Page 10 of The Perfect Prey

“Not off the top of my head,” she said.

“Maybe you could talk to her.”

Hannah looked appalled.

“Let me get this straight,” she said.“You want me to talk to her on the same day that she’s starting back at work, which also happens to be the day that she’s secretly stressing over the trial of the man who tried to murder her last fall?”

“How do you know that?”he asked.

“Ryan,” Hannah said gently, “you’ve been heavily medicated for the last few weeks, so I’ll give you a pass.But I notice her tense up every time she watches the news about Mark Haddonfield on TV.In case you missed it, the lawyers wrapped up final arguments on Friday.The jury resumes deliberations tomorrow.”

“I guess I did miss it,” he conceded.

He obviously knew about the ongoing trial of the obsessed college student who had tried to kill Jessie when she wouldn’t make him her profiling protégé.But he hadn’t realized it was so far along.

“I guess so,” she agreed.“And that’s not her only stressor.You do still remember her best friend, Kat Gentry, right?”

“You don’t have to be sarcastic,” he chided.

Kat was not just Jessie’s best friend, she was also a private detective dealing with some issues of her own.Among them was mourning her fiancé, Mitch, who’d been murdered just months earlier.Add to that the falling out she and Jessie had over some information that Jessie had held back from her, and they’d been on the outs for several weeks, until reconciling only recently.

“Just making sure,” Hannah said.“Well, the ladies may have patched up their personal differences after both of you nearly died when taking on the poisoner, but Kat is still obsessed with Ash Pierce, and Jessie doesn’t know how to help her.”

Ryan must have been more druggy these last few weeks than he realized, because he hadn’t picked up on that either.Ash Pierce was a hitwoman who had tortured and nearly killed Kat last summer.She was currently being held in the same jail complex as Haddonfield while she awaited a trial of her own.

“I thought Kat had moved on from that,” he said.

“That’s what she wanted you to think, because she didn’t want to worry a guy who was recovering from nearly having his insides liquified,” she explained.“But for those of us not on paid meds—like me and Jessie—it’s pretty clear that Kat hasn’t let it go.She’s still fixated on Pierce and making sure that if the justice system doesn’t take the woman down, she finishes the job.All of this is to say, maybe now—with so many stressors in my sister’s life—isn’t the perfect time to confront her about her violent urges.”

Ryan shook his head adamantly, making his bowl of soup quake and nearly sending some of the broth over the side.

“I would argue the opposite,” he said.“With all that weighing down on her, she’s at even greater risk of exploding than I realized.Maybe talking to you could let some of the air out of her hate ballon, rather than risking it popping.”

“I don’t know what I could say that would help,” Hannah objected, ignoring his clumsy metaphor.“Besides, she’s already working with the best psychiatrist going when it comes to this stuff.I’d just be in the way.”

“Do you really think so?”Ryan challenged.

“Sure,” Hannah said.“Dr.Lemmon is a world class psychiatrist who used to be a profiler, understands killers, and has been working with Jessie for over a decade.I’m just the half-sister she only discovered she had two years ago.”

“You’re a hell of a lot more than that,” Ryan assured her emphatically.“First of all, forget the ‘half’ part.You’re her sister, and she loves you.Secondly, you’ve experienced the same thing she’s going through and come out the other end.You share the same serial killer father, which can’t be a coincidence when it comes to these urges.You’re connected in ways that no one else is.Is there anyone else in the world more equipped to understand what she’s going through?”

Hannah sat with that for a minute.While she thought, Ryan took several more slurps of the soup.

“This is amazing, by the way,” he said

“Thanks,” she replied absent-mindedly.

He took another spoonful.

“I’m scared that she’d be mad if I tried to talk to her about this,” she finally said.

“She might be mad,” he admitted, “but it won’t be at you.I’m the one who violated her trust by telling you.You’re just trying to help your big sister out.I’ll be in the doghouse, but you’re in the clear.”

Hannah rubbed her temples.Both Ryan and Jessie had noted that the habit was a sign that she was deep in thought.He said nothing, not wanting to interrupt the 19-year-old who might be the key to saving his wife.

“I guess I’d start by asking why she was doing so well for so long, only to backslide recently.Can you think of anything?”

“So much has happened lately that I’m not sure I could pin down one particular source of trouble.”

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