Rocky Road (22 page)

Sadie panicked when she got into her car and realized she was five minutes past the deadline Caro had given her. She drove as quickly as she could from the cabin, through the gate, and down Lloyd Canyon Road. As soon as she had two bars of service on her phone, she pulled over and texted.

Sadie: I’m out. You didn’t call Nielson did you?

Caro: No. I gave you an extra 15 cause I know you talk a lot sometimes. Candlelight vigil for Anita tonight @ 8:00 @ clinic/foundation building. They think Anita’s death was an accident.

Sadie tapped the phone on her chin, wondering how this might play into the events of the evening. The foundation was in the same building as the clinic that she needed to get into. She pulled back onto the road and headed toward the motel, thinking of Caro and Tess, Officer Nielson and Lori. It was all a little overwhelming, and she felt somewhat paralyzed, not knowing what to do about everything and what order she should do it in.

Tonight’s room was paid for—she double-checked to make sure Caro had taken care of the reservation—but she had work to do in St. George. There was no telling where she’d be sleeping tonight, so she packed up everything and tried to prioritize what needed to be done.

Before packing up her laptop, Sadie Googled “Woman dies in St. George.” The search didn’t come up with anything specific regarding Anita. She thought about other possibilities and then Googled the website for the St. George newspaper, The Spectrum. On the front page was a headline that said, “Woman found dead in Bloomington Hills.” Sadie clicked on it and read the short article.

Police were called to a home in Bloomington Hills this morning after the body of a deceased woman was discovered. The initial call was made by a co-worker, who said the woman hadn’t answered her phone or showed up for work that day. The woman’s identity is not being disclosed at this time pending notification of family. More information will be reported as it becomes available.

Sadie sat back in the chair, read the article again, and wondered who discovered the body? How soon would more information be available? Sadie didn’t know what kind of enemies Anita might have had, but from what Dr. Hendricks had said, she might have made a few. Perhaps someone else had figured out what she’d been doing with the foundation. But who would be so personally affected by that to kill her?

Sadie couldn’t help but reflect on Anita’s tête-à-tête with Dr. Waters. He was kind of the last man standing now with regard to the foundation. Sadie had told Officer Nielson about the secret meeting at the church—had he looked into it? Her eyes went to her phone, and she knew she needed to call Officer Nielson now even though it made her stomach churn. So much had happened since they’d last spoken. What would Anita’s death and the discovery of Dr. Hendricks do for Sadie’s involvement in this case? Would the stakes be so high that they would take her off the case completely? Surely the investigation into Anita’s death had quickly reopened Dr. Hendricks’s case without all the red tape Officer Nielson had been attempting to cut through.

Sadie groaned out loud at her own indecisiveness. She picked up her phone and went to her contact list. She stared at Officer Nielson’s number and then dialed it before she talked herself out of it. Why was it always so hard to call him?

“Detective Nielson,” he said after the second ring. He sounded like he was in a hurry, which was fine with Sadie. She had no desire to prolong this discussion.

“Sadie Hoffmiller,” Sadie said. “I got your voice mail about ‘developments.’ I assume it’s in regard to Anita Hendricks—I just read about it on The Spectrum’s website.”

“It’s quite a development.”

“All I read was that a co-worker alerted the police—what happened?”

“We’re still looking into possibilities, but it looks as though she’d had some wine after the service yesterday and at some point fell and hit her head.”

“Do you believe it was accidental then?”

There was a pause. Sadie waited him out. “We’re looking into every possibility,” Officer Nielson finally said. “It’s certainly a turn we didn’t expect—I’d like to speak with you in person about some angles we’re looking into. Are you available this afternoon?”

Sadie glanced at the clock on her computer—it was almost one-thirty. “I could come in around three.”

“I have some time around then. I’ll expect you at three o’clock.”

“See you then.”

When she hung up, Sadie felt as though she’d held her breath throughout the phone call. She’d managed not to give anything away about Dr. Hendricks or to alienate Officer Nielson, either, but she wasn’t sure she felt very proud of that. Working against the police wasn’t her goal, but finding the truth was. As long as that was still her goal, they were still working together, right?

She had an hour and a half before she needed to be at the St. George police department. She still needed to return Lori’s call and ... she scrambled for anything else that could put off that inevitable discussion. Kyle Edger! Whew, she had a bit more time to prepare for the call to Dr. Hendricks’s ex-wife.

She opened a new browser window and spent a few minutes looking up information on Kyle Edger that would confirm the information Dr. Hendricks had given her. It didn’t take long to verify Kyle Edger’s death, although the cause wasn’t stated in his obituary. She looked for verification of his working situation at the time of his death, but she could find only a P.O. Box to go along with the phone number she already had for his office. He must have worked from home following his retirement.

Once Sadie had found everything she could about Kyle Edger, the only thing she had left to do was call Lori and hope she’d make the right decisions about what to tell her and what not to tell her. She had Dr. Hendricks’s blessing, which she appreciated, but she still didn’t know what to say.

Lori answered on the second ring.

“Hi, Lori, it’s Sadie.”

“Good,” Lori said, sounding relieved. “Is he with you? Can I talk to him?”

“He’s not with me,” Sadie said.

“But you know where he is, right? I need to talk to him.”

Sadie didn’t like the franticness in Lori’s voice. “You know, there’s a lot happening right now, Lori, and—”

“Where is he?”

“Um, well, he’s dealing with a lot right now. I’ve just told him about Anita, and we’re working together to get things ready for him to come out of hiding.”

What Sadie had told her seemed to diffuse Lori’s panic. “He’s coming back?” she said.

“Yes,” Sadie confirmed. “Tomorrow morning. I know this must be overwhelming for you, but if you could just be patient one more day. He wants to make all of this right, Lori, and he feels terrible for all the pain he’s caused everyone.” Sadie was actually exaggerating that a little bit. As she reflected on it, she wasn’t sure that Dr. Hendricks had come to terms with the impact of his choices. But he would once he comprehended the scope of things. Right now, he seemed to be so immersed in his own experience that he hadn’t yet faced up to the things his loved ones had gone through.

“Tomorrow morning,” Lori repeated.

“I know you’ve already waited so long, but can you wait one more day?”

“He’s coming back,” Lori repeated. Was she crying? Sadie wished she were talking to Lori in person. “Does he know about Anita?” She was definitely crying.

“He does,” Sadie said, even though she’d already told her that. “Are you okay?”

“Of course,” Lori said. “I’m just so ... relieved that he’s okay.”

“He’s okay,” Sadie said sympathetically.

“Good,” Lori said. She sniffled and then took a deep breath as though she were trying to calm herself.

They ended the phone call, and Sadie hoped she’d handled it the right way. It was so hard to know. It felt good to have talked to Lori, though, and set her mind at ease a bit.