Page 56 of Fight or Flight
The dogs ran back up the stairs to the deck, which was their routine. Nothing new to them, but new to Katherine. She was awestruck at the vast land around her. She could walk her property lines now and find those trout streams the realtor had told her about. She would jump in piles of leaves, because she was surrounded by hundreds of sugar maples, oak trees, dogwood, and hickory trees, all of which she recognized from the research she’d done during her first autumn in North Carolina, stuck inside. Now she could go outside, walk the trails, and discover what she’d neglected for seven years.
* * *
“How are you feeling?” Tyler asked, as they walked back to the house.
“I think I believe in miracles. I feel like myself, my old self. I don’t understand why I’m”—she thrust her hands out—“able to be here. I haven’t felt the slightest symptom of a panic attack. Normally when I think about it, I go into full panic mode. I don’t understand what’s happened.”
“You experienced a series of traumas last night—it’s possible they jolted something inside of you, similar to how the initial trauma caused you to go inward.”
As they made their way up the stairs to the deck, they saw the dogs waiting for Katherine to open the door. She was a bit hesitant to go back inside.
“How do you feel?” Tyler asked her again, as he opened the French doors.
The dogs raced ahead of Katherine and headed straight to the kitchen. Katherine trailed behind them. “Sit.” She took two beef sticks out of the jar, giving each a treat as usual. She didn’t want to stray from their routine.
“I want to make that call now,” she said to Tyler. “I need the phone.”
“Of course.” He opened the drawer where she kept her flatware and pulled out the burner phone, giving it to her along with the number he’d written down. He placed her iPhone on the counter.
Katherine was embarrassed that she had pretended to be a teenager, and she didn’t want to have to change the tone of her voice in front of Tyler. “Do you mind giving me a moment?”
“Not at all. I’ll go take that shower,” he said. “If the offer still stands?”
“Of course. My home is yours.” Katherine might’ve rushed her words, but she meant what she said. Tyler had given her so much more, he could have her house if he wanted.
“Thanks. I’ll shower while you can make your call.” He smiled at her and went upstairs.
Inside the downstairs powder room, Katherine closed the door, sat on the toilet seat, and dialed Karrie’s cell phone number. Karrie answered on the second ring. “Hey, Karrie, what’s going on? My foster dad said you called last night, that it was important.” Katherine hoped she sounded like she had the last time they spoke on the phone.
“Darby, you need to help me. I’m serious—my dad is insane. He’s losing it about K.C. Winston. I don’t know what to do. I’m afraid.”
Katherine didn’t know, either. Still uncertain if this was real or just a prank, she was inclined to go with the latter. “Where is your dad now?”
“At work, I think,” Karrie said. “I have to go; the bell is ringing. Call me after three. I’ll be out of school then. I’ll be in my room doing homework. If he comes home, he won’t be suspicious.”
“Karrie, like, this is crazy. Suspicious of what? That you have a friend? Like, what do you want me to do? I can call the cops, like, now if you want me to,” said Katherine in her fake Darby voice, purposely overusing the wordlike. “Is he hurting you?”
“No! You can’t do that. Look, I have to go. Call me later this afternoon.” Karrie hung up.
This was beyond strange. Katherine went back to the kitchen and waited for Tyler. Karrie must have an emotional problem Katherine couldn’t fathom. She couldn’t make sense of anything she said. Her father was mean, she got that. But how was he connected to her books? Why did Karrie thinkDarbycould help her? Did she know more than she was telling Darby? Did Karrie know she was K.C. Winston? If so, what was the connection between Karrie’s father and the books?
“How did your call go?” Tyler asked. He smelled of her tangerine body wash and shampoo. His wet hair was slicked back. He hadn’t shaved, which Katherine thought was sexy. He wore the same clothes as before, but Katherine didn’t care. He was striking, a man who most likely turned heads when he walked into a room. She would bet on it.
“This girl, Karrie . . . I don’t know if she’s suffering from an emotional problem or if she’s a little drama queen.” Wasn’t Katherine in a similar situation herself? “I asked her if she wanted to me call the police, and she adamantly told me no, I couldn’t do that. Said her dad was at work. She asked me to call her after three this afternoon. I think she’s lying about being in school. She told me the class bell was ringing when I spoke with her, yet I never heard any bells, or any other voices in the background. I think it’s strange.”
Tyler ran his hand through his damp hair. “What is your gut telling you?”
Taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it, Katherine shook her head. “I can’t pinpoint an exact reason she’d be doing this. None of it makes sense. She’s a kid living in Dallas, and her mother passed away a couple of years ago, according to her. I did find an obituary online that seems to corroborate all that, if she’s the person she says she is. I just don’t understand thewhys andwhat fors.”
“Do you want me to see if Ilene can do a background check on her? Did she ever say what her father’s name was?”
“No, but it’s in the obituary.” Katherine saw her cell phone sitting on the counter. Picking it up, she did a search, and within minutes, she had pulled up the obit. “Here, have a look.” Katherine handed Tyler the phone.
“Okay, so this could be the girl. We need to find out why she’s afraid, but let’s leave it for now so we can focus on your progress. You’ve made such a drastic turnaround, Katherine. I don’t want you to do anything that would jeopardize this unheard-of recovery. Do you still want to go for a ride? See Blowing Rock?”
“Would this count as part of my therapy?”
“Absolutely. You aren’t the first patient to ride in my car. Though you are the first patient to overcome your agoraphobia in such a short amount of time.”
