“YOU’VE CHANGED,” RODNEY said softly.
He sat in Melinda’s half of the house. It had been an entire day since she’d seen Matthew. He hadn’t phoned since they’d made love. He’d taken a sick day from school, and now it was Friday night and she didn’t know what to think.
There was big band music coming from next door, barely muffled by the thin walls. The TV was on, but the volume was low. She and Rodney were sipping tea and eating blueberry muffins provided by Olive Sparks, down the road.
“Is that a compliment or a complaint?” she asked.
Rodney tipped his head to one side. “Well, I definitely like the hair. It’s short, kind of sporty and without that ponytail, your natural highlights show through.”
She nodded. “I know. I didn’t realize how much red I had.”
“I’m not so fond of the wardrobe changes, though. I liked your knee-length skirts and pastel cardigans and ballerina flats.”
“Jeans and leather boots are a lot more practical, though. Someone tries to mug you in these babies, you have a shot at fighting them off.”
He studied her face. “I’m worried you’re making too many changes based on that one incident, honey. You’re letting that mugger dictate your entire outlook on life.”
“Why? Because I decided not to be a victim anymore? I thought that was what you wanted.”
“I wanted you confident and happy. But you’ve become—hostile. Angry.”
“I have reason to be.” More than he knew, she thought miserably. “Rodney, do you know why Annabelle’s house is so uncharacteristically loud tonight?” Before he could answer, she rushed on. “Because Percy has gone missing. She’s so lonely and worried she can barely stand it. You know how much she thinks of that cat. She could have a heart attack over something like this.”
“I fail to see the connection between a missing cat and your altered personality.”
“Do you?” She got up, paced to the window and yanked the curtain wide, staring outside at the dirty slush along the edges of the sidewalk. “She’s had that cat for fifteen years and he never wandered away before. Do you really think he just up and left on his own? I don’t. I think those thugs are behind it.”
Rodney gaped at her. “Drug dealers who kidnap felines on the side?”
“And Olive—Olive who baked that muffin you’re eating. Her car tire was flat this morning. You don’t think that was just a coincidence, do you?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do.”
“Well, I don’t. I think those thugs are trying to deliver a message. To intimidate us. The streetlights in front of that house on the corner are all broken out. Tell me that wasn’t deliberate.”
“Okay, that might have been them. But as for the rest—”
“Someone has to stand up to them.”
He disagreed with her. “I think you want them to pick a fight with you. I think you’re looking for excuses to confront them.”
She let the curtain fall closed. “Maybe I am.”
He nodded. “You can’t relive that mugging, you know. It’s over and done with. You don’t get do-overs in life. You need to let it go and move on.”
“I’ll let it go and move on as soon as those animals move out of my neighborhood.” She shrugged and turned to face him again. “I don’t know why you’re complaining, anyway, Rodney, these changes are all your fault.”
He set his teacup down on the china saucer with a clinking sound. “My fault?”
“Yeah. Look, I’ve been meaning to…thank you.”
“For what? We barely did anything during your session. I told you you were stronger than you knew, I suggested you go back in time to find that strength and reclaim it.”
“And it worked. Something…happened to me while I was…under. I remembered something.”
He frowned harder at her. “Yeah, something about the mugging.”
“No. It was about me. Who I am. But I can’t tell you more than that.”
He blinked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just that the mild-mannered, mousy schoolteacher you knew wasn’t the real me. She was just who I was pretending to be. And for a while, I thought she was real, but she wasn’t. The woman you see emerging, that’s the real me. And I like her a lot better.”
“That’s just a bizarre thing to say, and I’m going to have to insist you elaborate.”
“Sorry. No can do.”
He lowered his head. “Look, I want you to do something for me.”
“What?”
“I want you to see my father.”
She paused with her teacup halfway to her lips and stared at him. “Your father? The most prominent psychiatrist in the state? Are you telling me you think I need his professional services?”
“I’m telling you that I never should have messed around with your psyche. I thought I knew what I was doing, but I didn’t, and now I’m afraid you’re going to get yourself killed because of it.”
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous.”
“I’m not. Even your new boyfriend is worried about you.”
“My new—you mean Matthew?” She averted her eyes, felt her cheeks getting red-hot. “What do you know about him?”
“You’ve talked about him so much I feel like I know him as well as you do. Although I can see from your expression that isn’t quite true. Did you two—”
“How do you know he’s worried about me?” she asked, cutting Rodney off.
He smiled. “You did, didn’t you?”
“Rodney.”
“Okay, okay.” He shook his head and contained his smirk. “He came to see me last night.”
Last night? After he slipped away from her? “Why?” she asked.
“I told you, he’s worried. He said you had told him about our…sessions and he seemed really interested in the details of our last one. The one where you…changed.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake. What did you tell him?”
“Nothing you don’t already know. But dammit, Melinda, his questions made me wonder if I really did go too far with you. You’re acting like…well, like some masked avenger, and I don’t like it.”
She smiled, relieved. Rodney was just feeling guilty, not seriously concerned. “Don’t be ridiculous. Look, I know you’re only worried because you care about me. And…well, I guess Matthew does, too.” She smiled softly as a warmth suffused her chest. “More than I thought he did, as a matter of fact. But I promise you, I’m not going to get myself killed. I’m fine. I’ve just found my confidence, my inner strength. There’s nothing wrong with that. You helped me, Rodney. You really helped me.”
“I wish I knew that for sure.”
She shrugged. “Did you notice that my car was in the driveway tonight?”
He nodded. “Yes, I did. How did you manage that? Last I heard, you were sure your sister’s life would be over if she couldn’t keep using it while you made the payments and kept it insured.”
“I phoned her a couple of days after our session, told her she had two weeks to get the car back to me. I figured that would be long enough for her to find alternate means of transportation.”
“And?”
“She actually qualified for a loan and bought herself a halfway decent used car. And you know what? She was proud of herself for doing it. She felt good. She thanked me for making her try.”
“Amazing.” Rodney nodded slowly, rubbing his chin as if he had a goatee, only he didn’t. “My father says people tend to live up to our expectations of them. Maybe he’s right.”
“I think he is.” Melinda shrugged. “And I think maybe the real me would have come to the surface sooner or later either way. Maybe you putting me under only hurried things along a little bit. Maybe not even all that much.”
He pursed his lips. “Just take it slow, okay? Don’t go crazy on me with this tough-bitch routine.”
“Okay,” she promised. But it was a lie. Hell, she shouldn’t feel so guilty about the deception, or even uncomfortable. She must have told lots of lies in her former profession. It was justified—she’d had to do whatever it took to get the goods on the bad guys.
Just as she had to do now.
Tonight.
She felt itchy and eager as Rodney finished his tea. She thought he was going to stay all night, but eventually, he said he had to go and headed out.
She cupped his cheek. “I love you, you know,” she told him. “You’re my best friend.”
He smiled. “Thanks. I’d marry you and get you the hell out of this neighborhood if you were a guy.”
“Gee, thanks.” She patted his cheek instead of cupping it. “Go home.”
“Night, Melinda.”
“Night, pal.”
Rodney headed out, and Melinda rushed to her bedroom, took out the black spandex outfit she’d bought and put it on. She’d been slender before, but two solid weeks of twice daily workouts at the gym, and Tae Kwon Do lessons to boot, had her looking much more taut and firm than she had before. She felt stronger, too.
She got out the tiny camera she’d bought at a pawn shop—digital and as small as her forefinger.
Tonight, she was going to sneak over to that drug den on the corner. She had already checked it out, cased it, as it were, and there were plenty of places where she could hide while taking pictures. Several overflowing trash cans near one side, some long-neglected shrubs and snowdrifts near the rear windows. She was going to get photos of the illegal goings-on and take them to the cops. She would get that place shut down once and for all.
She’d been planning this for days now. It was time. The cops were not moving fast enough, so she was going to do it herself.
It took her about a half hour to get ready. Then she headed out her front door and down the steps to the sidewalk below. That was when a low moan caught her attention. Frowning, she turned to see someone lying on the sidewalk a few yards away.
“Hey. Hey, are you all right?” She ran closer, looking around, half expecting it to be some kind of a trap set by those animals on the corner. But no, it was no trap. It was a man, and he was badly hurt. Leaning closer, she saw his face. It was broken and bloody. Eyes swollen shut. Nose broken. Lips split. She yanked out her phone to dial 911.
As she did, the man on the ground said, “They said this was a warning to you, Melinda. They said to tell you—”
He stopped there, but his voice…and his clothes…were familiar. Her fists clenched as realization dawned. It was Rodney! So battered she hadn’t even recognized him. All because of her.
She felt her stomach lurch and had to fight against waves of nausea. The operator came on the line and Melinda said, “A man has been badly beaten. I need an ambulance immediately.”
When she closed the phone and dropped it into her pocket, she tore her eyes from Rodney and stared down the street at the drug house. The lights were on. There was noise and movement coming from within.
There was going to be a lot more before this night was out. A lot more.