“Liam didn’t want to be helped. He had no interest in changing for the better. When I tried to talk with him he simply lied to me about what he was feeling. If there’s one thing my sessions with him did was to make him realize what he should and shouldn’t say out loud. And the truth is…”
“Yes?”
“I was scared of him.”
“Scared?”
“Detective, I used to keep a photo on my desk of my daughter, who was about Liam’s age. During one session, he kept staring at the photo and smiling in this very disturbing way. Then he started asking questions about her.”
“What sort of questions?”
“Innocent questions. Like what foods did she like and what were her hobbies. It wasn’t anything terrible, but the way he asked was very upsetting to me. And I think he meant for me to feel uncomfortable. I put the photo away after that.”
“Did he cause her any harm?”
“No. But soon after that, I told Mrs. Cass that I didn’t think I was helping her son, and we terminated oursessions. I didn’t want to work with him anymore.”
“Because you were scared.”
“Yes.”
“Of a nine-year-old boy.”
“If you knew what was going on inside that kid’s head, you would be scared too.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
ERIKA
Right after Jason and I finish loading the dishwasher, an alarm goes off on my iPhone. I pull it out of my pocket and look at the alert:
PTA meeting at 7:30. Traffic is light. You should arrive in ten minutes.
Damn. That stupid PTA meeting is tonight. And I told Jessica I would go because I’m the one in charge of movie night, the most important event of the year.
“What’s wrong?” Jason asks me.
“I was supposed to go to this PTA meeting tonight.”
“The PTA?” He frowns. “Is this really a good time to get more involved in the PTA?”
“Jason…”
“Can’t you skip it? Didn’t you say you hate those things?”
“Yes, I did say that. And Ido. But Jessica is counting on me to do movie night. And I feel like… maybe I shouldn’t be antagonizing anyone now…”
Jason gives me a look. “You really think you need to worry about what Jessica Martinson thinks of you?”
No. I shouldn’t. But I still do. I’ve always longed for that woman’s approval. “I won’t stay for long. Okay?”
He shrugs. “Whatever you want, Erika. I’m going to go look up lawyers for Liam while you’re organizing movie night or whatever it is you feel is more important than our son…”
He’s right. I shouldn’t be organizing movie nights right now. If I’m in a position where I’m looking up attorneys for my sixteen-year-old son, my life is too complicated to be doing movie night. Maybe I’ll talk to Jessica when I get there. I’ll explain to her that I can’t do movie night and I’m sorry.
But then again, I don’t want her to think I’m backing out because Liam is guilty of something.
I drive over to the school, and sure enough, traffic is light and it takes only ten minutes. I see the cars of all the other moms parked outside the school. Jessica’s minivan is right by the entrance in the primo parking spot that she always seems to nab.
