Things Lost In The Fire (48 page)

And how incredibly lucky.

“I should call Tess.” Sadie reached into her jeans pocket for her cell phone, only to have Brody stop her.

“I already did, while you were talking with the cops. I called your parents, too.”

“Both of them?” She winced, imagining what a firestorm of panic her mother must have been in. “What’d they say?”

He shrugged. “They’re glad you’re okay. I told them you needed some time to rest before they could bother you.”

She let out a breath, grateful. “Thanks.”

Brody nodded, a thoughtful look coming over his face. “Did Drew tell you why he did all of this?”

“He said I killed his dad, even though that’s impossible. Walker was shot from the doorway while he had me pinned to the bed. I couldn’t have physically done it.” Sadie frowned. “Maybe he figured everyone lied about it. Though I don’t know why.”

“Whoever actually shot him did lie,” Brody pointed out. “And I find it suspicious that the investigation was just sort of…dropped. Either the new lead they got was a dead end, or it solved the mystery once and for all and they’re protecting the person responsible. I’ve seen it happen before. They’re not required to make everything in an investigation public record. They can get a court order.”

Sadie lost herself in thought over his words, troubled by them. In the end, she supposed it didn’t matter. She’d given up hope on ever learning the identity of her rescuer. But what if the police
did
know the truth? Would they tell her?

The bigger question, she realized, was why the shooter would need their identity protected in the first place.

A
T DAWN, the smoky haze gave the light an eerily orange tint. Sadie watched the sun rise over the mountains to the east, seated with her legs folded up against her chest on the patio. Tess sat beside her, smoking one of Brody’s cigarettes.

“Did you get any sleep?” Tess asked, blowing out a stream of smoke. Her eyes were tired, reflecting her mood.

“An hour or two, maybe.” Sadie shrugged, resting her chin on her knees. “I didn’t want to go back into that room so I slept on the couch.”

“We’ll get someone here to clean all this up for you.” Tess patted her on the back, mustering up a smile. “You know the offer’s always open for you to come stay with me. I’ll even let you bring Brody.”

Though she felt a hitch of emotion in her throat, Sadie’s eyes remained dry. She shook her head. “I’m sorry Drew hurt you, Tess.”

Tess pressed her lips together as though fighting back a wave of anger. “It’s not your fault, honey. None of this is.”

“And since he’s alive, what happens if he comes after us again?” Sadie asked, dread settling over her.

“You shoot to kill next time,” Tess replied bluntly with a dark laugh. She pulled Sadie close and hugged her. “Don’t worry about it. For now he’s in custody, so he can’t hurt you. And they should have enough evidence to keep him behind bars for awhile.”

“I know.” Sadie chewed on her thumbnail, wishing she could stop fretting over the what-ifs and instead embrace the what-nows.

She heard voices and footsteps and glanced over her shoulder, seeing Tommy, Isaac, and her father. They hovered in the doorway, clearly unsure if she wanted to see them. She let out a sigh and rose to her feet.

“Hi,” she greeted, welcoming Isaac into her arms when he stepped forward.

He squeezed her tightly, then released her. “I knew you should’ve taken me up on the Boston idea.”

“Hindsight’s twenty-twenty, right?” Sadie said with a weary smile. She turned to Tommy, disquieted by the tears in his eyes. He pulled her close and held on until she could barely breathe. “Tommy, I’m okay. I promise.”

“I know, kid,” he managed, stepping back to cup her cheek with his hand. He flashed her one of his trademark grins. “I just needed to see it for myself.”

She nodded and faced her father. His brows were furrowed with concern, so different from his usual cool façade. He said nothing as he wrapped her in his arms, holding her tighter than even Tommy had. She embraced the sensation, waves of relief settling over her.

When he broke the hug, she met his eyes. He had a strained look on his face, like there was something he desperately wanted to say and yet he had no idea how to say it.

To be fair, she didn’t know what to say to him, either.

They began to ask her questions about the night before, ones she was already so tired of answering. Brody drifted outside, filling in the parts that were still hard for her to think about. Soon, she grew weary with the conversation, wanting nothing more than to hide away in a room for some peace and quiet. But seeing as her bedroom was still a crime scene and there was no way she would be left alone, she had only one other option.

Escape.

“I have to use the restroom,” she told them, edging her way past Brody and into the house. She checked to see if any of them were watching her, then picked up her purse and snuck out the front door. Within moments she was in her car and on the road, heading for the one place she had never thought she’d seek comfort. But today, it called to her like a safe haven.

The streets were littered with ash and fragments of burnt leaves, but the menacing smoke from the night before was gone. All that was left was the rusty haze and the lingering scent of scorched wood.

She pulled into the driveway of her mother’s home and parked behind her blue corvette, sad to see it covered in murky gray ash. She walked up to the front door and knocked, offering a shaky smile when Carla answered.

“Is my mom here?”

Carla nodded. “Come in.”

Sadie followed her inside. She could hear the bright, poignant sound of her mother’s piano, and her heart clenched. Coming to a stop just outside the music room, she peered in and silently watched her mother play.

Valerie was radiant. Early morning sunlight brought out the gold in her hair, shimmering with every movement she made. Her fingers danced over the keys, well accustomed to the notes. They were ones she’d made famous thirty years earlier, the song that brought Albatross out of the shadows and into the limelight.

Her voice rang out, the soothing beauty of it still so very much the same. Though it had taken on a more tired, haunting tone these days, Sadie still marveled at the emotions it evoked inside of her. All she’d wanted her entire life was to sound half as good as her mother. Even now, she knew she could never compete. The woman was truly a legend.

Tears welled in her eyes when her mother brought the song to a close. She watched as Valerie hung her head and closed her eyes, emotionally moved and exhausted by it.

Sadie stepped into the room and clapped, unable to help the smile that brightened her face. Her mother looked up at her, only to freeze as though she’d seen a ghost. Her face went slack as she stared intently at Sadie, her bronzed eyes darkened with regret.

When Valerie stood and approached her, Sadie held her gaze, unable to speak. She could feel the tears spill down her cheeks as her mother enfolded her in a warm embrace, one she hadn’t even realized she craved so badly.

Sadie gave in and let go, her earlier reserve shattering to pieces. She cried, becoming that child once again, the one who needed her mother in times of crisis. The one who hungered for what so many others took for granted. She let the deep wounds that had always been within her be filled, her heart patching itself together, piece by tattered piece.

“It’s okay darling, I’m here,” Valerie crooned, petting her head softly. “You just get it all out.”

Sadie sniffled, wiping her eyes as she pulled away. A shaky laugh bubbled from her throat. “I’m sorry. I’m such a mess right now.”

“Come sit, I’ll have Carla make us some tea.” She led Sadie to one of the elegant sofas, then disappeared briefly to request the tea. When she came back, she sat down beside Sadie, her hands bundled in her lap. “That reporter of yours called me last night. Woke me up in the middle of the strangest dream. You were just a child and I was chasing after you in the garden. You kept slipping through the flowers and hiding from me. I wondered afterward if it was something of a premonition. A warning that you were going to run away from me again.” Her voice caught, but she smiled. “But now you’re here. You came back to me.”

Sadie nodded, meeting her mother’s eyes. “I’m so tired, Mom. I don’t want us to fight anymore. I just…I just want us to be together, in case there’s not much time left.”

Valerie let out a light laugh. “Don’t worry about me. I’m going to be just fine.”

“Are you?” Sadie asked, shaking her head. “Because I’m so scared to lose you.”

“Really?” Surprise flashed in Valerie’s eyes, softening her face.

“Of course.” Sadie looked away, feeling awkward under her mother’s stare. She took a deep breath and tried to formulate the right words to convey how she felt. “I realized when I came back here that I’ve wasted so much of my life being scared. I was scared of fame, so I only sang in secret. Scared of confrontation, so I stayed away from you. Scared of interfering, so I gave Dad his space. And scared of what happened to me here, so much so that I did all I could to pretend it never happened. But it did, and last night was proof that running away from it didn’t protect me. It didn’t just go away, it came back and found me. And if it hadn’t found me this time, it would find me next year, or in five years. I had to face my fear, and now that I have…”

“You’re free,” Valerie supplied, reaching for her hand. She squeezed it tightly. “I have my own fear to face, darling. I think I’ve waited long enough.”

“What is it?” Sadie brushed away more tears as she met her mother’s eyes.

Valerie took a deep breath, releasing it on a slow, calming exhale. “The night that Lee hurt you, I lied to the police. I told them I was downstairs when it happened. I wasn’t.”

Sadie’s brows furrowed. “But I saw you in the kitchen with your friends. You’d just taken a hit of cocaine. You were high.”

A soft laugh escaped Valerie’s lips. “I know you stay away from the stuff—and I’m glad you do—but if you think the cocaine made me oblivious to what was happening around me then you’re mistaken. It only made me more aware.”

“I don’t understand.”

Valerie continued. “Well, I told the others I was going to the pantry for more vodka, but on the way I noticed I’d chipped a fingernail. I decided to run upstairs to fix it first, so I went through the dining room to the stairs, avoiding the party. As far as I know, nobody noticed me. On the way to my bedroom I heard strange noises coming from inside your room. I opened the door and saw Lee on top of you, and I panicked. I couldn’t believe he would do something like that. I shouted at him and saw his gun on the dresser.” She paused, her eyes glassy as the memories came back to her. “I don’t know what came over me. I guess I was being the protective mother I should have always been. I didn’t even think twice about shooting him. By the time my brain could process it, it was done. He was dead.”

Sadie couldn’t breathe. Her lips parted in stunned silence as her brain tried to piece together the remnants of that night. She recalled the shouting, remembered Walker rising away from her and the horrid sound of the gunshot. Had she seen the woman in the doorway, clutching the gun just as she had done the night before with Drew?

Her mother’s face. She did vaguely remember seeing the mortified horror contort Valerie’s beautiful features. But she’d always thought that was afterward, when her agonized screams echoed throughout the house.

Maybe, after all this time, she was wrong.

“But…Tommy,” Sadie said weakly.

Valerie nodded. “He found me with the gun and asked me if I’d done it. If I’d killed him. Then he ordered me to wipe it clean and leave it on the floor before anyone else could see.”

The memory Sadie had of Tommy asking that very same question resonated through her. So he hadn’t been asking
her
that question at all, she realized. He’d been asking her mother.

“Why would he do that?”

Regret flashed in Valerie’s eyes. “You have to understand, darling. Things were so fragile between all of us at that time, especially between me and Georgina. She’d already suspected us of having the affair. If she’d found out that I shot Lee, despite the reason for it, she would have accused me of staging the entire thing and killing him out of jealousy. So Tommy made the decision to take the blame for me, but by the time the police got involved everything got so muddied that neither of us were willing to say anything. To our surprise, you didn’t seem to remember what happened at all, which I suppose was a blessing. We got in over our heads so quickly and the lie just grew bigger and bigger until we started to convince ourselves that what happened hadn’t actually happened. It was a mess.”