Page 62 of D for Dead

‘It’s not as you see on TV,’ Shinnick told her, tone calm despite her heated reaction. ‘You would be in control and conscious the whole time. We would work it in gradually over several sessions and I think it would benefit you.’

‘I’m not interested.’

Flustered, Amy grabbed her purse, got to her feet. She should never have let Sullivan bring her here. This therapy shit was a bad idea. ‘Thank you for agreeing to see me, Doctor Shinnick, but this isn’t going to work.’

Shinnick remained seated.

‘Are you sure you want to leave, Amy? If you walk out of this door you may never discover the cause of your nightmares.’

When she faltered, he continued. ‘I understand you’re apprehensive, nervous even, but don’t you want to know what is causing them? It’s possible your subconscious mind suppressed the trauma because it was too difficult to deal with at the time, but it might be ready to release the repressed memory and you can get back the missing piece of the puzzle before the car accident.’

‘I’m not being hypnotised.’ She looked him squarely in the eye, her tone firm, mind already made up.

‘Of course, it’s entirely up to you. If you do change your mind, and I hope you do, my door will be open.’

Amy gave him a quick smile, relief flooding through her as she opened the door and stepped back out into the waiting area.

Sullivan glanced up from the magazine he’d been flicking through

‘Come on,’ she said tightly. ‘I want to go home.’

* * *

Amy was quiet on the drive back to her apartment. Between the look on Shinnick’s face as they’d left and the terse ‘Fine’ he’d received when asking if she was okay, Jake knew well enough to leave her alone.

He had sisters.

Something had rattled her while she’d been in with the doc and he would give her time to process her thoughts before trying to figure out what it was.

He hadn’t told her about the latest developments with David Gavin. After the incident at the beach then the visit to the therapist, she was dealing with enough. Gavin being back in town could wait.

Amy excused herself to her bedroom as soon as they arrived back. Jake left her to it, putting on the coffee pot and settling down on the couch with the papers, when he heard the shower start running. A warm body pressed against his leg and a wet nose against his hand as Huckleberry shoved his head under the paper and whined.

Scratching the collie’s ears he felt a pang of guilt for his own dog. This case had kept him busy and Roxy had been suffering as a result. He’d spent limited time with her over the past week, being there only for the obligatory walks and feeding. He would rectify that tonight and take her for a long walk.

When Amy emerged from the bedroom twenty minutes later, she was wrapped in a bathrobe and towel drying her damp hair. She headed straight into the kitchen.

‘There’s coffee in the pot,’ Jake told her, turning his attention back to the sports pages.

‘I’m fine.’

He heard her rummaging in the refrigerator; a few seconds later there was the sound of a cork popping, and he looked up to see her filling a large glass of wine.

She shot him a defensive look.

‘What? I’m not allowed to have a drink in my own home now?’

Putting the paper down, he nudged Huckleberry to one side. ‘So, are you gonna talk about it?’

When she didn’t answer, instead taking a long sip of her wine, he went to her, noticing for the first time the redness around her eyes. ‘Amy.’

When he touched her arm, she pulled away.

‘I’m fine,’ she repeated for the third time since they’d left Shinnick’s office.

She took her glass, went over to the patio doors, opened them and stepped out on to the balcony.

Jake followed, went to stand beside her where she leant against the wall, looking out over the park.