Kate was furious.
She stood at the nurse’s station in her Vancouver East Emergency Room, hands wrapped around a takeout cup of coffee. It was lukewarm. Cold, really. But she tried to let it calm her, to let her anger dissipate into the familiar noise and movement of the morning rush. She was vaguely aware of the four med students who had been shadowing her for the past week as they whispered quietly to each other. It was the perfect opportunity to walk them through the trauma they’d just seen. Time to teach them about the crucial skills of team communication and have them identify the critical components of airway-breathing-circulation in the sixteen-year-old stabbing victim they’d just watched Kate work on for the last hour. But Kate was too angry still to do any of that, not after having to weather the insults and accusations from a trauma surgeon with a superiority complex. So she stood with her coffee, looking down at the e-Chart of the kid they’d just lost, trying to pull herself together.
“Don’t you see patients of your own anymore, Morrison? Or do you just turn up at traumas to show us how it’s done?” Craig dropped his e-Chart carelessly on the desk, rubbing the heels of his palms into his eyes. He was at the end of a double shift, and it showed.
“Funny,” Kate said shortly. Craig was her closest friend and ally at Van East. Apparently, Kate didn’t have the patience for anyone today.
Craig looked at Kate through bloodshot eyes. “Don’t let him get to you. Davidson’s an asshole, and you know it. He couldn’t have saved that kid if he’d been standing in the ambulance bay with his scalpel in hand.”
Kate grunted noncommittally, though she did feel a bit better hearing it from someone else. The med students shuffled uneasily behind them, and Kate tried to pull her day back into focus. She turned to them, their faces eager, unsure, and possibly bored.
“Each of you find a case. I want a complete history and treatment options, no input from each other or the residents. And don’t get in the way of the nurses. Find me in an hour.”
They scurried away, and Kate felt a pang of guilt. Usually she looked forward to medical students. They forced people to think about what they were doing and why. And they often provided comic relief for those who had been here too long. Kate wasn’t sure if it was this cohort or whether she was generally feeling impatient, but somehow these med students made her feel old. Old and tired.
“Is it me or are the med students getting younger?” Craig’s voice was plaintive.
This time Kate cracked a smile. “I was just thinking the same thing. It’s possible, Dr. Nielson, that we are getting old.”
“God, I feel it today,” he groaned.
A nurse stopped Craig to follow up with a patient, and Kate took the last few moments to look out through the window. When she had left her apartment just a few hours ago, it had been a gentle, warm morning with just the subtlest hint summer was behind them and a wet, cool season was slowly making its way over the mountains.
Just then a familiar, uniformed figure came in through the revolving doors. Kate’s heart gave a quick kick at the sight of Andy in her RCMP uniform, a windbreaker over the light grey shirt and soft body armour vest. Out of habit, Andy scanned the room as she walked in and Kate smiled as Andy’s clear grey eyes came to rest on her. Andy stopped, one finger hooked into her belt, holding a coffee in one hand, her shoulders back, her almost six-foot frame looking every inch the RCMP sergeant she was. Andy gave a slow smile, and even across the room, to Kate it felt like a private moment, as if that look could only ever be for her.
They’d been back from Seattle four months. They’d returned from their too-brief stay in the Montana mountains, love-drenched and happy, to a frenzy of media attention. It had been overwhelming, more so given they were trying to navigate the beginning of their relationship. All Kate wanted to do was turn around and hide out with Andy in the small cabin they’d shared for three days. Things settled down, and now life had almost returned to normal. Except the part where Andy walked casually into her ER, and Kate still reacted like a schoolkid with a crush.
Andy walked up to the nurse’s station, and Kate put down her cold coffee, accepting the scalding one from Andy in return.
“Hi,” Kate said quietly. “You’re lucky you caught me.”
“Lucky, yes,” Andy said. Her smile was brilliant, beautiful.
Kate sought out the details of Andy’s face she knew so well now. The soft lines at the corner of her eyes when she smiled, her blond hair pulled back off her face, even her straight posture which would relax the moment Kate’s hand drew a line down her spine.
“I thought you’d be home sleeping by now,” Kate said, taking in the circles just visible under Andy’s eyes. Kate knew Andy had worked an overnight. She should be at her apartment already, sleeping.
“Something came up,” Andy told her with a small, knowing smile. It had become an all-encompassing catch phrase for both of them. It could mean anything: a trauma, a distraught family, a deadline, a new lead, one more patient, one more phone call. Often it simply meant they’d lost track of time and had gone over their shift. Until now, neither of them had someone waiting for them who could compete with their work.
“And I take it that something isn’t resolved, since you’re here in uniform,” Kate said, digging.
“Finns caught me just as I was heading off shift. He’s handed me an out-of-district case, apparently at the superintendent’s request.”
“Which means what?” Kate asked. She transferred the cup to her other hand, relieving the intense heat against her palm.
Craig interrupted before Andy could answer. “Sergeant Wyles, how’s life?”
Andy tipped her hat solemnly at Craig. “Dr. Nielson. I can’t complain.”
“You’re in the wrong place for not complaining,” Craig said, half serious. He brightened quickly. “Hey, you guys should come by for dinner this weekend. Anya’s been asking for weeks.”
Kate answered for them both. “We’re heading up to Andy’s parents place next weekend for her brother’s fortieth birthday.”
“Is this the first time you’re meeting the family?” Craig asked, looking interested.
“Yep,” Kate said.
“Are you nervous?”
“I’ve never gone home to meet my girlfriend’s family before. What if I do it wrong?” Kate answered Craig’s questions but kept her eyes on Andy. She simply smiled reassuringly.
Craig picked up his e-Chart, shaking his head. “I’m pretty sure all the same rules apply, Morrison. I’ll tell Anya we’ll aim for end of September.” With a quickly sketched farewell, Craig left to see patients.
Kate took their moment of silence to sip her hot coffee. It was absolute heaven. “So, you were telling me about an out-of-district case?” she asked Andy.
“Right. I’ll be heading up north for an overnight to check out a situation in Hidden Valley. They’ve got someone up there, but Finns wants me to check in. I’m sure the local detachment is going to love that,” Andy said with a wry smile.
“When are you back?” Kate said, trying not to let her disappointment show. Her work hours had ruined their fair share of plans, too.
“I’m supposed to be done by noon, so I should be back in the city around four tomorrow.”
“Sure, and my shift should be done at seven,” Kate muttered under her breath, making Andy laugh. “So this is suck-up coffee, then,” Kate said, indicating the cup in her hand.
“Something like that.” Andy lowered her voice before she spoke again. “I also thought maybe you had a hard night.” Kate could see Andy scanning her eyes, gauging her reaction. Kate knew she didn’t need to bother. She could never keep anything from Andy.
Kate shrugged in response.
“I thought so.”
“Practicing mind reading, are you?” Kate said, trying to lighten the mood.
“No, I stopped by your place earlier. I was hoping to catch you before you left.”
Kate’s heart skipped at the thought, and she pictured Andy using the key she had given her to come into the apartment. She imagined the surprise of seeing Andy as she was getting ready for work, imagined kissing her in the kitchen…
Kate shook her head, the knot of curls bouncing against the back of her neck. She still struggled with how strong her feelings were for Andy. How she had to temper them in public. She’d never felt like this, not about anybody, not once.
“Why does that make you think I had a hard night?” she asked, focusing on Andy’s words.
“There was a pot of tea by the sink and the bed was made. You only drink tea when you can’t sleep, and you only make the bed in the morning when you wake up before the alarm,” Andy said.
Kate didn’t say anything as she looked out over the ER. One of her med students wrote furiously in a chart as the patient, clearly enjoying the captive audience, gave what looked like his entire life story. Kate considered going to rescue him, then changed her mind.
“Nightmares?” Andy asked softly, bringing her back.
Kate gave her a tight, humourless smile. Andy sighed, looking down at Kate’s left arm. Kate controlled the urge to touch the perfectly healed but still pink scar that encircled her arm just below her elbow. She knew it would only make the grim look on Andy’s face that much worse.
“I’m fine.”
Which was entirely true. Most of the time, she never thought about those few terrifying hours when a deranged man had tried to remove the skin of her arms and hands. She didn’t have panic attacks or flashbacks, and she didn’t spend any time thinking about what had almost happened. But sometimes while she slept, Angler showed up in her dreams. He never did anything, just stood back with a smirk on his face and watched her. His inaction was somehow more frightening than anything he could say or do in her dreams.
“I’m fine,” she said more firmly, until Andy tore her eyes away from the scar on Kate’s arm. Kate knew that scar haunted Andy, but she couldn’t figure out how to make that stop.
One of Kate’s med students sidled up to the nurse’s station, eyes on her chart. She started to speak to Kate, then seemed to realize she’d walked into a private conversation. The woman blushed, squeaked, and shuffled down the hallway, obviously waiting until Kate was done.
“I guess my five minutes are up,” Andy said, shifting the belt around her hips. “What time are you off tomorrow?”
“Same as today, seven.”
“See you at your place then?” Andy said. They spent most of their time together at Kate’s small, one-bedroom Mount Pleasant apartment. Having Andy there already felt familiar.
“Yes.”
They had a silent, charged moment as they looked at each other. Kate felt Andy give the smallest of sighs, a gesture she was sure Andy had not meant for her to catch. Kate stretched up suddenly and touched her lips to Andy’s with the lightest, most fleeting touch.
“See you tomorrow,” Kate said, listening to the rapid, erratic pounding of the blood in her veins. They had not been together long enough for a kiss, even a brief, public kiss to be anything but a promise for more the next time they were alone together.
Andy backed away, eyes dancing. “See you tomorrow.”
*
Kate ran her bare feet over the smooth surface of her hardwood floors, finding the knots and grooves with her toes. She was sitting on the oversized beige couch in her living room wearing the scrubs she’d had to change into at the hospital after a catheterization gone awry. She was trying to focus on the report in front of her. Her supervisor, Dr. Angstrom, had caught her just before her shift ended to tell her the trauma surgeon from the day before had registered a complaint against the ER. Kate, already exhausted after another long shift of trying to see and treat her walk-in patients, direct traumas as they screamed into the ER, and keep an eye on her med students, had not handled his criticism and condescension well. She’d defended herself, Angstrom hadn’t listened, Kate had pushed, and Angstrom had stuck her on a committee to prove he was managing his team. And to top it all off, he’d reminded her that the medical student profiles and resident schedules were already two days late, and he expected them by the next morning. Defeated, Kate had said nothing more.
Pushing thoughts of her supervisor away, Kate looked at her phone. It was seven thirty and still no new messages. Andy had texted her earlier, saying she’d be late. It was to be expected, really, in this long day that had no end. Focus, Kate demanded of herself. She wanted to be done by the time Andy arrived. Kate’s stomach flipped at the thought. Focus.
She was rearranging the residents’ schedules when she heard the key in the lock and Andy walked in, still in uniform, and dropped her bag by the front door. With her grey eyes on Kate and a slight smile on her face, Andy pulled off her windbreaker and hung it on the hook by the door. Sitting perfectly still on the couch, Kate watched as Andy pulled off her soft body armour vest, the Velcro sounding loud in the silence, and hung it with her jacket. Still, neither of them said anything, though Kate was suddenly very aware of the blood pounding through her body as Andy pulled at the belt around her waist, the sly grin still playing about her lips. Once Andy had hung her belt on the hook, she put her hands in her pockets, her dark pants with the distinctive yellow stripes down the sides hanging low on her hips.
“Hi,” Andy said, leaning against the doorway. Her eyes hadn’t left Kate’s from the moment she’d walked in the door. Kate remembered to breathe.
“Twenty minutes,” Kate said finally. “I need twenty minutes to finish this report for Angstrom.”
“Sure.”
Kate watched Andy unclip the holstered revolver from her belt hanging by the door. She knew Andy would put it on the bedside table in the bedroom, as she always did. What Kate didn’t know was whether or not Andy had always done this, or whether it was because of what happened the morning Angler had broken into their hotel room and taken Kate away. Kate couldn’t bring herself to ask.
On her way by, Andy leaned down and kissed Kate lightly on her lips.
“Sorry I’m late,” she whispered, and then she kept walking back towards the bedroom.
Kate tried to focus on the schedules in front of her, but the dates, times, and names blurred together as she listened to Andy moving around her apartment. She felt the soft tread of Andy’s feet on the floorboards, heard water splashing in the sink in the bathroom through the half-open door. Then, as Kate randomly began assigning names to boxes on the chart in front of her, she felt Andy climb over the back of the couch, sliding down behind her, long legs coming to rest on either side of her. Andy still had on her uniform pants, though her feet were bare and Kate could see the delicate bones, her high arches, the runner’s calluses. Kate very much wanted to run her fingers over Andy’s bare feet, up her calves, over her knees and thighs.
“I’m almost done,” Kate said, gripping the pen tightly in her hand.
“I can be patient,” Andy said and sat very still. That didn’t stop Kate from feeling the heat coming from her body.
Kate had only filled in three more boxes when she felt Andy’s hands on her back, fingers tracing the shape of her curved spine as she hunched over the report. Kate smiled to herself and closed her eyes as Andy reached under her shirt, fingers slightly chilled against her skin.
“Liar,” Kate said, throwing down her pen.
Andy slid one hand around Kate’s waist, pulling her back until they were pressed together. Kate tilted her head against Andy’s shoulder, feeling Andy’s lips on her neck as she ran her hands over Andy’s bare arms.
“Did you overestimate your patience?” Kate asked, her eyes still closed.
“More like I underestimated how sexy you are in scrubs.”
With a quick movement, Andy pulled Kate’s shirt over her head, ran her hand down her back, and unclipped her bra, pushing it off her shoulders. Kate could feel the hardness of Andy’s nipples through the thin cotton of her sports bra as Andy leaned back into the thick couch cushions, pulling Kate with her. Kate gripped Andy’s legs, feeling the muscles underneath her fingers as Andy ran her hands over Kate’s body. Kate pushed back into her hard and heard Andy respond with a groan in Kate’s ear and a thrust of her hips, so she did it again and felt Andy’s teeth on her shoulder. Kate tried to sit up. She wanted to face Andy, to be able to touch her. But Andy anticipated her movement and gripped her hard around the waist. Kate tried to fight back, but Andy wrapped her legs around Kate’s, pinning her. Kate dug her fingers high into Andy’s thighs and Andy pulled against her calves, spreading her legs farther. Kate, groaning, gave in, and she could feel Andy smile into her neck as she submitted to Andy.
Andy resumed her exploration of Kate’s body, with one hand this time, the other still binding them tightly together. Kate knew her body had not been loved so completely or unself-consciously before Andy. It had been like that from the beginning, that first time in the hotel and then the three days in the cabin where Kate had learned the language of loving Andy. No thoughts then, as Andy moved her hand past the waistband of her scrubs. And as Andy’s fingers finally found what they were seeking, her moan of pleasure was as loud as Kate’s. No thoughts, just the sound of her own ragged breathing, the exertion of straining against Andy’s hold on her, the feel of her fingers between her legs, circling and stroking again and again until Kate couldn’t contain it anymore and her body arched into orgasm, the sensation lasting an exquisitely long time, ending with Andy’s satisfied sigh in her ear.
Andy was quiet behind her, though Kate could feel the tension in her body. Andy released her and Kate stood up shakily, turning to see Andy properly for the first time. God, she was beautiful. With her hair slightly chaotic now around her bare shoulders, just a white sports bra showing off her athletic body, her pants low on her hips showing the waistband of her boy-cut baby blue briefs. Kate could also see the jagged, thick scar just above Andy’s left hip, the result of stitches from a gunshot wound being violently ripped open twice. Before Kate could think about it, Andy reached out and pulled Kate to her, the urgency of her lips betraying her need. Kate ran her hands down Andy’s chest, reaching under her bra, seeking out her sensitive nipples. Finding them hard, she touched them lightly with her fingertips, then harder, circling and pinching then backing off and coming back again until Andy was breathing hard, gripping Kate’s hips, thrusting against her. Kate knew it wasn’t enough. She could feel Andy’s body aching for release, so she raised herself and reached between them to undo the button and zipper of Andy’s pants. Andy tilted her hips. Kate knew what she wanted, so she slipped two fingers inside, feeling all of Andy’s muscles tense as she leaned her head back against the couch, eyes closed.
But Kate didn’t want to make it that easy. She pulled back and raised herself just above Andy, kissing her throat, up to her ear, smothering Andy’s groan. She could feel Andy’s hands on her hips, pulling her down, but Kate resisted for just a moment longer, then slipped her fingers inside again, lowering herself onto Andy. She did it again and again until Andy, every muscle in her body vibrating, came against her, both their bodies rocking with the power of it until finally they fell against each other, spent.
Kate lay wrapped around Andy, lips against her neck, the air trapped and hot between them. Eventually she felt Andy lightly stroking her back until she shivered at the touch. She sat up and met Andy’s lazy, smiling gaze.
“How about a shower, and then I’ll make something to eat?” Andy said, arms now wrapped around Kate’s waist.
Kate ran her fingers through the loose ends of Andy’s blond hair. “Sounds like the perfect end to a shitty day.”
Andy searched Kate’s face. “Want to talk about it?”
Kate loved this about Andy. She understood that sometimes you wanted someone to share in the frustrations or heartache of your day, but some days there were just no words.
Kate decided to summarize. “Lost a sixteen-year-old, got into a playground fight with a trauma surgeon, pissed off Angstrom, and almost completely ignored my med students. And I got peed on.”
“A shitty day,” Andy confirmed, bringing one hand up to massage the back of Kate’s neck.
“Want to tell me about yours?”
Andy frowned, the furrow between her eyebrows becoming more pronounced, the corners of her mouth pulling tight. Her grey eyes told Kate she was wrestling with something.
“Sure, but while I make supper,” Andy said finally. “I think if we don’t get off the couch now we might not move again all night.”
Kate kissed Andy lightly on the corner of her mouth. “That’s not the worst idea I heard today,” she murmured but stood up, pulling Andy with her.
Half an hour later, Kate was sitting on the kitchen counter in her pyjamas, her red hair loose and damp around her shoulders. Night had fallen, and the air that came in through the partially open window was early October warm, bringing with it the sounds of the street three floors below. Andy pulled food from the fridge and cupboards, arranging items neatly on the counter. Kate watched as Andy, her grey T-shirt just hiding the blue briefs that hugged her thighs, washed vegetables in the sink. Kate loved to see Andy in her kitchen, moving around like she belonged here, like they belonged here together.
“So, what was the assignment that Finns gave you?” Kate asked, legs swinging against the worn wooden cupboards.
Andy kept her eyes down, carefully slicing red peppers into long, thin strips.
“I’m not really sure what to tell you about it, actually.”
“You mean what you’re allowed to tell me?” Andy shared a lot of her work with Kate, although she was also used to the unapologetic evasion.
“No, that’s not it. I just don’t have a handle on why I was sent up there,” she said, handing Kate a few slices of pepper before tipping the rest of them into the sizzling pan on the stove.
Kate chewed on the pepper, waiting. Andy chopped onions and zucchini with the same controlled deliberateness, the frown of concentration on her face having nothing to do with the task in front of her.
“Why don’t you start at the beginning?” Kate suggested.
Andy looked up from her completed knife work, then covered the short distance to kiss Kate lightly before opening the fridge and pulling out the ingredients for a sauce.
“Finns gave me a last-minute, out-of-district assignment, telling me Superintendent Heath has requested I personally go up to Hidden Valley and check out a situation there.” She paused and looked over at Kate. “Do you know anything about Hidden Valley?”
“Just that it’s north of Whistler, and my chances of affording a house there are about as good as Angstrom proposing marriage to me during my shift tomorrow.”
Andy laughed and whacked her on the leg with the back of a wooden spoon. “Yes, it’s crazy rich, even by Vancouver standards. They’ve got a municipal helicopter landing pad so they can commute to the city, even though it’s only a two-hour drive. They’re on the Whistler side of the 99, a fact they’re very proud of, and they’re utterly exclusive, something they’re far too rich to say out loud. They just show you in everything they do.” Andy seemed more amused than judgemental. Kate figured this was one of the things that made Andy a great cop, the way she could get a handle on people but not judge them.
“Finns gave me nothing more than the name of the constable up there, a guy named Ferris. Nice guy, pretty laid back given that I’ve just invaded his territory. So I assume Ferris is going to give me the rundown of the case, persons of interest, evidence gathered. But there’s nothing. No active case file, no police report, no complaint filed. Just four seemingly unconnected people who show similar presentations of a moderate flu-like illness, with symptoms lasting up to a month.”
Andy paused as she added the sauce to the vegetables, the hot, sizzling smell of garlic and ginger spreading throughout the kitchen.
“How is that a case for the RCMP to investigate?” Kate said.
Andy raised her hands helplessly. “This is what I’m asking myself yesterday afternoon, sitting in the small-town police department. So I started digging.”
Kate smiled. “Of course you did. And what did you find?”
“For one thing, it turns out Superintendent Heath has a personal connection to Hidden Valley. His eldest daughter, Natalie Cardiff, lives in Hidden Valley with her two kids and her husband, Michael Cardiff, who is a local councillor running for member of parliament in the fall election.”
“Interesting,” Kate said.
“Interesting, yes. Relevant? I’m still not sure.” Andy lifted the lid off the rice, scooped a few pieces onto her spoon and blew on it gently. She took a careful bite between her perfect front teeth, then shook her head and returned the lid. “So once I start asking questions, it turns out the uproar over this flu, or whatever it is, has more to do with an article written by a small mountain-town newspaper about the effects of influenza outbreaks on elections.”
Kate felt these two pieces of information war for sense in her head. “What?”
Andy gave Kate a quick smile, like she had anticipated that reaction. “Apparently the journalist, a young guy with the Squamish Herald, quoted a study out of Sweden linking a decrease in voter confidence and voter turnout on viral outbreaks. More importantly, he quoted this study in a newspaper article after getting into a verbal altercation with Michael Cardiff. According to Constable Ferris, the journalist warned Michael Cardiff that his election results would suffer unless he changed his platform on two-tiered health care.”
Kate tried to tie politics to influenza and failed. She ignored the erroneous interchanging of virus and influenza. It wasn’t the time for a medical lesson. “So remind me again what you were investigating?”
“Apparently the article was seen as, and this is a quote from the constable in Hidden Valley, ‘a threat.’ And the fact that several people in a fairly small population are now sick has imaginations running wild.”
Andy checked the rice one more time, then switched off the stove. Kate set the table with plates, cutlery, and glasses. She opened the fridge, held up a bottle of half-flat lemon Perrier and a bottle of white wine. Andy indicated the wine, then scooped huge mounds of steaming brown rice onto their plates, topping it with the vegetables. Kate, who hadn’t had a drink in over seven years, poured herself some of the Perrier, and they sat down together at the small table shoved up against the wall in her apple green kitchen.
Andy held up her glass. “To a night off together.”
“To a girlfriend who likes to cook,” Kate responded. They clinked glasses, sipped their drinks, and then picked up their forks.
“Does it still feel strange to say that?” Andy asked, after a moment’s silence.
Kate shrugged. “A little.”
Andy waited for her to elaborate, but Kate wanted to hear more about Andy’s case, not to discuss her journey to accepting her new lesbian identity. Not that Andy, who had been out since she was eighteen, ever pushed. Not once, not ever. But Kate knew she worried about it. She could tell Andy wished she would give it more thought. Kate was content to be with Andy, to love her and completely share her life with this incredible woman. The label seemed shockingly unimportant.
“So, the non-case in Hidden Valley,” Kate prompted, scooping another forkful of rice and vegetables.
Andy took a sip of her wine, her grey eyes appraising. Kate waited it out. Andy finally shook her head, a slight smile on her lips.
“Fine. So Ferris shows me what background he has on this journalist, which so far amounts to pretty much nothing. But I figure Finns would want more, so I ask more questions about the four patients. You know, when they got sick, any connections between patients, physicians. Any connection to the journalist, to the Cardiffs, to the election. Nothing very interesting comes up.”
“Other than the fact that they’ve been sick for so long,” Kate added. She couldn’t help thinking that the description of the influenza was just a bit off.
Andy nodded her agreement, like she hadn’t forgotten.
“Was Public Health involved?”
“Yes, that’s who I had to hang around to meet with today. The guy had to drive up to Hidden Valley to meet with me, which he wasn’t very happy about. He told me he investigated the cases and nothing showed up that caused him any concern or alarm. He stopped just short of saying the town was overbearing and completely out of line. It was hard not to agree with him.”
“So now what?”
Andy pushed her empty plate away and leaned back in her chair. “Now I find some way to fill a report about whether or not this was a credible threat and if so, what action needs to be taken.”
“You’ve got a bizarre job,” Kate said, also leaning back in her chair. She lifted her feet onto Andy’s lap across from her.
“I’m not the one who got peed on today,” Andy reminded her, running her hands over Kate’s bare feet, fingers on her ankles, palms cupping her calves.
“Do you think that’s the end of it?”
Andy took a moment with Kate’s question.
“No,” she finally said. “No way. I have a feeling this non-case is nowhere near over.”