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wine."
    Confused about what the wine could have to do with anything, Jodie asked, "How did you know I had wine? It's locked in the trunk of my car."
    "The cop opened your car door for us. He opened your trunk after he saw some stuff on your bumper," Nick said. "He said you called in about hitting someone on the forest road. Is that true?"
    Jodie ignored his question, realizing she didn't want to explain the story twice in one night. Plus, she wasn't even sure she understood what happened. "Please, could you get him over here? I have to tell him about that woman."
    The officer appeared at the back of the ambulance just as Jodie finished talking. "You're up and around, I see. When you called in, you said she was about a mile on up the road, so we sent a second squad up there. We found her. Looks like she was pretty messed up. We'll have to impound your vehicle and when these folks say you're okay to go, they'll transport you to the station. We've got some questions and we'll need to do some tests to see what's all in your blood stream. Care to give me a clue what we might find?" asked the officer.
    "You won't find anything. I'm an FBI agent and I need you to contact my supervisor in the San Francisco field office. There's something going on here you don't understand," Jodie said.
    "Oh, and what might that be? The fact that you have a car fulla wine and you were passed out when we got here? I think I understand all right, little lady. We'll get to the station, do that blood test and figure things out from there. Is she ready for the road?" the officer asked the EMTs.
    Jodie felt too dizzy and disoriented to even respond to the police officer’s insinuations. She decided to put her energy into regaining her composure. She could deal with his belligerence later.
    "She'll be ready when she's ready. Now leave us alone for a minute so we can help her and we'll let you know when we can go," Mei said in a matter-of-fact tone. The officer muttered something and walked away.
    "He can be a real jackass sometimes," Mei said. "We're not going anywhere until you can sit up without falling off the gurney."
    Jodie decided she liked Mei and Nick. She liked them a lot, as a matter of fact. She felt safe in their company, something she really needed to feel at that moment. It was all so overwhelming. Year after year of trying to solve horrific murders, the accident, the attitude of the cop, evidence of death clinging to the bumper of the Camaro. Jodie tried, but couldn't stop the tears. She broke down completely right there in the back of the ambulance, sobbing, with the two EMTs consoling her, Mei holding her hand.
    Within moments, Jodie lost all control. She felt like she was watching herself from a distance as she told them everything. She recounted the details about Nelson and being haunted with visions of the tortured women's faces. She confessed to them how she felt responsible, in a way, as each new victim was identified. Gradually, as she kept talking, Jodie felt herself coming back together. She realized she never shared any of this with anyone except her team at work. But, she couldn't share her emotional side with her co-workers and she couldn't discuss the details of the case with anyone else before Nelson drove into the bay. So, she kept it inside, until it boiled over right in the back of the ambulance.
    At one point, the police officer came to the back door again. Nick stood up and said, "She's not ready yet," and closed the door.
    After about twenty minutes of uncontrollable crying, using all the tissues in the ambulance and blowing her nose into gauze pads, Mei and Nick told Jodie they couldn't delay any longer and the ambulance was on its way. Now she needed to pull herself together. She wiped her eyes and looked up to see Mei smiling at her.
    "Feeling a little better?" Mei asked.
    Jodie nodded and smiled back. She was embarrassed, yet felt a sense of calm she hadn't experienced in what seemed like years. "But I’m so