She took a bite out of her ice cream. “I made a promise to the others to stay in it for a year.”
He glanced up at the ceiling. Then back to her. Now his brow furrowed. “Don’t the others have people in their lives who are worried about them?”
“Of course they do. Daisy, Juliet and Heath aren’t married and don’t have significant others in their lives right now, but they have friends and family. Even kids.”
“I wanna know exactly what’s gone on. Start from the beginning.”
Setting the ice cream aside, she tugged the summer green robe closer over her chest. He was wearing tight navy boxers he’d put on to get the dessert. She sat back against the headboard and he grasped her hand. “First there was…” she enumerated the incidents.
“What?” he practically shouted when she told him about Cary Jacobs’ death.
“Hold on. Homicide captured the guy who did the murder.”
“Did he do the other things?”
“No. He was in prison when the other incidents happened and had just been released when he killed Jacobs. Homicide caught him and it turned out the murder had nothing to do with the collective. The other incidents were done by somebody else.”
“Scarlet, I don’t understand how any of you can work there. How can you tolerate all this? How can your families?”
“We had to close up for two weeks after the guard was killed. We practiced at various other places but we all lost money. When the investigators cleared the scene, we moved back in. The collective is our livelihood, Joe.”
He got out of bed, then, and started to dress.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going for a walk. I gotta think about this.”
“Will you come back?”
“Of course I will.” He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. “I’m sorry to leave you like this but I have to clear my head.”
“Go on then.”
Still, when he walked out of the bedroom, she felt bereft.
* * *
It was ten at night by the time he calmed down and went back to her house. He found her on the bed, leafing through a magazine.He sat next to her against the headboard and bumped their shoulders. “What are you reading?”
“An article in the American Psychological Association journal about the benefits of clinical hypnosis in psychotherapy.”
Leaning into her, he kissed the opening of the robe she wore. She tasted like lotion. He nodded to the magazine. “Is your practice widely accepted? I never heard of hypnotherapy before I met you.”
“Yes, it is. Though it’s not for everybody.”
“But you still make a living at it?”
“I do.” She cupped his cheek. “Feel better after your walk?
“Uh-uh.”
“D-do you still want these days together?” Her voice trembled a bit.
“I absolutely do, sweetheart. We’ll forget everything else. And I’m sorry I left but I’m better now.”
“All right.” Her eyes deepened to jade. “What would you like to do?”
“Well…” he slid his hand down between her legs and cupped her boldly. “Take a wild guess.”
