Tower of Light (Under The Cowl Book #2)

CHAPTER 9

     Jessica thought maybe tonight her luck could change. She'd find everyone from her A.A. and N.A group already inside. At least then she'd have the option of bailing on tonight's meeting.

No, her court appointed Tuesday nights of tears and self-pity, stories of drunken or drugged out debacles from poor saps she'll be sitting beside, had Dr. Susan Wright ushering them in like cattle. And no one was ready to unearth their greatest shame.

So what story did Casey sell to sit among these degenerates?

There was no turning back anyway. Susan had already spotted Jessica. The good doctor with her clipboard tucked under her arm waved Jessica down to hurry along. Already she missed two weeks and four sessions of her appointed meetings. A number she didn't recognized appeared on her phone after she missed her second meeting. The caller didn't leave a message, but Jessica could guess that it was Susan checking in on her.

"I almost had a bench warrant put out on you."

A joke judging by her expression, a corny mom joke Susan will test out on the older crowd once in a while. "Oh, do you moonlight as a judge now too."

"I dabble in stand-up."

"You might want to dabble in something else."

"You missed a couple of meetings?" she pointed, bringing their banter to an end. "What happened?"

"We?"

"I think you know when I say we it means we. I even had to shake a few trees to get your number."

"Is it really a big deal that I missed another story of woe I'm suppose to learn from?"

"Are you telling me group therapy doesn't work?"

"I find that your motivational rhetoric delivers us fully from our vices."

"You can't hide behind your snark forever. I heard about what happened at your apartment." Susan quickly changed the playful back and forth between them to a more serious tone. "I'm glad to know that you're alright. No thanks to you."

Jessica could not only hear the genuine relief from Susan, but also the disappointment. The barrage of questions, the eagerness to hear a story she can't necessarily tell without the chance of exposing her secret identity. The local news covered the story and interviewed a few of the residents. Some reported that they heard loud screaming, a domestic dispute coming from upstairs before the explosion. "And what was it you heard?"

"Something that caught the attention of the police."

"Does that mean they came to see you?"

"Did you do something they should be worried about?"

"Because of the neighborhood I live in and the record I have the police may want to guide the needle towards something drug related."

"Is it?"

"You want to have me pee in a cup?"

"No, I trust you."

Susan's readiness to back off caught Jessica off guard.  Most of the time their banter turned heated. This was different. "Really? That's not like you."

"I've been around addicts for more than twenty years, so I know when someone is high."

"You don't know me."

"I don't know. Something about you tells me that you know how to control yourself better than others."

"Thanks?"