Page 9 of The Perfect Crime

“That’s a lot of suspicious activity on Rex’s part,” Hannah had to concede.

“Agreed,” Kat said, “which is why we’re going to be getting up close and personal with the man today.”

“Should one of us go in now?”Hannah asked.

“No, let’s give him a little time to get settled,” Kat told her.“I want him in his routine before we implement any measures.He’s less likely to notice us once he’s immersed in his work.”

“Great,” Hannah said, “then that gives us a chance to address the elephant in the room.”

“What’s that?”Kat asked, though it was clear from her squirming that she knew what it was.

“I’m not going to sit in this car for hours on end and act like everything is hunky-dory when we both know it’s not,” Hannah replied.“When are you going to forgive my sister?”

Kat sighed deeply.

“I don’t want to get into that with you,” she finally said.

“So we’re just going to pretend like it’s no big deal that you two have barely communicated over the last month?”Hannah said, pressing ahead anyway.“Is this how you want things to stay?”

“Look, she really hurt me, Hannah,” Kat said.“She’s working with the guy responsible for Mitch’s murder.”

“I get that,” Hannah said, “and there’s no question that she should have told you about it earlier.That’s on her.But you’ve got to give her a little grace too.It’s not like shewantedto partner up with Mark Haddonfield.It was the only way to ensure that his collection of toadying psychos didn’t keep coming after the people she cares about.Remember—the guy who killed Mitch was coming after you.And there was that madman who tried to kill Dr.Lemmon.They weren’t going to stop, Kat.She had to do something.”

“She didn’t have to do that.”

"Really?"Hannah said, trying to keep her own frustration in check."What alternative idea would you have suggested?Because I don't recall you offering one.And forgive my bluntness, but I think that's mostly because you were in a depression about losing Mitch, one you haven't yet emerged from.So you weren't pitching options."

“That’s harsh,” Kat said.

“You’re right ,” Hannah conceded, “and I’m sorry.But she had to make a choice.It was admittedly an imperfect one.But since she made it four months ago, none of us have been attacked by one of Haddonfield’s people.And from what I understand, because he’s about to go on trial, she’s only had to work with him on one case, which he apparently helped with by the way.”

“I really don’t want to talk about this, Hannah,” Kat insisted.

“Fine, then what do you want to talk about—perhaps your obsession with Ash Pierce?I know you haven’t let that go either.”

Hannah didn’t have to be a private detective to figure that one out.Clipped articles about the upcoming trial of the hit woman who had almost killed both Hannah and Kat littered the backseat of the car.Hannah understood why Kat might be fixated on Pierce.After all, the woman had tortured her within an inch of her life last summer before trying to murder her.But she'd also tried to kill Hannah, and she'd made a conscious decision to move on.

“I’m just keeping tabs on her case,” Kat said.

"Why?"Hannah demanded."She killed over a half dozen people, and some of those were caught on video.She's in custody facing murder charges for that, along with what she did to us.She's never getting out.Why fixate on her instead of moving forward with your life?"

Kat smiled at her wearily.

“I’m actually trying to do that,” she said.“That’s one of the reasons I wanted you to help me out today.I have a meditation appointment this afternoon.I scheduled it before I got this case, and I didn’t want to cancel.I was hoping you could go solo watching Stiller for a little while until I finished.”

“Of course,” Hannah said, feeling slightly guilty for how hard she’d pushed.“How long do you think you’ll be gone?”

“All told, I can’t imagine that it will be more than an hour and a half.”

“Not a problem,” Hannah promised.

“Thanks,” Kat said.“Now can we stop talking about all these personal issues and discuss how we’re going to find out if Rex is stepping out on the missus?”

“I’m all ears,” Hannah said.“Let’s catch a cheater.”

“Hey,” Kat reminded her.“Don’t jump the gun.His wife might be paranoid.The guy could have a totally legitimate reason for his behavior.”

“Sure,” Hannah said sarcastically.“I’ll bet he joined a book club.”

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