“That didn’t give you any pause?” Milo asked. He wouldn’t call what Rochelle did to people a gift. He’d call it manipulative and cruel.
“Of course it did, eventually. Trust is vital to the doctor and patient relationship, though. Being able to gain that trust with minimal effort is a skill most doctors work for years to master. Rebecca could do it without even trying. When I realized she’d gone back to her old ways, I was concerned. Thanks to my tutelage, Rebecca had many other skills that could be dangerous in the wrong hands.”
“Which, we can all agree, would be her hands.”
“Yes. I admit I was blinded by my affection for her. She was manipulative and sometimes cold, and she could play whatever role she thought you wanted her to play. I was fooled for a long time.”
“Why’d you report her to the school?” Joy asked.
Good question, thought Milo.
“Rebecca had control issues that spiraled as she neared graduation. She also became quite territorial, which was a trait I believe developed when she experienced love for the first time. Well, I suppose it wasn’t love exactly,” Eli said and then smiled. “More of an infatuation.”
“With you?”
“Oh no, I made it clear our relationship was no longer romantic. She found a boy her age during her last year. He was a handsome lad, but quite stupid, and Rebecca treated him like property. I wish I’d seen it sooner....”
“She kill him?” he asked.
Eli frowned. “You do go for the vein, don’t you?”
“I just want this damn story to reach its end so you can tell me who Rochelle killed.”
“There’s no proof she killed anyone. One of the boy’s friends told me Rebecca refused to let the relationship end. She kept calling and going by the fraternity’s house. She warned off other girls and made dramatic proclamations, like claiming she would love him always or insisting no other woman would treat him as well as she did. He tried to be blunt, according to his friend, but Rebecca brushed him off and said she’d wait for him.
“So, child that he was, he used an old trick and slept with as many girls as he could seduce. Rebecca saw this behavior as the ultimate betrayal. To say she was devastated would be an understatement. She came to me, distraught, and in quite a state. This is when I decided I should meet this boy. He told me about his attempts to end the relationship, and her refusal to accept his wishes. I told her we’d have to begin our sessions again. At the time, she’d agreed. Then she found out about me and Rochelle. There was a confrontation, and Rebecca stabbed Rochelle. I think it was just one too many disappointments for her to handle.”
“Shit,” Milo said. “I thought you said she fell off a roof.”
“Oh she did,” Eli said. “But not until a few days later. The incident with the stabbing—Rebecca used one of my favorite pens—was explained away. Rochelle didn’t want to make waves. She was a sweet girl who felt sorry for Rebecca. Also, Rebecca threatened to tell the school about our affair and Rochelle wanted to protect me....”
Eli seemed to drift off. Milo wanted to throttle him.
“Where was I?” Eli asked.
“Rochelle didn’t rat out Rebecca.”
“Right.” Eli rubbed his knee. “So, I told Rebecca to come see me. I said we needed to go back to our weekly sessions so that I could help her deal with the stresses she struggled with. Of course, Rebecca said she was fine. I worried, of course, but let it go. She was a grown woman after all and you can’t push someone into getting help. They have to want it.”
He wished the man would just get to the point. The history was interesting, but it told him nothing. “And when did she kill Rochelle?”
“As I said, there’s no evidence of murder. However, soon after she refused my help, the police found her boyfriend’s car.”
“I can only imagine how that went,” Milo said.
“It was in the bottom of the lake, the boyfriend strapped inside. The coroner said he’d been unconscious when it went in. There was a large gash on his head. I knew Rebecca was responsible, but I loved her. She was ill and needed help not prosecution. I didn’t correct their theory that he’d had some type of accident, injured his head, and lost consciousness while attempting to drive home.”
“And that was your first mistake.”
Eli nodded. “I tried to protect Rebecca. Removing her from the stress of school seemed to be the kindest way to protect both her and the people she interacted with.”
“And?”
“Rochelle died a few days later, and Rebecca vanished. I searched for a long time. When I heard about her parents’ deaths, I went to the funeral. Rebecca wasn’t there. So I gave up and moved on. Now and then, I received a letter from her, saying she was fine. I sent replies to the return address she provided, a post office box, but eventually even that communication stopped. She was like a ghost.”
“Until today.”
“Yes.” Eli smiled. “I’m impressed by her ingenuity. I never considered she might change her name. When I knew her, Rebecca was brilliant, but she was needy. She’d never have taken the reigns like this back then. Now, well she’s got herself a whole practice and everything.”
“I guess she’s matured.”
“I’m a little embarrassed I never considered she’d use an alias, though. She did have issues with identity. Being someone else was something she always wished for.”
“And she kills her patients,” Milo said.
“Unfortunate.”
“Understatement.”
“I wish I’d tried harder to find her. We could have prevented so much suffering.”
“How can you help me prove it?”
Joy elbowed him.
“Ow....” He frowned. “What?”
“You’re being rude.”
“That’s okay.” Eli waved a hand. “Milo is clearly an extremely intelligent individual. Does he also have an exaggerated tendency to control every single element in his life?”
Joy nodded. “That’s another understatement.”
Eli chuckled. “Well, his manners aren’t important to me. I admire the brain in his handsome head too much to be offended.”
“I don’t need a second quack telling me I’m nuts, okay? Keep your shit diagnoses to yourself.”
“I apologize.” Eli stood.
“I need proof of what Rochelle—I mean, Rebecca—has done.”
“No,” Eli said. “We simply need to stop her, and that’s where I come in.”
“How?”
“You’re taking me to therapy with you tonight.”
“Oh, fun!” Milo said. “So she can run for the hills before I have the evidence I need to take her in?”
“First, call the rest of your group. I need to meet them.”
“No.”
“No?”
“I don’t want them in my home.”
“We’ll meet somewhere else then.”
“I think it’s best they meet you at Rochelle’s house. Trust me.”
“I don’t want to contact her just yet. First, I meet her patients. We won’t tell them who I am. I just want a good idea of what the fallout will be when I take care of Rebecca.”
He didn’t like the sound of that. “By take care of Rebecca, care to elaborate on what you mean?”
Eli shook his head. “Call them, please?”
Joy nudged his arm again. “Just call them. You want this nightmare over or do you want her killing someone else?”
He sighed. “Fine. I’ll call them, but there won’t be any more killing. No one else dies, including Rochelle, so get that out of your head right now.”
“Sure.” Eli walked to his ruined bookshelves. “If that makes you feel comfortable, Detective Smalls.”
***
“I thought you said we were getting a cap.” Charlie picked up the roll of duct tape and rolled it around his finger.
“There are other things that need repairing. I may as well get what’s needed while I’m here.”
> Rochelle was proud of Charlie. They’d been in the hardware store for more than an hour and, other than his current fascination with the roll of duct tape, he hadn’t so much as fingered a hole. In fact, he was quite normal. His death would bother her the most.
Charlie tossed the tape back into the cart. “You ever used a propane torch?”
“Once or twice.”
The lineup was ridiculous. Rochelle would’ve used the self-checkout, but she didn’t want to bag her purchases herself, nor did she relish the idea of taking her eyes off Charlie. He might be on his best behavior, but she knew he could turn in a heartbeat. “I used to help my uncle. He was a plumber.”
“Is that right?” Rochelle asked. She knew Charlie had no uncle.
“Yeah.” Charlie rubbed his crotch. “What’s the rope for? You really need flame retardant ropes? The other ones were a lot cheaper.”
The line moved forward. Rochelle ignored Charlie’s question. “You’ve done very well today. I think you deserve a reward when we get home.”
Charlie grinned. “Oh yeah?”
The line moved again and Rochelle finally reached the checkout. She started placing items on the belt. “Definitely. Help me get these out of the cart. On the way home, you think about what your reward should be.”
“Fucking. It should be lots of fucking.”
“Charlie, inside voice please.”
“Sorry,” he glanced at the cashier, who hid a smile. “I want to fuck. That’s my reward. Can we do it?”
Rochelle knew it would be. “If you behave yourself through lunch, then we’ll see.”
“I ate lunch.”
“No you didn’t.”
“Maybe I did.”
“Is that behaving?”
Charlie shook his head. “I just want to fuck. Can we have lunch later?”
“No. We will behave like adults. That means we don’t give into our urges. We’ll have lunch first. Then you may have your reward. After that, I think it’s time for us to chat. We’ll do that before the others come for group tonight.”
“Do we have to?”
Rochelle knew Charlie hated hypnosis. He was always so antsy it took forever to put him under, and said it gave him a headache. She preferred to leave things as they were, but Rochelle knew that wasn’t a possibility anymore. Charlie had to go.
CHAPTER 20
The pub lights were dim. Milo liked that. It hid the multitude of nasty on the floors and tables, which made it easier for him to forget they existed. Jerry tried to keep a clean ship, but when it was busy, and the place was almost packed, he knew it was hard to achieve his standards of clean.
“I want tequila.” Nina said.
“You can have tequila,” he promised. “Anyone get in touch with Charlie?”
“Not me.” Buggy pushed his glasses up his nose. “They have broccoli soup today?”
“No,” Milo said. “Sorry.”
“Charlie’s gone to—ass-fuck-my-cunty-dog—the hardware store with Rochelle today.” Ozzie said.
“Well,” Eli, who predictably took a seat beside Nina, stared at Ozzie. “You are marvelous, Mr…?”
“Lemon.” Ozzie said. “Dick-bag…mmm…I mean, Ozzie Lemon.”
“So he’s still with Rochelle?” He didn’t like leaving Charlie out of the loop, but he supposed it was for the best. While Charlie was a compulsive liar, and no one ever believed a word he said, he was also unpredictably honest. It’d be just his luck that Rochelle would have hypnotized Charlie so he was only truthful with her.
“His landlord said he terminated his lease,” Nina said. “I went over when I couldn’t get him on the phone.”
“Why would he do that?” Eli asked.
Nina glanced at him, a familiar grin on her face.
Oh hell. Here we go with the old man fetish. “Nina?”
“What?” she loosened a button on her blouse. “What did you say your name was again?”
“Eli. Tell us about Charlie’s lease, love.”
“I went over, and the landlord was in Charlie’s apartment. I’m telling you, I’d wear a hazmat suit in that place. Who knows how many places he’s cummed all over.”
“Gross.” Milo said.
“Yeah, anyway, I asked where Charlie was and the guy said he terminated his lease and asked if the guy would arrange for a moving company. Said Charlie was in the hospital.”
“Charlie told the landlord that?” Milo asked.
“Yes.” Nina licked her lips, her eyes still on Eli. “Sent him an email. You are a very handsome man.”
Eli smiled. “And you are very beautiful. I don’t suppose there’s a reason you’re rubbing your vagina right now.”
Nina at least had the good sense to blush. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, love. I’m accustomed to compulsions.”
“Nina cries during sex,” Buggy said.
“I don’t cry with older men.”
“Interesting,” Eli said. “Perhaps we should talk about this later, privately.”
He cleared his throat. “If you two are through eye-fucking each other, we have other business to discuss.”
“Right.” Eli waved at the waitress, a teenager Maria called in when the place got busy, which thankfully wasn’t very often. The girl sauntered over to their table. “Could you please bring us a round of tequila and a bottle of your house red.”
“Sure.” The girl sighed. “Anything else?”
“I’ll have a rum and coke,” Milo said. “Tell Jerry to open a tab for me.”
The girl shrugged and walked away. He wasn’t sure they’d get their drinks.
“I know this is unorthodox,” Eli addressed the group. “Because you don’t know me and I don’t know you, but if everyone could share a little about yourselves, it would be helpful.”
“I’m Nina.”
“I know who you are.” Eli patted her hand. “Why are you in Dr. Middleton’s program?”
Milo rolled his eyes. As if it wasn’t obvious what Nina’s problem was.
“I’m a nymphomaniac,” Nina said. “And I also have a fear of touching people.”
“How does that work?” Eli asked.
“Can we not do this again?” Milo rubbed his eyes. “Let’s just say there’s a lot of crying and moaning and leave it at that.”
“Okay.” Eli looked at Ozzie. “And you said your name is Ozzie. Tourette’s?”
“Fuck no.” Ozzie said. “Ass-gobbler. Sorry.”
“Explain the outbursts for me?”
“It’s a compulsion,” Buggy said. “He could stop it if he wanted to.”
“Cunt-juice! I can’t.”
“Rochelle said you could.”
“And you are?” Eli asked Buggy.
“Buggy Flint. I’m scared of green, so I have to wear these glasses, and I love broccoli so much, I can’t trust myself alone with it.”
Eli nodded. “Interesting. And Milo?”
“What?” He wasn’t doing this.
“Why were you sent to Dr. Middleton?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“He’s a neat freak. Hates germs, cats and gingers,” Nina said. “But he likes Ozzie, so Rochelle says that’s progress. He and Estella fucked once.”
“I am not a neat freak and leave Estella out of this.”
“No one here is a freak,” Eli said.
“He’s also a control fre—” Buggy looked at Milo and then shrugged. “I mean; he likes to be the boss. He’s bossy. Always telling everyone what’s what.”
“I see.”
“Do you?” He stifled the urge to walk out as the teenager came back with their drinks. He frowned as she set a rum and coke in front of him, her fingers covering the rim of the cup. Jerry obviously didn’t tell her how he liked his drinks.
“And what about this Charlie fellow?” Eli passed the shots around the table. “What is his condition?”
“Compulsive liar who fucks any hole he sees,” Milo said. “And I do mean any hole, human o
r otherwise.”
“Wow,” Eli said. “That was unexpected.”
“It always is.” Nina said, licking salt off her wrist. She tossed back the shot of tequila and then picked up the lime.
He sighed as she made a show of biting into the lime, sucking the juice out of it, and then licking her lips. “Are you done, Nina?”
“I wish.”
“Why are we here?” Buggy asked. “Who are you?”
“My name is Eli, and the rest would be a very long story that I’m sure would inspire many questions we don’t have time to answer. Let’s just say I am here to help Rochelle. She’s not a healthy woman, and while she truly wants to help all of you, I fear she’s going to end up killing you instead.”
“Already killed, fuck-sucker, some of us,” Ozzie said. He knocked his head three times. “I know, but I can’t remember. I know.”
“Hypnosis can be a powerful tool, as well as a weapon,” Eli said. “I’m afraid Rochelle has been using it as the latter. It seems you were simply more than she could handle.”
“We broke her,” Buggy said. “I said it would happen.”
“Oh no....” Eli smiled at Buggy. “Rochelle was broken a long time ago. I’ve come to fix her.”
“Yeah,” Milo said. “And he needs our help.”
“How?” Buggy swirled the wine in his glass. “We’re pretty useless.”
“If Rochelle knew I was coming,” Eli said. “Nina, love, while I would most enthusiastically encourage viewing your vagina, I’d prefer to do so in privacy. Would you please close your legs?”
“Sorry,” Nina shifted in her chair.
“It’s all right. As I was saying, if Rochelle knew I was coming, she’d flee. To do what I need to do, she must feel in control of the situation, and she must feel safe.”
“What are you going to do?” Nina asked.
“That’s for me to worry about, love.”
He still didn’t like how evasive the good doctor was being about his plans for Rochelle. However, if any more bodies turned up, he’d have a hard time explaining his involvement away, and she could fuck him over. This hypnosis shit worried him more than Eli’s potential murder plan.
“So, what are we supposed to do?” Nina asked.
Eli smoothed the napkin on the table. He took a sip of wine, savored it, and then smiled. “You will go to your group meeting tonight as usual. While there, you will behave normally.”
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