Page 8 of A Burning Rage

Andrew Morton nearly killed my wife. If her office mate, Mary Reynolds, hadn’t come upon them when she did and interrupted his assault on Beth, he might have succeeded.

At the time of the attack, Andrew, then a first-year medical school student, was deemed mentally incompetent by a judge and remanded to a psychiatric hospital for treatment. He must be around twenty-nine years old now. The same age as Beth.

Troy opens the folder and pulls out a printed e-mail. “The psychiatrist who’s treating Andrew says he’s responding well to therapy and medication, and she is recommending that he be released into his parents’ custody.”

I can barely hear Troy over the ringing in my ears.

He watches me and frowns. “Shane? Did you hear me?”

I shake my head. “That’s impossible, Troy. He can’t be released. He nearly killed Beth.”

“The psychiatrist—”

“No!” I shoot to my feet, looming over my desk and my friend. I lean forward, my gaze zeroing in on Troy. “Hell no, he can’t be released! He nearly killed her!” I’m shouting loud enough to be heard two floors down, but I don’t give a fuck.

“I’m sorry,” he says gently. “Shane, believe me, I understand and I hate being the bearer of bad news. But we need to face this. There’s going to be a hearing next week—”

“No! No fucking hearing! This isn’t up for discussion, Troy. You’ve got to do something to stop this.”

“There’s nothing I can do to stop the hearing, Shane. But I will be in attendance.”

Images of Beth lying bruised and bloodied in a hospital bed come rushing back. Her arm broken because he stomped on it with his boot. Her ribs cracked. Her lip split open, swollen and bloody.

I run a rough hand through my hair as I try to think through this. “Beth will be devastated.”

“It goes without saying, Shane, I’ll do everything in my power to prevent him from being released.”

“He’s still a threat to her, Troy. I know he is. He was like a rabid dog that day when he came after her—all in retaliation against me. It’s my fault he attacked her.”

“It wasn’t—”

“Yes, it was! He was pissed because his father took away Andrew’s car and credit cards as punishment for the way he acted toward Beth at the children’s hospital event.” I rest my palms on my desk and lean forward. “How in the hell am I going to tell her? She won’t be safe with Andrew on the loose. And our kids! They won’t be safe either. She’ll have to stop working. She and the kids will have to be confined to the house for their own safety. That’s no way to live.”

Troy raises his hand. “Slow down, Shane. This isn’t a done deal. We have a hearing to get through first. We’ll argue our case to the parole board. Maybe you don’t need to say anything to Beth about this until we know for sure he’s getting out. The parole board might deny the request.”

“When’s the hearing?”

“Thursday at ten.”

“How in the hell am I going to keep this from Beth?”

“There’s no point in upsetting her until we know if he’s being released or not. Unless you think she’d want to be at the hearing.”

“I have to tell her.” I resume pacing. “I think she’ll want to be there, and she has every right to.”

“I’m sorry, Shane. This is the last thing I wanted to tell you.”

Chapter 4 – Beth

My mom arrives at nine to watch the kids while I go to work. I call it work, but Clancy’s Bookshop is my happy place. It’s not really work—it’s more like play. Plus, I get to spend the day with Sam and Erin, two of my very best friends.

When Mom walks through the front door, Luke jumps down from his chair at the kitchen table and runs to greet her.

“Mimi!” he cries as he practically leaps into her waiting arms. “Do you want some pancakes? Cooper made pancakes!”

I can hear my mom chuckling. “Of course, Cooper made pancakes. He spoils your mama rotten.”

“They’re so good! Mine have blueberries in them, and whipped cream on top!”