The Witch's Key Read Online Free PDF

don’t need to explain. If you don’t want to meet him,
you don’t have to.”
    “Good, because I don’t.”
    “Fine.” I turned to the guys again. “Gentlemen?”
    The two said their farewells. Spinelli even stood up
on Lilith’s account. On the way out I told Lilith I was sorry if I
upset her. She said she was not, but I knew that something was on
her mind. I had come to know her better than that. I also knew that
when I found her in one of those moods that the best thing I could
do was to leave her alone. So, with that in mind, I escorted her
back to the apartment, said goodbye, and then headed for the
hospice care center to see the man who once left me on a doorstep
like a FedEx package.
    The drive over to see my father proved surreal. I did
not know what to make of it. I realized that no matter what, I
could not tell him who I really was. And then I came to wonder if
the old man would want to know even if I could tell him. The last
time I had seen him was nearly sixty years ago when he dropped me
off at an orphanage and told me he would be right back. I might
have been five then. I know I was not yet in school. He rang the
bell and then ran off like some prankster kid, only I was the
prank. A kindly young lady took me in through the back door where
they washed me up and fed me hot soup right away.
    All that first year, I spent my afternoons sitting by
a window, waiting for my dad to return. But the sun would set.
Morning brought new lessons with my new books and my new friends,
and then the next afternoon would find me blinking back tears,
waiting for dad again. It is a memory I will never forget. And
though I never thought I felt bitter for what my father had done to
me, I realized that I never forgave him for it, either. It is a
scar I have carried, but concealed for all my life.
    I found the care center on the corner of Lexington
and Fillmore, opposite the old age home. Creepy, I know, but I
guess it makes sense. Melissa, at the desk, introduced me to India,
the staff supervisor. She was not from India, nor did she look it,
but she said it was easier to pronounce than her real name. I
didn’t ask what that was, but I took her word for it. She seemed a
bit young to me, maybe too young to be someone’s supervisor, but
what she lacked in age she more than made up for in gritty
confidence. She had a no-nonsense attitude about her, not too
harsh, but direct, and I got the feeling that she got things done
the way she wanted it, when she wanted it.
    I showed India my badge and explained that I needed
to talk with Mister Marcella about a case the department was
working on.
    “Is he a suspect in a crime?” she asked. “Because I
can assure you, if he is, your time would be better spent—”
    I stopped her there. “No, no, nothing like that. I
wouldn’t dream of causing Mister Marcella any discomfort, none
whatsoever. I promise. I’d simply like to ask him a few
questions.”
    She raked her eyes along my body in judgmental
degrees. I knew that this woman held soul power over my appointment
with destiny. A thumbs-up meant that I might have but one chance to
finally meet the man who dramatically changed the course of my life
some six decades ago. A thumbs-down and even a court order might
not come fast enough to provide the answers I so desperately needed
to explain the void he left in my life. I stood rigid, waiting for
India’s eyes to return to my face, and when they did, I met them
with a smile that even Lilith could not have resisted. It is hard
to say if that’s what worked, or if she recognized the pain in my
heart that even my smile couldn’t mask. In any case, she turned on
her heels and uttered simply, “Follow me.”
    We took the elevator to the second floor and followed
the corridor to the end. On the left, I noticed two doors leading
to adjacent rooms. The numbers on the doors read eighteen and
twenty, respectively. Across from that, another door with the
number nine stood partially open. I could