My eyes shot to his. Was that a confession? Was he confirming my wild theory that he had blood on his hands?
He smirked faintly at me. “Father Benedict is overprescribing. I’m here to check up on him. If you need the medication, just say.”
“No. I don’t need to take it.”
“We’ll see. No lashing out. No acts of violence toward others or yourself... Got it? Or I’ll have you back where you started faster than you could cross your chest to ward me off.”
He rose smoothly, elegant in his long black robes.
He headed toward the door and rapped on it, indicating that he was ready to leave.
“Thank you,” I called quietly, but I knew he’d heard me from the soft jerk of his powerful shoulders.
He paused and looked back at me.
“Don’t thank me,micetta. Don’t be confused. I’m not here to save you.”
Then he walked out the door and left me alone.
Another scintillating dayat Hallow Hall, and another chance to poke around the office. There was a safe in the back that I’d love to get into. I knew they had money and other valuables in there. I’d seen it once when Vargas had opened it. There had been a lot of money. Some of the people who checked their family members in here for treatment could afford to pay out of pocket and did so in cash. Others, like me, didn’t pay. We were the charity cases.
“Did you know Vargas is coming tomorrow? Along with the director of the board, apparently.” Alonso leaned against the reception desk watching me rifle through papers without a word.
“Really?” I paused.
Vargas. That motherfucker. Today, I was myself again. I remembered the night Mira had died like it was yesterday. Vargas had been the one leading the show in the operating room, watchingover Pavol cutting Mira’s baby out of her without a single regard for her life.
“Director of the board,” I considered for a moment. “Is that for Centrium Group? Their name is all over the invoices here. They bankroll this place.”
“Do they? Isn’t it like a charity or a church thing?” Alonso wondered, and then pulled his phone out and searched for something.
“What are you doing?”
“Seeing what company name’s on my paycheck.”
“You haven’t noticed that in two years?”
He sighed. “A paycheck is a paycheck; most of the time it doesn’t pay to look too deeply into who signs it as long as it’s in my account on payday.” He stopped typing and frowned at his phone. “You’re right, Centrium Group.”
“That doesn’t set off alarm bells? Why is a private business paying for this place? What do they get out of it?” I mused.
“Katarina! What are you wasting Alonso’s time with?” Sister Vera had appeared out of thin air behind me.
“Nothing,” I muttered, and wandered a little ways off as Sister Vera chastised Alonso for fraternizing with a patient.
As soon as she turned to me, Alonso pulled a face that made me smile, then made his escape.
“Katarina, you seem cheerful this morning. Are you on the verge of an episode?”
Ah, yes, an episode. That was Hallow Hall psychobabble for when I was lucid enough to start protesting my involuntary confinement and pointing fingers at all the fucked-up shit that went on here.
“No, Sister. Not at all. In fact, I’m so tired,” I said, and feigned a stretch. “My medication must be making me so exhausted.”
“Hmm.” She eyed me distrustfully. “We’ll see. Now, you better be on your best behavior today when the director comes. He’s not a man to be trifled with.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it, Sister.” I sighed.
She scowled at me, clearly searching for a reason to reprimand me but coming up short. “Well, make sure that you don’t, or there’ll be hell to pay.”