InSight

right over,” he said.
    “Hurry. I don’t know what came smashing through the window or where it is. What if it’s a bomb?”
    “It would have gone off by now.”
    “I can’t tell you how comforting that is.”
    “Don’t move. I’m on my way.”
    “I have no intention of moving. There’s a key in a fake rock sitting in the planter to the left of the door.”
    “Gotcha.”
    Daisy sat at Abby’s feet, offering her usual sense of security. Ten minutes later she heard the key in the lock and Pete’s voice. “It’s me.”
    “I hope so. This rescue thing is getting old, and I’m tired of being scared shitless.”
    “Well, look what we have here,” Pete said.
    “Am I in the middle of a war zone?”
    “It’s a brick with a note wrapped around it. Effective, if not very original. Lemme put on gloves.”
    “What does it say?”
    “More of the same. That you’re next.” He sat down on the floor beside her. “This guy’s toying with you.”
    “I don’t think so.” She filled him in on yesterday’s road experience.
    “Why didn’t you call me?”
    “And say what? That some nut tried to drive us off the road. What could you have done? The guy scared the crap out of us for five minutes, then took off.”
    “Well at least now we know he drives a Lincoln Navigator.”
    “How many of those would you say are on the road?”
    “Too many.” He helped Abby up. “Got a broom and vacuum cleaner?”
    “In the kitchen closet.”
    When he came back, he swept up the broken glass.
    “Now we’re back where we started. Only now we have a brick through the window with a note saying I’m next.”
    “The question is why?” He started the vacuum, which stopped conversation. “I’ll see if the lab can get a print off the paper. It’ll be clean, but I’d be remiss not to try.” He rolled the vacuum back to the kitchen. “Don’t walk barefoot until your cleaning lady vacuums again. I got most of it, but I’m sure there are still slivers imbedded in the carpet.”
    “I won’t. I’ll run the vacuum again anyway, for Daisy’s sake.”
    “You promised you’d vet your patient list. Have you?”
    “Ten times. Went back five years. I couldn’t find anyone with reason to hold a grudge against me.”
    “The call to the Psychological Association about Luke means it’s someone who knows about your relationship.”
    “Yes, I know. But Luke and I have been out and about. Anyone watching could have seen us together.”
    “Which means it could be anyone. I hate to leave you alone. Where’s Luke?”
    “I hoped you knew. I haven’t heard from him in days.”
    “I saw him meet with the captain today. Haven’t seen him since.”
    “About his job?”
    “I don’t know. He was there, then he wasn’t.” Pete called a glass company, then for a patrol car to stay with her until they repaired the window. “I’ll wait until the patrol gets here, then I want to get this to the lab. Maybe our guy made a mistake.”
    “Thanks.”
    “If I see Luke I’ll tell him what happened.”
    “Okay.” That’s if he even cares.
    * * * * *
    T he glass company replaced the window, the patrolman left, and Abby still heard nothing from Luke. No email, no messages in three days. She’d been going through the motions. Work, home, her only confidant a guide dog who seemed to feel her pain. She’d lost Luke. Her heart felt like someone had thrown a brick into her chest and broken it to pieces, not unlike the shattered glass from her window.
    * * * * *
    T he next day, Kyle Jackson, the investigator from the Ethics Committee, showed up for their appointment. She had hoped the board would come to their senses and toss the complaint, but the members were duty-bound to follow through.
    She hoped Jackson didn’t interpret her shaky hands as a sign of guilt? Get a grip, Abby. You did nothing wrong.
    She answered his questions honestly, leaving nothing out: the hour’s consultation with Luke, his initial invitation to dinner and her refusal, the break-in, the forced dinner, and the attraction.
    “I avoided crossing that ethical line when I recused myself as Detective McCallister’s therapist,” she said. “Then I referred him to another doctor. His sessions are over.”
    “Are you seeing one another?” Jackson asked.
    “Yes.” His pen scratched as he wrote. “I’d like to know who filed the complaint.”
    “As I mentioned, someone reported it anonymously. We’re obligated to investigate each allegation without