But Not For Lust by BJ Bourg (comprehension books .txt) 📕

come to this realization a few minutes earlier while Dr. White had been talking, and she now realized this might be the key to why she was holding on to the incident.

“I’m not sure how to put it into words.”

“You don’t have to struggle with words,” Dr. White said. “You can tell me anything you like and it’ll be fine.”

“You were talking a minute ago about different reasons why people experience anxiety,” Amy began slowly, “and you mentioned guilt being one of those, and that it can also be associated with depression.”

“That’s right,” she said soothingly.

“Well, I don’t feel guilty about anything, but I do regret something. Can that have the same impact?”

“Sure it can. What is it that you regret?”

Amy hesitated. She licked her lips and glanced toward her door. It was closed, so no one could hear the conversation. However, just to be sure, she lowered her voice when she answered.

“I regret not being the one to kill that bitch,” she whispered. “I feel like I failed. I feel like I should’ve gotten my gun out and at least shot back at her. I should’ve gone down fighting.”

“But Amy, you did go down fighting.”

Amy scowled, trying to remember that fateful night. “What do you mean?”

“When you drove your undercover car into the back of the RV,” Dr. White said confidently, “that was you fighting back. If you would have gone for your gun instead of hitting the gas, you would’ve surely been killed—and Baylor would’ve also been killed. You took decisive action. In an instant, you assessed the situation and determined what would be the best course of action. You then executed that plan and you attacked the shooter by ramming into her RV. You stopped her in her tracks. Sure, she might not have died, but you certainly stopped her. And isn’t that what you’re trained to do—stop the suspect’s violent action? You can do that in many ways, not just with a gun.”

As Amy sat there, a grin began to slowly spread across her face. Sure, she had already heard these same things from Baylor, Clint, and Susan, but it sounded different coming from Dr. White—from a complete stranger.

“Okay, Doc,” Amy said before ending the call, “I’ll learn to drive all over again just like I learned to walk all over again—one damn step at a time.”

  CHAPTER 49

I had just ended the call with Tracy when Amy hollered at me from her office. I hurried to meet her and stopped when I saw the pained expression on her face. She sat leaning over in her chair, seemingly favoring her left side.

“Are you okay?” I tried not to sound as concerned as I felt.

“I tripped and fell,” she said with a wave. “But that’s not why I called you in here. Look at this…”

Amy turned her computer monitor and pointed to a picture of two men on a hunting trip. They both wore camouflage and were squatting next to a large wild boar.

“Recognize these two?”

I scowled. “I don’t know the guy on the left, but I know that ugly devil on the right.”

When I returned to the interview room, Susan was questioning Nikia about his whereabouts on Friday night. I had slipped into the room so quietly that neither of them looked up when I entered. Of course, I knew Susan noticed my presence, but Nikia was so fixated on Susan and her questions that he noticed nothing else.

“I was home, like always.” He shrugged. “I don’t get out much. You know my history. It’s hard to get a job with a rap sheet.”

“What would you say to someone if she said she was with you on Friday night?” Susan asked, resting her elbows on the table. She was putting her cards on the table. She wanted him to know she suspected him of being with a woman. And the fact that she was being specific about it being a woman caused Nikia to break out in hives. He knew we were on to him.

“Well,” Susan pressed. “Would you call her a liar?”

Nikia’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed. “I mean, I was home all night on Friday. I didn’t have a girl with me.”

“Oh, I didn’t say she was at your house with you,” Susan said coolly. “No, I’m asking if you were with her that night.”

“I…I never left my house.”

“Not even to get in your girlfriend’s red car?” I asked, joining in when Susan gave me a nod to do so.

“I don’t have a girlfriend,” he said in a scoffing manner, but then grew somber. “Ever since what happened to Cassandra…I just can’t bring myself to get involved in another relationship.”

“We didn’t say anything about a relationship.” I leaned forward on the desk—my right shoulder brushing against Susan’s left—and said, “No, I want to know about the woman you were having sex with on Friday night. Normally, we wouldn’t care about such things, but it seems something pretty significant happened Friday night, and you were there to witness it.”

I could feel Susan staring at the side of my face. She knew I’d learned something on my short trip out of the interview room, but she wasn’t sure what it was.

“I swear,” Nikia insisted. “I was home all night.”

“So, it wasn’t your fingerprint I lifted from the passenger’s side door handle of your girlfriend’s red car?”

He shifted in his chair and stared cautiously at me. I could tell questions were beginning to form in his mind. He wasn’t sure if I was bluffing or if I really had the evidence to link him to Ty, and I could tell he was trying to decide on the best course of action.

“I was home,” he said again, but with much less conviction.

“You know, Nikia,” I said slowly, leaning back