19 Chapter 14

Austin drove through the quiet street, wondering if the fancy houses that passed him by were lived in. they looked more like those picture-perfect dollhouses that Sarah was collecting when they were young.

Reaching his destination, Austin parked his car in front of a perfect version of a small mansion scanning his surroundings. The cop in him discarded all the shiny rich aura of the neighborhood and started to look into every nook and corner, searching for signs. Signs of the evil that lurked everywhere in the world.

The king of evil he'd been seeing on a daily basis since he started his career in law enforcement. When you worked close to the dark side of life, you tended to catch on every traces of shadows you see. Shadows that lurked even in picture-perfect white-picket fenced houses.

Looking now, he could say one thing for sure, someone was trying to hide something in this house. the closed shutters, the slightly unkempt grass, and the piling mail. And most importantly, the slight move behind the curtained first-floor window.

if someone was in there, then why won't they pick up the mail? why would they hide in a dark house?

Austin slid out of the car, keeping an eye on his surroundings and a hand on his gun. He walked up the steps to the front door and pressed the bell. A melody played through the house resounding inside, it was some classical music tone, he couldn't for the life of him remember it, if it was his mother she'd point it out with an obvious tone eyeing her son as if he had no musical knowledge. And she'd be right, he didn't have the slightest idea about music except what's playing on the radio that day.

Dead silence followed the tune and Austin pressed the bell again. this time he heard footsteps shuffling toward the door and the sound of locks opening. A lot of locks. The face of a pale Hannah Kinsley peered at him.

"Hello, Mrs. Kinsley. I'm Austin Kinsley from the police department" he said flashing her police badge toward her, "I'm here to ask a few questions, is your husband home?"

"No, he's not. is everything okay?" she asked seeming to be already aware that something was wrong. Austin looked at her for a while, not responding. Hannah Kinsley is a smart woman. well, she has a Ph.D. in psychology, she has to be smart to get that.

A few days ago, she canceled all of her appointment and assigned her patients to another psychiatrist claiming to have a personal emergency, only to file for divorce two days later. Her husband dropped out of the face of the earth the next day, and she filed a missing person's form 24 hours after that.

So asking her if her husband home was a pointless question. But he wasn't looking for him, he just wanted to see her reaction. And she was telling the truth, he wasn't hiding with her.

"We both know it's not okay Mrs. Kinsley. can we talk?" he said going for honesty with the woman, she already seemed to be suffering, no need to add on to her misery.

"Sure, please come in Detective Keissi," she said as she opened her door she led him through the dully lit entrance into a sitting room where she motioned for him to sit on the stylish sofa.

"Are you here to arrest my husband, Detective?" Hannah Kinsley asked as she settled down in front of him. He took a moment to eye the woman before responded, blond hair tied in the back of her nuke, dark circles under her eyes, and pale skin that was much more vibrant on her photos. the woman looked like a shadow of her former self. He saw her pulling on her sleeves and the way she avoided every ray of sun sneaking through the curtains,...

"No, I know that your husband hasn't been home in a while." He responded "I'm here to talk to you about your husband's behavior as of late. before he disappeared."

Hannah eyed him with intelligent eyes, proving to him that she was still the woman he'd read about, the insightful therapist. even though she didn't look the part at that moment.

"My husband is an addict detective," she said in a cold tone that resonated through the room and seemed to send chills through the air, " I took a few days from work to help him out when I realized what was going on. the signs were all there but I was so preoccupied that I didn't notice anything until it slapped me on the face."

"What was he addicted to?" Austin asked feeling like he could get somewhere with the woman "

Hannah laughed then, a strangled pathetic sound that came from deep in her bones, "That's the problem detective. I don't know." she said, the words seeming to cost her a lot. it seems like she took the fact that she couldn't figure out what was wrong with her husband personally. it was a hard hit to her pride as a psychiatrist.

"what do you mean, Mrs. Kinsley? did you run blood tests? look into his symptoms?"

"I did, nothing came out." she said with a sigh, "I did a full house check and tried monitoring his activity, nothing came out of the ordinary, he didn't consume anything out of normal. he was just, moodier, meaner and somewhat disconnected." she said her gaze wavering slightly as if she was sleepy or tired."

"Mrs. Kinsley. do you realize that you are heading in the same direction as your husband?" Austin ventured out cautiously "You seem to be hooked up to the same thing as him. I can see the symptoms on you."

Hannah's eyes widened, Austin wondered if she was surprised he'd noticed, or that what he said was news to her. she sighed then and said "I know that. by the time I realized that I was sleeping through the day with heavy headaches and withdrawal symptoms. until a few hours ago I was completely out of it and I don't even know what I took to make me like this.

I know that I need help, but without knowing what I took it's almost impossible to get anyone to help me out." she finished off rubbing her palms together and darting her gaze away from him.

Austin sighed wondering about the mystery of this strange drug that seemed to overtake the lives of two people. was it some new mixture that he didn't hear of?

dread filled him as he thought about what this could be, and then he remembered the main reason behind his visit.

"Mrs.Kinsley. Did you know about the conflict between your husband and Pr Wattani about their research?"

"Yeah, he was obsessed with that plant, after he saw it on a presentation Pr Wattani did. he was even more obsessed when he started... you know..." she muttered seeming to find it hard to say the words.

"Did he say anything alarming or violent? I mean like threatening Pr. Wattani or one of his assistants?"

"No!" she exclaimed in horror, "John would never... I mean he did say something about making sure to put the research into more deserving hands, but he never said anything about hurting anyone," she said then paused looking at him with the same intelligent glint in her eyes "What is this all about detective? do I need to get a lawyer?"

"You, ma'am, no. But your husband, probably yes." he told her "Pr. Wattan disappeared last night under suspicious circumstances and..."

"And the main suspect is my husband," Hannah said with a resigned glint in her eyes.

Austin nodded, then said" I would like to call someone who can help with your case," he told her in a gentle tone "someone who can give you official medical care, will you be okay with that."

Hannah looked pensive for a while before she said "this is far out of my league so yes, please detective. "

Austin nodded and took out his phone scrolling through his contact until he found the doctor, the phone was ringing when something crashed and a loud thud resonated through the room. Hannah Kinsley had wandered toward the window and now she was in a trembling heap on the floor.

he jumped to his feet and ran toward her, she was laying on her side convulsions shaking her body. ho pulled her away from the shattered glass of what seemed like perfume and something was familiar about it.

her sightless eyes looked back at him as she convulsed, the woman was having a seizure!

The phone that was still clutched in his hand was on, he put it to his ear and yelled. "Royce! call the medics!" he shouted and rattled off the address.

"And I need you in this house right freaking yesterday!"

He put his phone away and tried to put the woman in a safe position as she continued to shake.

The woman was having an overdoze.