River's Edge

by Terri Blackstock

  Cade studied the man’s face. “Dr. Anderson, why didn’t you come forward with this before?”

  The man leaned back in his chair, crossing his hands in front of him. “I decided to take a different approach.”

  “And what would that be?”

  “I launched an inquiry with the American Medical Association. That’s how we physicians normally do things, Chief Cade. They have means for investigating these things, and if Sims is judged to be guilty of fraud, the appropriate authorities will be notified.”

  “I understand that, Doctor, but I would think that Lisa’s murder might have made you rethink that approach.”

  He sighed. “Perhaps it should have. But I have a very busy practice, and I admit I didn’t give it that much more thought. Once Lisa died, I figured her reproductive system wasn’t an issue anymore. Surely you don’t think that this had something to do with her murder.”

  “I don’t know that, but right now everything is relevant.”

  Cade got a copy of her records and left the office, deep in thought as he drove back to Cape Refuge. On his way back he radioed McCormick at the station.

  “Yeah, Chief, what you got?”

  “I want you to go to get a list of every person scheduled to see our man on May 16.” He hoped McCormick understood. The police scanner wasn’t all that private, so he didn’t want to spell it out.

  There was a moment of silence, then McCormick came back. “Good idea, Cade. I’ll get right on it.”

  CHAPTER 56

  Blair heard Cade’s call on her police scanner. She recognized his attempt to keep his orders private from those like her who listened in. Dozens of private citizens had police scanners and kept up with the calls—retired or off-duty cops who still wanted to be a part of things, reporters like her looking for stories, and stringers hoping they could rush to crime scenes and get pictures to sell to her paper or others.

  Who was our man? Was Cade telling McCormick to get the patient list from Dr. Sims’ office for the day of May 16 or the list of clients Carson Graham had seen? Or did this have something to do with Ben or Sam Sullivan’s business appointments?

  It was unlikely he was talking about Ben or Sam, since they weren’t in businesses that relied on frequent appointments. No, it had to be Graham or Sims, and since he’d just told her about suspecting Sims of fraud, she decided it was probably him.

  Did he think that one of the patients had killed Lisa, or was he simply looking for a witness? Had he come to the conclusion that Sims was the culprit?

  She went by the newspaper office to check her messages before deciding which story to cover next. There was one from the postmaster about the post office closing on Wednesday afternoons. “Would you put a notice in the paper that they’ll have to do their mailing on Wednesday mornings instead, Blair? I don’t want any angry residents banging on our doors.”

  Amy Matheson had left her weekly update about her daughter’s latest accomplishments. “Blair, I’m sending you a picture and a paragraph about Courtney’s soccer team’s win last week. Also, I thought I’d stick in the list of the straight-A honor students from the high school. Courtney was among them, of course. Next week she’s in the Chatham County Junior Miss Pageant. I know you’ll want to cover that.”

  Blair sighed. Amy would love it if Blair devoted every page to her daughter. She needed an entire staff to keep up with these mundane stories. If she ever did expand into a daily, statewide paper, maybe she wouldn’t need this kind of drivel to fill up the pages.

  She waited for the next message. “Blair, it’s me.” It was Morgan’s voice, flat and listless. “I wondered if you could come by and house-sit while I go to Dr. Sims this afternoon. I’m not comfortable leaving Sheila here alone with Caleb, and Jonathan’s going with me. Sadie’s here too, but I would feel a lot better if you were here. I have to be there at three.”

  Blair wondered why she was going to Dr. Sims. She hadn’t had an appointment scheduled. Unless…

  Blair’s heart jolted. Had her sister decided to do something drastic? Was she going to tell him that she wanted in vitro?

  She didn’t bother to call her back. Instead, she called Cade’s cell phone, hoping he was still in Savannah and could get the signal. When he picked up, she burst out of her chair.

  “Cade, this is Blair. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

  “No, I’m just driving back. What’s up?”

  “It’s Morgan. She’s made an appointment to see Dr. Sims this afternoon. I’m afraid she’s decided to go through with the in vitro. She needs to know what you told me.”

  He hesitated for a moment. “What time’s her appointment?”

  “Three o’clock.”

  “It’s one now. Tell you what, I’ll go straight to the house, and we’ll tell her together. Maybe she can keep that appointment and help us out a little.”

  Blair grunted. “No, Cade. She’s too fragile right now. She might not be able to handle it.”

  “Don’t underestimate your sister, Blair. She’s almost as tough as you are.”

  CHAPTER 57

  Morgan stared out through the glass window in the kitchen, across the sun porch to the backyard. She could see Caleb chattering while he played on his plastic playground. Sheila stood back, as if she didn’t know how to involve herself in his play. Morgan hoped she wouldn’t let him fall.

  She started to turn away, but just as she did, she saw Sheila bring something to her mouth. Was that another cigarette?

  Morgan opened the screen door and stepped out, letting it bounce shut behind her. Sheila jumped and dropped what she’d been holding, but a thin cloud of smoke lingered around her.

  Morgan almost didn’t say anything, but then she realized that Gus and Karen and Felitia had all been smokers too, when they’d come. They all quit as a requirement of living in the home. If she let Sheila get away with it, how would she face them?

  She stepped down the steps into the yard. “Sheila, you were smoking.”

  Sheila stepped on the butt, hiding the evidence. “No, I wasn’t.”

  Morgan picked Caleb up. “He’s never been around cigarette smoke, not since he’s been with me. He doesn’t need to be inhaling that stuff.”

  “Hey, I didn’t do it, okay? I’m being falsely accused.”

  Morgan touched her arm and moved her aside. The butt lay on the ground like an indictment. “Then what is that?”

  Sheila shoved her hair back from her face. “Look, there’s no sin against smoking. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

  Morgan tried not to react in her anger. She swallowed back her ire and took a deep breath. “Sheila, I really want this to work. Not just for Caleb and Sadie, but for you, too. We’re not asking that much of you. We’ll give you a nice place to live, food and clothing, and all the time in the world to be with your children. You don’t even have to work until you get your bearings.”

  The screen door opened and Blair called out, “Hey, Sis.”

  Thank goodness Blair had come. Now she could leave without worrying. “I’ll be in in a second,” she called. Blair went back in, and Morgan turned back to Sheila.

  Caleb was fighting to get down. Morgan set him on his feet, and he bolted back to the playground.

  Sheila sighed. “Look, I’m sorry. I won’t smoke anymore. It’s just stressful, this whole thing. I know I’ve been clean for a year, but I still have those cravings for…the drugs. And the cigarettes. I figure there’s no harm in the cigarettes.” She shoved her hair back from her face. “Oh, man. I can’t believe I just told you that. You can’t understand those cravings.”

  “No one’s judging you, Sheila. Almost everybody who comes here has them, but I really believe the cigarettes make the cravings worse instead of better. Just the smell of matches starts the cravings in some people. In order to change your life, things have to be different. It’s my job to help you with that. Don’t you want to do better by your children? Don’t you want to stop letting yourself down?”
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  Sheila’s face softened, and she looked helpless as she stared back at her son. “Of course I do. I’ll do better. I promise.”

  Morgan sighed as she went back into the house. She didn’t want to talk to Blair or anyone else about all the negative feelings pulsing through her. She had only been at this for a few months, since her mother had died. Before, she had just helped her parents deal with the problems the residents presented. She had watched and learned, but when they died, she had felt called to take over. But she wasn’t a seasoned veteran, and she wasn’t as wise as they were. She could only draw on the wisdom of the policies they’d set in place, and the strength she drew from her Bible study and prayer early each morning. Without that, she knew she would have closed the home months ago.

  She stepped back into the kitchen and saw Blair waiting for her. She heard men’s voices in the front room. “Is Jonathan home?”

  “Yeah, he drove up when we did. He’s talking to Cade. Morgan, we need to talk to you in private.”

  “What about?”

  “It’s about Lisa. Let’s go into the parlor.”

  What now? Morgan followed Blair into the parlor and listened, horrified, as Cade told them about Lisa’s uterus and the second opinion she’d gotten.

  “Whoa, wait a minute,” Jonathan said. “You’re telling us that Sims is a liar? A fraud?”

  “It looks that way,” Cade said.

  Morgan felt as if an eighteen-wheeler going ninety miles an hour had just broadsided her. She stared in front of her, searching her memory of every encounter with the doctor for some sign of guile. He’d seemed so sincere, so down-to-earth, so compassionate. He’d acted as if he really wanted them to have a child. For Lisa…

  “He manipulated Lisa, lied to her, kept her from getting the help she needed that would have helped her get pregnant? How could anyone be that cruel?”

  Blair spoke quietly, as if she feared setting Morgan off. “I told Cade that you had an appointment this afternoon. I wanted him to share this with you before you invested any more into this.”

  Tears came to Morgan’s eyes. “We were going to have IVF. He convinced us that was the best thing.”

  “Can we trust him with the results of the tests?” Jonathan asked. “Any of them?”

  “I wouldn’t,” Cade said.

  New hope blossomed inside Morgan. Maybe he was wrong about her hormones. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as he’d made it sound. Maybe she could have a family.

  Jonathan got up and went across the room. He turned back, rubbing his tanned neck. “Wow. This is unbelievable. What do you want us to do, Cade?”

  “I want you to keep that appointment today. Tell him you’ve decided to do the in vitro. I’ll put a wire on you, Jonathan, so we can record whatever he says. I want you to ask specific questions. Get him to tell you Morgan’s condition again. Ask who does the ultrasounds, who fertilizes the egg after its harvested, which labs they work with, and how long before you get the results.”

  “I’ll go along with this,” Jonathan said, “as long as he doesn’t touch my wife again. I don’t want him doing anymore tests or injecting anything into her or drawing blood—”

  “That’s fine. I just want him to indict himself with his words.”

  “I can’t promise I won’t reach across that desk and throttle him.”

  Morgan knew her husband wasn’t exaggerating. “Jonathan, we can’t do this if you act angry.”

  “She’s right, man,” Cade said.” “I need you to stay calm. Act like you would have before. He thinks he’s getting away with it.”

  Jonathan’s jaw popped. “Do you think he killed Lisa?”

  Cade rubbed his face. “I don’t know. We may be talking about two different cases that have nothing to do with each other. But it’s real coincidental that Lisa found out on the same day she disappeared.”

  Morgan sat down. “I’m going to be sick.”

  Jonathan looked down at her. “Honey, are you sure you’re up to this?”

  “You bet I am—” She bit the words out. “If he killed my friend, or even just lied to her—or to us—he needs to be stopped.”

  Cade got up. “I’m going to get you an appointment with Dr. Anderson, Lisa’s other doctor. He’s going to do some preliminary testing of you and Jonathan and see if he can confirm what Sims has already told you. Will you do that, Morgan?”

  “Of course. Just tell me when to show up.”

  CHAPTER 58

  Morgan’s heart hammered out a triple-time cadence as she followed Jonathan into Dr. Sims’ waiting room. As always, the room was full. How many people in here were clinging to false hope, and how many had been lied to about their conditions? She fought the urge to scream out that they needed to flee from this office and get second opinions immediately. She hoped they would know to do so when Cade got through with Sims.

  Jonathan guided her to two of the last available seats. Morgan’s palms were wet. She hoped the doctor didn’t try to shake her hand. She glanced at Jonathan. He wore a dress shirt and jacket, not his usual attire, but it helped hide the wire that Cade had put on him. It wasn’t visible at all. There would be no reason for the doctor to suspect anything.

  She glanced around for something to read—anything to keep her hands and eyes busy while they waited—and found a copy of the latest Cape Refuge Journal. She picked it up and saw the picture of Lisa Jackson on the front page.

  “That’s so sad about Lisa Jackson.” The woman next to her pointed to the picture. “She was a friend of mine.”

  “Really? How did you know her?”

  “From here. I used to see her here from time to time. We had a lot in common.”

  Morgan didn’t want to get into her own relationship with Lisa. Her throat was too tight, and her heart still sprinted. She hoped her nerves didn’t show on her face.

  “Life is so short,” the woman said. “You just never know what’s going to happen. Here she was, struggling so hard to have a baby, and if she had gotten pregnant, she wouldn’t have even lived to see it be born.”

  The irony had not escaped Morgan, either. “Maybe all those babies she miscarried were waiting for her in heaven.”

  The woman got tears in her eyes. “That’s a nice thought.”

  “Yes, it is.” Morgan smiled and patted her hand.

  “I saw her the morning she disappeared.”

  Jonathan put his hand over Morgan’s and leaned forward to see the woman. “You saw her that day? Are you sure?”

  “Oh, yes. I’ll never forget that.”

  “Where did you see her?” Morgan asked.

  “Right here. In this very office.”

  Morgan couldn’t speak, so Jonathan did. “But I read that the appointment she missed was for that afternoon.”

  “Oh, she wasn’t here for an appointment. In fact, the doctor wasn’t in until after noon. I just came in to get some blood work done. Lisa came storming in. She looked like she was fuming.”

  Morgan turned and looked at Jonathan. This was new information. Even Cade didn’t know about this.

  The woman lowered her voice. “She didn’t even speak to me. She walked right past me to the receptionist’s desk and told them that she needed to see the doctor immediately. They told her he wasn’t in, that he was off that morning, so she hurried back out. That was the last time I ever saw her. The next day, when I heard she was missing, I was stunned.”

  “Did you hear her say where she was going?”

  “No, nothing.”

  “Was she alone?” Morgan asked.

  “Yes, as far as I could tell. I didn’t see her drive away, though.” She sighed. “I’ve thought about it a million times. Maybe if I’d stopped her, asked her what was wrong, invited her for a cup of coffee…maybe she wouldn’t have gotten murdered.”

  The nurse came to the door and called out, “Laura Gulley.”

  The woman next to Morgan sprang up, whispered goodbye, and headed back to see the doctor.

  Morgan stared
at Jonathan. Whispering, she said, “The question is, did she find the doctor after she left here?”

  “I hope Cade is getting this,” Jonathan said in a low voice.

  CHAPTER 59

  So you’ve decided to try IVF!” Dr. Sims looked almost jubilant at the decision. He sat down at his desk and folded his hands in front of him. “Tell me what prompted this decision.”

  Morgan swallowed and looked at Jonathan. He took her hand. She was trembling. “Well, it was a very hard decision, but you convinced us it was the right thing. I’ll be thirty soon, and I want so much to have children. Not just one, but three or four. Maybe even more. I’m ready to get started.”

  “And how do you feel about that, Jonathan?”

  Jonathan was calmer than she was. She could feel the heat of his anger in his hand. “I wasn’t so sure. For one thing, we’ll have to mortgage our house to do this. We just barely make ends meet as it is. I’m not sure it’s the right thing to do. Are you sure it’s not too soon to try this?”

  Sims took off his reading glasses and leaned forward on his desk. He looked like a pastor, counseling them on their covenant. His eyes held no guile. He seemed compassionate, caring. Could he really be a liar? A killer?

  “It has to be your call,” he said. “I can’t really say what’s right for you. All I know is that Morgan’s FSH is too high. Her ovaries are not producing mature eggs on their own. They need help. Even if you did manage to conceive, more miscarriages could happen. If we harvest mature eggs and fertilize them outside her body, there’s a greater chance that she could carry the baby to term.” He turned his hands palms up. “But you do have the option to wait. We can do it a year from now. Two years.”

  “But even if it works,” Jonathan said, “won’t we have to do it with every child we have?”

  “Maybe she would have multiple births,” he said with a grin. “One of my patients had triplets just last night. She sold her car and cashed in her 401(k) to pay for it, but she has no regrets. None at all. She was almost forty, though. If it had happened ten years ago, it would have been much better for her. She waited until it was the absolute last resort. I’m glad she finally went through with it.”