“What are you looking for?”
“Whether they’re trustworthy, whether they’re lying, whether they’re likely to actually do what they say they can do. Plus whether they can do it in the time frame they agreed to, whether they cheated the last person they worked with, and mostly whether they’re working for me or against me,” he ended, with a half laugh.
“Still, it’s very similar, isn’t it? You’re looking for signs of deception underneath it all.”
“Exactly,” he agreed, “which is why I find this so fascinating. People will be people, and, no matter what you’re dealing with, you’ll get some who are good and some who are not so good.”
“Yet instant judgment is something we try hard not to do,” she noted, with a yawn. She shook her head. “Jesus, I need more sleep.”
“You can’t keep burning the candle on both ends without consequences,” he said. “That tends to backfire eventually.”
She smiled. “I know, and I keep trying to get more sleep but—” She shrugged.
“How are the nightmares these days?” he asked.
“Mine are fine. How are yours?”
He laughed at that. “Another topic we better avoid for now.”
“Sounds good to me.” She pointed up ahead. “That’s the dental office where she worked. I’ll just run in for a few minutes.”
“Well, I’ll run in with you,” he repeated. And, true to form, he stuck by her, as they walked inside. The building was open as it was a mixed use building, but the dental center itself was closed. She wasn’t sure whether it was curiosity, as he had pointed out, or if it was something more, but she did find it interesting to have him here. He also had good insights, and she realized that she respected his opinion. He was good at reading people and circumstances in so many ways and had a very different viewpoint on life than her own. Mostly because of his ownbackground, she assumed, but it was fascinating to talk to him. There was a little coffee shop on the main floor. She asked the woman who made them two cups to go, about Robin.
“I don’t know her,” she replied as she handed the cups over. “I can say that everyone I’ve served here has been great. No issues at all.”
She asked a few more questions but there wasn’t anything to find, apparently.
“Was that helpful?” he asked curiously, once they were back in her vehicle.
“No, not really. All she said is everyone here has been great but didn’t know Robin personally.”
“What is it that you’re looking for?”
“I want to get some insight into how Robin’s marriage was,” she murmured, and she looked over at him. “The husband can say all he wants, but a close friend or coworker would have given me something more truthful. And, since Robin’s best friend died with her, I’d love to talk to the one coworker who Robin was close to but the office isn’t open so I’ll just call her at home instead. I figured maybe we could go down to the beach, and I’d call her from the parking lot.” And that’s what they did.
When she finally connected with Robin’s coworker on her cell, the woman broke into tears. “I’ve taken a few days off work because I’m so upset,” she shared. “I didn’t think I could be there and stay calm and professional around the patients, you know?”
“Sure, I understand. I’m so sorry for your loss. Were the two of you close?” Kate asked, as she paced along the beach.
“Yes,” she replied, “we were very close. I don’t want to say best friends because I know Jenna was her best friend and neighbor, and they spent a lot of time together. Yet I was her best friend in a work sense. We did everything together. It’ll be so damn lonely without her.”
“I’m so sorry,” Kate murmured, trying to ease the other woman’s pain. “Can you tell me anything about her life? We’re still figuring out who did this to her.”
“I hope you catch the bastard, castrate him, and throw him away,” she snapped. “How could anybody do that to her?”
“I’m not sure what you might have heard in the news,” Kate began, “but, at the moment, we’re still looking at any and all aspects of this case.”
“Of course,” she replied. “What do you want to know?”
“First off, did anybody bother her or follow her that Robin was scared about? Was she worried about going out alone at night or anything like that?”
“God no.” The woman laughed. “The opposite, in fact—Robin was fearless. It would never occur to her that anything like an attack would even happen, so she never considered herself a sitting duck. She had no idea that something like this was going on.”
“What do you mean bysomething like this going on?”
“That somebody could lie in wait for her like that.”
“We don’t know for sure that somebodydidlie in wait,” she corrected.