Loves Redemption by Kimberly Kaye Terry

as well as who she was keeping company with before she was killed.”

    “Hmm.” The Lieutenant murmured, “That’s fine. I’ll clear it with the department, but it
    shouldn’t be a problem bringing Dr. Richardson on board. Bring her in as soon as she’s available and we’ll go from there.”

    After Mark finished the meeting with the lieutenant, the remainder of the day was filled
    with him and Jordan following up on leads. Looking at the wall clock, he decided to retire for the evening and pick it up tomorrow. He glanced over at Jordan and noticed he was checking out the time.

    “I don’t know about you but I’m tired. Man, it was a long weekend, if you know what I
    mean.” With a satisfied smile on his face Jordan stood to stretch out his long body. “I’m going home for some much needed rest. What about you?”

    “I don’t think my weekend was as pleasurable as yours. I’m tired for an entirely different
    reason,” he said with envy.

    He knew it was too soon with Maya, but he wished he was tired for the same reasons
    Jordan was. However his fatigue was associated with his inability to get her out of his mind and go to sleep, unfortunately. “I’m leaving too; I’m going to make one more call before I go.”

    “I’ll see you in the morning, partner.” After saying goodnight, Jordan left Mark to make
    his call.

    Picking up the phone, he decided to see if he could catch Maya at Imani House. It was
    late, and he suspected she was long gone for the night. As he waited for her voice mail to pick up, he was surprised when the phone was picked up on the fifth ring with her breathless, “Hello.”

    Surprised he once again looked at the clock. “Hi Maya, are you okay?” he asked. She
    sounded completely out of breath.

    “Mark? Yes, I’m fine. Sometimes I have a hard time locating my telephone,” she
    admitted with a light laugh.

    “I didn’t think I’d catch you still at work. I expected to leave a message on your voice
    mail.” Mark settled back into his chair, an unknowing smile on his face.

    “I’m usually at the House until around eight or so, sometimes later. Today was busy. I
    searched for a replacement for one of tonight’s group sessions and I couldn’t find one, so I conducted it.”

    As she spoke, Mark picked up on her need to help everyone. He wondered if it was at the
    expense of her well-being. He didn’t want to voice his opinion on such short acquaintance, so he kept his observation to himself.

    “At any rate, I’m finished for the evening and was on my way out when the phone rang.”
    she finished telling him.

    “I don’t want to keep you, Maya. Lieutenant Hernandez thinks it would be a great idea
    for you to consult with the department on the slayer case, if you’re still interested. But I know you have a heavy workload. I don’t want to add to your burden.”

    “Thanks for the concern, Mark, but if I didn’t think that I could handle it, I wouldn’t do
    it. I may seem like a masochist, but I’m not. I enjoy what I do. If I didn’t I wouldn’t be able to put in the time without having serious resentment issues, and I have none. Believe me, when I do begin to feel a little run down, I take a break.

    “Honestly, I do. Although I’m the only full-time psychologist here, I do have a colleague
    who devotes some of his spare time here on a volunteer basis. Once in a blue moon, I’ll take a day or two off, and he’s happy to fill in for me.”

    “I’ll take note. That’s good to know for the future.” Clearing his throat he continued.
    “The lieutenant wants to set up a time for you to come in so that you can be filled in on both the particulars of the case and police protocol, and we can come to a mutual agreement on what we’d like from you as a consultant.” He tried to squash his guilt over his need to have her available by telling himself it was for the investigation.

    “Give me the time, and I’ll put it on my schedule.”

    He secured a