Psychotic Maniac

Chapter 41

The road to Estella's destination was long and tiring when her cab pulled over. It was out of town, something she was thankful that Edward wouldn't be able to guess before she was done.

She rang the bell and waited for a couple of seconds before the door opened and a head peeped out.

"You must be Miss. Sergeant," the woman called out and when Estella nodded her head in response, she opened the door fully to let her in.

"Mrs. Jones," she acknowledged back, entered the house, and stalked to the couch settled in the center of the living room. Several photo frames lined the front wall, pictures of Mrs. Jones's family mounted in them.

"I was told you have something to talk to me about," Estella said and sat on the couch. "Tess told me Edward took therapy from you."

"There's no shame in that." Mrs. Jones was by the kitchen counter, getting started on making coffee.

"No, I wasn't judging." she clarified. "It's just hard for me to picture someone like Edward getting therapy done."

"People like Edward do tend to avoid getting any therapy or psychiatric help. Ninety-nine percent of the time, it's court-ordered." Mrs. Jones explained methodically as she poured two cups of coffee.

Estella sucked in a breath. "So, it's true. He's indeed a psycho."

Mrs. Jones shook her head and put the coffee on the table and a plate of cookies. "He does have psycho tendencies but not exactly a psychopath."

"Aren't they both the same thing?" She asked the woman who was going through her drawers on the coffee table next to the wall.

"No. There's a wide difference." she corrected and pulled out a thick spiral notebook. "In fact, to tell you from the start, I believed Edward was exactly like his father. I thought it was genetic."

Her eyebrows went up. "Genetic?"

Mrs. Jones placed the binder on the table between them and took her seat right in front of her. "Edward's very complicated and my lack of information...I mean lack of proper information about his family placed my knowledge in the wrong direction. How much did Teresa tell you about him?"

"Just that Edward's your client and he's diagnosed with ADHD," she told her, recalling Tess's word about the brief information she passed onto her about her former boyfriend. "And she thought I was in trouble that's why you had her find me."

Mrs. Jones nodded her head, acknowledging her words. "You were hard to find. Edward was extremely meticulous about everything. Can't sneak up on him."

Estella couldn't agree more. If Edward was hiding her from his father that well then Mrs. Jones was an amateur. "So I've heard." she now grabbed her cup and took a small gulp. "But tell me first. Edward's your patient. Isn't that against your ethics to disclose information about your patients?"

"Yes we do have that," she said, pressing her lips into a snarky smile. "But not for the patient who threatens your daughter."

"Oh my god," Estella's heart hammered in her chest. "I'm so sorry. I just...I'm actually thankful that you tried to help me despite he threatened you about your daughter."

"She's safe," she said in assurance.

"Anyway. Why did you call me now? My relationship with Edward is over."

"Is it?" she pointed out, raising her brows. Mrs. Jones leaned on her couch, her body gracefully balanced. "You're in his life just as much as you were before."

Estella licked her dry lips, her head moving on its own in agreement. "Yes, you could say." she pushed a tendril aside from her face and held her cup tight. "But it's like blackmail"