Code Name: Ghost - Sawyer Bennett Page 0,14

me back to full duty.

And so, I’m now walking toward her office.

She’s sitting behind her desk, peering at something on her computer. She has a set of bookcases behind her, which are loaded with books—all psychiatry based, I’m sure. Two plush-looking chairs flank one wall with a table and a lamp between them. I’m grateful she doesn’t have the cliché couch.

Dr. Ellery eschews the overhead fluorescent lighting of an industrial building. Instead, she utilizes scattered lamps to provide a calming glow. Her office is the only one that has shades along the glass walls, presumably so she can close them for privacy reasons. Not that I care. I expect it won’t be a long-held secret I have to go to counseling with the good doctor before returning to active duty. I’m not embarrassed about it in the slightest.

I just don’t want to fucking talk about it.

Two separate things.

When I tap on the glass door to her office, she swings her head my way. Smiling, she waves me in. It’s one of those glass doors on hinges, so it swings shut behind me as I enter.

“Hey, Malik,” she says warmly, motioning to one of the guest chairs. She rises out of her desk chair, grabs a notepad and pen from her desk, and moves over to join me. I quickly find the chairs swivel as she angles hers in toward me. “Glad you could make it.”

“We both know I don’t have a choice,” I say lightly, attempting at a bit of humor. It falls flat to my ears, but she smiles.

“Well, that’s not true. You could have chosen not to come. Came up with some excuse. Said you were sick. Hell, you could have opted to get a new job.”

I incline my head in capitulation. “Point taken, Dr. Ellery.”

“Corinne,” she insists. “We’re all on a first-name basis here.”

I blink in surprise. “I was going to have you call me Mr. Fournier.”

Tipping her head back, she laughs, nodding. “Sense of humor. I like it. And it bodes well for you. Those who can laugh even after experiencing traumas tend to do very well with therapy.”

“So that’s what we’re going to actually call it, huh?” I ask, because it’s a word that hasn’t been used yet.

Corinne shrugs. “Call it what you want, but you and I will be doing a lot of talking. My goal is to determine if you are coping with your trauma—”

“I am,” I assure her.

She ignores me, continuing. “—in a healthy and productive way. More importantly, in a way I deem to be sufficient to put you back on duty with your teammates. It’s not only about your mental health, but it’s also for safety reasons, too.”

When I consider this, I have to agree… it makes sense. Still doesn’t mean I want to talk about it, because it takes time and the rehashing of wounds I’d rather just let hurry up and close. Still, I truly don’t have a choice.

Not if I want to continue working at Jameson.

“All right.” I make a show of giving in by settling back in my chair, casually propping an ankle on a knee. “Might as well get this started.”

“Excellent,” she replies with a sparkling smile, poising her pen over her pad. “Today’s going to be pretty boring, actually. Background information… where you grew up, relationships with your family members, choices that led you into this career, etc.”

“Got it,” I reply. This would be the easy part.

Leaning an elbow on one of the armrests, she says, “Tell me about your family, Malik. I understand you have dual citizenship with the U.S. and Canada?”

I nod. “My dad is a French-Canadian doctor. My mom’s an American public-speaking coach. I was born and raised in Montreal, and I have two brothers and a sister.”

“Where do you fall in line among your siblings?” she asks.

“Let’s see…” My face scrunches slightly as I suck at birthdays and shit like that, but I do love my siblings, so it eventually comes to me. “Max is the oldest, and he’s twenty-nine now. Then Lucas is next… he’s twenty-eight. Then me—I’m twenty-six—and, finally, Simone is the baby at twenty-three.”

“And I seem to remember your first time here at Jameson when we had a meeting in the big conference room… Cage went bananas when he learned your brothers play for the Cold Fury as that’s his favorite hockey team.”

I can’t help but laugh. Cage had been hilarious at that meeting when I’d first been introduced, and he’d made the connection I had two