Jamie Brodie 02 - Hoarded to Death

boyfriend again after about a year, and started coming around again, but I was dating other people and was a little reluctant to get involved with him again. It wasn't until just this past June that we got back together. And that wasn't intentional, at least not on my part...I got burned out of my apartment and went to stay with Pete while it was being fixed, and...I never left."
    Dr. Bibbins nodded and made a few more notes. “Did you live together the first time you dated?”
    “No.”
    “And this time, you jumped right into living together.”
    “Yes.”
    “What are your thoughts on that?”
    “Um…at first, I guess, it felt really temporary to me. But now it’s been six months, and I – I’m feeling more secure. But now Pete’s the insecure one.”
    "I get the sense that you hadn’t entirely resolved your insecurity. And now you’ve had another abrupt, life-altering shift in your relationship, but this time you feel that you have to be the solid one. And that’s a new role for you.”
    I sighed. “That’s exactly right.”
    “Okay.” She glanced at her watch. “I’m afraid our time is up for today, but we’ll pick this back up next week. Until then, I have some homework for you. I want you to tell Pete that you’re seeing me.”
    Ack . “You think that’s a good idea?”
    “Yes, I do, for two reasons. First, it’s particularly important in this phase of your relationship that you not keep things from each other. Second, seeing that you’re willing to work on this issue may help him feel believe in your commitment to the relationship.”
    “Okay. That makes sense.”
    “Good.” Dr. Bibbins stood. I followed suit, and we shook hands. “I’ll see you next week.”
    “Yes, m...um, thank you.”
    She saw me out with a smile.
    Heading back to the library, I was mulling over everything Dr. Bibbins had said when I remembered that I hadn’t turned my phone back on yet. I did, and immediately saw that I had a text message from Kevin.
    “Q. Brashier found shot to death. Shop assistant missing. Call me.”
    I stopped in my tracks. “Oh, fuck .” A couple of passing students looked my way and snickered. I hit the “call” button and Kevin answered on the first ring. “Hey.”
    “Hey, I got your text. What happened?”
    “Brashier’s last known customer left the shop yesterday at 4:15. Around midnight, the shopping plaza security guard made his first sweep past the shop, and noticed that the lights were still on. He went to check it out, and the Closed sign was turned, but the front door was unlocked. He walked in and found Brashier behind the counter. Shot three times in the chest. Nothing else was disturbed in the shop, although we don’t know if anything’s missing. Except for the assistant, who is nowhere to be found.”
    “Holy shit . So Paulo is your primary suspect?”
    “Well, let’s just say that we want to talk to him very badly.”
    “So much for Brashier being the mastermind behind all this, huh?”
    “Maybe. We’re still not sure how involved he was, but now we know there’s someone else out there.”
    “Okay. Thanks for letting me know.”
    “Sure. I figured the kid might have that card with your fake phone number on it. If you get a call from him, you know what to do.”
    “Right. Get him to come in.”
    “You got it. See ya.” He hung up.
    When I got home that evening, I filled Pete in on my conversation with Kevin. He was as stunned as I had been. “If the kid had been there, looks like he would have been killed too.”
    “Maybe he wasn’t there.”
    “Do you think he’ll call you?”
    “Nah. I doubt he’s still got that card.”
    Pete hadn’t been home long, so he hadn’t started dinner yet. “You hungry?”
    “Yeah.”
    He stuck his head in the refrigerator and frowned. “How about going out?”
    “Sounds good.” We decided to go around the corner for Indian food. When we got settled, I decided the time was right. “Hey, I have something to tell you.”
    Pete raised his eyebrows at me. “That sounds potentially ominous.”
    Oh, great . “I hope not. I – um – I had a first appointment today with a counselor through our EAP.”
    Pete was quiet for a moment. “Okay…why?”
    “Because I needed to talk to someone else about…about us, and what happened to you, and how it’s affecting our relationship, and how I feel about it. I can’t talk to anyone I know, obviously, and I had to talk to someone. And I want to make sure that I