The Patient's Secret: a novel by Loreth Anne White

Author:Loreth Anne White [White, Loreth Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Montlake
Published: 2022-03-07T16:00:00+00:00

In a more cosmopolitan and grittier neighborhood to the northwest of Story Cove, Rue pours herself a vodka tonic. She carries it to the sofa on a tray with a plate of leftovers she heated in the microwave.

It’s almost midnight. She’s both tired and amped. The first hours on a homicide are critical. She’ll eat, grab a few hours’ sleep, and get back at it early.

Her husband, Seth, was already asleep in bed when she arrived home, and her son, Ebrahim, is busy on his computer in his room. Eb is in his first year at college and always seems to have loads of work.

She sips her vodka, reaches for the remote, and clicks on the TV. She finds the newscast she routinely records and hits PLAY. On the wall beside her is a photo of her mom and dad—her white adoptive parents—with Eb. It was shot last year, just before Rue took Eb with her on her second trip to Southern Africa to search for more of their biological relatives. She and Eb visited Maputo in Mozambique together, where they found a cousin of her biological father’s. But they learned nothing more about what had happened to Rue’s dad. After meeting with some more of her deceased bio mom’s relations in Cape Town, Rue learned that her mother had died as a result of a stabbing incident in a sprawling township named Khayelitsha. There was never any memorial in her honor, so Rue and Eb had a plaque crafted and placed it in a memorial garden near the sea. Afterward Rue took Eb to the Okavango Delta in Botswana for a safari as a very special treat for them both. It was a much-needed respite and proved to be a wonderful bonding time for her and Eb.

The trip gave Eb some sense of his own roots on her biological side. Searching for her bio parents had always been a vague ambition while she was growing up and feeling she never quite fit anywhere, but it was only after Ebrahim was born that that drive grew hot and fierce in Rue. As she held her new baby in her arms, it had hit hard—it was the first time in her life she was looking at family who looked like her. And it made her think that there were more people out there of her blood. Her curiosity grew intense.

Eb has since asked more about his dad’s heritage, so now they have dreams to visit Denmark, where Seth’s mom was born.

Rue’s thoughts turn to Joe Harper as she fast-forwards through a story on a flood. Joe, who looks nothing like his mother. Who doesn’t know who his father is. Her heart hurts for the boy. She feels him.

She hits PLAY when she sees an image of the police station.

“The female jogger was found on Grotto Beach this morning by Dr. Tom Bradley, a member of the psychology faculty at Kordel University. Dr. Bradley’s specialty is abnormal psychology—”

Eb enters the living room.

“Hey, I thought I heard you come in,” he says, going into the kitchen, opening the fridge.

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