“So how are things at home?” He thought if work stressed me out, he hoped I had time to de-stress at home. If not, maybe I needed to talk about it. “I saw in your file that you have two teenagers at home. That could be a cause for stress, right?”
I smiled. “Yeah, but they’re great… I mean they have their moments, but what teenager doesn’t?”
“And your husband? Does he support you?” He thought that all the close calls I’d had with death could put a strain on anyone’s marriage, and I was lying if I told him otherwise.
“Yes… for the most part. I mean… there are times when he’s not too happy about all the trouble I get into… and he certainly lets me know about that. Uh… but lately, he’s been better. I mean, he seems more accepting. It’s not always easy living with me… you know… with my premonitions and all.”
Bob nodded his head. Now we were getting somewhere. “How does he deal with your abilities?”
“Probably how most people would. I mean… he’s not always happy that I can do what I do, but he’s learning to accept it. I mean… sometimes he thinks what I do is pretty impressive.”
“That’s important.” Bob could tell this was a work in progress. “Well, if you’d like to bring him in sometime, I’d be happy to see you both. He might have some questions for me. Or, I can suggest a good family therapist. In the meantime, it sounds like you’re doing great under the circumstances, but if anything changes, please don’t hesitate to get help. There’s no shame in that.”
“Sure.”
“Good. Is there anything else on your mind?”
“I think I’m good for now. I’ll try and be more positive.”
“Well… I’m sure you’ll do your best. I’d like to meet a couple more times, but let’s make it next week, shall we? I want to give you enough time to start on that barf journal and that meditation app. I still think those tasks would be helpful to you. Also… why don’t you keep a small notebook handy too, in case you think of anything else you’d like to talk about.”
“Sure, that sounds good.”
“Great. Then I’ll see you one week from today.”
CHAPTER 9
I left Bob’s office with a much lighter step. Talking to a shrink really did help, and it was nice to know he was there if I needed him. I checked my text messages, finding a text from Ramos saying that no one in Uncle Joey’s circle owned a gray BMW.
Relieved, I took the elevator back down to the detectives’ offices, grateful that the connection to Uncle Joey through the car was gone, and my chances of getting caught for sending him information weren’t so bad. At least for now, I wasn’t going to lose my job with the police, or worse, go to jail for obstruction of justice, although hell was still a possibility.
Since I’d told Bob that I wanted to take Willow down, it was time for a more active role in that investigation. Plus, I needed to know more about her involvement in the little girl’s rescue, and if she’d known Mack.
Luckily, both Willow and Dimples were sitting at their respective desks. Well… Willow was sitting at my desk, but I decided to be the bigger person and not let it bother me. It helped to know she would be leaving soon, never to come back, if I had anything to do with it.
As I started toward Dimples, he glanced my way, and a big grin broke over his face, showing his dimples to full advantage.
I quickly sat in the chair beside his desk and smiled. “You look happy about something. What’s going on?”
“We just got the test results back from Sophie’s blood work. It shows she had scopolamine in her system. They call it the zombie drug, or Devil’s Breath, on the streets. It’s a drug that’s like roofies, only worse because it causes amnesia.”
“Oh wow… that’s it. Did you get the video from the bar too?”
“Yes. There was a man who sat beside her for a few minutes, but we couldn’t see his face. It looked like she told him she was waiting for her husband, because he didn’t stay long.”
“Did you see if he put something in her drink?”
“Not exactly. He could have, but the angle of the camera was off. Right now, we’re going through the video footage of the lobby for anyone who had similar clothes to the man in the bar.”
I glanced at Willow. “Is that what she’s doing?”
“Yeah… divide and conquer, right? We’ve found a couple of possibilities, and we’re going to take the photos to Sophie to see if she recognizes one of them.”
“What if she doesn’t?”
Dimples shook his head. “I don’t know. Willow thinks it’s worth a try, and it’s the only clue we’ve got right now.”
Willow didn’t like being left out of our conversation, so she hurried to Dimples’s desk with a brittle smile. “Hey Shelby. What brings you in?”
I took the direct approach. Why mince words at this point? “I wanted to see how your case was going now that Sophie is awake and we know she didn’t do it.”
Willow sucked in a breath, unhappy I was rubbing it in, and turned to Dimples, totally ignoring me. “I think these three men are the best matches we’ve got, so I printed out their photos. Why don’t we head over to Sophie’s house and show them to her?”
“Let me see them,” Dimples replied.
She twisted her lips and reluctantly handed them over. Dimples held them out so I could see them too. Willow didn’t like that, and I wanted to quote that famous line, “get used to disappointment,” but I asked a question instead. “Did you run them through facial recognition?”
“Of course. I’ve got their names right here. I’m certain it’s one of these three.
