InSight

different capacity than before he lost his hearing.
    “I thought of him only as a patient,” Abby said, answering Ellie’s question. “Anything else would be inappropriate.”
    But Detective McCallister isn’t quite ready to face the facts of his life, and I don’t want to be anywhere near him when the volcano erupts .

Chapter Two
    Same, Same; Always, Always

    A bby hooked Daisy to her harness and checked to make sure the light switch was in the off position. Her last session ended at six thirty ― later than usual―but she’d adjusted her schedule as a professional courtesy to a physician patient. Cleo left for the day, and Ellie took off early to study for an exam.
    She locked the door to her office, a two-room suite on the first floor of the Data Resource Building , walked through the main lobby and down the narrow hall toward the side exit. The sound of footsteps followed. She stopped to listen. The hall went quiet. Unless someone stayed to work late, everyone left the building by six on Friday.
    “Is that you, Mike? Shawna?” When neither the night watchman nor the cleaning woman responded, she continued toward the door, sure her ears were playing tricks.
    There it is again! The soft tap-tap of steps, nearer now.
    She stopped. So did the footsteps. “Who’s there?” Still no answer. Why isn’t someone answering? The hairs on her arms stood erect, charged with electricity. She possessed an uncanny ability to feel another presence, as if all her nerve endings put out tiny sensors. Someone prowled the hall. Daisy emitted a low growl from the back of her throat. Pulse racing, Abby hurried to the side door and pushed against it. Locked. This door was never locked from the inside. “Stay, Daisy,” she said, releasing the harness to fish inside her purse for her keys.
    One of the hall doors squeaked, and a whisper of air floated across the back of her neck. And something else. A spicy scent. What was it? Cloves. Daisy turned around against her leg.
    “Stay,” she repeated, willing herself calm. Damn. Who could have locked the door, and where in hell are my keys? She always put her keys in the outside zippered compartment of her purse. That’s how she lived life. Count your steps. Listen to the sounds. Put everything in the same place. Same, same, same. Always, always, always.
    Then she remembered. Ellie borrowed the keys to get into the stockroom and returned them to the wrong place. Her trembling hands worked against her as she fumbled through the contents of the purse. She felt the narrow hallway closing in, trapping her inside. Daisy’s muffled growl, deep in her throat, proved someone lurked nearby.
    Finally. She dug out the keys from an inside pocket and felt for the key slot with her left hand while guiding the key with her right. Her hands shook so much she couldn’t get it to slide in. Another sound behind her. Her body tensed, waiting for whoever skulked behind her to attack. She twisted the key to a dead stop. Damn, why wouldn’t it turn? Pushing deeper, she managed to rotate it and turn the latch. She thrust against the door and burst outside, grabbing Daisy’s harness on the way. She wanted to run as fast and as far as she could, but instead fell back against the building wall, still shaking, gulping fresh air into her lungs. Sweat oozed from every pore, plastering her blouse to her back.
    I’m out in the open. Can anyone see me? She didn’t want to appear hysterical, but the urge to scream welled inside her, and she swallowed hard to prevent the wail from escaping.
    The familiar trumpet of the horn sounded, and Abby felt a wave of gratitude that her taxi had arrived on time. “Taxi, Daisy.” Her dog knew the routine and led the way. James, her regular driver, opened the back door and took her arm.
    “Are you okay, Doctor Gallant? You look like you’ve seen a gho —I meant—”
    “It’s okay, James. I know what you meant. I thought I heard someone behind me. Do you see anyone coming out of the building?”
    “No, just you is all. Want me to go look?”
    “No, no. I’m sure it was my overactive imagination. I’ll be fine.” He helped her into the back seat after Daisy bounded in. That had to be it. The sound of my own footsteps echoing in the empty hallway. She chalked up the spicy odor to more imagination. Sure she solved the mystery, she relaxed, and her heart rate returned to normal.
    Before James drove across town to her three-bedroom ranch, Abby requested a