And damn, that red shirt looked way hotter on her than it had on whatever her name was.

I expected her to want to get right down to business—she’d expect me to start spilling about the key or lack thereof.

But she didn’t.

She gave me a quick hug and then pressed something into my hand.

I looked down. It was a business card.

“Dr. Alison Woolcott?” I asked.

“Yup. The best in the state, I’ve heard.”

“At what?”

She cleared her throat. “Guided hypnosis. I made an appointment for Lacey today.”

“Oh.”

“That’s who Lace chose, but if you’re more comfortable with a male therapist, she has a partner, Dr. Brett Aldrich, who’s supposed to be nearly as good.”

“I…uh…”

“No pressure,” she said. “You go on your own time. But…”

“But what?”

“Your own time is of the essence, with all of you being persons of interest in your dad’s murder.”

I couldn’t help a chuckle. “Go on my own time, you say. But not on my own time, really.”

She sighed. “Roy, it’s up to you. But it’s also up to you to get to the bottom of this if you think it will help you and your brothers and sister. You know that. You don’t need me to spell it out for you.”

I nodded. What else could I do?

“When is Lacey going in?”

“Monday at noon. Over lunch. It was all Dr. Woolcott had available on such short notice, other than evenings.”

“She was willing to give up her lunch hour?”

“Lace? Or the doctor? They both were.”

“Why?”

“Lace because she wants to remember the name of the woman on the settlement agreement. The doctor because we’re paying three times her normal fee.”

“I see. That doesn’t bode well for a doctor.”

“It bodes just fine. We offered.”

“She didn’t have to accept.”

“Why wouldn’t she? If someone asked me to skip lunch to do my normal work for three times what I make in an hour, I’d do it like that.” She snapped her fingers.

She was right. I was just being a pain for the sake of being a pain. And the fact that guided hypnosis scared the shit out of me.

“If she’s booked—”

“She has evening hours. It costs a little more, but I think you might be able to afford it.”

“Ha ha,” I said. “I ordered dinner.”

She inhaled. “I can tell. It smells great. Italian?”

“Northern Italian, yeah.”

“We’ll have to eat quickly, then. Your appointment is at eight.”

I twisted my head so far I nearly cracked my neck. “Say what?”

“I took the liberty of—”

“So all that ‘in your own time’ was bullshit, huh?”

“No.”

“Give me a break.”