InSight

life.”
    “Was it?”
    “He thought so, and that’s all that matters. Sometimes the heart transcends the law.”
    * * * * *
    R elief overwhelmed Abby when she found out that Jonah Wall confessed his false complaint to the South Carolina Psychiatric Association. She received a letter stating they had exonerated her even before his confession, finding nothing to confirm his allegations. The actions she had taken on her own to eliminate any impropriety were proper and conscientious.
    Now if she could only clear up the rest of the mysteries in her life.

Chapter Twenty-Three
    Awe Struck Down

    A t their prearranged time, Luke opened his instant message program to contact Matt Devon. He asked the reporter to set up an interview with a chemist who no longer worked for Synthetec. Devon replied that he’d check into it but doubted he’d find anyone willing to talk. Luke also wanted the name of the doctor who had treated Stewart Gentry before and after the shooting. Matt had done enough digging into Gentry family history to know the name immediately: Dr. Herbert Scanlon, head psychiatrist and principal at Scanlon Psychiatric Clinic.
    In his off time, Luke researched Scanlon, a beneficiary of the Gentry family’s deep pockets. Besides his position at the hospital, he held board seats on the Gentry-Serrano Foundation and Synthetec Pharmaceutical Company, and he maintained a close personal relationship with Carlotta Gentry.
    Luke wondered if he was in over his head. He’d always been a hands-on cop, not a Woodward-Bernstein-type investigative reporter. That fell into Matt’s sphere of expertise. But Luke sensed something far more sinister unfolding, and Matt’s near-death experience with his gas stove explosion proved it. Carlotta Gentry cast a powerful shadow. Prying into her business could result in grave consequences.
    Pete’s reaction to Luke’s suspicions bordered on incredulous. “You think someone in Stewart Gentry’s family made him psycho? Why?”
    “I don’t know, but the lab analysis of his pills proved they weren’t for treating psychoses. Quite the opposite. What do you say to that?”
    “I don’t know. It’s hard to believe someone’s been plying him with drugs for eight years to keep him in a psychotic state.”
    “I think he stopped taking the pills and saw things more clearly. That’s when he screwed up enough courage to walk out of his prison and see Abby.”
    “Luke, eight years of the kind of mind-bending drugs you’re talking about would leave damage. You don’t just revert to normal. Ain’t happening. He’d have flashbacks, hallucinations, paranoia—a laundry list of physical symptoms. You’ve seen enough to know that.”
    “I know. He’s a ticking time bomb. That’s why Abby’s staying with me. I’m sure Stewart isn’t her attacker, and so is Abby. That means something else is on our intruder’s agenda.”
    Pete stroked his chin. “I don’t get it.”
    “Me either, but whatever the reason, it goes back a long time.”
    “There’s no doubt Gentry pulled the trigger on Abby and her daughter.”
    “No doubt. But who was in control when he did it?”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “Neither do I,” Luke said, “but I’m beginning to have some ideas.”
    * * * * *
    L uke drove Abby to work in the morning and picked her up at the end of each workday, ushering her to and from the off-street parking garage. In the evenings, they shared dinner chores. Luke did most of the cooking, which suited her fine. Abby settled comfortably into the small house in Duncan Park. Maybe too comfortably.
    Luke didn’t require ego stroking or a woman’s constant presence. She had her own way of doing things and sensed that he resisted any temptation to help. They tiptoed around each other until they found the right tempo.
    “I’m exhausted,” Abby said. “I spent the afternoon going over the files you put into the laptop.”
    “I bet you put all your classmates to shame when you were in school, working the way you do.”
    Abby flashed back to those first terrifying days of school and the student guides who helped her learn her way around. “I didn’t have a choice. What was my alternative?”
    “Taking an easier path. Most people in your situation would have quit. I’m in awe.”
    Heat flashed through her. “Don’t say that. Don’t,” Abby snapped. “I don’t want anyone to be in awe of me. I did what I had to do. It wasn’t special or inspirational or anything thousands