“What about him?”the psychiatrist asked.
“Well, we’ve discussed this before, but I’ve always wondered if those urges I get are an unwanted gift handed down from him.After all, Hannah had them too for a while.If there is some hereditary component—what if I passed it down to my child?”
“That’s a legitimate question,” Lemmon acknowledged.“Unfortunately, I don’t have a good answer for you on that one.But we should definitely explore how you feel about it.”
“Maybe we hold off on that one until next session, Doc,” Jessie said, suddenly not sure just how much she really wanted to explore the question.“I don’t think I’m ready to go there just yet.”
“Fair enough.We’ll circle back when you’re ready,” Lemmon said before abruptly changing subjects.“How’s the shoulder?”
“Better every day,” Jessie said, lifting her arm above her head for effect and pretending not to notice the slight twinge of discomfort.“I got to take the sling off on Monday and have been doing the physical therapy exercises they gave me religiously since.”
“And you’re cleared to go back to work?”
“I only had to miss Friday,” Jessie said.“I used the weekend to rest up and was back at the station on Monday.I’ve dealt with far worse than a letter opener.”
“I’m aware,” Lemmon said.“So it sounds like you’re doing great.Since you mentioned your sister, how is Hannah doing?”
“You might be a better judge of that than me,” Jessie countered.“Wasn’t she just here?”
“On Monday, yes,” Lemmon confirmed.“And as you already know, we’re working on her recent bout of agoraphobia in the wake of everything she’s been through.I was looking for more of a lay person’s view on the situation.”
Jessie thought that the phrase “everything she’s been through” was putting it mildly.In the last few months, Hannah had been througha lot.And that was saying something, considering that her adoptive parents were slaughtered just two years ago by her birth father.
In just the last few months, a friend and fellow student at UC Irvine, where she was about to start her sophomore year, had been stabbed, ending up in a coma that he’d only recently awoken from.The culprit turned out to be another UCI student, one who Jessie was semi-dating.Unfortunately, he turned out to be a secret incel who intended to kill her on a camping trip.Through her own resourcefulness and Jessie’s last-minute arrival in a police helicopter, she’d escaped that nightmare.But she was dealing with another one: Ash Pierce.
Pierce was a former government assassin and later a hitwoman for hire.She’d been paid by a killer that Jessie had caught awhile back to torture and kill her loved ones, specifically Hannah and Jessie’s best friend, Kat Gentry.Hannah had outwitted Pierce, leading to her arrest.It was an indignity the hitwoman couldn’t abide.She was on the lam after having escaped custody.But no one was under any illusions.Eventually she’d return with vengeance in mind.
That was why it wasn’t certain that Hannah could return to college when it started up again in just over a month.Pierce knew she was a student there.And Pierce was why Hannah had been holed up at Kat’s unlisted downtown apartment for weeks now.Everyone agreed that was a safer location than Jessie’s house.The security measures in place at the home were impressive but Pierce knew that address.
As a result, she’d developed what Lemmon called “mild agoraphobia.”In recent days, she’d pushed herself out of her comfort zone and made several forays outside, even helping Kat investigate a stalking case.But there was still a long way to go.
“In my opinion, she’s doing as well as could be expected, all things considered,” Jessie told Dr.Lemmon.“Kat mentioned that yesterday she went for a run on downtown sidewalks rather than on a treadmill in her building’s fitness center.I thought that was a big step.”
“I tend to agree,” Lemmon said.“She’s making great strides.Unfortunately, until Ash Pierce is caught, she’s never going to feel truly safe.So, I’d recommend you get on that.”
“Thanks for the suggestion,” Jessie said, unable to hide the snark.“Up until now, everyone’s been mostly twiddling their thumbs.”
Lemmon was about to reply when Jessie’s phone pinged.That was a bad sign.She had it on silent for everyone except Ryan and Hannah, both of whom knew she was here now and wouldn’t text unless it was an emergency.
“I have to check it,” she said without waiting for a response.
The message was from Ryan.It read:Murder in Windsor Park last night.Everyone else is on a case except Bray.Parker wants you two to partner on it.She’s pretty exercised about this one.Call when you’re done.
Jessie appreciated that his message presumed that she could finish the session.But he had to know, as she did, that it wasn’t possible.There was no way she’d be able to focus on the minutiae of her emotional life when a murder victim was waiting for her to help catch their killer.Their time was up.
“We’re going to have to cut this short,” she told Lemmon.“I’ve caught a homicide.”
“Okay,” Lemmon said, closing her notebook with an unsurprised look on her face.“But you’re paying for the whole hour.”
“You’ve never charged me for a single session, not since the first time I saw you back in college,” Jessie reminded her, “even though I’ve begged to pay you.”
“That was clearly a mistake, considering how loaded you are,” Lemmon said dryly.“If I had charged you, I could probably be retired by now.”
They both knew that Janice Lemmon had no intention of retiring any time soon, no matter how much of a nest egg she’d squirreled away.It was a running joke about who would quit first, especially considering that Lemmon was 40 years older than her.
“See you next week?”Jessie said, standing up.
“I hope so.Be careful out there.”
