Even now she wasn’t sure how many hours she’d spent in that chair, but it was enough to stop her body responding to anything they put on the screen. She remembered waking up in her bed exhausted, hurting and broken. When they told her she’d been cured and that it was time for her to go, she had packed her bags and left.
She’d arrived home and locked herself in her room for weeks. She hadn’t wanted to see or speak to anyone. She’d hated herself more than ever. Not only had she still been gay but she had failed miserably at trying to correct herself. Eventually her mother had begged her to see Megan Shaw just one time and she’d agreed. And thank God she had.
Stephanie shuddered at the memories. She was thankful to have put some time and space between herself and her experience at the clinic. A part of her would always grieve for Sarah, but Megan had encouraged her not to dwell on the past and to focus on moving forward into a new life with a new attitude.
And that’s exactly what she intended to do.
SEVENTY-TWO
It was almost four thirty by the time Bryant pulled into the street in Much Wenlock.
No contact had been made with Stephanie, and the local police were dealing with a three-car accident in Shrewsbury, leaving them no one spare to pay a house call on a woman that may or may not be missing.
Kim was opening the car door before the vehicle had stopped moving.
‘Jeez, I thought my days of checking the kiddie locks were behind me,’ Bryant said, bringing the car to a halt.
Kim jumped out and sprinted to the front door. She banged hard and waited.
Bryant went past her and tried the side gate. She heard the tell-tale rattling of the wood and latch.
‘Locked,’ he said, coming to stand beside her.
She knocked on the door again as the unease continued to weigh down on her.
Still no answer.
Bryant leaned down and opened the letter box. He listened and waited before straightening.
‘It’s silent. Either no one home or they can’t get to the door,’ he said.
‘Damn it, Bryant. Where is she?’
‘You wanna do the usual?’
Kim knew he was asking if she wanted to break the door down.
She knocked again even though her instinct told her they were wasting time.
‘Hey, hey, hey, what’s the noise all about?’ asked a voice from the other side of the hedge. A man in his late sixties was regarding them with disapproval.
‘We’re police,’ Bryant said, flashing his ID.
He appeared unimpressed. ‘Doesn’t matter who you are, does it? If there’s no one home, you can bang all you like and disturb the rest of the street, but—’
‘How do you know no one is home?’ Kim asked, moving towards the hedge.
‘Barry goes for a drink straight from work on a Friday, and Carole works the late afternoon shift at the museum on the high street opposite the square.’
Kim hadn’t even known the place had a museum. ‘What about Stephanie?’
‘What do you want with Steph?’ he asked, narrowing his gaze.
‘I’d like to know where she is,’ Kim snapped, feeling the minutes slip away.
‘Has she done something wrong? Is she in danger?’ he asked.
Kim turned away and knocked the door again. This man wanted nothing more than to satisfy his own curiosity.