Kate’s voice was curt, but she didn’t feel guilty about that.Damn it, this is exactly what she was afraid of.The two of them would act on their feelings for each other, and it would interfere with their ability to work together.This, more than anything else, would be a death knell to their chances of a future with each other.
They didn’t have time for a long talk about it now, though.She took a deep breath and said, “I’ll text you when I’m done.You do the same, okay?”
“Yeah, for sure.”
She left the hotel, frowning at the already bright-already warm Miami sun.Time seemed to move faster here.Or was it that she was moving slower?Either way, she felt like she was dragging herself through molasses while their killer was skipping gaily toward their next victim.
***
Jenna met Kate at a café a mile south of the medical center.She faced Biscayne Bay and doggedly refused to turn around lest she catch a glimpse of the building she worked at up until finding her boss so horribly murdered.
Kate ordered them coffee and made small talk until the brews arrived.She learned that Jenna had gone home late last night with a sedative to help her sleep.She’d taken the sedative and woken up feeling present enough to talk.She’d called the officer who had forgotten to give her Kate’s card but left his own.He’d called Kate, and now here they were.
The coffees arrived, and Kate got to the meat and potatoes.“Can you tell me about last night?Go at your own pace but try to be as detailed as possible.”
Jenna began to shake, but she sipped her coffee and took a deep breath, and the shakes eased a little.She took another deep breath, then said, “I was in the storage closet after I finished organizing files and confirming Dr.Hammond’s schedule for the following day.Dr.Hammond was in her office.”
Kate made a note to follow up on the fact that Jenna was in the storage closet, but she wanted to let the woman finish first.
“I finally got the courage to go tell her I was quitting after about twenty minutes.That was an hour after closing, so it was around six o’clock.”
Right when I arrived at the Miami Field Office to meet with Marcus, Kate thought.
“I knocked on the door, and she didn’t answer.I thought that she might have gone home, and I just didn’t hear her leave, but when I checked, I saw the alarm hadn’t been set and the door hadn’t been locked.I figured she probably didn’t answer because she had her earphones in.She listens to the recordings of her sessions at the end of the day when she goes over her notes.Not all of them, just excerpts.
“Anyway, I told her I was coming in and opened the door.I walked inside, and she was there.Most of her.”
She began to shake again and sipped more of the coffee.Kate decided now was time to follow up a little.“Why were you in the storage closet?”
Jenna took another sip of coffee and braced herself.Was she bracing to lie or to tell the truth?“I was quitting.”
“I see.May I ask why?”
“I… I didn’t agree with what Dr.Hammond was saying to patients.”
“What was she saying?”
“She was… Well, it differed from patient to patient.And I never really knew exactly what she was saying.I didn’t eavesdrop, and she didn’t betray doctor-patient confidentiality.She just believed certain things, and I know she was telling people to do those things because she wrote books about it and articles.She was interviewed last month by a psychology journal over it.”
Kate gave Jenna a gently stern look.“I understand this is difficult for you, but if we’re going to find the person responsible for Dr.Hammond’s death, I need to know that you’re telling me everythingyouknow.”
Jenna inhaled sharply and looked out across the water.Kate looked that way and saw a tour boat passing.It was an open-air barge designed to look like a miniature riverboat, complete with two steel-frame non-functional paddle wheels on either side.
“It’s just that she was a really good boss.Like,reallygood.”
Kate turned back to Jenna.Her lower lip was trembling, but the tremors in the rest of her body had eased.Tears welled in her eyes.“She was always nice to me.She would talk to me like she was actually interested.She bought me Chappell Roan tickets for my birthday.”
Kate didn’t know who Chappell Roan was, but Jenna’s grief appeared genuine, and a boss who bought her employee concert tickets was definitely high up on the ranking of cool bosses.Kate thought her own boss was a badass, but if Victoria Winters ever bought her concert tickets, Kate would fear for her sanity.
“It’s hard because…” Jenna wiped tears from her eyes.“I liked her.That’s why I worked for her for so long.I didn’t want her to think I didn’t like her, but… I just couldn’t get over the difference in our values.”
It was clear that Jenna was going to have a hard time spilling the beans herself.Kate would have to coax her.“Did this have something to do with Dr.Hammond’s views on adultery?”
“Yes.Well, sort of.She didn’t advocate… Well, she didn’tcallit cheating.”
Kate sipped her own coffee to keep from snapping at the hurting girl to just say it already.She was never the most patient person to begin with, and Jenna was challenging the limited patience she had.“What exactly did she advocate?”
“Open relationships.Polyamory and things like that.”
