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“She’s a friend of Allina’s; she rearranged her schedule to fit you in.”
She looked up at him with large, frightened eyes. “What if I'm not ready?”
“Do you want to back out?”
“No, but I'm scared.”
He was pleased with her admission. Not that he wanted her to be scared, but it was nice to know she trusted him enough to open up to him. “It’s okay to be scared, Clara,” he assured her. “But I’ll be right there with you.”
“Holding my hand?”
“If that’s what you want.”
That seemed to settle her, and she pushed the elevator button.
“You look beautiful.” He turned her to face him as they waited for the lift. She was dressed in a simple pair of jeans, a white coat, and a sweater in a shade of green that perfectly matched her eyes.
“Thank you,” her cheeks turned a bright pinky red.
“Are you going to get embarrassed every time I compliment you?” he chuckled. She was very endearing when she was self-conscious.
“Probably,” she laughed, a real laugh—the first he’d heard. He liked the sound, liked even more that he’d brought it about, and vowed to make her laugh more often.
The ding of the lift had her sobering, and she pulled her hand free from his and walked into the elevator. He hated to see her so serious again so quickly, but the reason for them being here was a serious one.
“What floor?” she asked absently.
“Fourth,” he pressed the button and reclaimed her hand.
She stared at their joined hands and then looked up at him. “What if I don’t remember anything helpful?”
“You remember what you remember; there’s no pressure, Clara. You're not responsible for solving this case.”
They lapsed into silence, and when the lift reached the fourth floor, he led her out and down the hall to Dr. Linda Chan’s consulting rooms. The psychologist and qualified hypnotist was a friend and colleague of Allina’s husband’s brother. When he’d called his partner around six this morning to tell her that Clara had agreed to try hypnosis, Allina had immediately called her brother-in-law to ask for a recommendation. He’d promptly called her back to say a friend of his would clear her schedule and they could bring Clara in first thing this morning.
“We’re here,” he told Clara as they stopped in front of a door and he wrapped on it with his knuckles. She just nodded. Jonathon didn’t like seeing her so quiet and withdrawn, but she’d had a lot thrown at her in such a short amount of time that it was no wonder she was struggling to process it all.
“Morning, Jon. Clara,” Allina greeted them as she opened the door.
“Morning, Ali. Thank your brother-in-law for setting this up so quickly.” He had to tug Clara into the room behind him; she seemed to have zoned out.
She roused herself with a shake. “Detective Bennett,” Clara nodded formally.
“Since Jonathon spent the night at your house again, I'm assuming you two are dating?”
He glanced at Clara for confirmation; he didn’t want to pressure her or make any assumptions. She glanced back at him and nodded.
“Then I guess it’s Allina. Dr. Chan is just finishing up a phone . . .”
“All done,” a petite Asian breezed into the room. “You must be Jonathon and Clara.” She shot them a warm smile.
“Nice to meet you, Dr. Chan.” He shook her outstretched hand. “Thanks so much for rearranging your day for this.” Clara just stood there, nervousness rolling off her in waves.
Dr. Chan noticed that and got immediately down to business. “Okay, Clara, come and take a seat. Have you ever been hypnotized?”
“No.” Clara’s hand tightened around his as they followed Dr. Chan through into a small sitting room.
“Allina filled me in on the background of the case, but I'd like for you to tell me the specific things you remember so we can move on from there.”
