Page 52 of Luke

Paisley

“Sir, I cannot let you go in unless you are checking in for a night, and it doesn’t look like you need that,” the lady at the desk told Luke.

Ryker started forward before Luke put his hand up, stopping him. Paisley was glad because she didn’t think that this was a place where trying to intimidate people was going to work. The woman behind the desk didn’t even appear annoyed. If anything, she looked bored.

“Would it be possible to have someone check if Mary is willing to come out and talk to me?” Paisley stepped around the men. “I’m her sister.” She gave her name and the lady agreed to ask if she was here and if she wanted to talk.

“Well done,” Mr. Smith told her.

She flushed. Luke stepped next to her and dropped his arm around her shoulders. “Thank you.”

“Sometimes we men need to remember that the women have the right of things when it comes to delicate situations especially.” Mr. Smith smiled at her.

They waited quietly in the hallway while the woman had someone else check for Mary. It felt like it was taking hours even though it could only have been a minute or two.

“Paisley?” Mary’s worried voice reached her.

“Mary?” Paisley left Luke’s embrace and went to her sister.

“What’s all this?” Her eyes bounced nervously to all the men standing behind her.

“This is Luke,” she explained. “Everyone else here are friends. We wanted to ask you a few questions about the person that visited you the other day, and we also want to see if there is any way we can help you.”

Mary’s dry laugh ended on a cough. “The last man that visited me was in a suit too. He wanted to give me drugs in exchange for information about you. I didn’t know how to reach you and tell you about it. I didn’t tell him anything, I swear.” She coughed again.

“I wasn’t accusing you of anything,” Paisley reminded her. “Do you need a doctor?” She didn’t like the sound of that cough.

“Can’t afford it. I’m sure this will pass. I need to work.” Mary waved her off.

Luke, who was standing quietly next to them, stepped in. “Mary, we can get you to the doctor. Nothing needs to be repaid for it.”

She shook her head. “Can’t do that without missing work and I need the job.” Facing Paisley now, she swore to her. “I’m working on getting clean. It’s been ten days since the last time. I’m trying to get my shit together.”

Paisley waved her hand toward Dr. Jones. “Mary, this is Dr. Jones who works at a rehab facility. It’s the best of the best and she’s offered to help, along with Mr. Smith, who is helping us too.”

“Why?” Mary asked, skepticism clear. “What do you want from me?”

“I just want my sister back. I want her to know her nephew and get to meet him.”

“All this just because a man in a suit wanted dirt on you? There’s nothing to even tell him. You don’t do bad things.”

Paisley sighed. “I promise it’s not just that. I didn’t know where you were until he came to see you. Yes, that’s an issue, but I promise all I want from you is to be better. There are no strings attached to any of us.”

“Why all the muscle then?”

She had to bite her cheek to keep from laughing at that comment. It was good that Mary hadn’t run yet. Typically, all conversations that included rehab were immediately shut down when Mary walked away.

“They’re friends. They just want to make sure that we are safe,” Paisley explained.

Ryker stepped next to her now. “We also want to make sure that the other man, a lawyer, doesn’t come up with a story about why we are here or show up again to bother you. You seem to be doing well, and we are just offering to help you out.”

Mary studied him, eyes squinted. Ryker didn’t waver under her gaze, instead waited for her to size him up.

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Mary asked. Her gaze scanned everyone in the entrance.’

“I can help with that,” Dr. Jones said. “I have flyers and all that about our facility, but I can also assure you that you don’t have to talk to anyone, including the people in this room, ever if you don’t want to. It’s not about them. It’s about what you want,” Dr. Jones explained. “We don’t want to push this on you, but the success rate is much higher for people that attend a rehab.”

“May I see those?” the woman who had been at the desk asked.