Page 46 of One More Chance

Dana’s lips twitched. “Like the Dolly Parton song?”

“I guess.” Kenna chuckled. “She is always getting up to trouble.” It was important to keep this conversation light, even as much as she needed to press Dana for information. “This seems like a nice place.” When Dana didn’t respond to that, Kenna said, “They’ve helped you in the past?”

The woman nodded. She had to be in her thirties. Nicola’s closest friend, two people who’d stuck by each other for years even when their lives went in different directions.

“We all need help sometimes. It’s great that you have a place to go where you can feel…safe.”

Dana inhaled, just a tiny intake of breath. A miniscule, little gasp.

“You are safe.”

Dana said, “Yes, because they lock the doors here at night, and there is always someone on guard.”

“But that wouldn’t be true at your apartment. I mean, there would be a lock. But no one is on guard.”

She looked at the window.

“I can understand that.” No need to freak this woman out with specifics, though. “I know what it’s like to be scared. And I don’t mean freaked out. I mean the kind of terror where you’re certain you’re about to die.”

Dana kept looking at the window.

“People don’t get it. How scary it is to think you’re going to die. Or when you think you’ve lost someone you love.”

“She isn’t lost.”

“And you don’tthinkshe’s gone. You know she is.”

Dana jerked her head in a nod.

“Did you see what happened, Dana?”

She seemed frozen for a second, then she looked at Kenna. “What do the cops care? It isn’t like they help Santinos.”

“I’m not a cop, Dana. I’m a private investigator.”

Dana looked at the door.

“My husband is an FBI agent, but this isn’t one of their cases as far as I’m aware.” Kenna shifted in the seat, adjusting her position so she came across as open and like she had all the time in the world. “I met Nicola at the medical center where she worked. You’ve known her for years, haven’t you?”

Dana nodded. “You’re not a cop?”

“Not officially. I would just like to know what happened to Doctor Santorini.”

“She loved that name. It’s why she chose it.”

“Did you choose yours?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I always thought I should change it. Nicola and I could’ve been sisters, officially.”

“She helped you out a lot, didn’t she?”

“Sometimes, I wonder if it’s why she became a doctor. So she could help me, or so she’d know what to do. She couldn’t bemydoctor, since we’re friends.”

“Sisters.”

Dana said, “Can’t treat a family member.”

“I’m guessing she did everything she could to make sure she was there for you.”

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