Sadie took another breath in order to keep from saying how uncomfortable she was with him wanting Caro to believe a lie, but she nodded and returned to the corn bread without another word.
Once Rex left the room, Sadie used the kitchen phone to call Pete, since her phone was charging in the other room, but ended up leaving a message. Then she had nothing to do but try to sort out her thoughts. She did not agree with how Rex was going about things, but even if he was being a jerk about this, he’d let her come into his home and she’d made things hard for him. She hated feeling responsible for that, yet it also reaffirmed her resolve to return to Garrison. She was running out of places to go faster than she thought.
Crock-Pot Posole
2 (14.5-ounce) cans golden hominy, drained
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chili peppers, not drained
1 medium onion, chopped (about ½ cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts and/or thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 (14.5 ounce) can tomatoes, cut up and not drained
2 (14.5 ounce) cans reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
½ teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
2 tablespoons snipped fresh cilantro
Sour cream (optional)
Place hominy, green chili peppers, onion, garlic, chicken, tomatoes, chicken broth, and spices in a 3½-, 4-, or 5-quart crockery cooker. Cover and cook on low setting for 5 to 6 hours, or on high setting for 2½ to 3 hours. Stir in cilantro. Garnish each serving with a dollop of sour cream, if desired.
Makes 8 to 10 servings.
Note: You can use canned corn in place of hominy. Canned chicken works great, too!
Chapter 13
Rex kept to himself until the front door opened and Caro called out “Hello.”
Sadie took a breath. She’d hoped Pete would return her call before Caro got home, but he hadn’t. She’d have to handle this on her own.
“Hi,” Sadie called from the kitchen, glad that her voice didn’t sound as tight as her stomach felt. She’d considered eating her dinner in her room so as to steer clear of Rex, but knew that it would worry Caro. Sadie heard Rex enter the kitchen to greet his wife, and she turned around in time to see Caro walk right past her husband and come directly to Sadie. Her eyes were wide as she looked Sadie over and put her hands on Sadie’s upper arms.
“How are you? Okay? Did you sleep? Oh my gosh, what happened to your neck?”
Sadie caught Rex’s expression over Caro’s shoulder as he watched them for a few seconds before turning back toward the living room. Sadie felt a wave of sympathy for his position. He was trying to protect his wife, and Sadie had become a threat.
“I’m okay,” Sadie said, deciding to downplay everything. She didn’t want to trigger too much more of Caro’s curiosity. It was a shame because Caro would be the perfect person to appreciate Sadie’s Coke-bottle-to-the-nose maneuver and her encounter with bald Lily. But Sadie needed to pull away, which made her sad. “We just went to the bar to talk to a guy and things got out of hand. My arrest was a mix-up. I’ll have a court date where I’ll get to explain the mistake.” She wished she was as calm about it as she’d made it sound.
“But you went to jail,” Caro said in an almost reverent tone, her eyes still wide and brimming with curiosity. “What was it like? Was it awful?”
“It smelled awful,” Sadie said, smiling in an attempt to lighten the mood. “But it didn’t turn out too bad. There was only one other woman in the cell with me, and she was nice enough. I was sure excited to see Pete, though. I’m sorry I had you so worried. They wouldn’t let me make any calls.”
“Oh, I wasn’t that worried,” Caro said, letting go of Sadie’s arms. “I just wish I could have gone with you last night.” She smiled big and wide, reminding Sadie of her own naïve beginnings in the world of investigation. Everything was so simple and obvious then—follow the threads to see where they’d take you. Now, she knew too much about where those threads could lead. She was still curious—all her questions still swirled in her mind—but these days she went in with a bit more caution and realistic expectations than what she saw in Caro’s eyes right now.
“Well, dinner’s ready,” Sadie said, turning to get some bowls out of the cupboard. “If you want to get Rex.”
Dinner was awkward, but Caro didn’t seem to notice the tension between Sadie and Rex. She kept asking Sadie about what had happened the night before, but after enough of Sadie’s flat answers which were meant not to encourage her, Caro went on to talk about the three-year-old twin girls who’d come into the dental office for their first appointment. They’d reminded her of her daughters, so she’d helped keep them distracted while the dentist “counted their teeth” and “painted” them with fluoride.
After dinner was over, Rex returned to the living room where he turned on a basketball game, and Sadie and Caro cleaned up the meal. Sadie tried to steer the topics of conversation away from her arrest, but she didn’t know how to skirt the topic entirely without being downright rude, which she was loathe to do to her friend.
Caro suggested kicking Rex off the TV so they could watch a Netflix movie. “He can watch it in the bedroom,” she said. No way was Sadie going to do that. She used the excuse of a headache—not entirely a lie—to escape to her apartment.
Once there, she lit a fire in the fireplace grotto in the corner of the room, then spied her laptop computer set up on the desk. Having her best investigative tool right there waiting for her had her thinking over some of her remaining questions. First and foremost, what was Shel’s tie to this Gold River Ranch or Cold River Ranch? From the background check she’d done on him, Shel was new to the area and had been working for D&E, not a ranch. Information that didn’t fit was unsettling, and yet the answer could be simple to uncover. She started with a basic Google search, which confirmed that Cold River Ranch was an organic cattle ranch located just outside of Santa Fe.
The ranch’s website had a complete history of the Standage family, immigrants who’d started the ranch back in 1914. The ranch had survived the Great Depression due to the family’s wise financial planning and because the ranch had access to water supplied by an underground spring that ran along the south end of the property. They were currently one of the only cattle ranches supported almost entirely by green energy, as solar panels and two windmills on the west end now provided all the power necessary.
Impressive, but she couldn’t see how it was connected to Shel.
She went back to the initial report she’d worked up on Shel, but could still find nothing on the surface to connect him to the ranch, though he had attended the University of New Mexico several years earlier.
She went back to the Internet and searched for any community commentary about the ranch. She found several instances of donations and support of various nonprofit organizations; it seemed the ranch was very generous. Finally, she found an article about Ethan Standage, heir to the Cold River Ranch but also a champion of current laws maintaining proper preservation of historical emblems.
Sadie felt a red flag go up in her mind. Shel was working on an archeological dig site, and Ethan espoused preservation of artifacts. Was that the connection? It was frail at best. A knock at the door interrupted her from learning more about Ethan Standage, and she minimized the browser window quickly.
“Come in,” she called as she stood up and turned toward the door.
Caro opened the door. “I made some hot chocolate,” she said. “I could add a shot of brandy if you think that would help your head. Would you like some?”
It had been a surprise to Sadie that hot chocolate was so popular in New Mexico, but it was offered everywhere coffee was served, and it was always so good. What excuse could she possibly make to pass on Caro’s fabulous homemade hot choco
late?
“The hot chocolate would be perfect,” Sadie said, giving into the temptation. Besides, saying no would seem so out of character that Caro would know something was wrong. And her stomach may never forgive her if she denied it the opportunity.
On her way out of the room, she took her cell phone off the charger. Hopefully Pete would call her soon; she really needed to talk to him about what had happened with Rex.
Sadie could hear the whistles and squeaks of the basketball game from the living room TV. She sat at the kitchen table, and Caro passed her a mug.
“I just got off the phone with Lois,” Caro said after blowing across the top of her own mug.
“Oh yeah?” Lois was a friend of Caro’s who owned a bakery a few blocks from Old Town and had a booth at the upcoming Fiesta. Sadie and Caro had gone to the bakery at least once a week since Sadie’s arrival, and they had even helped out with a catered order a few weeks ago when Lois was shorthanded. It was fun to work in a commercial bakery, and Lois was a high-energy sweetheart who made Sadie feel right at home.
“She asked if we were still able to help with the booth at the Fiesta this weekend,” Caro continued.
“She doesn’t mind having a . . . wrongly-imprisoned potential felon working for her?”
“I told her it was all a big mistake, and she said she could use the help.”
“I’d love to,” Sadie said, relieved to have something to do and thinking, sadly, about how this may help her transition out of living in Caro and Rex’s house. The Fiesta could serve as an excuse for her to get a hotel in Albuquerque for the rest of her time in New Mexico. She glanced at her phone and willed Pete to call her. She really needed his perspective on this.
She took a sip of her drink and felt her whole body relax as the warmth enveloped her chest and drifted throughout her arms and legs. Sensational. “Does she need any help in the bakery beforehand? I don’t have anything to do with my time.”
“She didn’t mention that,” Caro said, shaking her head. “But I’ll ask her and see.”
The home phone rang and Caro excused herself to answer it while Sadie sat up straight. She’d called Pete from Caro’s home phone, maybe he was calling her back on that number.
“Nikki,” Caro gushed, identifying her daughter as the caller. “How are you, sweetie?”
Sadie leaned back in her chair, turned her attention to her own phone, and realized why Pete hadn’t called her—she hadn’t turned it on. Duh. The screen came to life moments later and immediately informed her that she’d missed several calls and three text messages. The text messages and the first four voice mails were from Caro last night, each message sounding a bit more frantic than the last. Sadie felt horrible knowing she’d caused her friend so much worry, but it supported what Rex had said about how concerned Caro had been, despite her attempts to make it sound like she hadn’t been too upset.
The final voice mail was from Margo. Sadie had looked for Margo in the crowd last night as the police cruiser had pulled away from The Conquistador, but she’d been unable to find her.
“Hey. It’s me. I need to talk to you. Call me back as soon as you can. This is bigger than you thought, and I’m going to need your help with something. I apologize in advance for . . . well, just call me ASAP.”
Sadie could feel her eyebrows pull together as she played the message a second time, listening to every word. What was Margo pre-apologizing for? After listening a third time, she toggled through her phone and confirmed that Margo had left the message around one o’clock in the morning—the same time Sadie was in jail. Where was Margo calling from? What had she figured out? Bigger than you thought? Had Sadie even gotten to the point of “thinking” anything in particular?
“Is everything okay?” Caro asked as she returned to the table. Sadie hadn’t noticed her end her phone call. Sadie’s thumb hovered over the connect button to call Margo back, but Rex’s words came back to her: “It isn’t good for my wife to be involved in this kinda thing.”
“Everything’s good,” Sadie said, putting her phone back on the table and pasting on a smile. “How’s Nikki?”
“She’s fine,” Caro said in that longing, I-miss-my-kids tone Sadie knew from experience.
Sadie gave her a sad, sympathetic smile. “It’s quite an adjustment, isn’t it?” If not for having her dad to take care of when Shawn had left for school, she wasn’t sure how she would have handled her own empty nest. Of course, Dad passed away not long afterward, but that adjustment had been different.
“In so many ways that I never considered,” Caro said, then glanced over her shoulder and leaned forward. “The hardest part has been Rex.”
“Does he miss them that much?” Sadie asked, genuinely surprised. Most men adjusted much easier than women did when the kids left home. Rex, specifically, didn’t seem like the type of man who would waste much energy pining for his daughters.
“No,” Caro said, then softened her quick reply. “I mean, he does miss them, but since they left, he wants all my free time—every minute I used to devote to the girls.”
“Oh,” Sadie said, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.
“He’s talking about taking partial retirement next year. He’s fully vested next April, so he could cut back to twenty-four hours a week and take some of his pension and still keep his health insurance.” She paused and shook her head. “Honestly, Sadie, I think I might kill him.”
Sadie startled. She’d helped unravel too many murders to not react to threats, even idle ones. Caro continued, unheeded.
“I spent all those years raising the girls, and they were great years. I loved them. But a few years ago, I started this mental list of all the things I wanted to do when they were gone. I wanted to cut back at work, volunteer, make handmade quilts, and learn to cook with tofu—which actually turned out to be a poor goal to set, but anyway—I wanted to travel and buy a cute car and do all those things you can’t do when the kids come first, you know? Since they left, I’ve really been able to explore my own interests. It hasn’t completely filled the void, but it’s certainly helped. And it’s been so much fun.” She smiled, looking past Sadie thoughtfully. “I go to lunch with my friends, I took a calligraphy class, I get to cook with mushrooms—both my girls hated mushrooms—I’m in the best shape of my life and really enjoy my ‘me time.’” Her face fell and her eyes snapped back to Sadie. “But Rex hates it. He doesn’t like that I have all these new things I’m interested in that don’t include him. Never mind that I took care of everything for all those years so he could take hunting trips, and go to school and work, and not have to worry about home and family. I even cared for his mother for over a decade when she came to live with us. These days, when he’s around, he wants all my time, all my attention. As much as I enjoy spending time with him, I have so many other things I want to do that have nothing to do with him. He wants us to do things like redo the tile in the kitchen together or watch TV—so not my idea of a good time.” She paused to take a sip of her hot cocoa.
“Maybe you can find some things you both enjoy,” Sadie started, but Caro was shaking her head before Sadie finished.
“He doesn’t want to do any of the things I want to do. I’ve even suggested things like scuba diving lessons or getting season tickets to the Lobos games—you know, things I think he’d enjoy—but he gets irritated by them, won’t even try. He’s turned them all down. He was a linebacker in college, Sadie—sexy and full of energy. What’s happened to him?”
“Transitions are difficult,” Sadie said, willing her phone to ring and interrupt the increasingly uncomfortable conversation.
Caro smiled, softening the lines in her face. “You coming when you did was such a blessing. It seemed to change the dynamics just enough for things to feel more like they used to be, before it was just Rex and me.” Her smile widened even as Sadie found it harder to keep her own smile in place. “It’s like you being here made it easier for Rex to give me a little more space. And there’s someone else
for me to talk to and be with—someone adventurous and fun. It’s been so great to have you, and”—she looked away guiltily for a moment before meeting Sadie’s eyes again and looking a little embarrassed, but a lot sincere—“I don’t miss my girls as much since you came.” She took another drink before returning the mug to the table, holding it with both hands. “Anyway, that’s the long answer to ‘it’s been hard,’ but it’s not so bad anymore.”
Call me right now, Pete! “You and Rex have been great,” Sadie said, carefully. She hated that she couldn’t return Caro’s enthusiasm. “I can’t thank you enough for letting me stay all this time.”
Caro’s eyebrows came together as she seemed to properly interpret the tone of Sadie’s voice. She sat up a little straighter. “You’re not going anywhere, are you?”
Sadie took a breath and said a little prayer for help on how to say this the right way. “Pete thinks I need to move on, what with the arrest and everything. My name’s on public record now.” Sadie hated lying, and she felt even worse when Caro reached across the table and put her hand on Sadie’s arm.
“Please don’t go,” she said, tears actually coming to her eyes. “Can’t the police block your name or something? Can’t the judge do that so you can stay?”
Sadie covered Caro’s hand with her own. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, exactly,” she said, hoping to let her down easily. “But you have been amazing to me, and I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done. I’ve loved being here.”
Sadie’s chest ached with regret. This is not the way things should have gone.
“I knew it wouldn’t last forever,” Caro said, removing her hand from Sadie’s arm and taking another long sip of her cocoa. She looked away, a kind of forced nonchalance in her tone and posture. She couldn’t hold it long, though, and after a moment, her shoulders sagged. She let out a long breath, and when she looked up at Sadie, her eyes were sad. “Are boredom and annoyance grounds for divorce, do you think?”
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