Page 43 of Break Me: Smith and Belle

Hearing my name on her lips was like having a bucket of ice water thrown on my head.

“I spoke with Seth’s brother,” I forced myself to continue.

She whirled around. “Seth? He stopped coming to visit me.”

“I know. Seth died.”

“Maybe he’s at Thornham now,” she said, looking to the cross. “You might watch for him.”

I swallowed. “I will. Mrs. Thorne, when you came here you were pregnant. What happened to the baby?”

“Seth took her.” There was a soft sigh to her voice. “He took her to Thornham.”

“No one’s been to Thornham in a long time,” I told her.

Miranda looked up, piercing me with her ghost eyes and smiled, revealing rows of rotting teeth. “That’s not true, now is it?”

I peeled off the name tag as soon as I passed through the double doors, wanting to leave everything about this place behind. It crawled under my skin like a burrowing insect and I fought the urge to rip off my sweater and scrape it off me. I stopped at the desk, annoyed to find it vacant, and dropped my name badge.

“Terrible idea, Mr. Price,” Fellows said, returning from around the corner. Twenty years ago, a visitor took off his name tag when no one was watching and he wound up stuck here for a week until someone came looking for him. The orderlies thought he was a patient.”

“Then I’m glad you saw me,” I said tightly.

“I was hoping I’d catch you,” she said, holding up a file. “I was wrong about Miranda’s visitors before. She has had one other visitor. Curiosity got the better of me. I had to look.”

“Who was it?”

“I’m afraid I can’t say. But you can fill out an information request and we’ll contact the individual if it’s okay with her, we can release her contact information.”

Fucking bureaucracy. There was always more tape to work through. “Why would I do that?”

“I assume you were here looking for the Thornes. The other ones, I mean.”

“We found them. They’re dead.” I didn’t bother to sugar coat this.

But, working in an asylum, Fellows was no stranger to death. “I always suspected as much, sadly. At least, her daughter is alive.”

My eyes flashed to her. “The baby? The one she had here? The one the father came for?”

“I’m sorry.” She clapped a hand over her mouth. “I shouldn’t have said anything. You really must fill out the form, but I’m sure the individual will be happy to speak with the new owners of Thornham.”

“I doubt it,” I bit out. I started to turn toward the exit before reconsidering. “Dr. Fellows?”

“Yes, Mr. Price?”

“Take my advice and lock that woman’s door.” I didn’t wait for her to respond. I needed to get out of her. Away from this prison. Away from the woman who’d once walked the halls of my home.

Outside the air felt fresher, but the storm continued to press down. I walked slowly to the car, despite the fat, cold raindrops hitting my skin. I wanted them to let them wash this place away. I waited until I’d driven a half mile down the road before I pulled to the side and called Georgia.

“What did you find out?” she answered.

“Miranda Thorne is insane,” I said.

“I could have told you that. Is that all?”

“No.” I closed my eyes, hoping that I’d found my answer and dreading that I had. “The baby? Seth took it.”

“Rowan didn’t mention that,” Georgia said slowly.