#KILLME2

Chapter 13

#KILLME2

By: theinkslingerr

Chapter 13

"I was expecting you last Wednesday. Is everything okay?" Dr. Tifft asked.

It was five days after Ross had admitted him and Finley couldn't hack Dr. Tifft's computer, and I was sitting in his office with a coke can and a plan.

Was it a good plan? I thought so. Besides, the two smartest guys in school couldn't come up with anything better, so it was my turn now. It was time to put the skills I'd learned in theater to the test.

"Everything's fine," I chirped. "It's just taking forever to catch up on all the schoolwork and homework I missed. Thanks for not calling my mom and tattling."

His smile was wry, but laced with humor. "No problem. I only snitch when absolutely necessary."

Great, I thought. Hopefully what happens next stays between us then.

"Were you able to ask her about the support group?"

"Support group?"

"The support group for kids with parents who suffer from mental illness."

With everything I'd discovered since our last session, I'd completely forgotten about it. Dr. Tifft looked disappointed, and it was amazing I still felt guilt when he could be a serial killer. Was it because he was good-looking? A lot of them were, right?

I wracked my brain for another excuse. "Oh! I planned to ask her today. I've gotta catch her at the right time, ya know? Don't want her getting defensive."

Dr. Tifft's lips thinned. He glanced down and typed something on his laptop. I bristled, curious about what he could be "diagnosing". He followed this up by asking about my weekend. I told him it was productive, but didn't go into how. He didn't need to know I spent it preparing for our session.

When I asked about his weekend, he dropped a bomb on me.

"It was going well until my house was broken into."

"What?" I almost dropped my coke. Good thing I hadn't opened it yet. "Did they find anything?"

"What would they be looking for?"

Crap!

"Stuff worth taking."

He stared at me for a couple of seconds. "They took a few things of value, but what I didn't understand was why they had to smash my computer."

My eyes widened. In Brookside, burglaries weren't unheard of, but the timing was kind of a coincidence. Why had his computer been smashed instead of stolen with the other items. There was no way Finley and Ross had gone rogue, right?

I shoved the silly idea to the side. Smashing stuff wasn't their MO.

"I hope you had your important stuff backed up," I said.

"I did...but I got an email from my cloud service provider alerting me my password had been changed."

I popped the tab on my coke, but it only eased the pressure in the can, not the pressure building inside me. I took a sip, hoping my nerves didn't cause me to choke.

"Don't worry. I changed my other passwords and the police are investigating." Dr. Tifft slid his laptop onto one leg and ran a hand over the other.