Page 25 of Counter Attack

She cocked her head. “Any particular reason?”

“Just want to know if he has any new information on Smith.”

“You don’t think he’s the Queen’s Gambit Killer either, do you?”

“I don’t know, and that’s why I want to talk to Parker. Smith certainly doesn’t fit the profile.”

“I’m glad I’m not the only one with a gut feeling about it, but I guess time will tell.”

A few minutes later, she stepped off the elevator on the sixth floor and walked a short distance to the first door. Once inside, she approached the receptionist. “Checking in, Gail,” she said.

The slender blond gave her a dazzling smile. “Dr. Hudson had a cancellation, and she instructed me to take you to room three as soon as you arrived.”

She followed the receptionist down the hall to the room painted in a soft, dusty blue. Light streamed in through the bank of windows facing west. Alex chose one end of the leather sofa.

A side door opened, and Dr. Hudson stepped into the room and sat in the chair facing her. “Alex,” she said, nodding. “I’m surprised to see you back so soon.”

“You and me both.”

“So, what can I do for you today?”

Alex explained what her grandfather wanted of her. “I’d like you to release me. I’d feel better about taking the job if you did.”

The doctor nodded. “How do you feel about his request?”

Always the psychologist. Alex took a minute to organize her thoughts. “While Gramps isn’t laying a guilt trip on me, I think I’m laying one on myself.”

“What do you mean?”

“They were in their late forties when my mother died, and they took me in. I’m sure raising their granddaughter wasn’t on their list of things to do with the rest of their life, especially since they’d never been around me.”

Dr. Hudson cocked her head. “Why’s that?”

“My mom and Gram didn’t get along.”

The doctor was quiet a minute. “Did you ever feel like they didn’t want you?”

Alex didn’t even have to think about that question. “Of course not.”

“How about your dad? Was he in the picture?”

“Peripherally. He was in the Army, gone a lot, and didn’t want to be saddled with a child, and my grandparents stepped up. He was killed in Iraq my senior year in high school.”

“I’m sorry.” Dr. Hudson wrote something on her notepad. “What was your life like before you went to live with them?”

Alex didn’t like to revisit that part of her life and rarely talked about it with anyone.

When she didn’t answer, the doctor said, “When you think of that time, what do you remember?”

She searched her memory bank. “I don’t have a lot of memories... Yelling. My mom and dad fighting—when he was around.”

“Do you know what they fought about?”

“Me.” That she was sure of.

“How do you know?”

She tried to pinpoint why she believed that, but nothing surfaced. “I—I’m not sure.”

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