Chapter
Thirteen

Wynter drove me back to the house after dinner because it had started to snow while we were at Randi’s. I would have asked her anyway, since I was still a little spooked by my walk into town. When I got home, Janet was curled up on the couch, sound asleep. The television was on, so I turned it off. I took the quilt from the back of the couch and covered her, and then I went upstairs to my room. The light was off in Cicely’s room, so I assumed she was asleep. Good. I still didn’t know what I was going to say to her when we faced each other again.

I went to my room, grabbed my pajamas and my underwear, and headed for the bathroom. I wanted nothing more than to soak in the tub for a while and let the hot water warm me. The freezing temperatures outside were nothing compared to the ice I felt in my heart. Wynter’s admonitions were well intended, but I didn’t want people telling me what I should do.

As I slipped into the water, I comforted myself with the knowledge that at least one person understood my situation. Paul. Even though he’d advised against it, contacting Captain Bentley was looking more and more plausible. First I’d wait to see what Wynter’s contact had to say.

Paul still hadn’t called me back, and I really wanted to talk to him about my conversation with Doug Sykes. I hoped he’d phone me in the morning.

I relaxed in the warm water and actually drifted off for a few minutes. When I woke up, I turned the hot water back on and decided to soak a little longer. I felt the most relaxed I’d been since my sister died. Finally I decided it was time to get out of the comfortable bathtub. It only took me a few minutes to dry off and slip into my pajamas. Then I hurried to my room and climbed into bed. Although I was tired, the day’s events swirled through my mind. Wondering why I’d nodded off in the tub but couldn’t seem to fall asleep lying in my bed, I tried to empty my mind and drift off. Unfortunately, faces kept coming to me. Hannah’s face when we said good-bye the last time. Cicely’s face when she’d told me she wished I’d died instead of her mother. And Paul’s face when he encouraged me to stop comparing myself to Hannah. After about an hour, I finally dozed off.

When I woke up, I glanced at my bedside clock. It was a little after nine o’clock. I jumped out of bed, grabbed my robe, and hurried downstairs. Janet was already gone, but she’d left a note telling me she had an early surgery. I hurried back upstairs to check Cicely’s room, but she was gone too. I usually woke her up to get her ready for school, but Janet must have taken care of her this morning so I could sleep. Or maybe Cicely got herself up because she didn’t want to see me. Even if that were true, it was Friday, so she wouldn’t be able to avoid me much longer. We had the entire weekend to work things out. Monday, I’d go back to school. Although I’d needed this time off, I was looking forward to returning to my class. Having something to think about besides Hannah would be a blessing.

After a quick breakfast, I called Paul. He answered his phone and told me he’d gotten my message about the phone. “Sorry I haven’t called you back. Things have been pretty busy here. This morning is full, but I can get away for lunch.”

“Why don’t you come here, and I’ll fix us something? I have a lot to tell you.”

He agreed and told me he’d see me around twelve-thirty. I hung up the phone and had started toward the kitchen when the phone rang again. I turned back and picked it up. After I said hello, I heard a male voice I didn’t recognize at first.

“Sarah, this is Doug Sykes.”

I was surprised to hear his voice. “I wasn’t sure I’d hear from you again,” I said.

“Look, I’m sorry I was short with you. I need you to listen to me carefully. I don’t have much time to talk.”

“Okay,” I said slowly.

“I’ve been told that Hannah’s death is going to be blamed on Steven Hanks, the guy who died in his cell. And I’ve been ordered to close the case.”

I felt the blood drain from my face. “But . . . do you think he did it?”

“I don’t know. Something’s going on here, Sarah. I’m not sure who’s behind it, but . . . Well, I’m worried. I need you to be very careful. Back off this case. Drop it. For now anyway.”

“Why? Are Cicely and I in danger?”

“I’ve got to get off the phone, but we need to talk. I may be able to drive down there next week.”

“That . . . that’s fine, but I go back to school on Monday. I’ll be free anytime after three o’clock during the week.”

“Okay. Whatever you do, don’t call me. And do what I said. Back off and be quiet. If anyone asks you about the case, unless it’s a close friend, tell them you believe Steven Hanks killed your sister. It’s important, Sarah. More important than I can tell you right now.”

“You’re frightening me.”

He sighed. “I’m sorry, but for now, it’s probably good for you to be a little scared. Gotta go. I’ll talk to you soon.”

The phone disconnected, and I sat there and stared at the receiver for several seconds before putting it down. I wanted Detective Sykes to find something. To take my concerns seriously, but now that he had, my deepest fears suddenly felt real.

“Oh, God,” I prayed quietly. “I want the truth, but I also want Cicely to be safe. Please watch over us. Keep us in your care.”

Reality wasn’t at all what I thought it would be. It was much scarier. I’d been feeling so much stronger. Like I was taking control of my life instead of allowing things to just happen to me. Suddenly Hannah’s advice to leave this situation alone seemed to make sense. Had I done something foolish?

Although it was hard to think about anything else, I forced myself to make tuna salad for sandwiches. Then I threw together a fruit salad as an accompaniment. There were still cookies in the cookie jar and a pitcher of iced tea in the refrigerator. Satisfied I could put together a nice lunch, I went upstairs to get dressed.

Looking through my closet didn’t reveal anything I wanted to wear. I finally decided on a dark blue sweater and black slacks. It was cold and snowy outside, and I wanted to feel warm. I’d actually gotten compliments on the sweater because it went well with my red hair.

I tried to fluff my hair, but it just went flat. I remembered Hannah telling me once that if I’d pull the sides back and clip them, my hair would look fuller. I found one of Janet’s hair clips in a drawer and tried it. It took a few attempts, but it really did seem to work. I put on some foundation and blush and then added a little mascara. Feeling brave, I also put on a small amount of lipstick. Satisfied with the results, I went downstairs.

When the doorbell rang a little after twelve-thirty, fear washed over me. Detective Sykes’s warning about not sharing any information concerned me. But he’d mentioned people I didn’t know. I knew Paul. Besides, I trusted him. I took a deep breath and opened the front door.

“Wow, you look very nice,” he said as he came inside. He colored and looked embarrassed. “I mean . . . you look nice every day.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I’ve got lunch ready.”

“Sounds good.”

He followed me into the kitchen and sat down at the table while I made the sandwiches and put the fruit salad into bowls.

“I hope I didn’t offend you,” Paul said suddenly. “I mean, how you look has nothing to do with what I’m here to talk about.”

I finished pouring us glasses of iced tea and put them on the table. “It’s all right,” I said. “I’m not offended.”

He smiled and took a deep breath. “You really do look good every day. I just think you look especially pretty today.”

“Th-thank you,” I said, stumbling over my words.

Paul bowed his head and began to pray for our food. I kept one eye open and watched him while he prayed. He seemed different today. Not as self-assured. Could he have feelings for me? I really liked him, but I didn’t want to say or do anything stupid that might make it hard for us to work together. There was too much at stake. Just as he said, “Amen,” I closed my other eye. When I raised my head and looked at him, I found him staring at me. Immediately he picked up his glass of iced tea and took a drink.

“Paul, I have so much to tell you I don’t even know where to start.” First I told him about my original call to Doug.

He looked stunned. “The guy’s dead? That’s convenient, isn’t it?”

“That’s what I thought.”

“So Sykes blew us off?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. He’s coming here next week.” I quickly told him about the detective’s phone call this morning, but I softened it some. If Paul thought Cicely and I were in danger, I wasn’t sure what he’d do. Even with Doug’s strange warning, I wasn’t ready to walk away.

Paul frowned. “So what does that mean?”

I sighed. “I don’t know what to think. But for some reason, Doug seems to finally believe Hannah’s murder might be more than just the result of a robbery. He warned me to be quiet about the case. Not to talk about it with anyone I don’t know.”

“Did he actually find anything to connect Hannah and your parents?”

“I have no idea. He didn’t stay on the phone long. I guess I’ll find out when he gets here.” I really wanted to tell Paul how much Doug’s call frightened me, but I just couldn’t. I needed his help. I’d wait until I talked to Doug in person before leaping to conclusions.

“Could I sit in on that meeting?” Paul asked.

“Absolutely. I’d certainly feel better if you were with me. Somehow this makes everything feel more real.”

Paul frowned. “Look, try not to worry. We have no idea what Doug’s going to say, so let’s not overreact.”

“I’ll try.” I tried to muster a smile and nodded at him. This was a good time to change the subject. “Oh, here’s Hannah’s phone,” I said, taking it out of my pocket. “I didn’t try to check it for calls because it’s one of those fancy phones. I can use a regular cell phone, but something with all these bells and whistles scares me. I was afraid I’d accidentally lose something important.”

“Good. Can I take it with me? I’d like to go through the calls tonight.”

“Sure. I hope you’ll find something useful.” I pushed the phone book toward him too. “Maybe there’s something in here that will help as well.”

“Why don’t you go through that yourself?” he said. “Since I didn’t know Hannah, you might see something that wouldn’t mean anything to me.”

“I already glanced through it once. There aren’t many entries. Most of them were for businesses, the doctor, Cicely’s school. I recognized a couple of the personal names, but there were a few that weren’t familiar. I’ll look through it more carefully and let you know if something sticks out.”

“Good,” he said. “Have you had a chance to talk to Wynter?”

“We had dinner together last night, and she promised to check with her friend at the Kansas City Police Department.”

“Good. I’ll be interested to see what she comes up with,” Paul said. He stared at Hannah’s cell phone. “After I go through this, we need to turn it over to the police. It’s evidence.”

“Should we wait and give it to Detective Sykes when he comes?”

“I guess so,” he said slowly. “He’s the detective assigned to the case. First I want to make a list of the calls and texts. That way we’ll have all the information they do.”

“All right. So now we wait on Sykes?”

Paul shrugged. “Unless I find something on the phone that troubles me, I think it only makes sense.”

I nodded. We ate in silence for several minutes. “Look, Paul,” I said finally, “I’ve thought a lot about what you said. You know, about Hannah and me.” I sighed. “You took a chance bringing it up, and I know it was because you care. I hope we’re still friends. I wouldn’t want to do anything to hurt that.”

“You haven’t done anything to harm our . . . friendship, Sarah. Maybe I shouldn’t have stuck my nose into your business. I have no right to get so personal with you.”

“Well, that’s what friends are supposed to do, right?”

He didn’t respond, just stared down at his plate.

“Is there something wrong?”

Finally he looked up at me. “Are we really just friends, Sarah?” he asked softly.

“I . . . I don’t know.” I could feel my face grow hot. I cared for him. A lot. But right now finding out the truth about Hannah was more important to me than anything else. Complicating things with Paul could cause problems I didn’t need. As I stared at him, I saw something in his eyes that almost took my breath away. He was such a good man, and I felt something for him I’d never felt before, but I was already keeping some things about Doug’s call from him. For now, I had no choice but to hide my real feelings. “Of course we’re friends,” I finally choked out. “Is there any reason to think we’re not?” I tried to smile, but I knew as soon as the words left my lips that it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. His expression made that very clear.

He quickly finished his sandwich, and after a few minutes of uncomfortable small talk, he left. I stood by the door after he walked out and berated myself. There was a good chance this wonderful man liked me. As more than a friend. Had I just thrown something wonderful away?

Shaking my head, I went back to the kitchen, picked up Hannah’s phone book, carried it upstairs, and put it on my desk, intending to look at it later. I was on my way down the stairs to clean the kitchen when someone knocked on the door. Had Paul forgotten something? I hurried over to the door, but when I opened it I found Reuben King standing there.

“Hi, Sarah,” he said with a smile. “How are you doing? You look good.”

“Thank you,” I said, wondering why he wasn’t at the school. “Is something wrong?”

“That’s what I wanted to ask you. The kids are studying geography, so I ran over to check on Cicely. Is she okay?”

I frowned at him. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”

It was his turn to look concerned. “I assumed she was ill. She didn’t show up for school today.”