Page 53 of Guess Again

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Wednesday, July 30, 2025

ETHAN DROPPED MADDIE AT HER HOUSE AND ARRIVED AT THE Anonymous Client headquarters at close to 8:00 p.m.

He rode the elevator to the thirtieth floor and found Lindsay Larkin waiting for him when the elevator doors opened.

“Thank God,” she said.

“What’s wrong?”

“Follow me.

I need to show you something.”

Ethan followed Lindsay through the empty hallways.

The employees had left for the night.

He walked into Lindsay’s office, and she pulled a chair behind her desk so that it rested next to hers.

“I need you to watch this,”

Lindsay said, pointing at her computer monitor.

“What is it?”

“Just sit.”

They both sat and Lindsay worked the mouse until her computer monitor went momentarily black before blinking back online.

“What’s this?”

Ethan asked.

It looked like a pending conference call.

“I record my therapy sessions,”

Lindsay said.

“With all my clients.

It allows those clients who wish to review their sessions an opportunity to do so.

It also allows me to refine my approach to certain clients.”

“You record your online sessions?”

Ethan asked.

“Is that legal?”

“All our clients sign consent forms.

So, yes, it’s legal.

I just finished a session with a new client this evening and I need you to see it.”

Ethan looked at Lindsay.

“No,”

she said before Ethan could ask.

“That is not legal.

I could lose my license for what I’m about to show you, but I don’t know what else to do.”

Ethan looked from Lindsay to her monitor and back again.

“What’s going on?”

She clicked the mouse, and a recording of the therapy session began to play.

In the upper right corner Ethan saw Lindsay’s face appear in the window as she waited for her client to log on.

Then, the larger window in the center of the monitor blinked to life, showing a blurred image of a person in a hoody, their features unrecognizable.

“What am I looking at?”

Lindsay paused the video.

“The client used our encrypted filter to hide their image and disguise their voice.

It’s how clients who wish to stay anonymous, stay anonymous.”

Lindsay clicked the mouse again and the video played.

“Good afternoon.

I’m Dr. Larkin.”

Ethan watched the screen as the anonymous client spoke for the first time.

The person’s voice crackled with an artificial intelligence filter that automated the human voice into what sounded like a customer service prompt.

“I need your help.”

“Of course,”

Lindsay said.

“That’s why I’m here.”

“I know you, Lindsay.

And you know me.

It’s why I’ve come to you for help.”

Ethan watched the monitor.

On screen he saw Lindsay pause and look briefly into the camera, her eyes betraying her confusion, before continuing.

“Okay.

What can I help you with?”

“I’ve done a terrible thing.”

Another pause.

“Do you feel comfortable telling me about it?”

“I made a girl disappear.”

Ethan continued to watch Lindsay Larkin on the computer screen, recognizing again the hesitation in her eyes.

The image of the anonymous client was blurred and distorted and gave nothing away.

“Does, uh .

.

.

this girl have a name?”

“Yes.

You know her.”

This time the pause was long enough for Ethan to turn from the computer screen and look at Lindsay.

He saw fear in her eyes.

Ethan swallowed audibly as he returned his gaze to the monitor.

Finally, the anonymous client spoke.

“Her name is Callie Jones, and I need you to help me forgive myself for what I did to her.”