Part 27 (1/2)
Sadie drank some orange juice and winced as it caused her stomach acid to roar back to life.
”I understand you not wanting to be labeled a killer, okay? But you need to let the cops do their job, Dean. No good will come from me poking around trying to get your dead ex-wife to talk to me.”
”My reputation's on the line here!” His voice got louder. ”I've been a detective for nearly twenty years! I can't just stand back and listen to everyone saying I'm guilty without at least trying to get evidence to clear my name.” He put his hands on his hips. ”I don't want to say you owe me but...”
But she did. She owed Dean big time. Petrovich had been the cop on the scene of her brother's suicide. He'd gone above and beyond the call of duty to make sure she was okay then and had saved her sorry trauma cleaning a.s.s many times since that day. He'd also been a champion of her trauma cleaning company, Scene-2-Clean, and had referred many families in need of her services over the years.
Sadie closed her eyes feeling suddenly unbearably exhausted.
”I'll think about it but, right now, I gotta go back to bed.”
”Okay.” He nodded. ”That's good. You sleep on it and I'll be right here whenever you want to talk.”
Sadie looked him over and shook her head slowly from side to side as she left him in her kitchen and returned to the comfort of her tangled bed sheets.
When Sadie woke up a second time it was to the doorbell. She glanced at her bedside clock, cursed and ran for the door.
Petrovich stopped her in the living room.
”Don't answer it. You don't know who it is. It could be the cops coming to look for me.”
”It's Zack. We have a date. He's taking me out for breakfast.”
”What?! You can't let him in. I don't want anyone to know I'm staying with you.”
Sadie rolled her eyes.
”Go away then,” Sadie said, making shooing motions with her hands. ”You're not s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g this up for me.”
”I thought you and Zack broke up.”
”We did. Or not. It's complicated.” Her stomach was a bundle of nerves partly because she was still in her PJ's and there was the little matter of harboring a suspected murderer in her house.
”If he's taking you out on a date, even if it's only breakfast, then you're obviously back together.”
”This is our first date since our breakup a couple months ago.”
They'd started with stilted emails, moved on to upbeat texts and, recently, had graduated to awkward phone calls trying to test the waters of their relations.h.i.+p. Sadie was hoping a successful breakfast would pave a bridge across the river of poison that was their past. It might be too much to expect from eggs and bacon, but she was an optimist.
The doorbell rang again and she waved her hands at Dean with annoyance and hissed, ”Leave!”
Sadie made for the door while Petrovich took off.
”Hi,” Sadie said, smiling at Zack while running a nervous hand through her short cropped hair. ”Sorry, I'm running late.”
She looked over at her on-again off-again boyfriend of the last few years. He looked rugged and handsome in Dockers and a b.u.t.ton down s.h.i.+rt. He smelled lightly of cologne. She couldn't remember Zack ever bothering with cologne before. He'd obviously made an effort. It caused her heart to do painful flip flops in her chest and also made her slightly queasy. She was beginning to think she shouldn't have eaten the specialty taco from that food truck downtown yesterday.
Zack looked her over without nearly the same appreciation.
”You just woke you up, didn't you?”
”Yeah. Sorry. I had a rough night.” She tugged at the hem of her Mariner's t-s.h.i.+rt that she wore as a nightgown. ”Make yourself comfortable and I'll be ready in five minutes tops.”
Zack bent and scooped up Sadie's pet bunny, Hairy, and stroked the rabbit's fur.
”Take your time.”
Sadie ran to her bedroom and threw on a pair of Levis and a t-s.h.i.+rt, then hustled into the bathroom to brush her teeth and hair. She applied a little makeup and was ready for her big date.
Sadie had Zack wait one more minute while she topped off Hairy's fresh kibble with his favorite yoghurt yummy treat. Then they were on their way. Zack opened the pa.s.senger door to his Mustang for her and when she sat down he reached over and buckled her belt. When he started the car he had the radio station tuned to her favorite soft rock station. He was being so nice it bordered on weirdness.
They talked about the weather and, basically, in Seattle that meant they discussed the various forms of precipitation. It had rained but now it was just misting and by the time they reached their destination it had ramped up to a drizzle. Their conversation positively sparkled with moisture.
Zack had chosen Beth's Cafe. It was a blast from the past. They'd eagerly shared grease and carbs after nights of shared pa.s.sion in Sadie's bed. Except, it felt different now. Strained.
”Just like old times,” she quipped with a smile. What she really wanted to say was, Why is this so weird when we've known each other so long?!
They walked inside and slipped into one of the small booths. Sadie felt a.s.saulted by the thick, greasy smell of bacon in the air. Her usual iron stomach was betraying her. Must be nerves. She took a calming breath as the waitress came over and filled their coffee cups.
”I'll have the country fried steak and eggs over easy. She'll have the breakfast burrito,” Zack told waitress.
”Hold on.” Sadie shook her head. ”Not the breakfast burrito.”
”But you always get the breakfast burrito.” Zack frowned and his tone sounded hurt. He was trying so hard.
”You're right. I love the breakfast burrito.” Why did she want to bungle his hard attempts to please her on this first date. ”What was I thinking?”
Raising his steaming mug of coffee to his face Zack smiled warmly at her.
”I thought for a second you were going to tell me you were on a diet or something.” He chuckled. ”You're as skinny as ever.”
”Um. Thanks.”
”In a good way,” he said hastily. ”Not too skinny. Just that you've always had a great appet.i.te and never worried about weight. Not like some women who wouldn't set foot in this place.”
Beth's was famous for twelve-egg omelettes and all you could eat hash browns. It was not a diner for dieters or the faint of heart.
”Me? On a diet?” Sadie forced a giggle as she sipped her coffee and they fell into an uncomfortable silence. Finally Sadie just blurted out, ”So I've been wanting to ask you about what happened a couple weeks ago at the spa.” Sadie leaned in on her elbows. ”What can you tell me?”
Since Zack was an ex cop she knew she could trust his instincts when it came to the shooting of Dean's ex wife. Even though he was no longer on the force due to a regrettable bullet wound that created an even more unfortunate addiction to Vicodin, Zack still had a network of friends and fellow boys in blue. She needed to know whether the situation was as dire as Dean Petrovich suggested.
”Do we really need to talk about this?” Zack asked. He reached out a hand and placed it over hers on top of the table. ”I know you've had a rough couple weeks. It's hard to think of Dean slipping over the edge . . . but you're just going to have to put this behind you.”
That was easy for him to say. He didn't have Petrovich hiding out at his place.
”Just tell me the truth. Do you think he did it?”
”Sadie, everyone thinks he did it.”
Sadie frowned.