Deadly Behavior

Chapter 12 Excerpt

From behind his desk he scribbled information down in Lia’s progress file, watching her from the corner of his eye. She sat still and straight, like a mannequin. She had retreated far within herself, but he didn’t care if she ran right to the border of insanity. He would chase her down within her mind and cleanse her of her fanatic religious beliefs.

He spoke as he moved from his desk to another high-back chair next to her, “I suppose you’re thinking about how blessed you are that this God of yours has caused my machine to break down.”

He grabbed the arms of her chair and jerked the bloody thing into a head-on position so he was just inches from her face. “I don’t care if you don’t speak one word because I want you to listen,” he snarled. “I will break you, Lisa Harrison. That’s who you are, isn’t it? The mayor’s daughter, a spoiled brat that long ago should have been taken in hand, but no.” He paused.

“Crawl into the tiniest cavern in your mind, but know that I can and will reach in and jerk you out.” He sat back. No response of any kind surfaced from his patient.

He got up and removed a newspaper clipping from the drawer in his desk. He shoved the article into her pathetic little hand. It sailed from her fingers to the floor. Avery picked it up and held it in front of Lia at eye level.

“Everyone thinks you’re dead, kid. Read the article. Only your father knows differently and he put you in here. No one feels sorry for you, no one cares.” He let the piece of paper sail to the ground.

Clearing his throat, he added, “And where’s your God? Why doesn’t He just whisk you away from here? I guess you can’t even count on a god nowadays.

“Do you know what you can count on? Me breaking you. And do you know why?” Grabbing the arms of her chair, he leaned over, right next to her ear, and whispered, “Because it’s what I do best.”