Page 15 of The Perfect Poise

“Even if I agreed to do it and there were no objections,” she mused, “there’s a bigger concern, at least for you.”

“What’s that?”

“What if I couldn’t determine if she was telling the truth, or worse, what if I found that she was.”

Now, it was Kat's turn to sit quietly. When she responded, she voiced a certainty she wasn't sure she truly felt.

“You’re Dr. Janice Lemmon,” she said, “legendary profiler and respected psychiatrist. Whatever you determine to be true, I’ll accept.”

Lemmon shook her head slightly.

“You say that now, when you’re sure that my conclusions will validate your suspicions,” she said softly. “But I’m not sure you’d be as sanguine if your assumptions were upended.”

Kat shook her head forcefully.

“Your word is gospel, as far as I’m concerned,” she said.

"I'll think about it," Lemmon said before pulling out her legal pad and pen, as if to officially indicate a change in topics. "Now let's get back to you. I hear you've been putting clients off for weeks now. When do you plan to start taking cases again at your detective agency?"

Kat took a sip of water as she tried to focus on the question. But in reality, all she could think about was Lemmon. The woman presented herself as an older lady muddling through her twilight years. But Kat knew better.

Janice Lemmon was as competitive as anyone. That was how she’d stayed at the top of both of her professions for so long. And there was no way she’d allow herself to be bested by Ash Pierce in a one-on-one battle of mental gamesmanship.

Kat was certain that she’d accept the challenge. Lemmon was going to meet with Pierce. And then the truth would finally come out.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Jessie tried not to laugh at the cliché of it all.

As she and Ryan sat in the waiting room of Garrett Leach’s plastic surgery office, she couldn’t help but notice that everything she’d learned about the man reinforced the typical image people had about guys like him.

His practice was in Beverly Hills, on the top floor of a gleaming ten-story office tower. The entire waiting area was defined by glass and metal, with a futuristic—and, to Jessie's eyes, antiseptic—vibe.

The walls were covered with photos of what she assumed were past patients, almost all of them women. The images included full-body shots that looked like magazine photos, close-ups on faces, and in three cases, only enhanced chests, without the accompanying bodies.

From the looks of some women in the waiting room, Jessie suspected they’d visited Leach on multiple occasions. Others shifted nervously in their seats, suggesting this might be their first time here.

Upon Jessie and Ryan’s arrival, the receptionist had told them they were lucky that the doctor was even here, as most of his Tuesday mornings were spent at the hospital doing procedures. But because of a conflict, he’d switched things up and would be in surgery this afternoon instead.

It was 7:45, and they’d been waiting for five minutes now. Jessie, who had decided to let their “having kids” semi-argument go for the time being, could sense Ryan’s agitation in the seat beside her and knew that if they weren’t called in the next sixty seconds, he was going to get up again. Since she didn’t want their interaction with Leach to start combatively, she decided to pre-empt him and got up herself.

“Be right back,” she whispered to Ryan before approaching the reception window again, where the gorgeous young blonde they’d spoken to earlier offered a plastic smile.

“Hi again…Cory,” she said pleasantly, looking at the nametag on the woman’s top. “I believe my partner informed you that our meeting with Dr. Leach involved police business. You recall that, right?”

“I do,” Cory said with a whiff of sarcasm.

“Great,” Jessie said, leaning in so that she wouldn’t be overheard and glancing back at Ryan. “Then you should probably know that he isn’t the most patient detective on the force. Most of the time, he’d just walk straight to the back and find the person he was looking for without waiting to be called. We’re getting close to that moment right now, and I know that neither of us wants a scene that might upset current or potential patients. So I highly recommend that you make the doctor available, like, immediately. Am I being clear?”

Cory, whose plastic smile had slowly turned into a nervous frown with each word Jessie said, nodded silently and picked up the phone.

“Hey, Kelly,” she said quietly. “Those police people I mentioned are getting anxious. I need to you come get them and take them straight to Dr. Leach.”

Jessie smiled plasticly back at Cory as the receptionist listened to Kelly’s reply. After a moment, she hung up.

“That was his head nurse,” she said. “She’ll be right up.”

Cory was right. Less than thirty seconds later, a brunette, just as beautiful as Cory, approached them in scrubs.

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