Monday afternoon, Savanna showed her ID to the Carson police officer at the door to Yvonne’s hospital room. He gave her the go-ahead to enter with one quick, somber nod. Savanna had never seen him at the precinct; he looked very, very young. His neat military haircut and the creases in his uniform accentuated his fresh-out-of-the-academy vibe, but even so, he was a bit intimidating. Good choice of armed guard, she thought, pushing the door open. The officer sat back down on his stool as she entered.
Yvonne smiled widely at her from the bed. “Savanna!”
Savanna set flowers on the windowsill, a pretty peony planter with a Get Well balloon tied to it, and went to give her friend a careful hug. “Are you okay? Does anything hurt?” She let go, pulling up a chair to the bedside.
Yvonne had been here at Anderson Memorial for nearly a week, since last Wednesday. She looked better than Savanna had expected, having just woken up in the ICU yesterday. Her hair was freshly washed, her short curls light and fluffy around her face. Her complexion was pale, and there were gray circles under eyes. The plain white hospital bedding was covered with a fuzzy yellow blanket pulled up to Yvonne’s waist, and she wore a pastel floral robe over the drab blue-and-white hospital gown. “My head hurts a little, but mostly I feel fine. I’ve got a pretty good-sized lump.” She put a hand gingerly at the back of her head. “I want to get out of here.”
“I’m so glad you’re okay. This must’ve been terrifying. You look great, by the way.”
“My sister brought all this.” Yvonne glanced down at the yellow blanket and robe. “The minute they transferred me down here from the ICU, Diane wrangled a nurse’s aide to wash my hair and get me settled. I just can’t move my head very fast. And I feel nauseated whenever I stand up. They say I have to stay a couple more days because of the concussion and swelling.”
“It’s amazing you didn’t break anything. I mean, other than your head!” Savanna made a sad face. Her friend was lucky to be alive; the concussion sounded awful. “Do you need something for the pain? I can call the nurse.”
“I’m all right for now. It’s not too bad.”
“Do you remember…” Savanna hesitated. “Maybe you’d rather not talk about it.”
“I don’t mind, but I don’t remember anything.” Yvonne exhaled in a huff, frowning. “I don’t even remember opening the front door for anyone. The last thing I remember is having breakfast Wednesday morning before work. A detective came by here last night, but I don’t have anything to help them. I know they seem certain I didn’t just fall down the stairs. They’re hoping something comes back to me.”
“Can you think of anyone who’d want to hurt you? Any reason at all someone might’ve done this?”
She shook her head, and then grabbed her temples by both hands, wincing. “Ooof. Not smart. No one. I get along with everyone.”
Savanna proceeded carefully. She so wanted to jog her memory or at least help her recall more than the start of her day last Wednesday. But she didn’t want to scare her friend. “You know, my older sister and Janice are in the same spin class together. When I found out what happened to you, we called Janice right away to make sure she was okay. You have to admit it’s strange that you two worked forty feet apart and now you’re off work within a week of each other.”
“Is Janice all right?” Yvonne’s brows furrowed, her tone concerned.
“She’s totally fine; she’s worried about you. She was angry at Mayor Greenwood. She said she quit because he wanted her to lie to those Better Living people about zoning or something. Well, she said that was the last straw; she was aggravated in general with him.”
Yvonne frowned. “Zoning. For the boardwalk proposal, right?”
“Yes. It sounded like it hadn’t gone through yet, and she said the mayor wanted her to tell Better Living it had. They seem to be at his office a lot. Skylar and I just saw them this morning.”
Yvonne was frowning, one hand still at her right temple.
Savanna stood up. “How about an ice pack? Or I can leave and let you rest.” She gently touched Yvonne’s ankle through the yellow blanket.
“Would you mind asking my nurse for an ice pack? They help a lot.”
“Of course. Be right back.” Savanna pushed the door open, halting when the officer stood up. “Oh. I’m just getting the nurse. I’m coming back.”
He gave her a curt nod and sat back down.
Savanna stopped the first person she spotted with a name badge, securing a promise that Yvonne’s nurse would be notified she needed an ice pack.
Back at Yvonne’s bedside, Savanna redirected the conversation. “It was nice to finally meet your sister. I don’t think I ever did when we were in school together. She’s older, right?” It’d been stressful meeting Diane, but Yvonne needed a distraction to get her mind off the pain.
“She’s six years older. She was already moved out when we were in high school. She’s bossy and controlling, I’m not sure how nice it was for you to meet her.” She smiled at Savanna. “She’s exactly what I need in here, though. She keeps everyone on their toes.” She lowered her voice. “I think the cops outside my door are even a little afraid of her.”
Savanna laughed. “I can believe that. Well, she cares about you a lot. So does her husband. He was very sweet. They were in panic mode when I met them, worried about you.”
The nurse entered, a tiny paper medication cup in one hand and an ice pack in the other. “Here we go,” she said, helping Yvonne lean forward slightly so she could place the ice pack behind her head on the pillow. “And you’re due for a pain pill and your steroid.”
Yvonne took the cup from the nurse, then her disposable cup of ice water, washing the medication down. “Steroids,” she said to Savanna. She held an arm out, bent at the elbow and flexing as if showing her muscles. “I’m going to get buff.”
“They aren’t that kind of steroid,” the nurse said, smiling. “They help make sure the swelling in your head stays down. I’ll be back to check on you, but press your button if you need anything.”
When the nurse was gone, Yvonne looked at Savanna. “Everyone here is so nice. But I can’t wait to be at home. My poor cat must wonder where I am. Diane and Ed took him to their house until I’m released. I hope they’re giving him his medicine.”
“I’m sure they are,” Savanna said.
“He takes it twice a day. I forget some mornings, if I’m rushing, and I’ve had to go back…” She paused, frowning. “To give it to him. I hope they don’t forget.” Yvonne’s brow remained furrowed, and she seemed distant, despite being two feet from Savanna.
“Do you need anything while you’re stuck here? Magazines, junk food? I feel kind of useless.” Yvonne was too fragile right now; Savanna gave up on pressing her for information. The least she could do was offer some added comfort. “A smoothie? Gourmet cookies from the bakery?”
“No, I’m fine. I’m mostly sleeping. It hurts my head to read, and I’m not very hungry.”
They sat in silence for a bit, a muted cooking show playing on the wall-mounted television. Yvonne started to doze off after a while; the medications were probably working. Savanna quietly stood, careful not to scrape the chair legs on the floor. She draped her purse over one shoulder and tiptoed to the door. Yvonne snorted once, loudly, and opened her eyes.
“I’m sorry. I’m not much fun right now.” She looked tired and sad.
Savanna moved back to the bedside, taking Yvonne’s hand. “You’re in the hospital! You aren’t supposed to be fun, silly. I want you to rest. Listen, I’ll have Skylar tell Janice you said hello and you’re okay, and I’ll come visit again tomorrow.”
“Janice.” Yvonne squeezed Savanna’s hand. “Wednesday after breakfast, I was running late for work. I forgot my cat’s pill. Janice said Roger didn’t tolerate lateness, and I knew I’d be late, but I had to bring the papers he kept texting me about. I forgot the day before. John was such a neatnik, it was easy to find the Better Living file, but then I had to go back and give Mr. Meow his pill, and I knew I’d be late.” She stared wide-eyed up at Savanna.
“Yvonne.” Savanna sat on the side of the bed, careful not to jar her friend. The thoughts were so muddled together; she tried to pick out the pieces that might be important. “What file?”
“The Better Living file. Oh my goodness. I remember. I scanned copies, I knew it was going to make me late, but I didn’t want to disrupt John’s records and I had the file in my car under my purse, but then I realized I forgot Mr. Meow’s pill.”
“John had a file the mayor wanted?” She kept her tone soft and level.
“John had all the data on how the boardwalk would hurt Carson. He’d been gathering it for months. I do remember that.” She squeezed her eyes shut momentarily. “Stupid brain. I think maybe Roger was ready to accept the facts. He sent me a few messages Monday and then again Tuesday, asking if I still had anything of John’s about the proposal. He said I could just put it in his box in the parks and rec office. It’s what John would’ve wanted, I’m sure. I planned to print the scans I took and put them back, though. John would’ve hated the idea of something missing from his records.” Yvonne gripped Savanna’s hand suddenly. “I need the phone. I need to call my sister. I have to know they’re giving him his medicine.”
“Okay,” Savanna said, nodding. “The room phone? Or your cell phone? I can get it.” She stood up, eyes on her friend but her mind racing with a plan. The file had never made it to Mayor Greenwood. No matter what was in there, she needed to see it. She had to get it from Yvonne’s car, probably still parked in her garage at her house. Or the scans…on her laptop, Savanna assumed. She needed to call Detective Jordan. She had to get out of here.
“My cell phone. I think it’s on the table?” She pointed to the bedside table, out of her reach.
It wasn’t. But Savanna knew she’d seen it when she’d come in. By the peonies. She picked up the cell phone, smiling at the squishy cat charm and purple tassel attached to the corner, and handed it to Yvonne.
“Who was I calling again?”
“Your sister, to check on your cat?”
Yvonne groaned. “That’s right. Sorry.”
Savanna leaned down and gently hugged her. “Stop saying sorry. Call Diane, okay? And then take a nap. I’ll come back tomorrow, Yvonne, I promise.” She’d come back and bring a smoothie to celebrate Yvonne’s help in exposing the mayor.
She thanked the officer on her way out, slowing when she spotted Yvonne’s nurse sitting at the nurses station in front of a computer. “Excuse me?”
The woman glanced up. “Yes?”
“My friend Yvonne is, um… I know I’m not family, so maybe you can’t tell me, but is she okay? Her thoughts are kind of jumbled. Like, she’s all over the place. She asked me for her phone so she could call her sister and then forgot she was calling her sister.”
The nurse nodded. “It’s normal. It typically improves over time. Try not to worry.”
“Okay. Thank you. I’ll be back,” she said, feeling a little pang of guilt for leaving her in such a fragile state.
Savanna called Detective Jordan first, relieved when she was routed into his voicemail. She left as short and concise a message as possible, giving basic details of her conversation with Yvonne and what she planned to do. By the time he got the message, she hoped to already have her hands on John’s files that Yvonne was going to deliver to the mayor. Yvonne was under police guard, and if someone knew she had paperwork she shouldn’t, they’d already have taken it from her house. Savanna hoped the file would still be sitting on the front seat of Yvonne’s car; she had nothing to lose by trying.
She made a second call over Bluetooth in her car as she pulled out of the hospital parking lot.
Sydney picked up on the second ring. “What’s up?”
“Is Willow working today?”
“Yeeess, why? That makes you sound stalker-y.”
“I’m hoping you can come with me to Yvonne’s house.”
“Oh. She’s home already? Sure, probably. When?”
“Now? I can explain when I get there. Pick you up in five minutes?”
“Hold on, let me check my books. I can’t leave Willow here alone if we have back-to-back grooming appointments.”
Savanna heard Sydney’s clicking footsteps across the tile floor and already knew she’d be able to go. Syd wore boots or sneakers on heavy grooming days, and usually cute heels or sandals the other days. Savanna had always assumed Syd checked her books the night before, so she’d know how to dress, but maybe it was something she did subconsciously, knowing what the day held and dressing for it without realizing she was planning for it.
“It should be fine. There’s a two-hour block between the puppy Willow’s working on and the next appointment. Pick me up!”
Savanna pulled up in front of Fancy Tails, and Sydney slid into the passenger seat.
“Are you nervous about going to see Yvonne alone? Did they figure out who pushed her down the stairs?” Sydney fiddled with the radio stations as she spoke.
“She’s still in the hospital with a police officer outside her door. But she told me about a file I need to grab from her house. I kind of didn’t want to go alone.”
Sydney turned in her seat, and Savanna could feel her stare. “So Yvonne doesn’t know you’re going to take the file from her house.”
She shrugged. “It’s not technically in her house, it’s in her car. She wouldn’t mind!” She looked at her sister. “I’m positive. The morning she was shoved down her basement stairs, she was going to be taking some information of John’s on the Better Living deal and giving it to Roger Greenwood. She says she assumed the mayor asked her about it because he was starting to agree with the councilman that it was a bad plan.”
“I really doubt that’s why the mayor wanted those documents.”
“You and me both. I think Janice left her job with the mayor just in time and didn’t know enough. I think Yvonne, unfortunately, knew more than she realized about the Better Living proposal, plus she still has what’s left of the councilman’s files. If John had proof—”
Sydney interrupted her. “Of the mayor using the proposal for his own agenda, like if he was a shareholder…”
“John’s killer would need to get ahold of that information before anyone else did,” Savanna finished. She made a left turn onto the long, winding road that led out to Yvonne’s woodsy location a few miles outside of town.
“You rolled right through that stop sign,” Sydney accused.
“Really, that’s your biggest concern? No one does a full stop at that corner,” Savanna justified. She’d meant to come to a full stop, but her brakes felt a little soft; she’d have to get them checked tomorrow. She eyed her GPS screen, seeing she had three miles to go before she reached Yvonne’s dirt road, Blue Heron Way, and picked up speed.
Sydney giggled, looking down at her phone. She held the phone up in front of her face, snapping a selfie and then tapping the screen. “Oh! He’s so funny,” she said, turning the phone briefly to face Savanna.
She caught a brief glimpse of the photo Finn sent back, of his own goofy, cross-eyed selfie. “I like him, Syd. He was very sweet with Mollie the other night, when Aidan had to fly out.”
Syd leaned back against the seat, rolling her head to look at Savanna and smiling. “I’m glad. I really like him. A lot.”
She shot a sideways look at her. “A lot?”
“Yeah.” Sydney’s voice was soft and breathy. “Savvy. He’s so different. Fun. Exciting. I can’t imagine ever being bored around him.”
Savanna smiled at her, easing off the gas and putting her turn signal on as she approached Blue Heron Way. “I’m happy you guys have hit it off so well.” She tapped her brake, coming up on the red light. Nothing happened.
Sydney put a hand on the dashboard. “Hey. Slow down.”
Savanna pressed her foot hard on the brake pedal, and still nothing happened. The pedal went all the way to the floor, and her car barreled forward toward the intersection. She gripped the steering wheel, hazarding a quick glance at Sydney. “I’m trying—I can’t stop!”
“What?” Sydney whipped her head from side to side, trying to see out into the intersection as Savanna did the same thing.
A semi-truck barreled straight toward them from the cross road, his traffic light green. “No!” Savanna heard herself shriek and cut the wheel hard to the right onto the dirt road, narrowly missing a car as it swerved around her. The sound of the driver’s horn blared in her ears as it passed her, too fast.
The sharp turn at thirty-plus miles an hour sent the back of her car into a fishtail, and she wrestled with the wheel, stomping on the brake to no avail. “What do I do, what do I do?”
“I don’t know!” Sydney screamed. She had one hand braced on the dashboard and the other tightly gripping the cotton blend of Savanna’s cargo pants at her thigh.
Savanna saw the semi in her rearview mirror but had no time for relief when it crossed the median line and sped past her. She steered toward the shoulder, hoping the grassy ditch would slow them down, and the nose of her car tipped down faster than she’d anticipated, knocking her hands off the wheel. Green rushed by the windows as she grappled for control, and then everything came to an abrupt, crunching halt.