Page 66 of Her Last Whisper
He laughed and put his arm around her. “No one said anything. It’s just that Chad mentioned…”
“Chad talked to you? What? Are you guys best friends now?”
“Now take it easy. I want to make sure that you’re not working too hard and that everything is okay,” he said softly.
Katie yawned and found it difficult to keep her eyes open.
The microwave dinged.
She slowly got up and went to the kitchen.
“I’m going to hear about it in your report,” he said. “So you might as well tell me now.”
Pulling the plate out and setting it on the bar counter, she grabbed knife, fork and napkin. It wasn’t until after she made herself comfortable that she began to explain, “I had a few places to go today.” She sliced a piece of chicken breast and popped it into her mouth. “Wow, this is heaven. So, so good. Tell Claire thank you. I’ll call her tomorrow too.”
“Okay, everything out on the table,” he stated.
“Uh-oh, here comes the sheriff.”
“It’s not about your job performance; it’s about how much work you’re taking on yourself.”
“What do you mean? I have McGaven doing half the work—maybe even more with all the background checks and videos. I even have Denise running down information. I think that I’mdelegatingwork just fine and we’re making progress.”
“That may be true, but you’re taking on too much,” he insisted. “I need all my officers and detectives balanced in their workloads—including you—especially you,” he said softening. “You’ve been through more than a lifetime of trauma and stress at such an early point in your life—in your career.” He moved to the counter and sat across from her.
Katie listened and she appreciated his sentiments, but she had noticed her anxiety and panic episodes had subsided quite a bit. “I know what you’re really saying. You’re afraid that I might go over the edge emotionally, psychologically, because of my stress and undiagnosed PTSD.” She put down her fork and moved to the living room and sat down next to her uncle. “I love you, Uncle Wayne and I cannot imagine if I didn’t have you and Aunt Claire as my family—I’d be so lost. But work is my therapy and whether you want to believe it or not—it’s helping.”
“Have you…?” He trailed off.
“Have I what?”
“Have you ever thought about seeing someone—just to get some things straight and having someone to talk to on your terms? An unbiased person.”
“No—well yes, I have, but I’m fine the way things are right now.”
“You know, your dad and I used to try and scare each other as kids,” he said, recalling a fond memory.
“Dad never told me about that,” she said.
“Well one time I went too far and I had him believing that I was going to die. Stupid kid stuff and without any thought, just thinking it would be funny getting something over on my big brother. I guess I was pretty convincing.”
“What happened?” she asked.
“When I saw how scared he was at the thought of me dying, we made a pact that we would always be there for each other. We were less than two years apart, but we had a bond like we were twins. So from then on whenever either of us had a difficult decision or something serious was bothering us—we were there for each other.”
Listening to her uncle talk about her dad as she slowly ate made Katie sad but at the same time she loved to hear stories. It made it seem as if he was still here—in the room with them. She missed him dearly every single day. Her parents were killed in a car accident when they were coming home from vacation from the coast. It stung deep every time she thought about it. They never got to see her graduate from college or the police academy. There were many times that she needed her mom to talk to and those opportunities were now lost.
“Katie?” he asked.
“Oh, I was just thinking.”
“I know, I think about them a lot too,” he said as if he had heard her thoughts. “So you have to understand why I take it so personally and why I’m protective of you. I don’t want every case of yours be a life or death incident like the Chelsea Compton case.”
“I know.”
“Just do me a favor. Don’t take on too much. Don’t think I don’t know about your army sergeant visiting you.”
“He’s staying with a friend in Watkins and he’s doing fine—in case you wanted to know. I’m helping him find his brother—that’s the only family he has.”
