7
As Sadie cleared the dishes, she was happy in a way she hadn’t been happy in a long time. She couldn’t point to one specific reason. She just felt...free. She also felt productive and capable of taking care of herself, which made her view the future in a more positive light. Then there was Dawson Reed, of course. She’d been so worried that he was as bad as everyone was saying, that she was making a mistake by answering his ad. But she didn’t believe that anymore. She liked him, thought he was a decent man. Although she could be wrong—there were people who’d been fooled by killers before—she couldn’t imagine him harming the Reeds. He hadn’t said or done one inappropriate thing. On the contrary! What kind of killer tried to bring his mentally handicapped sister home so he could take care of her—because she’d be happier with him? What could Dawson possibly get out of assuming that responsibility? Nothing! He was paying for a caregiver for Angela when he could be spending those dollars on a farmhand who would make his own workday easier.
Sadie certainly didn’t get the impression he’d lured her into his employ for some nefarious purpose. He was less likely to engage her than she was him. She heard from him only when he came in for dinner.
She was tired when she walked out to her car to go home, but after she backed out of the drive, where she could see the house from a better perspective, she paused to look. She’d done a good job covering the writing that’d been painted on the front. She was so glad to have gotten that off.
Eager to see Jayden, she put on some music through her phone—the radio, like the clock, didn’t work in her car—and finished backing out of the gate. That was when she spotted a squad car parked down the street, just out of sight from the house.
Sadie slowed as she went by. Sure enough, Sly sat behind the wheel.
Damn him! How long had he been there, waiting for her?
Determined not to acknowledge him, she pressed the accelerator. “Go home and leave me alone,” she mumbled. But one glance in the rearview mirror indicated he’d pulled onto the highway behind her. She really didn’t want her ex-husband waiting for her every night, didn’t want to deal with him nearly that often...
Her cell phone rang, interrupting the music, and his name appeared on her screen. Her car was so old it didn’t have Bluetooth capacity, but she had a Bluetooth device in the ashtray. She would’ve used it, if only the battery wasn’t dead.
She pulled over so that he wouldn’t follow her all the way to Petra’s again. She didn’t want him taking Jayden out for more ice cream. She missed her son, wanted to spend some quality time with him before bed—and she didn’t want Sly involved in any way. He made her anxious, on edge. His moods could be so mercurial; she never knew if he’d be pleasant or go off on some rant in which he held her accountable for “ruining his life.”
He parked behind her and came walking up.
“What are you doing?” she asked, lowering her window via the hand-crank as he approached.
“Nothing. I was just out for a drive.”
She made a face. “So finding you outside Dawson’s house was purely a coincidence.”
His lips twisted into a wry grin. “Maybe not entirely. I was making sure you were safe. What do you think? You should thank me.”
“Except that it’s not necessary for you to waste your time. And it’s more than I have a right to expect, since we’re no longer together.”
“Our separation is merely a temporary setback, Sadie. I’m going to prove that to you, prove that I can make you happy.”
They’d tried for ten years and nothing had changed. She was no longer in love with him, hadn’t been in love with him for at least half that time. “I’m flattered by your tenacity. But I think it’s important to know when to let go. We both need to move on.”
“And leave you in the hands of someone like Dawson Reed? What kind of man would I be?”
“The kind who respects boundaries. I’m fine! Dawson didn’t kill his parents, Sly. He hasn’t killed anyone. He’s not capable of that type of thing.”
Sly had his mouth open, ready to say more. He was used to dominating every conversation. But at this he clamped his lips shut. By his expression, she’d triggered one of his infamous mood swings.
“I mean...no one knows for sure what happened,” she added, trying to backpedal.
“He was the only one who could’ve killed them, Sadie—the only one anywhere nearby that night. There was no foreign DNA found in the house. If a random hitchhiker broke in and murdered Lonnie and Larry, there would’ve been something.”
She’d read about that. She hadn’t yet added the discrepancy to the list she was making, but she had a rebuttal. There was a shoe print outside in the mud—from a smaller foot than Dawson’s—which the police had conveniently explained as coming from some random visitor to the farm and not the killer. She almost said so but bit her tongue. She didn’t care to debate the case, especially with Sly. He had to win every argument, by getting mad and screaming if he didn’t have a solid basis for whatever he was saying.
“Not necessarily,” she said. “There have been plenty of crimes where no DNA was found. So why can’t we give him the benefit of the doubt? He hasn’t made one wrong move. He works all day. That’s it.”
“And you...”
“I work, too.”
“Just the two of you, out there alone together, when he probably hasn’t had a woman for a year or longer.”
She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. “I don’t appreciate what you’re implying.”
“I know what men are like. I know what he’s thinking when he looks at you.”
The image Sly’s words created made Sadie feel oddly overheated. She told herself that had nothing to do with Dawson. “That’s not true. He hasn’t acted remotely interested in...in me.”
“Yet. I can promise you he’s after more than cooking and cleaning.”
“Stop it! You don’t need to watch the house. I’m sure you have better things to do.”
He hooked his thumbs in his utility belt. He was every bit as fit as Dawson, made sure he spent plenty of time jogging and lifting weights. He’d stepped on a scale every day of their married life. He wasn’t too handsome in the face, had much plainer features, but no one could call him a slouch. He could easily find another woman.
The part of Sadie that longed to be free sometimes wished he would, but she couldn’t put her heart behind that wish, not when he was so miserable to live with.
“You don’t think he’d love to feel you beneath him? To feel you close around him and—”
“No!” she broke in. “I mean...he’s not thinking like that. Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to twist everything?”
“Because you need to see the truth. You’re too naïve for your own good.”
“I’m not naïve! I know when a man is coming on to me. I like Dawson. We’re...friends. That’s all.”
The way his eyes narrowed made her uneasy. “Friends? You’ve worked there two days and you’re already friends?”
It sort of felt that way, but she shouldn’t have said so, shouldn’t have let Sly get the upper hand. “Not friends, exactly. Employer and employee. Why can’t anything be that innocent to you?”
“Because I’m not a fool!”
She drew a deep breath. “There’s no reason to worry. He’s nice. That’s all.”
“Nicer than me...”
“I didn’t say that. I’m merely trying to make you understand I’m not in any danger.”
“And I’m merely trying to make you understand that you have no idea whether you’re safe or not.”
“I can only judge by how he makes me feel, Sly. And my intuition tells me I’m okay.”
“Your intuition.”
“Yes!”
“You’re sure it’s not something a little farther south than that? Maybe he’s not the one who’s looking to get laid. Maybe it’s you. Does it make you wet thinking of screwing a guy who could be that dangerous?”
“Stop it!” she cried again.
“I won’t stop until you listen to me. I’ve seen how much the women like him. Detective Garbo told me he got a ton of mail from dumb chicks sending him naked photographs and shit while he was in jail.”
Sadie was beginning to sweat despite the cool, evening weather. She felt one bead and then another roll down her side. “I wasn’t one of them. So this has nothing to do with me. I have to go, Sly.”
“Now you’re going to run away? Why don’t we finally talk about this, talk about the elephant in the room? You haven’t given me sex in forever! No matter how much I beg or grovel, you’re not interested.”
She had given him sex much more recently than she’d ever wanted. He’d pushed it upon her not long after she moved out. He’d done the same thing a few times since, and she’d gone along with it, suffered through it, because she hadn’t wanted to wake Jayden and have him come out of the room to see what was going on. Sly conveniently forgot about those instances, pretended it wasn’t nearly so one-sided, but she never would. The thought of sleeping with him again made her skin crawl. She tried to interrupt with a “Because we’re separated!” but he talked right over her.
“Even you have to be dying for a man by now.”
“That’s enough!”
“You think Dawson can satisfy you when I can’t?”
“I’m working for him! That’s all! I clean the house and cook.”
“You wouldn’t even need to be out there if you’d come back to me. We weren’t rich, but we were getting by until you decided to move out and screw up our lives.”
Our lives? She’d been much happier since she left him, despite the problems he’d caused since. “How do you figure?”
“Name one thing that wasn’t better back then!” he challenged.
Only one? She could give him a whole list. “You were the only one who could spend any money. I couldn’t so much as buy a new blouse, even after I started working at the diner.”
“That’s not true.”
“That’s absolutely true.”
“You weren’t contributing nearly as much as I was, that’s all. But I’ve been thinking about stuff like that. I realize I’m not an easy person to live with. I’m a perfectionist, exacting. But I’ll be more generous. I promise.”
“No.”
“Give me a chance!” he screamed, smacking his hand against the car.
The sound reverberated like a bullet. This was how an “incident” with Sly started—and it could get far more frightening as it escalated. “I need some time on my own,” she said. “I wish you’d respect that.”
“But you’re not on your own. You’re trying to get back at me by working for a murderer!”
“I’m not trying to get back at you!” she yelled, suddenly unable to hold back. “All I want is for you to leave me the hell alone. Don’t you get that? I can’t stand the sight of you!”
The color drained from his face. She knew as soon as the words were out that she’d made a terrible mistake. Sly didn’t allow anyone to talk to him that way, least of all her. There’d be a terrible reprisal.
“I have to pick up Jayden,” she said, speaking in a calm voice. Most of the time, she managed to tiptoe around him, but she’d been too tired tonight, and he’d pushed her too far. “Petra’s expecting me. I’ve left him too long as it is.”
“If you think I’ll ever let you divorce me, you have another think coming,” he said through gritted teeth.
She threw up her hands. “Then shoot me now. Because I can’t take any more!”
“Careful what you wish for,” he snarled and stalked back to his car.
A moment later, he tore past her, tires spewing gravel. She dropped her head against the steering wheel, trying to calm down, but she was still shaking when she picked up her cell to call Dawson.
“I...I need to tell you to be on the lookout,” she said as soon as he answered.
“Sadie?”
“Yeah. It’s me. I just...” She struggled to catch her breath. “I have to warn you. Sly was waiting for me when I pulled out of your drive. He’s been watching the house. He could come back. Now or...or later tonight. There’s no telling when.”
“You saw him?”
“He was waiting for me when I got off work. I just spoke to him.”
“I can tell by the sound of your voice that it didn’t go well.”
Squeezing her eyes closed, she leaned back, but the tears she’d been fighting began to flow anyway. “No. I made a mistake.”
“What kind of mistake?”
“I told him I’d never come back to him, and—” she covered her phone so that she could sniff without him hearing her “—I’m afraid he’ll blame you. Like I said, he could show up there now or...or late at night and do... I don’t know what. Try to make things difficult for you. I’m sorry.”
There was a long pause. “I’ll be okay,” he said at length. “But...you live alone, right?”
“Yeah. In a one-bedroom with Jayden.”
“Will you be safe? Do you have someone you could stay with? Or should you come back here?”
“I can’t come back there. He already accused me of...of...” Fresh tears welled up. She stopped talking in order to gain control over her voice. “Never mind. I’d better go. I have to get Jayden. I merely wanted to...to warn you that I said the wrong thing.”
“You told him you won’t come back to him. Isn’t that what you’ve been telling him since you moved out?”
“Yes, but I was too absolute this time. Putting him off, that’s the only way to...to keep him calm.”
“Maybe it’s time he got the message.”
“No. It’s dangerous to challenge him. There’ll be hell to pay because of it. Anyway, will you call me if you...if you need help?”
“Call you?” he echoed.
She couldn’t hold back the sob that rose up before she could cover the phone. “I don’t think the police will come if you call them,” she said through her tears. “I don’t think they’ll come for either one of us.”
There was a long silence. Then he said, “You should get your son and come back here.”
“I can’t. Sly will view that as me running to you, and...and that’ll just make things worse for both of us,” she said and hung up.