Part 8 (1/2)
Sadie and Petrovich had done this dance of information before. He was a great detective who wouldn't share information about a case. On the other hand, when he wanted Sadie to know something, he had a way of telling her.
”Hold on a second.” Sadie paused in front of her closet. ”You mean the finger doesn't belong to May Lathrop?”
Sadie opened her closet to look for something she could wear to both dinner with her mom and the seance afterward. Something virginal enough to appease Mom, dark enough to wear for a seance, and, perhaps, s.l.u.tty enough to attract Owen's wanton gaze.
When the detective didn't respond right away, Sadie turned away from her closet.
”There's something you're not telling me.”
”I can't discuss-”
”This involves me, Dean!” Sadie shouted. ”Some crazy-a.s.s killer chopped off a finger and left it for me!”
”You need to be careful, Sadie,” Petrovich said seriously. ”And if you were to Google chopped-off prost.i.tute fingers you might find out more than you should. . . . Not that you heard it from me.” He paused before saying seriously, ”You know that house alarm you hardly ever use? Start using it.”
He disconnected the call, leaving Sadie with chills that were not about to be made all better by a night of sparring with her mom and seancing with mediums.
Chapter 6.
Sadie ran to her computer and entered murdered prost.i.tutes and amputated fingers into a search. She was rewarded by a lot of results about strange goings-on that she wished she could unsee and unread. However, she finally located a blog written a couple years ago. The blogger had written a long dissertation claiming a number of prost.i.tutes were murdered in Albuquerque and that the killer had chopped off their fingers. Sadie thought about that and wondered if this was what Petrovich had referred to. Further Googling resulted in her discovering a number of articles in Albuquerque newspapers about a rash of prost.i.tute slayings. No mention was made about pilfered pointers.
Out of curiosity, Sadie e-mailed the Albuquerque blogger, asking her about the article. She wondered if Zack would be able to get information on the cases not released to the press in Albuquerque. Her hand went instinctively to her phone and Sadie began to dial Zack's number. She caught herself and ended the call before it went through.
”I don't need him and I don't want him, Sadie stated emphatically in her empty house, but even her rabbit didn't buy it.
She shut down her computer and then set the house alarm before heading out the door to get to her mom's for dinner.
Sadie proudly pulled up to her mom's house half an hour early at four thirty, but then she realized she'd forgotten the salad and had to run to Safeway. By the time she walked into her mom's house it was five fifteen. She could hear Osbert's shrill cry from outside the front door.
”You're late.” Her mom took the bag containing bagged salad.
”Sorry.”
Sadie's mom had never been the warm-and-huggy kind of mom. Since Sadie's dad died last year, Mom had taken up snark as a full-time hobby. Sadie truly hoped it was a phase. Sort of like the time when her mom took up crocheting and made cozies for every item in Sadie's house, including Hairy's litter box.
Sadie nodded h.e.l.lo to her brother-in-law, John, who had Dylan on his lap contentedly watching Elmo on the TV. She followed the sounds of Osbert's cries into the kitchen and found Maeva maniacally pacing the floor with the baby as if the bouncing motion would shake the baby's vocal cords loose.
”Sadie! Oh thank G.o.d!”
She walked over and attempted to thrust the child into Sadie's arms.
”Could I put down my purse and take off my jacket first?”
Maeva waited impatiently until Sadie was ready to take him, then practically tossed Osbert into her arms.
”Now, what's all the fussing about Ozlicious?” Sadie cooed.
Osbert was as quiet as a lamb except for a hiccup.
”I don't get it.” Maeva shook her head. ”Why does he always stop crying when he's with you?”
Sadie shrugged.
Dawn was stirring a pot on the stove and smiled at Sadie.
”It's because she's got no emotion invested in it. Osbert picks up on your stress, Maeva; that's why he doesn't calm down.”
”Terry said if this keeps up, you need to come live with us,” Maeva told Sadie.
Sadie laughed.
”I'm serious.” Maeva leaned in and whispered in Sadie's ear. ”I think I'm going insane.”
”He's a baby.” Sadie rolled her eyes. ”Babies cry.”
”Not like this.” Maeva wagged a finger in Osbert's chubby face. ”He's possessed or something.”
”Well, at the rate business is going, being your live-in nanny might not be such a bad idea,” Sadie murmured.
Dinner was a large quant.i.ty of pasta, salad, and garlic bread topped off with the best berry cheesecake Sadie had ever consumed. It was a very good thing that nothing they ate required a knife since Sadie had Osbert balanced in the crook of her left arm through the entire meal.
”You're a natural,” John commented, pointing at her from across the table with his fork. ”You and Zack should totally consider settling down and having kids.”
Dawn elbowed her husband hard in the ribs. ”For a doctor, you're not very smart.”
”What?” John asked, confused.
”Yes. What?” Sadie's mom put down her fork and narrowed her eyes at Sadie. ”Why isn't Zack here? How long is he going to work out of town? It's not right that he works so far away. There's got to be jobs doing security in Seattle.”
”Zack and I are on a break.” Sadie shoveled the last forkful of cheesecake into her mouth and got up from the table.
”A break!” Her mom got up and followed Sadie into the kitchen, carrying in an armload of dishes. ”I thought he was just working in Portland. What the heck is a break? You should be getting married and having babies. You're not twenty anymore!”
”I know how old I am and I'm far too old to be listening to dating advice from my mommy!” Sadie countered.
She walked over to Maeva and handed over Osbert, who immediately launched into a piercing wail of epic decibels.
”I'll see you at Halladay Street,” Sadie shouted over Osbert's cries.
Her mom's comments had unsettled Sadie at the deepest level. One part of her didn't feel ready for marriage and a family, but lately there'd been a gnawing need in her core that was the ticking time bomb of her biological clock.
Sadie drove her Scene-2-Clean van directly over to Halladay Street, but when she saw Owen's BMW parked out front she just kept going. She knew she'd have to face him later on for the seance, but she didn't feel strong enough to deal with him on her own. There was a good chance that she might accidentally-on-purpose end up naked with him.
Sadie drove around until she found the closest Starbucks. She went easy on the caffeine in her latte and then meandered back in the direction of West Halladay. It was still a little early to expect Maeva and her band of misfits-Louise and the Thingvolds-but if she didn't see their vehicles, she'd just keep going until closer to their meeting time of eight thirty. As luck would have it, when she rounded the corner onto the Halladay Street Owen Sorkin was at his vehicle getting something from his trunk. Because she was driving a large white van advertising Scene-2-Clean, it was a little hard to discretely coast on by. He spotted her immediately and waved.
With a sigh, Sadie parked a few houses down and met Owen on the sidewalk in front of the house.