WILD [JENLISA]

29

Still in her pajamas at ten o'clock in the morning, Jennie stretched out on her couch with a large bowl of cereal and an oversized spoon, ready for a long, pathetic Saturday at home. Going out was hardly worth the effort. She didn't want to do anything outside her own four walls badly enough to justify dragging San Francisco's finest along.

Besides, in her apartment she didn't have to worry about watching her back. Out in the city streets, everything seemed ominous these days.

Picking up the remote, Jennie clicked on the television just as her cell phone buzzed its way toward the edge of the coffee table. She sighed, muting the sound of the black-and-white movie playing onscreen. When she looked at the cell phone's display and saw Lisa's number flashing, her stomach twisted. Two weeks had passed since their argument and this was the first time Lisa had called. Their only communication had been the text message Lisa sent the morning after, saying she loved Jennie and wished she had the courage to explain. Jennie had taken that as goodbye. Not having expected to hear from Lisa again, she was torn about what to do.

Part of her wanted to ignore the call. If their relationship hadn't been important enough for Lisa to fight for two weeks ago, Jennie didn't know what Lisa could possibly say to fix things now. But the bigger part of her, the part that desperately missed the way she felt when they were together, wanted to give Lisa a chance to try.

Swallowing against the lump in her throat, Jennie answered the phone. "Hello."

"Jennie." At the sound of Lisa's voice, so full of emotion, the lump grew bigger, nearly choking her. "Thank you for taking my call."

"What do you want?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Okay." Jennie set down her bowl of cereal, no longer hungry. "Talk."

"Not on the phone. May I come over?"

Jennie closed her eyes. She wanted Lisa to do just that more than anything. But not this Lisa, she yearned for the Lisa she could trust, the one who could somehow make all her troubles melt away. Who shrank the world down to just the two of them, so connected in the safety of their little bubble that nothing else seemed to matter. Jennie didn't have the energy to deal with Lisa the liar, the coward who refused to take responsibility for her actions.

Jennie shook her head. "I can't do this, Lisa. I really can't. There's too much crazy in my life at the moment to deal with what happened between us. Maybe later. Just not right now."

A long, uncomfortable silence stretched out before Lisa spoke. "I deserve that, I know. But I need to tell you something important about the man who's stalking you."

"What?"

"Let me come over and I'll explain, everything. I promise."

Shocked, Jennie tried to imagine what information Lisa could possibly have. Even knowing that Lisa had called in the first victim's body to the police, never once had Jennie truly believed that Lisa knew more than she let on. It had seemed impossible that she could hold back, knowing Jennie's safety was on the line.

Clearly she'd never really known Lisa at all.

Wary, Jennie said, "If you have information about the case, I can set up an interview for you with Detective Bae. You can tell Irene whatever you think we should know."

"No, I can't." Urgency permeated Lisa's tone. "This is something I need to tell you. Then you can help me decide how, and what, to tell Irene."

"How about you talk to me with Irene present in the room?"

"Some of what I need to tell you, Irene can't know." As though aware of how much she was asking, Lisa sighed deeply. When she spoke again, she sounded on the verge of tears. "Please trust me, Jennie. You know I'd never hurt you. Right?"