Chasing Shadows (First Wives #3)(79)
Sasha lifted Avery’s chin with a finger. “When.”
Cooper stopped the car.
“Okay, kids. First act is on you. Cooper, drive me around the block.”
Avery opened the door, and Liam was there to help her out.
“I’ll see you on the inside.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Avery glanced up at the sign above the door. “‘Tranquility Springs.’ Sounds like a spa.”
Liam tugged on his jacket. “Looks expensive.”
Avery put her hand in his. “So do you.”
They walked up the steps together and opened the front door. Zen meditation music greeted them, along with a perfectly polished feminine man behind a mahogany reception desk. “Good afternoon. Welcome to Tranquility Springs.”
“We’re here to look around. There is an open house today, right?” Since the lobby was free of people, she was starting to wonder if Sasha had her facts wrong.
“Of course. I just need you to sign in.”
Avery’s hands actually started to sweat. She signed her name to the registration log and turned the pen to Liam.
“Your ID, please.”
“Of course.” She fished in her bag for her ID and handed it to him. “I’m so nervous. My brother has been so sick. I don’t know what else to do for him.”
“We here at Tranquility Springs understand. If you’ll follow me, I’ll find you a guide.”
He led them through a set of double doors and around a corner. He punched in a set of numbers at the locked door. “The lock is to keep people out, not in.”
“Oh.” Avery glanced at Liam.
He shrugged.
“Wait here.”
They were in a common room with other people milling about. Some were couples, but the majority were lone women. Single mothers, or maybe the wives of men who gave up. Everyone appeared to have deep pockets, based on their style of dress and jewelry.
Liam whispered in her ear, “I like my new jacket.”
She smiled and felt some of the tension leave her shoulders for the first time since they’d walked in.
A smartly dressed woman, similar in size and frame to Avery, walked up to them. “Hello. Welcome to Tranquility Springs. I’m Evita. Is this your first time here?”
“Yes.” Avery held out her hand for the other woman to shake.
“Welcome. Let me give you a tour, and then feel free to roam around. Everything is open but the top two floors. We have guests that don’t care to be interrupted during their day. But know that the second and third floors are a duplicate of this one. Mainly private rooms and a couple of intimate group rooms.”
Evita walked through a hallway and started her tour. “We like to create an inviting home environment. Which means group meals and common areas like the living room we just left.” She walked them into a dining room that looked as if it could seat fourteen comfortably. Not an easy task in a Manhattan home.
They walked through a state-of-the-art kitchen. “Our chefs create nutritious menus to suit every allergy, dislike, and diet. We like to refer to anyone here at Tranquility as a client or even guest, if they prefer. Our guests have full run of the kitchen. Again, this is their home, and they are welcome to take anything they need.”
This was nice and all but not helping Avery find Spider.
They walked through another set of doors and into what looked like a private room in a hospital. “Some of our clients come to us directly from the hospital. We have a full team of medical doctors and nurses on call twenty-four seven.”
She walked by three large, open rooms: two had people inside, talking, and one was empty. Evita drew their attention across the hall. “Group therapy. Our counselors’ offices are open when we’re not hosting an open house. For our clients’ privacy, they are locked today.”
They walked by a full gym and yoga studio, then past rooms that looked like luxury apartments, until finally they dumped out into a courtyard with plants and trees and a meditation pond, as Evita called it.
Finally Evita paused her tour and asked a few questions. “How long has your brother been using?”
“Late high school. It got worse in college, and now he’s out of control. Our parents are beyond themselves and giving up. But I can’t do that. He needs help.”
Liam placed a hand on Avery’s shoulder. “What is the recovery rate here?”
Evita offered another smile. “We are one of the top rated addiction recovery centers in the country. Nearly seventy percent of our patients return only to continue their outpatient therapy or to offer assistance to new clients coming in.” Evita looked over their shoulders and made her excuses. “Feel free to walk around. There is a small reception in the room opposite of the one you entered through. Please feel free to talk to anyone here. No one is offended if you ask if they are a client or staff.”
“Great, thank you.”
Avery sighed and took Liam’s arm. “I thought she would never leave.”
“This place feels like a country club,” Liam said.
“Let’s start circulating.”
They traversed the courtyard space quickly. While it was an outdoor private garden, it was in the middle of Manhattan, so it wasn’t huge. Avery caught Sasha out of the corner of her eye, talking with Evita. Only Sasha was the one walking in front of the staff. Listening to the woman talk about the facility was obviously not something she wanted to deal with.