Wedding Cake

by Josi S. Kilpack

  Unknown: They gave you back your phone, huh? Is that so you can better draw me out? So predictable. You have no idea what you’re up against, Sadie. No idea at all.

  Sadie felt her hand tighten and looked around as though expecting to see Jane watching them from the curb.

  “What’s wrong?” Pete asked when he saw her reaction.

  Sadie read him the text message.

  “You should block the number,” Pete said. “The police can still run it, but then she can’t get to you.”

  “I’m not blocking it. I want to know what she’s thinking, and the best way to do that is to keep her talking.”

  Pete didn’t argue, and Sadie stared at the screen of her phone, trying to come up with a response. She didn’t want to wait so long that it sounded like she didn’t know what to say. She thought of something, typed it out, and then hit send. It had been nearly a minute since Jane’s text had come in.

  Sadie: Maybe you’re the one who doesn’t know what she’s up against.

  Unknown: You wish. What time does Maggie arrive? I’d like to meet my replacement in person.

  Heat rose in Sadie’s neck and face. Her replacement? Jane may have manipulated Shawn into thinking they had a relationship when they didn’t. But what Shawn felt for Maggie was nothing—nothing—like whatever he may have felt toward Jane. Sadie forced herself to take a calming breath, knowing that reacting in anger wouldn’t help things. She took another breath to make sure she was thinking things through clearly.

  “What did she say?” Pete asked.

  “Just a minute,” Sadie responded as she started typing again.

  Sadie: What do you want, Jane?

  Unknown: You don’t know?

  Sadie: I used to think you wanted us to be friends, but I was wrong about that. Now I have no idea.

  Unknown: I never said I wanted to be friends.

  But that had been her motivation in Boston, at least Sadie had thought it was.

  Sadie: Maybe the two of us could just talk things out.

  Unknown: We’re waaaaay past that.

  The response annoyed Sadie. She was the one Jane attacked with a chloroform-drenched rag. She was the one who ended up in the trunk of a car. What had she ever done to Jane other than not give her the attention she wanted? Why on earth did that dismissal—as Jane saw it—equate into this?

  Sadie: Then what do you want?

  Sadie waited for a response the rest of the drive to the Inn but nothing came. Jane wasn’t going to tell her what she wanted. Did Jane even know? Had she become so wrapped up in this game she was playing that she’d lost sight of her goal? Sadie reminded herself again that she was thinking like a normal person; Jane was not normal.

  Chapter 12

  “What did she say?” Pete asked as he pulled into the parking lot of the Inn. It was a squat, brown building that most people assumed was a dive, but the food—prepared by two brothers from back East—was amazing.

  “She hasn’t responded since I asked her what she wants. Maybe she isn’t telling me because she’s getting it: our full attention. We’re still chasing her.”

  “But we’re on our way to doing a lot more than that,” Pete said.

  “And I guess we have another number to track,” Sadie said out loud. “I’d still like to talk to the gal from the grocery store who had the first phone stolen.”

  “I’ll talk to Malloy,” Pete said, but it was obvious he still didn’t want to cross into Malloy’s investigation. “I’ll be right back.” He let himself out of the car.

  Sadie re-sent her last message to Jane, wanting to keep the dialogue open. By the time Pete returned with two plastic bags of Styrofoam containers, Jane still hadn’t responded. Sadie put her phone back into her purse and took the bags Pete handed to her and arranged them by her feet.

  “If we give this newest number to the police, can we still be the ones to follow up on it? Like with Brian?”

  “I’ll ask him about it.”

  Sadie kept her voice even despite being annoyed by Pete’s continued vagueness. He knew she didn’t want to involve Malloy but wasn’t approaching that topic directly. “If we can’t have access to the owner of the phone by going through Malloy, I’d rather try my hand at tracking it down ourselves. Shawn’s a whiz at that kind of stuff.” Sadie was pretty good too, but she felt like she had too many other things to do.

  “I’ll talk to Malloy.”

  Sadie pressed her lips together to keep from saying something she’d regret.

  Shawn finally replied to her earlier text and said he’d just gotten to the house. She texted back and forth with him until they pulled into the driveway behind Sadie’s car. The smell of the chicken had triggered Sadie’s hunger, and she was ready to eat all three meals herself by the time they were heading up the front steps.

  “You need to keep the doors locked,” Sadie said to her son as she let herself into the house. He was sitting at the computer so his back was to them. “All the time.”

  “I’d love for Jane to come in while I’m here,” Shawn said. “If it wasn’t so hot, I’d leave the door wide open as an invitation.” He turned in his chair. “Ah, man, that smells great.”

  Sadie got out plates and flatware—she didn’t mind getting takeout but she hated eating from Styrofoam containers—and transferred the meals to plates while Shawn and Pete talked about what happened with Pep Boys and the sketch. While they ate, Shawn told them that the police report had been filed and the bank had assigned his case to a bank fraud investigator based in Seattle. They’d call Shawn later that afternoon. They’d also given him a one thousand dollar line of credit to use until things were resolved. Pete and Sadie agreed it was generous of them in hopes Shawn would see the blessing. His current annoyance at the complication made that hard for him to do, however. Maybe he’d better recognize how fortunate he was when a bit more time had passed, or Jane was in jail.

  Lunch was good, but she only ate about half of hers before she pushed the plate toward Shawn and stood up, eager to be moving ahead again.

  While Pete and Shawn finished their lunch, Sadie gathered the shortbread ingredients. She was determined to contribute to the dinner she optimistically believed would still happen in her backyard six hours from now. Shortbread was easy to make, and since the dough needed to be chilled before she formed the actual cookies, it could be flexible with her increasingly complicated schedule. Plus, she needed to be busy, and the more she reviewed the morning’s events, the more she needed something to do with her hands. Without an outlet, she felt sure her head would explode.

  Shawn asked to see Jane’s text conversation, and Sadie directed him to her phone, which was in her purse on the living room recliner.

  “I still need to get the newest number to Malloy,” Pete said once Shawn had the phone in hand and was scrolling through the conversation. Shawn read the number to Pete, who typed it into his phone before leaving the table and heading down the short hallway that led to the back door so that he could make the call to Malloy.

  Sadie was beginning to realize that finding Jane through the cell phones wasn’t going to happen. She was obviously stealing phones in order to remain undetected, and she was moving through them faster than the police could catch up. She wouldn’t risk stealing the phones only to be reckless in how she used them. It felt like another dead end.

  “How does she know about Maggie?” Shawn asked when he’d finished reading through the text exchange a second time.

  “I don’t know,” Sadie said, shaking her head and giving him a sympathetic look.

  Shawn read the texts again. “Gosh, I hate her.”

  Usually, Sadie challenged her kids when they said they hated anything—it was such a strong word. She kept her critique to herself though and creamed the butter and sugar together instead. Maybe hate was a gentle word to use after all Jane had put Shawn through. Between the emotional manipulation of him prior to Boston and the current circumstances, he had every right to be angry.

>   Shawn brought his dishes to the sink. “We need to get this Facebook thing going,” he said with determination. “I’m starting to think it’s the only way we’re going to gain any momentum here.”

  “I agree,” Sadie said, stopping the beaters in order to crack the eggs into the bowl. “Mr. Meyers was going to e-mail me the sketches he made. They might be in my in-box already.”

  “Sweet.” Shawn went back to the computer in the living room. “You changed your e-mail password since the last time I logged in for you, what’s the new one?”

  Sadie gave him the new password so that he could log in while she mixed the eggs, vanilla, and extracts in the bowl.

  “Is the photo there?” she asked after she added the dry ingredients.

  “Sure is,” Shawn said. He began clicking and moving things around, and Sadie left him to his work as she continued mixing the dough. When she finished, she put all the dirty dishes in the sink. She scraped the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, which she wrapped up tightly before putting in the fridge to chill.

  “Are you sure you’re okay with me taking over this Facebook thing?” Shawn asked.

  “Are you kidding? It would take me twice as long and be half as good.”

  “Okay, I just wanted to make sure,” Shawn said, busily tapping away at the computer. Not only would Shawn be better at it, but Sadie was now free to call the other vendors on her “Day Before the Wedding” to-do list.

  She picked up her cell phone and started at the top of her list. She skipped Rachel since she already knew where things stood with her and got to work on the other vendors. The caterer, videographer, and reception hall all verified that everything was in place—thank goodness—and they didn’t seem to find it strange when she asked that they be sure to communicate only with her.

  She left a message for the hairdresser, and another message for the rental company handling the tablecloths, centerpieces, and archway. Sadie was relieved that Jane hadn’t interfered with any of these plans and she finished making the calls faster than she’d expected she would. After hanging up the phone, she turned her attention to the dishes.

  As was always the case when Sadie began the somewhat rhythmic and relaxing task, she soon found herself deep in thought—mostly about the few different questions that had come up through the course of the morning. Specifically, she thought about Shawn’s most recent concern: How did Jane know about Maggie?

  Sadie looked out the kitchen window that faced the cul-de-sac and scowled—as she often did—at the black walnut tree that blocked her view of most of the neighborhood. She couldn’t see any of her neighbor’s homes without leaning over the sink and craning her head around, and even then it wasn’t a good view. And yet Jane had known Shawn arrived last night. She had to have seen it, right? Probably when Shawn came home. That meant that somehow she’d known Shawn had taken Sadie’s car to the bachelor party. Maybe Jane had seen him leave and come back, but that meant Jane had been watching the house for hours.

  Jane knew other things too, though—things that made Sadie feel as if she were being watched in a more specific way. The watched feeling reminded Sadie of the anxiety levels she’d experienced after Boston. Sadie had gone to Hawaii to both hide and recuperate, but even on an island in the Pacific Ocean, she’d felt as though she were under surveillance, like she wasn’t safe. Just remembering that time made Sadie shiver. She’d come such a long way since then but she could feel the familiar tingles that had haunted her back then. And Jane was here now. She could, literally, be right around any number of corners.

  Sadie scanned the street in front of her house, searching for somewhere Jane could position herself that would give her a vantage point into Sadie’s house. There was a large picture window in the living room, but it would be difficult to see past the black walnut tree in order to get a good view from almost everywhere except from the empty building lot directly across the street. Until last year it had been full of some trash trees and overgrown shrubbery, but since the owner was actively trying to sell it he’d cleared the lot, leaving it empty.

  Pete came into the living room and asked Shawn how things were going. Sadie waited for them to finish their conversation before interrupting.

  “How does Jane know so much about what is going on?” she asked, bringing her questions to the forefront.

  Pete shrugged. “Like you said earlier, she may have been in town for a while. By the way, Malloy put two officers on the hotel detail. They’re contacting everyone from Sterling to Fort Collins and up into Laramie as well. Since Brian said the car had Wyoming plates, they’re expanding their search into the southern counties.”

  “That’s great,” Sadie said. “Having been in town for awhile might be how she knows so much about the stores and the town and where to steal phones, but how did she know when I was picking up my cake? She gave Rachel the right delivery information even though I’d changed it last week. And she knew Shawn came home last night and that Maggie’s arriving today. That she knows about Maggie at all is strange.”

  “She must be watching the house or something,” Shawn said with a casual tone.

  “But watching the house doesn’t explain how she knew about the cake delivery being changed or Maggie’s flight. How could she watch that?” Pete asked thoughtfully.

  “I don’t know,” Shawn said, distracted. He lifted a hand and waved her over. “But check this out. What do you think?”

  Sadie didn’t like leaving the topic of discussion but did as he requested, looking over his shoulder in order to read the update he hadn’t yet posted on a Facebook page he’d made called “Garrison Stalker”—a little dramatic but catchy.

  Sadie read through it. “You should specify cell phones, not just phones. And I think you have a comma splice in the second sentence.”

  Shawn made the changes, and Sadie read it again, start to finish:

  GARRISON RESIDENTS: Please be on the lookout for this woman. The sketch to the right is how she appeared two years ago; the one on the left is what she looked like this morning in downtown Garrison, but she is known for wearing a variety of disguises. She is harassing Sadie Hoffmiller, a citizen of Garrison, and she is suspected of stealing several cell phones from various residents and hacking financial accounts. There is an APB out for her car: a mid-2000 silver Honda Civic with Wyoming plates. If you’ve seen her or her car, please contact Shawn Hoffmiller. Please share this status so we can spread the word and put a stop to this public menace!

  Beneath the words were the side-by-side sketches of Jane.

  “Once I post it here, I’ll share it on my wall and tag people like Uncle Jack, Breanna, and a couple other Garrison friends I know will share it as soon as they see it. Tagging them just sends them an extra alert.”

  “Great idea,” Sadie said. “It looks really good.”

  Pete read it and also gave his approval.

  Shawn took a breath and then hit the “Post” button. Immediately, his words and Jane’s picture appeared on the top of the Facebook page. They all sat and stared at it as though they could watch it be shared on other walls. He navigated to his personal page. “I still need to fill in some details on the page, then I’ll put it on Twitter and Instagram too.”

  “I need to send the photo to Lori at the Garrison News Journal. She was going to send me a quick write-up for me to approve. Can you check and see if she’s sent it already?”

  Shawn clicked over to Sadie’s e-mail folder that was still open. “I don’t see anything from her, but do you want me to forward the photo and direct her to the page? That might have information that would help her.”

  “That would be great. Her e-mail is in my contacts. Lori Hunsaker at the Garrison News Journal.”

  “When did you tell me about the changed delivery time for the cake?” Pete asked, drawing Sadie’s attention back to him. “Was it last Saturday?”

  “I think so,” Sadie said. It was after she’d had the final fitting of her dress because it was during the fitti
ng that she’d thought it would be better to have the cake delivered at noon rather than 1:00, which would have been only an hour before the ceremony. The fitting had been Saturday morning, and Pete had come over for dinner that night, which was probably when she talked to him about it.

  “What else does she know that’s surprised us?” Pete asked.

  “We still don’t know how she learned about the wedding,” Sadie said. “She knew I had my phone back, which means she knew the police had taken it in the first place. And she knew we were going to go about our regular routines and draw her out—those are the exact words she used. Didn’t you use those words this morning?”

  Pete nodded and his expression turned to consternation. He gestured for Sadie to join him in the kitchen. Shawn kept working on the computer. “Well, she might have assumed the police would take your phone since she’d texted you on it, but that doesn’t explain how she knew you had it back unless she saw you with it.”

  “I put my phone in my purse at the station and then plugged it in . . . in the kitchen.” She looked at her charge cord. Jane could have seen her plug it in through the kitchen window, but she’d have to have an amazing view—maybe a telescope, maybe in a tree? Sadie shook her head at the ridiculous thought. “With Anne’s situation all those years ago, Detective Madsen had cozied up to Jack’s daughter in order to learn as much information about him and his family as possible. Could Jane have some kind of mole connected to us who is relaying her information like Trina had unwittingly done?”

  “Who other than the two of us knew that the police had your phone?”

  “The police.” Sadie had never gotten over the lingering distrust Detective Madsen had inspired. Police were people, after all, with motivations and opportunity just like anyone else. They were also far more educated on procedure than the average person, which made getting away with their crimes easier to do.

  “Who at the police department knew about Maggie or your delivery plans being changed with the cake?” Pete asked.