Last Girls Alive (Detective Katie Scott #4) - Jennifer Chase Page 0,108
Sunny days this time of year were some of the most memorable. The best sunsets. The most picturesque clear water. The most beautiful dense forests with equally lovely wildlife.
Katie returned to the camp from a brief walk dressed in jeans and a heavy cream sweater. She loved this area and the time of year, and especially sharing it with Chad. Sitting next to their tent, she smiled and said, “Does it get better than this?”
“Nope,” he said. “Not in my book.”
“I just keep thinking that—”
“Nope.”
“What?”
“No thinking, no contemplating, no investigating, just relaxing.”
She snuggled into him, feeling the warmth of his body. “You’re absolutely right.”
They watched McGaven and Denise play with Cisco along the shore of the lake. Denise’s young daughter Lizzie ran around laughing before throwing the ball for the dog. The three of them looked happy together playing tag.
Katie laughed. “They are going to wear Cisco out.” She turned to Chad. “I’m glad that you suggested this trip with them. This is one of my favorite places—if not my favorite.”
“Of course, I thought we all could use a break. And what better place?”
She gazed at the water.
“Have you heard from your friend Shane?” he asked.
“Yes. His physical therapy is going well. He’ll make a full recovery. And Tanis is doing well. She’s staying with the McKinzies and Candace Harlan.”
Chad nodded. “That’s good to hear.”
“And I closed my cases.” She smiled.
“How are you feeling now with everything?”
“I’m on to my next cold case.”
“Hey, who wants hot dogs?” said McGaven as he hoisted Lizzie on his shoulders.
“I do, I do,” said the little girl with absolute delight.
“Sounds good to me,” said Chad. “I’m hungry.”
“Count me in,” said Katie as she got up. “C’mon, Denise, let’s have some wine before the boys burn some hot dogs.”
“You got it,” she said.
“Hey, I heard that,” said McGaven.
“Don’t pay any attention to them,” said Chad.
“I don’t burn hot dogs. Well, maybe once.”
Katie sipped her wine and watched her friends joke with one another and just have fun. She knew that this was home. It was where her family was and where she was supposed to be.
Fifty-Seven
Katie sat down on her couch, taking a deep breath several times before opening her laptop computer. She glanced at the clock and it was 6.58 p.m., two minutes before Dr. Carver was to log on for their appointment.
She was nervous, wringing her hands and feeling the moisture of perspiration. As usual, her heart rate increased and pounded in her chest. Her anxiety took a backseat, but it was still there—hovering.
Taking another deep breath, she looked around the room and realized how lucky she was with friends, family, and a job that suited her.
Cisco whined and snuggled in next to her—her constant and loyal companion.
A chime resonated, indicating that her appointment was logged in and ready to go.
The smiling face of Dr. Carver filled the screen. She had a calming effect on Katie with her low voice—it soothed her. “Hello, Katie,” she said.
“Hi, Dr. Carver.”
“It’s good to see you, Katie. How have you been feeling?”
“I’ve been doing well.”
“And work?”
“It’s been more routine and not as stressful. I’ve been learning to pace myself.”
“Is there something that you would like to talk about today? Something that happened this week?” she said, and gazed down to make some notes.
“Yes,” said Katie. “I want to talk about something that happened, but not this week.”
“That’s fine. An incident that happened this month?”
“No. It was an incident that happened in Afghanistan,” said Katie. She felt her mouth go dry, but she was going to talk about it, get it out in the open, so that she could begin to heal.
Dr. Carver looked directly at Katie with a slightly surprised look on her face. “Of course. You can talk about anything.”
“Well,” began Katie with a little bit of shakiness to her voice. “It was a typical morning, extra hot and dusty, it was soon going to reach a temperature of over 110 degrees, but that was normal. We were going out on patrol as a team because we had received our special orders from the Pentagon and the President. So Cisco and I took point as usual…”
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