The Last Echo Read Online Free PDF

salt-and-pepper eyebrows drew together. “And when did this uneasiness begin?”
    Violet smiled. It felt like a dance they did. He, pretending he didn’t know about the body in the warehouse, that he wasn’t in contact with Sara at every turn. And she, pretending she didn’t know he knew.
    “Yesterday,” she answered. “I found a body yesterday.”
    “Murdered?”
    There was no need to nod—he already knew the answer—but she did anyway.
    “A girl. Stuffed in a freezer in an old warehouse. We found her last night. We were following up on an anonymous tip that she was in the area.”
    Dr. Lee pressed the fingertips of both hands together. “Yes. I saw the story about her in the paper. Did you see it?”
    Violet shook her head. Even if she read the paper, she would’ve avoided it today, not wanting to see anything about the girl. Sometimes rehashing things like that made it worse for her.
    He considered her response the way he seemed to consider everything—patiently, thoughtfully—his foot bobbing up and down in an even rhythm. Violet concentrated on the toe of his shoe. White sneakers. Practical, but not very professional. She wondered if Dr. Lee dressed out of comfort or in a conscious effort to put his patients at ease. Maybe he thought a suit and tie would make him seem stuffy and unapproachable.
    “Did anyone happen to mention how long until she’d be buried?” he asked, understanding that that would bring Violet peace—real peace—at last.
    “Sara said that as soon as they could confirm the girl’s identity and perform the autopsy, then she could be released to her family. That way they can make funeral arrangements.”
    “And then you’ll be . . . better?” He’d asked these questions before, and Violet suspected he’d be asking them each time this topic came up.
    “Pretty much.” She shrugged.
    He smiled. “But not all the way?”
    She chewed the inside of her cheek, drawing a deep breath. “It’ll just happen again, the next time a body . . .” She shifted, anxious about which word to use. She wondered if she’d ever get used to talking about it. “. . . you know, calls for me.”
    His head bobbed now, matching the tempo of his foot. “And that bothers you?”
    Violet wasn’t sure how to answer. It’s not like she’d never considered the question before: Did it bother her to find those who’d been killed? Would she rather not be drawn to unsettled bodies? That depended, she supposed. She liked helping, being useful, and the team had given her the ability to do some good with her strange talent. And she didn’t mind the dead, necessarily; they certainly deserved to be at peace.
    But would she rather be like everyone else? Maybe.
    Probably.
    She picked at a hangnail on her index finger, making it worse when she tried to rip it free and leaving an angry red strip of raw skin in its place. “I don’t know,” was all she could come up with for a response.
    Dr. Lee let it pass. “Okay. Well, how’s everything else going this week? Anything happening at home? Is there anything with your friends or your boyfriend that you want to talk about?”
    This time the smile was genuine and Violet’s cheeks flushed as her eyes lifted to meet Dr. Lee’s gaze. “Everything’s good. Really good. Especially with Jay. He gets me, you know?”
    “And you mentioned before that he knows about what you can do?” He’d picked up her file and was leafing through it now, looking at old notes he’d written. “You two have known each other since you were seven?”
    She nodded. “He’s the only one of my friends I’ve ever told.”
    Dr. Lee leaned forward, his pale eyes intense. “So you trust him with your secrets?”
    There was a note in his voice, something that made Violet hesitate as she tried to place it. “Completely. Jay would never betray me.”
    “What about other people’s secrets? Have you told him about the team? What the others can do?”
    Violet stiffened now,