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“Not a problem,” Dr. Lemmon told him. “I don’t see anywhere near as many patients as I used to, so my schedule is more malleable these days.”
Ryan wasn’t sure if that was true or if Lemmon was just being polite. Either way, he’d take it. With his schedule, there was no way he could meet for a session during the workday. That’s why they were sitting across from each other at 7:02 a.m. on a Tuesday morning.
“I noticed that Amy doesn’t work the early shift,” Ryan said, referring to Lemmon’s assistant, who wasn’t in the outer office.
“No,” Lemmon said, “I insist that she keep regular hours. And after the attack, we’ve reduced them even more.”
Lemmon was referencing the incident two months ago, when a disturbed young man hoping to improve his romantic life went on a killing spree of psychiatrists he felt had failed to help him achieve that goal. His last intended victim was Dr. Lemmon. Jessie and Ryan managed to save her, but not before he brutally assaulted her assistant, Amy Bland.
“Anyway,” Lemmon continued, quickly moving on, “I know that you’re short on time so shall we dive right in?”
“Sure,” he agreed.
***
They began by discussing well-trod ground, including his ongoing concerns about Jessie’s health and his apprehensions about her returning to work before she was ready. After that, they moved on to something he hadn’t addressed before.
“I’m a little worried about Hannah,” he mentioned. “We spoke last night before Jessie got home. On the surface, she sounded fine, but I got the sense that she was a little agitated.”
“About what?” Lemmon asked, leaning forward in concern.
“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “She didn’t say, and I didn’t want to press her. It could have just been in my head, which is why I didn’t mention it to Jessie. I don’t want to create problems where there might not be any.”
“Hmm,” Lemmon mused. “It could just be general anxiety over being in such a new environment at college. Even though she’s been at school for a few months, the adjustment period can be longer than we’d expect. If you still have concerns after a few more weeks, it might be worth asking her about it directly.”
“Okay.”
“What about you?” she asked. “What else is consuming your attention these days?”
Ryan considered mentioning that he’d brought up the idea of having a kid with Jessie, but ultimately decided that until his wife gave him a more definitive sense of where she was on the issue, there was no reason to address it here.
“I’m still adapting to no longer being in charge at work,” he conceded.
“‘Adapting’ is a pretty broad word,” Lemmon noted. “Can you get a little more specific for me?”
“It’s just been a period of adjustment,” he explained. “For a stretch there, when I was captain, I was the ultimate authority at Central Station. In general, if I wanted to pursue something, I did. I assigned cases. I made personnel decisions. That’s all gone. I still run Homicide Special Section, but now I report to Gaylene Parker, who used to work under me. Sometimes I feel the friction of that changed dynamic.”
“Do you resent her?” Lemmon asked.
“No,” he insisted. “I recommended her for the position to Chief Decker, and I think she’s doing a good job, especially considering that she’s still learning the ropes. But I’d be lying if I said that I never bumped up against how things work now. I got used to having near-total autonomy and that’s gone.”
Just then, his phone buzzed.
“I’m sorry,” he said, pulling it out, “but that’s actually Parker now, and if she’s calling me at 7:29 in the morning, something big is happening.”
“Go ahead,” Lemmon told him.
He answered the phone.
“This is Hernandez,” he said.
“Good morning, Detective Hernandez,” Parker said. “I apologize for not waiting until you got to the station to reach out, but I have something pressing for you.”
“That’s all right,” Ryan said. “What’s going on?”
“I just got a call from our friends at the West Los Angeles division,” she told him. “They have a case they think is up HSS’s alley and wanted to bring us in before it hits the news. When can you be here?”
Ryan did a quick calculation in his head. Lemmon’s office, like Central Station, was in downtown L.A.
