarlett and we want to change the narrative."

Nadine reached into her bag. "I hope you don't regret this." She pushed a stack of papers into Holly's arms. She quickly zipped up her bag.

"What's this?" She flipped through the squiggly handwriting. She read the first line.

Hey, Scarlett here, Dr. Bradley said I should make this. I think it's stupid, but here goes...

Shit.