Broken Glass (The Mirror Sisters 2)

“Dr. Bloom suggested a private-duty nurse for a while, one with a psychiatric background. Just to help us out,” he said, “especially when I’m not here, and to help you with your mother when you return to school.”

“I thought you were moving back, Daddy.”

“I’m here. I’ll be here until . . . until she comes home, for sure, Haylee, but I’ll have to go out to do some work now and then. I still have a business to run, with many people depending on me.”

“It’s all right. We don’t need a nurse. I’ll be here to do what has to be done. I’m not going to school until my sister comes home,” I said. “I couldn’t possibly concentrate on anything else.”

“We’ll see,” he said. “I don’t want you to miss too much, and it might be a while.”

“The school will get my work to me. You’ll let them know, okay?”

“We’ll see,” he said.

The phone rang again.

“I don’t want to talk to anyone, Daddy,” I said quickly.

He picked up the receiver.

“Who’s Simon Adams?” he whispered, with his hand over the mouthpiece.

“Her latest,” I said with a smirk. “She was out with him when we went to that movie theater and Kaylee disappeared.”

“No,” he told Simon, “there’s nothing new yet. I’ll tell her you called, yes. Thank you,” he added, and hung up.

“He’s pathetic,” I muttered. “And he was more terrified than Mother and me.”

Daddy almost smiled. He widened his eyes at my remark and then offered me some toast. I shook my head.

“Haylee . . .”

“Every time I eat something, it gets caught in my throat,” I whined.

“Haylee, if you get sick on top of everything else . . .”

“Okay, okay. I’ll force it down,” I said.

“I could make us some eggs, too. I scrambled some for your mother.”

“Mother’s not eating. I told you. She fell asleep again with the food getting cold.”

“She’ll doze on and off, probably. She said she would eat and then she would get up and come down.” He hesitated like someone who didn’t want to say any more.

“Oh. So she’s feeling strong enough? Why would you think we needed a psychiatric nurse, then?” He was still hesitating. “Daddy?”

“She asked me if you were both at breakfast already.”

“Huh? You mean she forgot what’s happened?”

“I don’t know if I’d call it forgetting,” he said. “That’s why I was thinking you and I might need some help with her, but we all might need someone with experience in these sorts of things. The effects are deep and lasting.” He shook his head at how pessimistic he was sounding and then started on some scrambled eggs.

Of course, Daddy was right, but I really didn’t want some stranger poking her nose into our affairs, whether she was a trained psychiatric nurse or not. Maybe I was afraid she would look at me and tell my father that I wasn’t acting right. It was enough that I had the detectives questioning me with skeptical eyes. By now, they surely had gone to most of the kids I had listed. I wondered if any of them would say anything to put doubt about me in their minds. I didn’t trust some of Kaylee’s friends, but I couldn’t exactly leave them off the list. That would have brought more attention to me.

The eggs looked and smelled delicious, but I poked at them as if even the smallest nibble would upset my stomach. If you’re suffering because your sister’s been abducted, you don’t have a hearty appetite.

I looked up when I felt Daddy’s eyes on me.

“Have you thought harder about things, Haylee? Is there anything else, any detail that might help the police? Surely Kaylee said something that might be a lead,” he said, and sat across from me. “You two were so close.”