“What was your father like?”
The question hung in the air. “I don’t know. He left when I was young. Mom said…he wasn’t a keeper.”
Dr. Roberts raised an eyebrow. “You don’t remember him?”
“Vaguely.” Cali started shredding the tissue and tried to listen to the music. It was a Christmas tune now. A time for family gatherings. Something she no longer had.
“Was he a dickhead, too?” the doctor asked with a touch of humor.
Cali raised her gaze. “The detective?”
“No. Your dad.” She paused. “It’s very common for girls who witnessed their mother being mistreated to fall for men who mistreat them. Did your father mistreat your mother?”
Cali looked at her hands. Was Lowell right? “He yelled a lot and would throw things. He left us.”
“Your mother told you this?” Dr. Roberts asked.
Cali inhaled a shaky breath. “I guess I remember more than I want to.”
The doctor’s voice softened. “Sounds as if this is a new issue you need to explore.”
“Don’t I have enough already?”
“If only we could schedule our problems.” The counselor gently smiled.
Cali tried to grasp it all. “So you’re saying I choose bad men. That if I’m attracted to a guy, it’s because he’s a jerk like my daddy was.”
“Well, it’s not as if you can’t be attracted to a good man. I’m saying the tendency would—”
“So I’m more apt to fall for dickheads.” She thought about the detective. Oh, yeah, the proof was in. She had a serious thing for dickheads.
The doc laughed, then got serious again. “I think you should be careful about who you allow in your life. If you know your weaknesses, then you’ll be wiser for it.”
Cali looked up at the window. “It’s late.”
Dr. Roberts looked at her watch. “Goodness. It’s almost six-thirty.”
“I’m sorry,” Cali said. “You should be at home. Not listening to some crazy talk.”
“It’s not crazy talk. And if you would like to see me again, all you have to do is call.” Her gaze softened and she patted Cali’s hand. “You should listen to the detective and not go home for a while. He sounds a little crusty but he probably knows what he’s talking about.”
Cali nodded. “I got a hotel room just down the street.” She stood up. “Thank you.” Cali looked at the trash can, overflowing with mascara-smeared tissues. “I’ll replace the tissues.”
“You are too sweet.”
Cali frowned. “I really am working on being a bitch.”
The doctor chuckled.
After saying her goodbyes, Cali walked out of the office into the dark night. The November cold seeped through her cardigan sweater. She remembered that she’d left her heavier sweater at the police station. Remembering the police station made her remember Lowell and the warm jacket that he’d placed on her shoulders. Her stomach did another cute-guy flip as she remembered how it had felt leaning against him. Remembering Lowell made her think of Stan. Could he really have taken part in killing an elderly man?
She recalled him snatching her by the hair in the lawyer’s parking lot. She remembered how repulsive she’d found his kiss. Had her stomach ever flipped for Stan? She didn’t think so. So I’m more apt to fall for dickheads. Did that mean Lowell was a bigger dickhead than Stan?
Streetlights and passing cars cast sprays of light across her dark path. She wasn’t the only pedestrian braving the cold night, but fear still shimmied down her spine. She thought she heard someone behind her. She jerked around, expecting to see Stan. But no Stan. Just shadows. Only her mind playing tricks on her.
Biting into her lip, she walked faster. Her warm breath easing from her lips floated up like cigarette smoke. That made her think of her mom. Thinking of her mom made her feel just a little safer. Or it did until she heard footsteps behind her.
Probably nothing, she told her. Probably just someone else like her trying to get out of the night. Probably.
Chapter Fifteen
After forty-five minutes of combing the area, visiting all the restaurants where Cali McKay might have walked to, Brit returned to her hotel room and finally cratered and called for backup. If Stan Humphrey had Cali, it might take more than him to find her.
Brit wore the hotel’s carpet down to another layer of thread as he paced. Pausing, he stared at the two officers who’d just arrived—Wolowitz and Edwards. “I called her friend again. She hasn’t heard from her,”
“Does she have other friends?” Edwards, the force’s newest female officer, asked.
Brit stared at the bed. “I don’t know.” Cali could have all sorts of men friends waiting to take Stan’s place. His shoulders blade tensed at the thought.
“What time did they say she checked in?” Wolowitz asked.