Take a Risk

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO

“I’m telling you, honestly, Doctor Cutler, I’m so horny that purple statue thing over there is looking hot to me right now.”

Displayed on a side dresser in her first-floor office, the steel statue was fashioned like a single teardrop flame with a similar shaped hole near the bulge at the base.

For a moment, both Lyssa and her patient focused on it. “Let’s keep this in perspective,” she said. “Your wife is still accommodating you. You said that you had s*x twice last week and three times the week before.”

“Yeah, but you don’t understand.” Her fidgety patient ran a hand through his hair. “When we got together, we were at it all the time, constantly, now it’s like no big deal to her.”

“You got together when you were eighteen,” she said. “You’ve been together for twenty years and had three children. Relationships develop over time, they progress. We can’t expect things to stay the same forever. You’ve had some success with my suggestions to entice Harriet.”

“The thing is, there’s this girl at work and man, oh, man. She’s calling to me. We had lunch the other day and my leg brushed hers under the table. I had a b***r the rest of the day.”

Lyssa put her notebook on the circular table next to her leather armchair. “The first thing you told me when we started our sessions was that you loved your wife very much. You were determined to stay faithful. Has your stance changed?”

“No! I love Harriet and I do want to be with her, only her… she’s just not meeting my needs.”

Glancing at the clock she offered Lee Zucker a smile. “We’ll pick up there next week, Lee,” she said. “Just take it one day at a time. Try not to act on impulse and remember where your priorities lie.”

She scheduled his next appointment and they said goodbye. After he left, she went to her desk and updated patient notes on her laptop.

Her office and waiting room were on the first floor of the house. A basement beneath was storage and her home was laid over the second and third floors. There was attic space too, which she’d talked about converting, but hadn’t acted on yet.

She didn’t need more space. The two-bedroom house suited her. After enduring hectic med school and a marriage that didn’t fit, enjoying her own space was a dream.

“Hello!”

Lyssa had just closed Lee’s file when Suzette poked her head around the office door.

“Hey,” Lyssa said. “I’m done, just let me get changed and we’ll go.”

“Dinner and drinks, then we hunt for your white knight.”

Lyssa grabbed her purse while the computer shut down. “This Trapper guy could be a nut too, you know.”

Her friend huffed. “I am not going to let you back out of this.”

“We could be inviting trouble,” Lyssa said, guiding Suzette out of the office.

They went upstairs to the main reception room at the front of the house. It encompassed her living room and kitchen. While Lyssa kicked off her shoes and wriggled out of her pantyhose, Suzette poured wine.

“Since when do you avoid trouble?”

“Trouble can be interesting,” Lyssa conceded, wiggling her toes.

“Trouble is what you’ve been in for months,” Suzette said. “This weirdo stalker is taking over your life and the police won’t do a thing.”

She went to the kitchen to accept the proffered wine. “Don’t get upset again. The police can’t do anything because there’s no evidence. They can’t pursue a person no one can identify.”

“Which is why we’re going to Risqué.”

According to the internet, Risqué was a strip joint bordering the red-light district.

“All Chavez said was to go to the bar and ask for Trapper, doesn’t that sound…”

Sinister. Ominous… Crazy?

“The cop chased us down with an off the record referral. We have to go, and it has to be tonight. What if there’s no second chance? Aren’t you curious?”

Yes, of course, but she was meant to be the sensible one. “The cops are powerless, maybe he felt bad about that. They can’t stakeout my house for months waiting for this guy to show up.”

“The cops can’t do anything? Fine. Maybe this Trapper guy can. He could provide security. At least you’d get a decent night’s sleep.”

“Chavez said that Trapper wasn’t security. He said he’d solve my problem.”

“It’s this or you come and stay with me. Pete and I would love to have you. If it would make you feel safer—”

“No,” Lyssa said, taking her wine over to the living room couch. “I won’t lead this potentially dangerous person to your place.” Rubbing the back of her neck, she rolled her head. “I wish I knew who it was. Not knowing is the worst part.”

“We’re going to find out,” Suzette said, sitting down to take her hand. “That’s why we have to go. If we don’t, anything could happen. Do you want the crazy stalker to catch up with you? Do you want to regret not giving this Trapper a shot? You’ll regret it if the stalker r***s and guts you.”

“Fine,” Lyssa groaned, putting her wine in Suzette’s hand. “I’ll go and get ready… I’ll need a few more glasses of wine to loosen me up.”

“No argument here!” Suzette called.

Lyssa retreated to the bedroom to change out of her work clothes. Freeing herself of the stalker had to be a priority. The cops were clear that there was nothing they could do. She didn’t blame them for their skepticism either. Evidence was sparse.

Even if pity was Officer Chavez’s motivation, she shouldn’t flout the opportunity. Suzette was right, passing up the possibility Trapper could help would be madness.

It could be a one-time deal.

Desperation was closer than she’d like. Some of her clients experienced that edge and it could escalate into dangerous territory quickly.

The tip had come from a cop. That gave confidence. It had to be legitimate. To sleep through the night again, she needed to have faith in her friend and in Officer Miguel Chavez.