Ellen amusingly grinned before saying, “I need to get to class too.”
“I’ll walk you to class, Ellen,” Everett said while shutting his locker.
“Okay,” Ellen said as her grin changed to a delightful one. As Danny was walking away, Ellen had a thought. “Oh, uh, Danny.” Danny stopped and faced Ellen. “What’s the uncle’s name?”
“Cole Middleton,” Danny said.
“Thanks,” Ellen said.
Danny nodded before walking away.
As usual, Jessica had beaten Ellen to class, and when Jessica sensed Ellen’s presence as Ellen was walking into the classroom, she turned to face Ellen. When Jessica waved to Ellen, Ellen waved back with an unreadable expression on her face, and as Ellen walked towards Jessica, Jessica’s cheerful expression changed to a confused one.
As Ellen stepped up to Jessica, Jessica questioned, “Is something wrong?”
Ellen shook her head before saying, “Harris’s second cousin Blaire and two of her… associates are visiting us from London.” Ellen glanced towards the student next to Jessica. Jessica also glanced towards the student. “They knew what Eleanor Thorne was referring to, and I’ll fill you in on it later.” Jessica nodded in agreement. “Blaire and her associates also have a proposal for you, Karla and me.”
“What kind of proposal?” Jessica asked curiously.
“I was told about it, but I was also asked that I would allow them to pitch their proposal to you and Karla.” Jessica gave Ellen a curious look. “It’s nothing bad. In fact, I think that their proposal might be something worthwhile.”
“And you won’t tell me anything about it?” Jessica asked.
“I was requested not to, and I feel that I should honor that request.”
“Alright,” Jessica agreed. “Once we get to our gym class, we’ll let Karla know that she and I will need to go over to your house tonight.”
“I have my doctor’s appointment after school, so you may want to wait an hour or so after school before coming over to my house.”
“Alright,” Jessica agreed.
Ellen gestured towards her seat while saying, “Okay, well, I should take my seat.”
When Jessica nodded, Ellen turned towards her seat and stepped away.
Hours later, Lance and Everett sat in the waiting room as Ellen followed Dr. Pendell into his office.
Dr. Pendell’s office was a twenty by twenty foot center office. The door to the office was on the north wall and centered.
The south wall had two five by five foot pane glass windows, separated by a three-inch wide muntin bar. The muntin bar was also centered.
The medium tan curtains, which drew back on both sides, were open. Dr. Pendell would open them each morning and then close them before leaving for the day or on request by one of his patients.
The walls and ceiling were a light tan color and it blended in with the tan and green patterned carpet.
Hanging centered on the west wall was a fifty-two-inch wide by thirty-eight-inch long painting. The theme of the painting was about Native American villagers of the Great Plains going about their daily work routine.
Barely pulled out from the west wall was an average size green couch that faced the east wall. There was no coffee table, but there were two end tables—one on each end of the couch. A box of tissues was setting on each of the end tables. An armchair sat five feet from the couch while facing the couch.
Hanging on the east wall were several doctor diplomas. Barely pulled out from the east wall was a sixty-six-inch by twenty-four-inch by twenty-nine-inch credenza, and on top of that were nick-knacks and family pictures. Three feet from the credenza was a seventy-two-inch by thirty-six-inch by twenty-nine-inch desk.
Arranged neatly on the desk were a desk pad, a few photos and in-and-out trays filled with neatly stacked papers. On top of the desk pad was a closed laptop computer attached to a docking station.
In the southeast corner of the room was a tall filing cabinet that faced the west wall. Along the north wall between the door and the northeast corner of the room was a ceiling-to-floor bookshelf, which was filled with medical books, small statues and knickknacks.
Next to the window, between the desk and the armchair, was a birdcage that caged two finches.
When Ellen stepped into the office the finches became more active and vocal than usual, which immediately caught Ellen’s attention.
“They normally don’t make that much noise,” Dr. Pendell began. Ellen gave him a polite grin. “So try to ignore them.” Ellen nodded. Dr. Pendell then gestured towards the couch. “Anyway, have a seat.”
When Ellen went to sit down on the couch, she bluntly said, “Just to get something straight, I’m only here because Mr. Delaney is insisting that I talk to you.”
“Don’t you mean Detective Delaney?” Dr. Pendell questioned as he went to sit down in his armchair.
Ellen grinned before saying, “He’s my boyfriend’s dad, so to me that trumps his police rank. But sure, I’ll call him Detective Delaney for your benefit.”
“Okay,” Dr. Pendell began in an unreadable tone. “Detective Delaney had informed me that in self-defense and to save Karla Harman, you and two others—Harris Bradley and Karla’s sister Jessica—had killed Karla and Jessica’s grandfather.”
“True,” Ellen said simply.
“Detective Delaney tells me that the details of how the act was committed were declared classified; however, I would like to hear about your feelings about what had happened.”
“Before, during or after?” Ellen questioned.
“All three if they’re different.”
“Okay,” Ellen began before taking a breath. “Before, my only thoughts were on surviving. As far as my feelings… being scared was the only feeling that I can think of having. During the act, my thoughts and feelings were the same, and after the act, I felt relieved that we had survived and bothered that I had helped to take a life.”
“Are you still bothered by it?” Dr. Pendell asked.
Ellen slightly nodded before saying, “I am. I keep trying to think of ways… or scenarios that we would have survived the incident without anyone dying. I can’t though. I strongly feel that if Jessica, Harris and I didn’t kill Karla and Jessica’s grandfather, that their grandfather would’ve killed us.”
“How are you sleeping at night?” Dr. Pendell asked.
Ellen gave Dr. Pendell a confused look before saying in an uncertain tone, “Okay.”
“Any nightmares over your ordeal, or are you having problems getting to sleep?”
Ellen took a breath before saying, “During the first two nights afterwards, I did have problems getting to sleep, but I’m getting to sleep easier now. And I did have a couple of disturbing dreams. One I’m certain was related to the ordeal.”
“What were your dreams about?”
“I really don’t remember enough of them to discuss them,” Ellen lied while trying to sound convincing.
With an unreadable expression across his face, Dr. Pendell made a notation within his notebook.
“Your brother Michael and sister-in-law Tanya were killed last month in an auto accident.” Ellen stared slightly resentfully at him as he continued with, “I would like to hear about your