Her nasty attitude swiftly erased the smile from his face. Nick glared at her and was instantly irritated by her presence. It was all Rebecca King’s fault. She had to have bewitched him because there he was, face to face with his stalker, just to get close to her. But since he knew where she was going to be Saturday, he could ditch the she-witch.
“I brought my team here to offer some backup, but it looks like you’ve got everything under control.”
“I know how to do my job.” She sneered. “I don’t need shit from you or your team.”
Brenda pressed her lips into a thin line and narrowed her eyes. She was glaring at Nick like he was the one who’d stalked her.
“Okay, I see that mandatory therapy has done wonders for you.” Nick scoffed as he walked away.
“Fuck you!” she spat at his back.
Nick chuckled as he walked over to his team.
“What was that all about?”
“Long story.”
“Horror story,” Gary chimed.
“We’re outta here,” Nick said, continuing down the street.
He thought of Rebecca as he headed to his car. He had gone out of his way just to see her again. Why was he so captivated? Why couldn’t he get her out of his mind? Since the first time he saw her, he thought of her constantly. And now that he’d seen her laugh, the vision would be etched in his brain for who knew how long.
Like lightning, Nick was again struck with a feeling of guilt. What was he doing? He had no business pining over Rebecca King or any other woman for that matter. His sole focus should have been on his wife. Even though the doctors told him that there was zero probability his wife would ever wake up and it was the machines keeping her alive long enough for her to deliver their baby, Nick couldn’t help but hope there was still a bit of life left in her.
Soon, he would be a single father, and his son or daughter would be his first priority. So, even if Rebecca did give him the time of day, he wouldn’t have the time to give in return. By the time they made it back to their vehicles, he’d decided to leave her be.
“Meet back at the office,” he told his team as he climbed into the passenger’s seat.
Over the radio, he heard Brenda code the bomb threat as a false alarm. He exhaled, relieved that at least Rebecca wasn’t in any danger. He sat back in his seat and marveled at how life for others went on, business as usual, as his seemed to be frozen in time.
5
KING
As Rebecca sat in the waiting room, she had thoughts of the handsome cop she’d ran into on her last visit. Since Dr. Thantos specialized in grief counseling, she wondered why he was a patient. Who or what was it he was grieving?
Dr. Thantos stepped out of his office and handed a folder to the receptionist.
He turned his attention to Rebecca and smiled. “Hello, Rebecca. You can come on in.”
Something about his voice was calming. Her sessions with him gave her enough peace to get through the week it took to see him again. She stood and walked into his office. He sat in a leather armchair and pointed to the plush loveseat that sat opposite.
“Have a seat,” he offered.
Rebecca accepted and sat. “How’s it going, Doc?”
“All is well. And you?”
“Strangely, I’m feeling pretty good. I mean… I still get really tired every now and again, but it’s not that big a deal.”
He crossed one leg over the other and wrote something in his notebook. “Okay... and what about your assignment? How far did you get with the list?”
Before her session, Rebecca had said a small prayer, hoping he’d forgotten all about the to-do list. But as it seemed, if she didn’t have bad luck, she wouldn’t have any luck at all. Then suddenly, it dawned on her that she had completed one of the things on the list. “Well, I found my father,” Rebecca enthused.
He looked up from his notebook. “Is that right?”
“Mm-hm.”
