Free The Dollmaker's Daughters (Bo Bradley Mysteries, Book Five) by Abigail Padgett Page B

thought.
    "I mean, you read about these things in the papers every day," Bev went on. "Things where some mentally ill person just goes berserk and kills everybody in a restaurant. We just can't take the chance. So would you take care of the arrangements?"
    "Foster parents can take a child to the receiving home at any time," Bo answered quietly. "But of course you know that from your training. If you feel that Janny represents a danger to you, then it would be appropriate for you to take her there. I have the phone number—"
    "We thought you'd be able to take care of it," Howard sa id, again to the r ug.
    "I'm not a foster care worker, and I have another appointment after I leave here," Bo said. "But perhaps I can help you work out an alternate solution. Did the hospital staff offer any suggestions when you went to get Janny?"
    "They gave me some pills for her," Bev answered. "I think they're tranquilizers. They said to give her one every four hours if she got upset again , and to make an appointment for her to see a psychologist."
    "That seems reasonable," Bo said softly as black amoebas of anger exploded in ugly colors behind her eyes. "Has Janny had one of the pills yet?"
    "Well, no," Bev answered. "It just seemed like buying into this silly behavior she's doing, giving her tranquilizers. We didn't want to encourage her. We've never had tranquilizers in this house. We feel that people should learn to control themselves instead of taking pills. That is, unless they actually have a disease of some kind. Don't you agree?"
    Bo smiled thoughtfu lly at her purse atop Janny's case file on the maple coffee table. Inside were three plastic cylinders containing her twice-daily mood stabilizer, a mild sedative for emergencies, and an antispasmodic to control the intestinal cramps she sometimes got as a side effect of the first one. It was tempting to explain to the Schroders what would happen to her, sooner or later, without those medications. It was also tempting to pick up the coffee table and throw it through the window, followed by the Christmas tree. A satisfying fantasy.
    "Oh, I think we all can be helped by medications at various times," she said in the voice with which she imagined Mother Teresa might have spoken to dying lepers. "And it certainly presents a solution for all of you tonight. Janny will sleep. And then tomorrow you can discuss her future with your foster care worker. In the meantime I just need to ask if you know of anything which may have upset or frightened Janny. Something in the last day or two."
    "I never should have allowed her to go to that Goth club," Beverly Schroder answered. "But it was a reward for getting good grades. Janny's been there four or five times. Scott goes, you see, and he reassured us it was safe. But I'm sure that's what's done this to her. Nonsense about vampires and 'the dark side.' I'm never going to let her go there again."
    Bo didn't press the obvious discrepancy between ejecting the girl from their home and resolving to curb her activities in the future. But the ambivalence was a good sign. Maybe Janny Malcolm wouldn't lose her home after all.
    "I think time will help us solve the puzzle of what's happened to Janny," she said in the nun voice. "It's clear that you've provided an excellent home for her."
    Both Schroders smiled weakly as a car door slammed outside, followed by the entrance of Janny Malcolm and a blond boy with long hair and a sparse goatee.
    Seeing Bo, Janny smiled and said, "New York?"

"Albany," Bo replied. "I'm from Boston. The East Coast ones are easy. How about Michigan?"
    "Lansing."
    "Wow. Does it help?"
    "A littl e," the girl answered. "But I can't get this thing about the doll out of my head. I'm afraid of the dark. It's like something's after me. Can Bran stay with me tonight, Bev? I feel safer with a friend around, and it's not like we're, you know, going to have sex or anything."
    Howard Schroder rose to the moment majestically, Bo thought.
    "How about