While You Were Sweeping

by Christy Barritt

  “Excuse me!” someone said in a loud yet hushed voice.

  He pivoted until he saw a woman down the adjoining hallway. She was a middle-aged black female with bright eyes and big movements. She also wore a hospital badge.

  She waved him over, her gaze searching her surroundings as she did so, as if she feared being caught. Riley hesitated before stepping toward her.

  “Yes?”

  “Were you asking about Vicki?” she whispered, leaning close.

  He remained cautious as he nodded. The woman didn’t appear to be a nurse, but she did have some type of uniform on. “I was.”

  “Rumor has it that a missing person’s report has been filed.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “I work in the cafeteria. I used to talk to Vicki every day. I noticed she was gone, so I started asking questions. I thought it was weird, you know?”

  Riley nodded. “And you actually heard about that missing person’s report?”

  “I did. From someone else in the office. They’re trying to keep it all hush, hush in light of everything else going on at the hospital right now.” She shrugged. “Anyway, I heard you asking about her as you walked past. I’m tired of the secrets around here, so I decided to speak my mind. Just don’t tell anyone.”

  “Any rumors about what may have happened?”

  “Some people think she’s involved in this scandal here at the hospital and that she ran away. Other people think she was having trouble at home. Only she knows the truth, and she’s nowhere to be found.”

  He nodded. “Okay. Thank you for your help.”

  Maybe Riley wouldn’t be going straight home after all.

  CHAPTER 19

  Riley stared out the window as the landscape rolled past. For some reason, his future seemed to pivot on him solving this case. Not in anyone else’s mind except his own. But finding out who died felt like it would redeem him in some way. It would prove that he wasn’t going crazy.

  But just how would he do that?

  He couldn’t live under the suspicion of everyone thinking he was crazy for the rest of his life. Because, if he did, he had no hope of returning to his career as an attorney. No one would want someone they perceived as irrational representing them.

  It seemed like everything that was important to him was being stripped away. His job. Gabby. His home.

  The only thing he had to hang onto was his faith, and even that seemed a bit slippery at times.

  As the taxi took him closer to his home, a familiar truck pulling out in the distance caught his eye.

  It was Mr. Parksley.

  And he was leaving the thrift store.

  “Wait! Stop here for a minute,” he told the driver.

  They pulled into the parking lot.

  Just what was Mr. Parksley doing here? Riley needed to find out. It could be nothing.

  Or it could be everything.

  Riley walked around toward the donation drop off area where he’d seen the truck come from. He stopped in his tracks as he rounded the corner.

  “Can I help you?” a middle aged blonde asked.

  “Vicki Lewis?”

  The woman’s eyes widened. “Do I know you?”

  Riley shook his head. “I’m sorry. But . . . you’re here?”

  She took a step back, fear written in her gaze. “Do I need to call the police?”

  “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to scare you. But someone said you were missing. They thought you might even be dead. But here you are.”

  A women’s shelter ran this place. That was right. What if . . . ?

  “I’m just staying here until I can get back on my feet. I took some leave from work because I was afraid my ex would track me down.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. I didn’t mean to overstep. I just saw Mr. Parksley pull away and . . .” He shook his head.

  “He knows I’m here. He and his wife have been good friends. He dropped some money by for me to help me get back on my feet.”

  “He’s helping you?”

  She nodded. “Of course he is. He was the best boss I ever had. I hated to see him go.”

  “I guess he got out right in time, huh? Right before this scandal broke out at the hospital?”

  She shrugged. “It’s going to be a headache, for sure. He was the one who reported it initially.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She nodded. “Positive. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to work.”

  Riley mulled over what he’d learned as he walked back toward the front of the building. On a whim, he slipped inside the store. His thoughts were beginning to crush him, to make him feel defeated. But while he was here, he decided to check on one more thing.

  When he walked in, someone other than Shirley was working at the front desk. This woman was in her mid-twenties with light brown hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. She wore a flannel shirt and still had a smattering of acne.

  Could this be Robin?

  “Can I help you?” she asked, shoving aside a magazine as Riley approached.

  “I hope so. I’m looking for a rug. I think it was donated a couple of weeks ago.”

  “A rug? What kind?”

  “An area rug. Beige and burgundy.”

  “Very specific.” She nodded almost comically.

  He shrugged. “Someone I know dropped it off for donation before they knew I wanted it.”

  She frowned, an unexpected reaction. “Someone did drop off a rug. Mr. Parksley.”

  Riley’s eyes widened. “He’s the one. You know him?”

  She nodded. “I do. We talked quite a bit, actually. He donated a rug and some shoes. I actually bought the rug myself, though.”

  “What?” This couldn’t be right?

  She nodded again. “It looked practically new. I couldn’t pass it up. We didn’t even put it out on the floor.”

  Riley shook his head, not willing to accept the heavy realizations that felt like they could sink him. “When did he do this?”

  She shrugged. “I can’t say for sure. It was one weekend not long ago, though. Maybe a couple of weeks?”

  “And the rug looked new?”

  “That’s right.” She pulled out her phone. “I even took a picture of it in my apartment. Here it is.”

  Sure enough, it looked like the same rug. Riley shook his head and squeezed the skin between his eyes.

  “Is everything okay?”

  Riley stepped back, his head swimming. “Yeah, it’s fine. Thanks for your help.”

  He left the thrift store, hardly able to breathe.

  Because he had a terrible realization.

  He really was losing his mind.

  CHAPTER 20

  How could he have been so wrong? All along, that sound he’d heard must have been a car backfiring. Mr. Parksley had taken some items to the thrift store. The blood Riley thought he saw . . . that must have been some type of flashback.

  Maybe everyone had been right all along. Riley wasn’t ready to be on his own. He wasn’t ready to regain any independence. And he needed to face the fact that he might not ever be ready. His life was forever changed.

  Two days after his visit to the thrift store, Riley almost felt depressed and he was spending way too much time up in his room, thinking too much and not praying enough. Which was what he did now. The shades were drawn, everything silent around him.

  As he mentally replayed the events of the past couple of weeks, someone knocked at his door and pulled him from his thoughts. Who could that be? His parents had both gone out to meet with their financial planner about this year’s taxes.

  “Come in,” he muttered.

  Sophia walked in. “You’re going to the dojo with me.”

  “I don’t feel like it.”

  She pursed her lips in a scowl. “Wrong answer. You’re going. Just because you were wrong about one thing doesn’t mean you should shut down.”

  “I was apparently wrong about quite a bit.”

  �
�There’s something I want to tell you. But you have to go to Todd’s with me first.”

  What could she possibly have to tell him? “I don’t know.”

  “Come on, Riley. Get out of the house. You’re not doing yourself any favors sitting around and feeling sorry for yourself.”

  “I’m not feeling sorry for myself.”

  “Could have fooled me. Prove yourself by coming with me.”

  Begrudgingly, he met her downstairs ten minutes later and they went to the dojo. He had to admit that the workout felt good. But it still didn’t break the melancholy that shrouded him.

  After their session ended, Todd suggested they all grab dinner together. Sophia quickly agreed, so they headed to a Southern-Italian restaurant. Riley had little choice but to go along since Sophia was his ride.

  “So, I think you’ll find this really interesting, Riley,” Sophia started, taking a sip of iced tea. “Dr. Perkins just announced that she’s writing a book.”

  Riley waited, not sure what was so interesting about that. “Okay . . .?”

  “It’s about relationships after traumatic brain injury,” Sophia finished.

  “Not to be a broken record, but okay . . .”

  She nodded. “Apparently, the whole premise of the book is that relationships never work. She has case study after case study to prove it.”

  “As interesting as that is, what does it have to do with me?”

  She sucked in a long breath. “It’s like this. Studies are supposed to be objective. You’re supposed to go in with an open mind. But Dr. Perkins, rumor has it, isn’t like that. She came in with a theory that she wanted to prove and she didn’t back down.”

  Riley shifted in his seat, suddenly interested. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

  “I am if you think I’m saying that all of the advice that she’s given you has been through the filter of this book.”

  Riley straightened some. “So, all of that talk about having no hope for success could have been wrong?”

  Sophia shrugged. “I’m not saying there’s no merit to the studies or the statistics, but I am saying that I really feel she was pushing her own agenda. When someone plants an idea in a person’s mind that a relationship won’t work, sometimes the very suggestion can shape the future. If she did, then the results would only help to prove her theory.”

  “Is that even ethical?” Riley asked.

  “Not really. Will anyone call her out on it? It’s hard to say. It’s hard to prove intent. I just thought you’d want to know.”

  “Surprisingly, that does make me feel a little better.” One of the main reasons he’d decided not to go back to her anymore was because she didn’t share the same biblical foundations. Riley believed that with reliance on God’s word and prayer that anything could happen. Dr. Perkins had led him to believe otherwise. But his relationships were about more than circumstances and external measures. They were also about faith and commitment. Somewhere along the line, he’d started to believe what Dr. Perkins told him was the truth. He was so glad he’d decided not to go back to her. He needed to meet with someone who shared his worldview.

  “Everything okay?” Todd asked as their food came out. The waitress set a huge salad in front of him. Riley had ordered fried chicken marsala, and Sophia got chicken and angel hair dumplings.

  “Rough week,” Riley muttered.

  “I was just reading this morning about how our trials are temporary,” Todd said. “I know they may not feel like it. But everything will pass in time.”

  Riley nodded half-heartedly. “Thanks.”

  He didn’t say anything else, so Todd and Sophia eventually got the hint that he didn’t want to talk.

  “So, what’s all of this stress you keep talking about?” Todd asked Sophia. “You look tense today.”

  His cousin had been especially aggressive on the punching bag earlier, making it obvious she had a lot of pent up frustration inside. Something about the way Todd said the words made Riley wonder if the two of them had talked outside of the dojo recently, though.

  Sophia let out a sigh and took a long sip of her tea. “It’s all of the craziness at the hospital right now.”

  “Yeah, what’s going on?” Todd asked. “I saw something on the news.”

  “Someone on staff has been stealing drugs. Even worse, they think that my supervisor who’s been gone didn’t just go on vacation. They think that she skipped town.”

  “Sounds like a mess,” Todd said.

  “Tell me about it. The authorities are all over the place. They’re trying to track down Gretchen on vacation, but she won’t answer her phone. She’s probably out shopping for new Jimmy Choos.”

  Riley suddenly straightened. “What did you say?”

  “That they’re trying to track down Gretchen—”

  “No, after that. Something about shoes?”

  Sophia shrugged. “Gretchen loved Jimmy Choos. Why?”

  “She didn’t wear a size eleven, did she?”

  Sophia went still. “She always complained because she thought she had big feet. Why are you asking?”

  Riley shook his head, trying to sort everything out. It couldn’t be . . . could it? But the brand of shoe and the size couldn’t be a coincidence.

  Or could it?

  Nothing seemed certain anymore.

  “Riley, what are you thinking about?” Sophia asked.

  “You’ll think I’m crazy.”

  “Try me.”

  He pulled out his phone and showed Sophia the picture he’d taken that day at Mr. Parksley’s. “Does this look familiar?”

  “Yeah, it’s the shoe you found that day you thought you heard the gunshot.”

  “Look closer.”

  She studied it a moment before her eyes widened. “Size eleven Jimmy Choos. It could be a coincidence.”

  “You said no one has heard from Gretchen in how long?”

  Sophia swallowed hard. “It’s been a while. A . . . couple of weeks, at least.”

  Riley stared at her.

  She finally shook her head. “I don’t know, Riley.”

  “What’s going on?” Todd asked.

  Sophia and Riley stared at each other a moment before finally Riley spoke. “I thought I heard my neighbor shoot someone and then saw him try and cover it up. No one believes me. I’m not sure I believe me half of the time.”

  “Whoa. That’s . . . heavy.”

  Riley nodded. “I know. But I’ve had absolutely no proof. All I have is a brain that isn’t working correctly. I have no body, no idea whose body it might be, no weapon. Nothing.”

  “Until now,” Todd said.

  Riley shook his head, remembering the letdown of discovering the donated rug. “And again, I have no way to prove anything. Just an idea. If I keep pursuing this, my parents are going to put me in the looney bin.”

  “Maybe we can put your mind at rest. What if Sophia and I help you?” He glanced at Sophia. “If that’s okay with you.”

  She shrugged. “Sure, I guess.”

  “What motive would Mr. Parksley have for murdering this woman? Does he even know her?” Todd asked.

  Riley nodded. “They would have both worked at the hospital.”

  “And the drugs have been going missing, and the fact that someone has been ordering supplies and padding the invoices,” Sophia said. “They’ve been splitting the differences with the provider. Mr. Parksley could have been involved.”

  Riley nodded. “That’s right. He was the CFO. He had a front row seat to all of that financial information. If anyone could get away with it, it would have been Mr. Parksley.”

  Sophia went pale. “He would have been working at the hospital when all of it happened.”

  “How about Gretchen? Was she working there at the time?” Todd asked.

  Sophia nodded. “She was there. She’s probably been at the hospital for five years.”

  “Is there a chance she could have known something that would incriminate Mr. P
arksley?” Todd asked.

  Riley nodded, a new idea hitting him. “It’s a theory. He could have killed her and then dumped her body into the lake behind his property.”

  “Dumped her body into the lake . . . what?” Sophia asked, shaking her head.

  “It’s just a theory. I can’t exactly go scuba diving in the lake to see if it’s true, nor can I tell the police without any evidence to back it up. But it’s all starting to make sense.”

  “Let’s say that’s true. What do we do?” Todd asked.

  Riley appreciated the “we” in his sentence, especially since he wasn’t completely trusting himself at this very moment.

  “How about we go for a boat ride?” Riley asked.

  CHAPTER 21

  Thirty minutes later, Todd, Sophia, and Riley were all in an old canoe gliding across the water. Riley’s parents had looked at them like they were crazy when they heard what they were doing. But since Sophia and Todd were there, they probably just thought they were reliving their goofy teenage years and didn’t ask too many questions.

  It was cold outside—too cold to be out on the water. But they all wore hats and scarves and coats. The day was gray and winter-like and seemed a good reflection of the dreary implications this investigation could have.

  “What exactly are we hoping to discover?” Sophia asked.

  Riley shrugged. “I have no idea. It’s all kind of vague. But I just need some type of proof. Maybe having a different perspective will help me to see something I haven’t seen before.”

  Todd and Riley did most of the rowing. Something about being out in the cold air and doing something risky invigorated Riley. Life had just been a series of routines, of struggling to get by day by day for so long. It felt good to be excited.

  In fact, for the past couple of weeks—give or take a few days—he’d felt more alive than he had in a long time. Though he’d still struggled, he’d had something to think about other than all the things that were wrong in his life. Dwelling on this unofficial investigation had been a nice distraction.

  “That’s his house?” Sophia asked, nodding toward the shore.