Rocky Road

by Josi S. Kilpack

  “How?” he asked eagerly—perhaps desperately.

  She would need Officer Nielson’s help with this, but she felt comfortable sharing some possibilities she thought the police would support. “Well, I can follow up with Kyle Edger’s office or family.” She said she would do it, but she’d already decided to turn that over to Officer Nielson. The police would be much more effective with legal documentation than she would. “Second ... well, I’m not sure what else we can do unless you’re willing to come out of hiding and tell your side of things.” She needed to tell him about Anita, but was this the right moment? She still worried about what she might miss if he stopped talking now.

  He looked at the ground again. “There’s something that could help with that part.”

  “Oh?” Sadie said, her ears pricked to hear more.

  “I’m the only one who knows Anita didn’t really have cancer, so I made copies of her medical record before she falsified it and found some other documentation that proves it was all made up. I included notes about when I made certain discoveries, when I contacted Kyle, and things like that. I saved everything on a USB drive I hid at the office after finding Anita going through my things one day. I didn’t think I’d need it when I left for that weekend, so it’s probably still there.” He looked up at Sadie. “After talking to Lori yesterday and considering that I might have to come out of hiding soon, I thought about asking her to get it since it would prove that Anita wasn’t what she seemed, but ...”

  Lori wasn’t here. Sadie was. “You want me to get it?”

  “It’s in a back room of the clinic, somewhere no one will find it unless they know where to look. I don’t know how you’d get it.”

  “I can get it,” Sadie said with complete confidence. “Are you willing to turn yourself in if you have the USB with you when you do?”

  He paused, but then he nodded. “Like you said—if you can find me, someone else will, too.” The tone of his voice and the heaviness of his expression showed his terror at that thought.

  “Turning yourself in, with verification of Anita’s fraud, will help you.”

  She watched his glance move to the faces of his children in the photo again, and she hurried to give him more incentive to turn himself in. “I know things will be hard, and I know that the future is scary, but I promise you that there are many people who will rejoice in your return, who will support you and love you and help you through this.”

  He continued looking at the picture. “What if I end up taking the fall for everything? What if my greatest fears are realized?”

  Sadie had no reassurance for that. “In a sense, you lost everything when you came here, but you’re okay and stronger than you were when you arrived. That should give you confidence to take another uncertain path. And I just don’t see how you can wait any longer. If you don’t take an active role, your passiveness could work against you.”

  He paused. “Yeah, I feel that, too.”

  “Where’s this USB drive?”

  He explained that it was hidden on an old ultrasound machine. She repeated everything he told her regarding its location, wishing she had a pen to write it down. When they were finished, Sadie knew she couldn’t wait any longer to tell him about Anita. From what he’d said about her, however, Sadie thought that perhaps this information would help him with the choice he had to make. “There’s one more thing you need to know before you go back. I hope you’ll understand why I didn’t tell you sooner.”

  He didn’t ask what it was. He just looked at her expectantly, almost bracingly, as though he feared he’d be unable to handle one more thing.

  “Anita’s dead.”

  Chapter 29

  Dr. Hendricks didn’t feel much like talking after Sadie broke the news about Anita’s death, which helped Sadie feel justified in not telling him sooner. He asked for details, and she told him what she knew, which wasn’t much.

  She found it difficult to read his reaction. He was shocked, certainly, but she couldn’t tell if he were happy or sad, relieved or discouraged. Maybe all of those feelings.

  “I have to go back now, don’t I?” he said after a particularly long pause. Sadie watched him as he stared at nothing. A gust of wind blew through the trees around them, ruffling his hair and feeling like confirmation of what he’d said. He lifted his head. “I have to.”

  “Yeah,” Sadie said softly. “I think you do. We can go right now, see what we can find about why Edger wanted to meet with you, get the USB, and go to the police.”

  He shook his head quickly. “I won’t go without an attorney accompanying me. And I need that USB in hand.” He sounded determined.

  “Forgive me for being concerned, but what’s to keep you from running if I leave you here?”

  “I need that USB, and I just told you everything. I have no money and nowhere else to go.”

  It wasn’t as much assurance as she would like. “Are you still contemplating suicide?”

  “I’d have done that a long time ago if I still thought it was the best option. With Anita gone ... everything’s different.” Was there a hint of hope in his voice? Sadie both hated that and understood it. He met her eyes again. “Will you still help me?”

  “Of course. But we need to have a plan. What if we go to St. George and get the USB, then call and get you an attorney to meet us at the police station?”

  He was shaking his head before she’d finished. “I’m not going back there without the USB.”

  He still didn’t trust her. Sadie scrambled for another idea. “Okay, you stay at the motel, and I’ll go to St. George and get the USB—you can call Lori with an update. I’ll come back and get you. We’ll go to the police together, and you can call an attorney on the way. I’ll bring you a listing of attorneys in the area. By the time we reach the police station, you’ll have representation, evidence, and support.”

  “What if they throw me in jail?” He sounded anxious again, but he was obviously considering her suggestions.

  “For what? I don’t think they can charge you with anything right now, and if you’re the person revealing the fraud of the foundation, it seems to me that they’ll listen to you in a different way.”

  He raised his hands to his head and took a deep breath. “Nothing will be the same,” he moaned. “How will I live my life?”

  “You’ll find a way to make it work,” Sadie said, on the verge of annoyance. His last comment sounded selfish. “You’ll admit your mistakes, help people see the truth, and start a new part of your life with your children at your side.”

  He nodded and then lifted his head and squared his shoulders. “I want to stay here one more night. You can get the USB and come back in the morning with a list of attorneys.”

  “I think we would both feel more comfortable if you’d agree to stay at the motel.”

  “I want to stay up here one more night. I have a lot of thoughts to get organized.”

  Sadie paused until he looked up and met her eyes. “Forgive me pointing out the obvious, but you’ve run away before.”

  “I’ll be here,” he said, spreading his hands as if to show her he had nothing up his sleeve. “It’s time to finish this, and I accept that—if I didn’t trust you I wouldn’t have been here when you came back. I’m ready to turn myself in—when I have that USB—but I am staying here until then.”

  “What about Lori? She’s waiting for you to call her. You could come down the mountain with me long enough to use my cell phone.”

  He let out a breath and scrubbed a hand through his overgrown beard. “I-I can’t leave,” he said in an anxious tone. “I’m not ready.”

  “She deserves to know what’s going on. You brought her into this when you called her yesterday. She’s got to be out of her head with stress and worry—she was grieving for you just like everyone else.”

  He nodded his head and then looked at her. “Can you call her for me?”

  Sadie hated that. She hated that more people would know where he was, hated the
loss of control it created. She would already be telling Officer Nielson—now Lori, too? And yet, like she’d said, Lori deserved answers.

  Sadie didn’t see how further argument would change his mind, so, although she wasn’t happy about it, she nodded her acceptance of his terms and agreed to call Lori. She would try to tell Lori as little as she could. To Dr. Hendricks, she said, “How about I plan to be here at eight o’clock tomorrow morning?”

  “I don’t have a watch, but I’ll stay close to the cabin in the morning.”

  “I’ll bring you a good breakfast.” Would she be able to hold off Officer Nielson for that long? She did not give her word lightly, but she feared that at some point her part in this would be taken over by the police, and she’d end up trying to explain herself to everyone.

  Chapter 30

  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.

  Chapter 31

  Sadie was early for her appointment with Officer Nielson. She was allowed to keep her purse, and by the time another officer showed her back to Officer Nielson’s office, she had written two pages of notes about what had happened so far today. It was almost three-fifteen, and the office was empty, which gave Sadie time to inspect the family photo on the officer’s desk before the door opened. Sadie straightened and hurried back to her chair as Officer Nielson wheeled into the room no more slowly than a man walking would have.

  “Thanks for coming in,” Officer Nielson said as he rolled up to his desk. “And I’m sorry for being late—it’s been an intense day around here.”

  “I can imagine,” Sadie said, wondering what he had brought her in for. He’d been a bit cryptic on the phone. To her surprise he immediately launched into an explanation of what they’d learned regarding Anita’s death. “ ... Everything points toward her having had a few glasses of wine and tripping on the leg of a chair. She had a fair amount of alcohol in her system, and it could easily have thrown off her balance.”

  “It’s a pretty tragic coincidence for her to die on the evening of her husband’s memorial service.”

  He nodded and sat back in his chair. “We’re looking into all the possibilities, and we hate coincidences, so you can rest assured that we’re looking into every angle.”