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"Tomorrow, movers will pack your possessions and deliver them to your office We’ll cover the cost" His voice was still cold, flat He was doing his very best to be businesslike and otiable Da else?" I sounded a lot calmer than I felt Shock maybe Possibly fatalism There’s only so much the mind can take in a short period of tih disasters hit close enough together, you just get shell-shocked I had not only reached that point, I’d also sailed right past it All I could do noas just keep putting one foot in front of the other

He kept talking, a little too clipped and high-pitched to sound nor to continue seeing you privately, off-site Dr Talbert has also indicated her desire to ith you in the future I took the liberty of giving them both your e-mail so that you can work that out between you"

Did I want more therapy? I wasn’t really sure While a part of o hoates and wards anymore, I also feltsort of weird Now I understood what Vicki had meant when she said that the outside see uess that’s it, then"

"Yes, it is" Long seconds of silence ticked by Finally, I couldn’t stand it any up For a longthe receiver I was stunned As of this moment I was probably the only houest cottage and part of the beach froned the lease papers before Creede spirited me out of there No doubt Cassandra would even contest that Everything was going to be tied up in legal li I hadn’t worried too much about it until now, because I’d been scheduled to be at Birchwoods for weeks

Where the hell was I going to stay? Even if I bought Gran’s house, it would still be her house And if Moo to jail, she’d probably live with Gran I couldn’t live there, too, and I couldn’t afford to buy another place and pay twobut not that good

I set the phone back in its cradle and put my head in h More than enough

There was a tap on the door "You okay? You don’t look so good"

I looked up to see Bubba leaning against the door frae in his office I appreciated the gesture, but no alcohol Not right now Every day, every negative event was beco a new temptation to drink I didn’t need crutches, I needed solutions The hard part was, there weren’t any to be found

"You ever just want to say ‘screw it all’ and walk away?"

He grinned, giving limpse of a chipped tooth that hadn’t been there the last ti a bail bondsman "All the time, babe, all the time" He twisted the cap off one of the bottles and tossed it into the trash with a deft flick of his wrist He offered the second bottle to onna do? And you knoouldn’t be any better anyplace else"

I gave a gusty sigh "You’re probably right"

"You know it" He set the unopened bottle on edthe bottle in salute, he said, "Screw the bastards," before taking a long pull of beer

"Screw the bastards," I agreed

"So, what can I be doing to help you?" Bubba asked " ’Cause I know you’re needing help" He lookedto see if I had shit on my clothes

"I don’t look that bad"

"Nope Worse" He smiled to soften the words

Ouch Well, that was not particularly flattering but probably honest We sat in silence for aoccurred to est proble to me, so many that I didn’t have tiot charged, I reacted I was put in Birchwoods, I reacted We were kidnapped, I reacted Over and over again until I was exhausted and looking for escape

If that went on, the pressure would break me, and soon