Page 17 of Chilled

Nick laid a hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him, his fingers holding her upper arms in a vise grip. “I need to know everything, Agent Jensen. If you had a connection with Dr. Drummond, tell me. It could be vital to solving this case.”

She refused to look into his eyes, focusing instead on something over his shoulder. “I used to come here,” she mumbled. Then her gaze leaped to his. “I used to be one of Dr. Drummond’s patients. Okay?”

His gut tightening, Nick loosened his hold on her arms. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“It’s not something I advertise. How would it look for a criminal investigator to have a mental health history?”

“There’s nothing wrong with seeing a psychiatrist.”

She snorted. “Tell it to the reporters and the security-clearance guys who love to jump to conclusions.”

“Look, it’s just another piece of the puzzle.” He drew a deep breath and held it a moment before he blew it out. “Promise me you won’t keep anything else from me. I need to know I can trust the members of my team.”

She sighed, her shoulders sagging. “Okay, I’ll tell you what I know.”

Nick waited, but the silence lengthened. “Well?”

“I don’t know anything else right now. When I do, I’ll be sure to report it to you.” She glanced down at his hands on her arms and back up to his eyes. “Now if you don’t mind...”

Nick dropped his hands and stepped back at the same moment Mrs. Keckler returned.

“I checked all the files and none of them match.” Mrs. Keckler handed the sheet of paper back to Brenna. “If you have reason to suspect one of the patients, you can get a warrant, and I’ll release that patient’s information, but I can’t just let you go through the files.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Keckler.” Brenna hugged the woman and left the office.

Nick followed, stepping over a stream of melted snow to climb into the passenger side of the Cherokee.

When Brenna slid in next to him, she paused before turning the key in the ignition. “I started seeing Dr. Drummond when I was a little girl after I was involved in a pretty traumatic incident. She helped me get through it. I haven’t seen her since I left Riverton.”

“What kind of trauma?”

“I was severely burned in a barn fire at the age of ten. Dr. Drummond helped me to get past the nightmares and other issues related to the injuries.” Brenna’s voice was flat, unemotional, as if stating unimportant facts.

It must have cost her to say anything about an event that had had such a major impact she’d sought psychiatric help. A hard knot formed in Nick’s belly as he thought of a younger version of Brenna going through the pain of skin grafting. “How did you get caught in a barn fire?” He spoke in a soft voice, afraid if he pushed her too far, she’d clam up.

“I was playing with some of the neighbor children at my grandmother’s farm along the river. We were in and out of the barn all day, until one time I went in and I smelled smoke. I searched for the source and found a fire burning a stack of green hay bales. It had grown bigger than I could manage to put out, and by the time I turned to leave, I couldn’t see the door through the smoke. I couldn’t get out.”

Nick’s heart skipped several beats at the thought of a child’s terror. “What do you mean you couldn’t get out?”

“The smoke was so bad, at first I couldn’t see my way to the door. When I did find the door, it wouldn’t open.”

“Was it locked?”

“There were no locks on the inside. All I could figure was it was locked or jammed from the outside.” She attempted a shrug, but her shoulders were too stiff to look natural.

“Had the door gotten stuck any other time you went in or out of the barn?”

“No.”

“Sounds more like someone locked that door with you inside.”

“I don’t know.” She rested her head against the steering wheel. “My sister and some of the other children heard me screaming and got me out.”

“Did the fire department determine the cause of the fire?”

“They said that the hay in the barn was too green when it was stored. Spontaneous combustion was the cause noted on the report.”

“Bull.” Nick gritted his teeth. “Sounds more like arson. But who’d want to kill a kid?”

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