Poppy Klamath was the Portland Field Office’s junior agent.While Gabe had never met her, he knew from Kate that the mousey young agent viewed Kate with a mixture of worship and fear.It was highly unlikely that Poppy would ever say anything about Kate’s mental health, positive or negative.
“Well, no, she hasn’t said anything, but I can tell she thinks that I’m obsessed.”
“Hmm.Doyouthink you’re obsessed?”
Kate sighed again and crossed her arms.She caught sight of her reflection in the mirror standing behind Gabe’s desk: tall, slim, auburn hair, a dusting of freckles surrounding a not-quite-button nose.Pretty but not breathtaking.Nothing to write home about.
“Kate.You’re stalling again.”
She rolled her eyes.“No.No, I don’t think I’m obsessed.I think that Cox feels he has some sort of connection with me, and even though that’s obviously bullshit, I’m the one most likely to figure out what’s going on with him and his disciples and bring them to justice before… others can.”
“You hesitated at the end there.”
Kate sighed once more.Elijah Cox—she refused to call him Father whatever his past career—was a notorious serial killer who styled himself the Lawgiver.He and his various acolytes had murdered over a dozen people over the past several years as part of his crusade to… to… Well, that was part of the problem.She still didn’t know exactly what his endgame was, only that it involved her somehow, and Cox believed it to be the culmination of his God-given mission on Earth.
“I was going to say bring them to justice before they kill too many people.But that suggests that it’s okay to kill a few people, and it’s not.My point is that I need to lead the Lawgiver cases, not because I’m obsessed but because I’m the right agent for the job.”
Gabe folded his hands.“I have an alternate perspective.”
“Please.That’s what I’m here for.”
“Perhaps you’re substituting the Cox case for other pressing concerns in your life.”
Kate blinked.“I’m not sure I follow.”
He smiled kindly.“I’m suggesting that you’re not really conflicted over the Cox case at all, nor are you obsessing over him.Is it possible that you’re choosing to fixate on Cox because doing so allows you to avoid focusing on other areas of your life?”
“What other areas?”
“You said, ‘With everything going on right now.’What does that mean?”
Kate folded her arms across her chest.She glanced at herself in the mirror behind Gabe’s desk, saw how petulant she looked, and unfolded her arms.“Why do you have this mirror and why is it behind your desk?”
“So that supplicants asking me for assistance with their papers and research assignments can see how pathetic they look.”
She wasn’t sure if he was joking or not.“Right.Um… Well, you know.Everything.”
Gabe unfolded his hands and sat up.He sipped his tea and looked pointedly at Kate until she did the same.The tea was indeed very aromatic, floral, fruity, and sweet.The flavor matched the aroma and the sweetness clarified into a surprisingly intense apricot note near the end.
When he still stared at her after she set her teacup down, she said, “Delicious.”
He smiled, pleased.Then, still smiling, he said, “Kate, you came here to talk to me, and now you’re not talking to me.I don’t feel right about pressuring you any more than I already have, but I also don’t feel right about allowing you to come all this way without at least giving you my thoughts.”
Kate nearly reminded him once more that she was already in town but just kept her mouth shut instead.He set his teacup down, gave her a frank look, and said, “I believe you’re avoiding confronting your feelings regarding your relationship with your mother and your recent brush with fame after capturing Elijah Cox twice.While I don’t believe you’re obsessing over Cox, Idoknow for a fact that you’re uncomfortable with attention and you’re worried that your recent revisitation of your father’s past has caused new tension between you and your mother.”
Kate stared at Gabe in amazement.Gabe Levine was among the most brilliant men she’d ever met.His understanding not only of language but of how language shaped human culture, development, and history was next to none.His intuition regarding language as symbolism, particularly as it applied to the cases she investigated was similarly amazing.And from time to time, he did have some very sharp insight into Kate’s own personal life.
So, to hear him say something so spectacularly wrong was a bit shocking to say the least.
She was too surprised to say anything before Gabe continued.“I think you’re pouring your energy into the case rather than confronting these issues because you understand casework.You even—forgive me for such a crude summary, but it works for this conversation—understand Cox.But fame?You are an utter stranger.Your mother?Not a stranger, but I know as well as anyone how difficult family can be.I think you’re trying to pretend those things can wait because it’s easier to believe your time is better spent on the case than it is to confront the messy and confusing aspects of your ordinary life.”
Kate sipped more of her tea, and tried to think of a response.True, fame was uncomfortable, but it was already over for Kate.No one stopped her in the grocery store.No one wanted her autograph.She could go jogging in a comfortable tracksuit that hung a little loose and made her look skinnier than her already slender frame and no tabloids would snap a picture of her and print the headline, FBI WUNDERKIND’S POOR FASHION SENSE TURNS HEADS!
As for her mother?Well, complicated was the best word to describe their relationship, but it had actually gotten significantlylesscomplicated since they both confronted the reality of her father’s murder nearly fourteen years ago.Not all the wounds were healed, and some never would be, but they loved each other fiercely and they were both beginning to decide that it was okay if there were shadows in their shared past.
When she couldn’t come up with anything, she finally relented and said, “I see.”
“And you are still committed to not talking about it.”He sighed theatrically.“Well, I’m here for you if you need me.Idocare for you, Kate.”
