Page 66 of Silver Player

“A cemetery. What were you doing in a cemetery?” Roxie’s voice grows louder, and my head turns in her direction.

“Roxanne,” I warn, feeling strangely like I understand Sadie’s motive better than Roxie.

“Sadie?” Roxie drones, her voice lowering on the questioning purr of her niece’s name.

“I wanted to visit Mom.”

Roxanne gasps, but I release a breath, realizing my thoughts were correct. Roxie’s the one who told me the holidays could be difficult, so I don’t understand why she’s overreacting. This makes sense to me for some reason.

“I thought you ran away.” Roxanne exhales in frustration. “I had to call the sheriff. This does not look good with the suspicion of you and those break-ins. Running away makes it look like you had a motive to steal from me and Hetty. How did you get down here?”

I don’t think now is the time or place to discuss these things, but Sadie’s head finally lifts, her hair cascading back from her face, which is pale and tear-stained, not a trace of the dark makeup exists. It hits me how young she looks—how young she is. Despite the body of a young woman, she’s still only sixteen, and Roxie needs to settle down.

“A friend brought me.”

“What friend?” Roxie snaps as she’d already told the sheriff she didn’t know of any friends. Maybe that’s another issue for Sadie. She doesn’t have anyone else in town but Roxie and me. Well, she would have opened the door to a large family if she had only come to dinner this evening, or was that yesterday?

As silence ensues, I turn to Roxie. “Are you finished yet?” Her mouth gapes when she looks over at me, hands still tugging at her bag strap and expression full of ire. I ignore her demeaning glare and turn to Sadie.

“Sadie,” I interject. “Are you hurt?”

She shakes her head, acknowledging my question.

“Are you done here?”

Her brows pinch in question.

“Did you see what you needed to see in Atlanta? Do what you needed to do?”

Her head tips, and she slowly nods, her eyes welling with liquid as she looks at me. Something in me breaks, like that root-clenching sensation gripping my chest is now a twig snapping off a tree. I can’t handle her tears.

With hands on my hips, I tilt my head, motioning Sadie to come to me. To my surprise, she slowly stands, bypasses Roxie, and walks into the arms I open to draw her into me. With hands covering her face, she burrows into my chest as I wrap my limbs around her and lower to kiss her head.

“It’s time to go, okay?” I say to her, and she nods against me. When I look up, Roxie’s stunned face includes a gaping mouth, and a flabbergasted expression.

“How am I the bad guy?” she mutters, and then her eyes close. “I sounded like Theresa.” I hold out a hand for her, but she ignores it and brushes past Sadie and me. With an arm still over Sadie’s shoulder, I escort her out of the police station.

My truck is silent for a while, and I can’t take the quiet tension. Finally, I clear my throat.

“Ready to speak?” I ask, glancing over at Sadie, whose head rests on the back of the seat. In my truck, we sit three across on the bench seating. Sadie closes her eyes, and I shift my gaze to Roxie, who looks like she has plenty to say but won’t. Her elbow rests on the passenger door, propping up her head.

“My dad used to have a rule. No questions asked for twenty-four hours. I can uphold that rule, but we have the time now.” The last word lingers, hinting that this would be a good time to talk.

Roxie looks over at me, but I don’t take my eyes off the road.

“Is this like a house rule?” Sadie mumbles, her eyes still closed, and I chuckle.

“Something like that, yes.”

Sadie remains quiet, but I want answers, and I can’t seem to abide by the rule I just mentioned.

“Let’s start with where you go each night.”

Roxie’s head swings back in my direction, and I feel the weight of her eyes on me.

“I go running…to the cemetery.”

It’s my turn to side-eye Sadie. The cemetery is outside of town by a few miles. It’s the resting place of my grandparents, Giant’s wife, and Mati’s husband. “Why?”