“Sure thing.” Sherlyn Eliot was a cheerful motherly type who handled all the calls for the five therapists who shared Maria’s suite. “He’s the hunky one, right? Lieutenant Lukas. I remember him.”
“Uh…right. Lieutenant Lukas.”
Maria put the receiver down, the woman’s words ringing in her mind. She never saw her patients as anything other than patients. Ethics demanded this, and in addition, Maria had simply stopped looking at men after she’d married. She’d considered herself out of the race, and for all the reasons every single woman understood, she hadn’t bothered to start looking again.
She wasn’t about to change that, either. With Christopher’s problems and her stressful workload, a man was the last complication Maria needed. Especially someone with an emotional life as tangled as Ryan Lukas’s. Even if he wasn’t a client, he’d never be the kind of person she’d date. The one man she’d seen since her divorce had proved to be such a disaster she need only remember him for encouragement—he’d wanted free therapy, not a real relationship.
Having been there for Maria then, she could imagine what Jackson would think about Lukas. He’d roll over and die, she was sure.
With that thought, she lifted the phone again and speed dialed his number. Jackson Maxwell had been her therapist and consultant on various cases for the past ten years. Now they were best friends. He always listened with a neutral ear and guided her toward the right decisions without actually telling her what to do. It was a skill not too many people had, but Jackson had perfected the art. And Maria loved him for it.
“Powell’s Antiques.” Richard Powell, Jackson’s partner, answered the phone on the first ring. He and Jackson had been together for twenty-five years and when Jackson had retired from his practice, Richard had immediately recruited him into his business. Claiming forced labor, Jackson had complained, but Maria knew deep down he’d actually been scared. Leaving the profession he’d loved and having spare hours to fill could be a frightening prospect. She wasn’t sure how well the arrangement was going, but personally, she couldn’t imagine having all the time in the world to do whatever caught her fancy. She’d always had more work, at the office and at home, than she could handle.
“Richard, this is Maria. Is Jackson around by any chance?”
“Maria! He’s supposed to be here somewhere, but I swear he’s hiding. I told him to dust the crystal vases in the back room and he disappeared.”
Maria laughed. “I’d disappear, too, if you told me that. Last time I was in there you pointed to one and said ‘Twenty thousand.’ That’d scare off anyone!”
“Well, we’ll be drowning in crystal if someone doesn’t get back there and clean it up so I can sell it. Just a minute, though, I’ll see if I can unearth him….”
She heard him drop the phone and yell Jackson’s name. A few seconds later, an extension clicked on, Jackson’s voice coming out in a whisper. “Come save me, Maria! I swear to God, he’s driving me crazy…. Is this really what he does all day?”
Maria laughed again. “You wanted a new life,” she warned. “This is what you got.”
“I’m ready to go back to the crazy people, then. Do you want a partner?”
“Maybe we could work out a deal…. What do you think about switching with me? You take my whole life and I’ll take yours.”
“Is Christopher part of the package?” Jackson and her child had always been close; Christopher was the son Jackson didn’t have. “I might consider a switch if he comes with the deal.”
“I don’t think you’ll feel that way after you hear why I’m calling.”
With as little fanfare as possible, she told Jackson what had happened. “I don’t understand what’s going on with him,” she concluded.
“He misses his daddy.”
“I know that.”
“And he feels abandoned.”
“I know that.”
“Then what’s the problem? Cut the little guy some slack, for God’s sake!”
“You don’t understand.” Sighing heavily, she realized her mistake; Jackson would defend Chris as staunchly as he could. “You haven’t seen him for a few months, Jackson. It’s not just the grades—he’s changed. He won’t talk to me at all and when he does, his attitude is surly. And the music he listens to…you wouldn’t believe it.”
“Do you think he’s doing drugs?”
“No.” If there was one thing she was sure of, it was this. “We’ve had a lot of discussions about drugs and he’s always talking about the ‘stupid’ kids he knows who do that.”
“Things can change.”
“Of course,” she agreed, “but not that. I’m sure.”
“Have you tried talking to him?”
“I’ve talked until I’m blue in the face. But he doesn’t talk back.”
“Then you’re going to have to find another route. You’ve got to get the lines of communication open, Maria. That’s the key.”
Frustration filled her voice…and her heart. “I know,” she said. “But what I don’t know is how.”
“Bring him out here. He and I have always seen eye to eye. Maybe he’ll talk a bit to me and that’s all it’d take.”
The suggestion immediately sounded like a good one, but Maria hesitated. “Are you sure? He’s not exactly fun to be around….”
“Neither am I right now,” Jackson snorted. “We’ll get along just fine. Bring him out.”
They talked about the situation a few more minutes and Maria ended up promising Jackson that she and Chris would visit soon. Just before they finished, almost as if by afterthought, she spoke casually. “By the way, I’ve got a new client who seems interesting…or at least I should have a new client. He’s the countersniper for the SWAT team. He didn’t show up for his appointment today.”
“The countersniper? That should be a fascinating brain to examine. Wait just a minute….” She heard the sound of a paper rustling. “I see him,” Jackson said over the noise. “The team’s photo is in the Log today. Something about a rally they’re holding.”
Maria walked from behind her desk to a table by the window, cradling the phone between her shoulder and ear. She’d brought the local newspaper, the Destin Log, with her this morning and stuffed it into her briefcase, hoping to scan it at lunch. Lena had already told Maria about the event—and was holding tickets for her at the station. Maria reached into the case and brought out the paper.
“Page five,” he said.
She quickly flipped to the proper page. The photo was front and center, and Ryan Lukas’s face immediately jumped out at her. Except for Beck Winters, a blond giant who was the team’s former negotiator, Ryan was the tallest person in the photograph. Dressed in the black
