“Now Ms. Rodgers,” said the shrink as he leaned back in
his chair, creating a steeple with his fingers under his nose. “How can I help
you?”
Bethany
had sat in the chair directly across from the shrink, and the investigator
stalked behind her, near the fireplace. He was fidgeting around and she could
make out the sweat that was saturating his underarms. He darted his eyes to her
and then over to the shrink. He knew what was going on. How? Did the voice tell
him? No, he wouldn’t have.
“Thank
you for seeing me,” said Bethany as she gently placed her briefcase on the desk
and flipped it open, shielding the shrink’s view of her momentarily. She didn’t
like his eyes, they seemed to hold a mild humor and a deep curiosity that made
her feel as if he were trying to pry his way into her soul.
She
grabbed the letter that the voice had slipped her from behind the curtain. It
was in a plain, white envelope. She hadn’t seen the contents of the letter,
yet; she doubted she ever will. Bethany closed the briefcase and in a sharp
fluid motion, she pulled it off of the desk and placed it on the floor to the
right of her chair.
“My
client,” she began. “Mr. Brooks, would like me to deliver this letter to you
and a message.”
She
held out the letter to the man, who had taken it from her gently with both
hands. Odd. He looked at it with a sort of interest that a child would have
with a bizarre, green vegetable that their mother was expecting them to eat. He
opened the top drawer of his desk and quickly dropping into the space below.
He
then looked back at her and smiled, “Now, what is the message?”
“Mr.
Brooks wants you off of this case,” she said plainly. “He said that he doesn’t
care for your unprofessional means of investigation, and would kindly like you
to step down and find a new project.”
The
shrink didn’t seem fazed by this, based on his lack of reaction to the news, he
probably expected it.
She
held her head up high and gave him a polite smile as she blankly stared into
her eyes. What was behind these eyes? They looked like dark coals wrapped in an
emerald light that cut into any plane they gazed on.
He
smiled at her. His eyes did not.
“Was
there anything else that you needed?” he asked very slowly, as if he were
relishing on each syllable as they escape his mouth.
“Well.”
She was caught off guard, slightly. Was he not going to give her an answer? The
voice was not going to like that.
“Yes?”
he asked. He knew exactly what he was doing to her. Bastard.
She
smiled back across the room, trying to erase trace that she has been taken
aback, or felt uncomfortable.
“That’s
all I have, thank you for your time.” she snipped and stood to take her leave.
“You’re
very welcome.” He replied. “I look forward to continuing working with your
client, and I suppose now I have the privilege of working with you, as well.
I’m sure we will be able to get to the bottom of this mystery.”
He
smiled up at her from his seat.
“Unfortunately,
you are no longer permitted to speak directly with my client, if you choose to
remain on the case. I will make sure of that.”
Still
seated the shrink chirped, “Oh, we will see about that miss.”
She
could feel her joint grow stiff and her body tighten up. She jerked around and
looked in square in the eyes and dove deep into the abyss inside.
“Yes.”
She pointed at his chest. “We will.”
She
quickly turned around and marched across the large office and yanked the door
open and turned around, “And if I catch you making in sort of contact with my
client without first going through me, I will personally insure your terminal removal
from your position. Do you understand me?”
Without
waiting for an answer she spun on her heal and marched out of the office and
down the hall, the inspector at her heel like a little dog.
“Don’t
let him fool you!” the shrink called after her, but she brushed it aside as she
was already concerned about how she was planning on getting out of this labyrinth.
