The PTs wrote client reports that they submitted electronically to Melinda. Everything Lori had to say about Debra was in today’s report on their session. She knew that Melinda read each and every report at the end of the day. If she spotted any typos or grammatical errors in a report, she returned it to the writer for revision. Lori wanted to tell Melinda that she had an extremely important appointment to get to, and she should go read her report about today’s session with Debra if she was so damn interested in knowing what they’d done. But she knew that Melinda wouldn’t react well to being snapped at. Who would? Besides, she was the boss, and she did have that bright shiny doctorate of hers….
“I’d say Debra took a couple steps backward today. She’s still not doing the exercises I gave her to do at home, and her shoulder is really stiffening up. Her range of motion was more limited today than it was last week, and she was in considerably more pain.”
Melinda nodded. “I watched the two of you working for a bit, and that’s what it looked like to me.”
Melinda was one of those people who it was impossible to read from facial expression or vocal tone. She could be ecstatic or royally pissed, but outside she came across as an emotionless robot disguised by a covering of human flesh.
“Did Debra complain to you about me?” Lori asked. Such behavior would be completely in character for her.
Melinda looked surprised. “Not at all. I noticed you were very low energy all morning, and at times it seemed as if you were merely going through the motions. I was wondering if there’s something bothering you.”
Lori’s eyes caught a flash of movement, and her gaze was drawn to Melinda’s shoulder. She’d thought she’d seen…. But she couldn’t have. For an instant it had appeared that Melinda’s braid had flicked to the side, as if she’d jerked her head to make it move. But Melinda’s head had remained steady the entire time. Was she seeing things? If this had happened yesterday, she’d have said yes. But after everything that had happened since FoodSaver? She wasn’t so sure.
“I appreciate your concern, Melinda, I really do. But I’m fine. Everything’s fine.”
Good job, she thought. That sounded really convincing.
Melinda’s eyes narrowed, and Lori had the sense the woman was scrutinizing her, trying to peer into her brain to determine if she was lying. Melinda must’ve been satisfied with what she saw, for her eyes relaxed and she gave a thin-lipped smile.
“I’m glad to hear it. If you were unhappy, as your boss, I’d be required to do something about it.”
Now it was Lori’s turn to frown. “Such as?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Tear off one of your tits with my teeth, or press a hot steam iron against your cunt and hold it there until the flesh has melted into a solid, charred mass. Something along those lines. I’m glad neither of those things will be necessary, though.” She smiled. “Have a good lunch.”
Without another word, Melinda walked past her and entered the billing office to speak to Dennis, the practice’s business manager, her braid swaying as she walked.
Lori stared after Melinda. What the actual fuck?
She walked to the reception area, unable to believe what had just happened. She and Melinda might not exactly have been best friends, but the woman had never come close to speaking to her like that. What the hell had – and then it came to her. They had gotten to Melinda somehow. The Cabal. They’d done something to her, something that had made her say those vile, disgusting things.
All she wanted to do now was get the hell out of there and talk to Reeny. Her little sister was clear-headed and pragmatic. Being a wife and mother teaches you to cut through a lot of bullshit, Reeny had once told her. She hoped Reeny would be able to lend her some of that clarity. She sure as shit could use it right now.
She was so intent on leaving that she barely noticed Katie still working at the reception counter, typing away at her computer. She would’ve walked right past her and dashed out into the parking lot if the woman hadn’t suddenly spoken.
“Do you want to hear the rest of my story or not?”
She sounded irritated, almost angry, and it was so unlike the Katie Lori knew that, despite her near frantic desire to be out of this place, she stopped. Katie took this as a sign to continue speaking, picking up the thread of her story exactly where she’d left off several hours ago.
“Like I said, I thought the guy in the sunglasses was going to pass me, pull in front of me, and hit his brakes. But when his car was even with mine, he rolled down the passenger-side window and threw something out. It hit the hood of my car with a loud thump, and I was so startled I slammed on my own brakes and swerved to a stop along the side of the road. I was damn lucky nobody rear-ended me, though I got a lot of dirty looks, raised middle fingers, and angry honks. The sonofabitch in the black car just kept on going. Fucker didn’t even slow down.”
The longer Lori stood there, the more she became aware of a sour-sweet odor hanging heavy in the air. She didn’t know what was causing the stink, but it turned her stomach.
She knew she shouldn’t ask, knew she’d regret it if she did, but she couldn’t stop herself.
“What was it? The thing that he threw at you?”
“It bounced off my car and fell onto the road before I got a good look at it. But once my heart stopped racing, I hit my hazard lights and got out of the car to see what it was. I found it lying next to the curb about ten feet behind my car. It was a cat. A tabby. I figured it had already been dead when the guy in the sunglasses threw it out of his window. Its head was twisted all the way backward. That’s not the sort of injury that could happen on impact, right?”
“I don’t know.”
Lori tried to keep from imagining the details of Katie’s story, but she couldn’t help it. She saw the blurred orange form of the cat fly out the window of the Driver’s black car, heard the dull thump as it struck the hood of Katie’s car and bounced off, saw it lying next to the curb, head twisted, neck broken. She felt weak, lightheaded, dizzy. She needed to get out of here, get out into the fresh air. She lurched toward the door, but before she could grab the handle, Katie said, “And do you know what the worst part was?”
Don’t look back, don’t look back, don’t look back….
But of course she looked.
Katie had reached down and from somewhere behind the counter she brought up a ragged mass of blood-soaked fur. It was the cat from her story – part of it, anyway. Its lower half was missing and entrails hung down loose from the opening, the organs wet and glistening. Lori now understood what caused the foul order that was stinking up the reception area.
“He’d already eaten half of it, the greedy bastard.”
Katie raised the tabby’s remains to her mouth, sank her teeth into its chest, and began snarling and shaking her head, trying to tear a mouthful free. There was a horrible ripping sound as Katie pulled a hunk of bloody fur and meat from the cat’s corpse. She pulled her head back and chewed vigorously, making awful smacking sounds, her lips and chin smeared with the animal’s blood. After a moment, she tossed her head back and swallowed. Then she lowered her head and looked at Lori. She blinked several times as if she’d forgotten she was standing there.
“Where are my manners?” She held the cat out toward Lori. “Want some?”
Lori dashed forward and slammed her shoulder into the door. It swung violently outward, and she flung herself onto the sidewalk outside Get Moving! The door slowly closed behind her as she ran toward her car, but before it closed completely, she heard Katie shout.
“Be that way! It just means more for me!”
* * *
Lori’s pad thai was cold by the time she finished telling Reeny her story. At first Reeny had eaten her Singapore noodles while Lori had talked, but she’d soon gotten so caught up in her sister’s tale that she’d stopped eating and listened intently, leaning forward, eyes wide, lips slightly parted, as if she wanted to interrupt but forced herself to remain silent. By the time Lori finished speaking, her mouth and throat felt dry as desert sand. She reached for her glass of water. Her hand trembled so badly she feared she might drop the glass, so she lowered her hand to her lap. She’d have to live with her dry mouth for the time being.
Reeny didn’t say anything right away. She just looked at her with that same expression, eyes wide, lips parted.
Reeny was shorter than Lori and had carried a little extra weight since having Brian a few years ago. She wore her straight blond hair short – Easier to manage that way, she’d once said – and kept her makeup to a minimum for the same reason. Today she was dressed in a white blouse, gray jacket and skirt, and low-heeled black shoes. She was a real estate agent, and always liked to look professional when she was working. Lori thought they must look odd together, she in her blue smock and Reeny in her business attire.
A Taste of Thai was a small, homey restaurant located a few blocks from the Cannery District. It had the funky, rundown look of a lot of establishments in this area of town – faded carpet, worn chairs, water damage on some of the ceiling tiles – but the food was always excellent and the staff efficient and friendly. It had been Lori and Reeny’s go-to place since their early twenties. Lori had hoped that meeting here would make her feel comforted, safe. But she kept glancing around, surreptitiously observing the other customers and the waitstaff, examining their left hands and looking for red-painted pinky nails. So far she’d seen none, but every time someone new walked into the restaurant, she checked again. They were out there somewhere, the members of the Cabal, just waiting for the next opportunity to fuck with her. She could feel it.
