Rocky Road

by Josi S. Kilpack

  “Yeah,” Caro said.

  “I’m going to back up the USB on my computer, and I need a list of attorneys that Dr. Hendricks can choose from. Could you work on that?”

  “Sure. And then you’re going back to Pine Valley?”

  “I think it would be better for everyone if Dr. Hendricks turns himself in tonight.”

  “I agree,” Caro said. “The sooner all of this is over with, the better. I’m going with you to Pine Valley. You know that, right?”

  Sadie hadn’t even considered that—she was so used to being on her own for things—but she liked the idea of Caro coming with her. She’d been part of this case from the beginning, and she’d given Sadie the support and the distance she needed at every turn. Sadie reached the landing of the stairs that led to the first floor of the building and turned to go down the final flight. “I would love to have us go together,” Sadie said.

  “Oh, good,” Caro said, sounding relieved.

  The sound of voices caught Sadie’s attention, and she looked up just as a young boy ran past the stairs and out the front doors. She paused and then hurried down the remaining steps to follow him. She could swear it was Joey Hendricks walking along the low wall surrounding the flower beds in front of the building. But weren’t Lori and the kids in Las Vegas?

  She turned to look in the direction he’d run from and recognized Dr. Hendricks’s mother talking to someone on the other side of the glass doors of the foundation suite. Lori’s daughter stood beside her grandmother, looking a little lost, or perhaps, like everyone else did, overwhelmed.

  “Sadie?”

  She’d forgotten she still had Caro on the phone. “Sorry, Caro. I guess Lori’s in town. It took me off guard.”

  “She came for the vigil?”

  “I guess so,” Sadie said, looking around for Lori. “Or ... at least her kids are here.” Lori’s daughter, Kenzie, looked up and saw Sadie. Sadie smiled but Kenzie just looked away. Did she recognize Sadie as the one who chased Lori down after the service yesterday? “I’m going to see if I can find her really quick.”

  “Okay. I’ll work on that list of attorneys and see you when you get here.”

  “Good deal,” Sadie said before ending the call and heading toward the foundation office. She pulled open the big glass doors and smiled when Mrs. Hendricks and the woman she’d been talking to—Anita’s personal assistant, Sadie believed—looked over at her. Two men came around the corner just then, carrying a large folding table and catching the personal assistant’s attention.

  “Right out front would be great,” the woman said. “I’ll go find a tablecloth.” Sadie stepped back to hold the doors open for the men and turned to see Joey Hendricks hurrying to open the other set. They thanked her, and Sadie nodded her acknowledgment. After they were through the door, she stepped back into the office.

  “Mrs. Hendricks,” Sadie said as she approached, ignoring Kenzie’s wary glance. She put out her hand, which Mrs. Hendricks took in a light handshake. “My name’s Sadie. I’m so sorry for this tragedy.”

  Mrs. Hendricks gave a soft smile and a nod. She had the same slightly dazed look Kenzie—and many others—had right now. “Thank you,” she said.

  “Certainly. How are you all doing?” She smiled at Kenzie, who smiled in return, perhaps only because she had good manners.

  “We’re doing all right,” Mrs. Hendricks said, putting her arm around Kenzie’s shoulder. “Thank goodness for family during hard times.”

  The comment reminded Sadie of the fact that at this moment Mrs. Hendricks still thought her son was dead. Sadie knew better, and yet she couldn’t tell her. Not yet. It was a painful secret to keep, even if she knew she had no choice. But it would be for only a little longer. Sadie looked at Kenzie again and felt the same feeling tenfold. Your dad isn’t dead! she wanted to tell them. You’ll be seeing your son in just a few more hours! Sadie had to shake herself out of those thoughts.

  “Is Lori here?” she said, looking past them and around the office. Nikki’s pink bakery boxes were still on the front counter where they’d left them, and Sadie could hear voices coming from the direction the assistant had just gone.

  “Kenzie, go see if Melanie needs any help with those tablecloths,” Mrs. Hendricks said, drawing Sadie’s attention back to her. Kenzie did as her grandmother told her to, and Mrs. Hendricks turned to Sadie with that same soft smile. “Lori’s talking to the police right now,” Mrs. Hendricks said, looking concerned. “But of course we told the children she was working on an assignment for school—I didn’t want them to worry.”

  “Of course,” Sadie agreed, relieved that Officer Nielson had taken her concerns about Lori so seriously. Had Lori come to St. George to meet with Officer Nielson, leaving the kids with their grandparents? If so, Officer Nielson must have worked fast. It had been barely two hours since Sadie had sat across from him and suggested he talk to Lori. Lori must have left Las Vegas as soon as he called, which he must have done as soon as Sadie left. Realizing that Mrs. Hendricks was watching her, Sadie turned to focus on the older woman’s face and opened her mouth to make some ordinary comment. As she looked at this woman, however, she was momentarily overwhelmed by what Mrs. Hendricks would experience in just a few hours. How would it feel for her to learn that her son was alive? Would the pain of his staying away be rectified by his return? Surprising them both, Sadie gave the woman a big hug, blinking back her own tears as the woman returned it.

  When she pulled back, Mrs. Hendricks looked only mildly surprised. “I wish you the very best as things move forward,” Sadie said with absolute sincerity. She held both of the woman’s hands in hers and gave them a squeeze. “The people in your life are lucky to have you.”

  She turned away from Mrs. Hendricks’s startled expression and didn’t look back as she hurried toward her car, more eager than ever to help put these relationships back together.

  Chapter 36

  Within fifteen minutes, Caro and Sadie were heading north on Bluff Street, which would become Highway 18 once they passed the Snow Canyon Parkway. Sadie had downloaded the documents from the USB onto her laptop, and Caro had written down the names of three different attorneys in St. George. Sadie left a message with Officer Nielson, telling him that she was on her way to Pine Valley and asking him to call when he could. She wanted to explain her reasons for going to Dr. Hendricks now instead of waiting till morning. She also wanted to tell him about what had happened with Dr. Waters, so he wouldn’t think she’d ignored his request that she stay away from him. Sadie’s stomach was full of butterflies. What if Dr. Hendricks refused to turn himself in? What if her trust that he would stay at the cabin tonight had been misplaced and he was gone for good?

  As they drove, Sadie updated Caro on her meeting with Nikki and Dr. Waters. Caro had tried to talk to Tess, but Tess had insisted that she hadn’t talked to Nikki and finally claimed she had something to do and hung up the phone. Caro was obviously hurt by Tess’s behavior, but she didn’t seem to want to say any more about it, so Sadie let it be.

  The drive went quickly, and the sun was just setting when they turned the corner into Pine Valley. Knowing what the view would look like this time didn’t make it any less impressive. Sadie’s breath caught in her throat as the sunset reflected orange and gold off the windows of the cabins and the lake to the east, which Sadie hadn’t noticed before. “It’s really pretty up here, isn’t it?” Caro said as they began to descend into the valley. “You see all this and realize why the Mormons came to this state in the first place.”

  Sadie nodded. “I heard once that their prophet told them that they would come to the desert and make it blossom like a rose. They did a remarkable job of taking him at his word.”

  Caro nodded, but, despite attempts to distract herself, her expression was still tight.

  “You know, every person finds himself through some kind of journey. Those pioneers had to overcome some big obstacles to get here. You and I have had to overcome hard things, too, and Tes
s is no different.”

  Sadie’s words seemed to cause Caro to swallow some emotion, but she looked out the window and didn’t answer.

  “Situations like this bring out both our strengths and our weaknesses. Give her a little time to figure out which of those things she faced when something happened that she never imagined.”

  “I’m so disappointed in her,” Caro finally breathed. “Which seems like such a silly thought to waste time on with everything else that’s going on, but I can’t shake it.”

  “You love her,” Sadie said. “That makes it ten times heavier than everything else right now. Tomorrow, or the next day, when the truth is out and you’ve both had time to reflect on things, you can talk it out and then decide where to go from here.”

  Caro nodded, but Sadie noted how she quickly wiped her eyes. Sadie slowed down at the turnoff and turned right, passing the bright white church she hadn’t been able to tour yet. They drove up Lloyd Canyon Road in silence. As Sadie came to a stop at the gate and shifted into park, Caro asked, “Are we going to drive up?”

  “I feel better when the car’s closer,” Sadie said. Caro agreed, and they worked together to unchain the fence, open it and drive though, then close and rechain it again. The butterflies in Sadie’s stomach weren’t getting any calmer as they bumped down the road that led to Edger’s cabin. Sadie tried her hardest to avoid the worst of the pot holes, but her anxiety was growing.

  “Who’s here?” Caro asked.

  Sadie looked up from the road and was surprised to see a car parked in front of the cabin. Her eyebrows were furrowed as they approached the cabin, and then a wave of heat washed over her as she recognized the dark blue sedan. “That’s Lori’s car.”

  Caro inhaled sharply. “Oh, my gosh, you’re right. What’s she doing here? I thought she was talking to the police.”

  “So did I.” Sadie pulled up beside the car, her mind racing with possible reasons Lori would be here. Had Dr. Hendricks called her? Why? How else would she know to come here? Sadie leaned over the steering wheel and scanned the tree line and the cabin. The shadows created by the setting sun were growing heavy, making it harder to see into the trees. “Lori really wanted to talk to him, but I didn’t tell her where he was.”

  “How would she know he was here?”

  “I don’t know,” Sadie said. “But she was either invited or she wasn’t—and either way, I don’t like it.”

  “What do we do?”

  Sadie continued staring into the trees as she thought out loud. “Maybe she finished talking to Nielson and then came up here without telling Dr. Hendricks’s mother. Maybe saying she was talking to the police was just a cover all along. Maybe Dr. Hendricks contacted her after I talked to him this afternoon. Either way, this feels ... funny. As of one-thirty this afternoon, she was asking me where he was, which meant she didn’t know.”

  Sadie took a breath and then turned back to Caro. When she’d talked to Dr. Hendricks earlier, she’d wondered if Lori had pieced together that Dr. Hendricks and Anita hadn’t originally met the way they had told everyone they had. Could that be playing into this? “I want you to go to the motel and see if you can find out if Dr. Hendricks used their phone this afternoon—I think it’s the only phone in town he could access without breaking into someone’s house. Then I want you to call Officer Nielson.” She reached into the backseat for her purse and produced the card he’d given her earlier. “Call his number, but if he doesn’t answer, call the police station and insist that you talk to him. Tell him what’s going on, and ask him what we should do—ask if he met with Lori this afternoon.”

  “And what are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to try to find out what Lori’s doing here.”

  Chapter 37

  Caro didn’t like leaving Sadie, but she was anxious to do what Sadie asked after Sadie reminded her that sunset led to twilight quickly in the mountains. They needed to act fast. Sadie assured Caro that she had the Taser in her pocket, and she took to the tree line as Caro got into the driver’s seat and headed back to town.

  The shadows were already darker than they had been when they’d first arrived at the cabin. If Dr. Hendricks knew Lori was coming, they would likely be at the campsite where he’d taken Sadie that afternoon. If Lori had taken Dr. Hendricks by surprise, however, she could be anywhere. It seemed wisest to try to determine why Lori was here before Sadie decided what to do about it.

  Motivated by her plan, Sadie headed toward the path, scanning the area and walking on the balls of her feet to keep from making noise that would give her away. She reached the path and looked toward the cabin, standing completely still to listen for telltale sounds. She wanted Lori to be on the back deck or something, jostling the door or trying the windows. She heard nothing but the wind and the rustle of impending nightfall through the trees. Goose bumps broke out on her arms, and she took a deep breath to push down her rising fear. She turned onto the path, and two steps later she caught the faintest smell of campfire smoke on the breeze.

  Without knowing it, Dr. Hendricks was leading Lori right to him. Unless he wasn’t trying to hide.

  Sadie picked up her pace, but she could go only so fast if she hoped to remain silent. She scanned the trail ahead of her and stopped every few steps to listen. The thicker trees made the twilight darker than ever, and even though she wished for a flashlight, she wouldn’t have used it even if she had one. The smell of campfire became stronger, and she had a moment of optimism when she reached the place on the path where Dr. Hendricks had cut into the shrubs. Lori might have stayed on the path. Sadie had to step more carefully once she left the trail, but she was also trying to hurry. It was a difficult compromise to execute.

  As she moved farther and farther from the trail, Sadie wished she’d paid more attention to how far off the path Dr. Hendricks’s campsite had been. All she could do was follow the smell of smoke.

  She was several yards off the path when she saw the large rocks that protected his campsite. She picked up her pace, hoping she’d reached him before Lori had, only to be brought up short by the sound of voices. She crouched as low to the ground as her quads would allow and continued forward, faster this time. She was not as concerned now about being overheard—if they were talking, they might not be as likely to hear any noise she made.

  “Lori, please,” Sadie heard Dr. Hendricks say as she reached the last bit of rock that separated her from his campsite. She knew exactly where she was now, but she didn’t know if this was the only way to approach the clearing. “I’m so sorry,” Dr. Hendricks continued.

  “So it is true?” Lori asked, her voice heavy with emotion. “You cheated on me with her? Then you lied to me—to everyone—for all these years?”

  Lori had put the pieces together. Sadie’s feelings of sympathy kept her from interrupting—didn’t Lori deserve an explanation? It might be good for Dr. Hendricks to hear firsthand the impact his choices had made on the people in his life. Sadie felt a little sheepish for being so concerned about Lori finding him. She wanted closure—was that so bad?

  “Lori, you have to believe me when I tell you she seduced me. I still don’t know how it happened. But between the problems you and I were having and her ... determination to get her hands on the foundation—I don’t know that any man could have resisted her advances. And I tried, so help me, I did.”

  “That’s not what she said happened.”

  Sadie stiffened. Lori had talked to Anita about the affair? When?

  “She said you were the one who came on to her, that you told her how miserable your marriage was, that you would do anything to go back and undo the whole thing if you could.”

  “You talked to her?” Dr. Hendricks asked, equally surprised. “When?”

  “She said that marrying me got your parents off your back, that you knew it was a mistake almost immediately but couldn’t stand the idea of telling your parents.”

  “When did you talk to Anita, Lori?” Dr. Hendricks asked her. “Y
ou hadn’t talked to her before I called you yesterday, so when did the two of you talk about this?”

  “I went to her house,” Lori’s voice was rising at the same rate as Sadie’s heart rate. When had she gone to Anita’s house? “I asked her point blank how the two of you met, and she didn’t even hesitate to tell me—it was at that conference in Atlanta. I remembered it—something was different when you came home, but you have always assured me, and I have always believed that you would never—”

  “Wait a minute,” Dr. Hendricks cut in. “You went to see Anita last night? She was alive?”

  “She told me about the two of you having drinks together and then going to your room.” Lori’s voice was definitely shaking with emotion. Sadie covered her mouth so she wouldn’t let a sympathetic noise escape. “And then you two hatched this plan for her to come work for the foundation after our divorce and make it look like you’d fallen in love after working together. And the whole time you were—”

  “It wasn’t like that. I didn’t have a plan. I wasn’t acting out some scheme. It was all Anita—you have to believe me. I—”

  “You cheated on me! While I was home trying to figure out how to save our marriage, you were with her, breaking all the promises we’d made to each other—all the promises we made to God that I thought meant something to you.”

  “I’m so sorry, Lori. If I could go back and do things differently, I would.” There was silence except for Lori’s crying. Sadie mentally egged on the conversation, wanting them to get back to discussing Lori’s visit last night. Nikki had been there, too. So which of them had gone to see Anita first? Could they have gone together? Had Nikki lied to Sadie, or had Lori arrived after Nikki left?

  “Nothing you say can change what’s happened,” Lori said, with a flatness in her tone that gave Sadie chills. “And you can’t undo what happened last night any more than I can.”

  “Lori,” Dr. Hendricks continued after several seconds had passed. He began asking the very questions that were spinning through Sadie’s mind. “What happened when you went to see Anita last night?”