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“Yes, and unfortunately I have to be in the north quadrant at the crack of dawn tomorrow.”
She turned to me, cupping my cheeks. “Look, I really am feeling better. Believe it or not, I think the attack on me jarred me a little. Yes, in a bad way, but also a good way. I was forced to use my brain, to think about things that I normally wouldn’t think about. And it opened my mind to these new things, to look at Gina’s situation and her letter in a different way. To see that maybe Gina wasn’t suicidal.” She shook her head and chuckled. “To think, I almost destroyed that letter.”
“What?”
“I walked into the hardware store in Snow Creek the day I was taken. I bought a document shredder.” She closed her eyes. “That’s the first time I’ve even allowed myself to think the words ‘document shredder.’ I was so freaked that I had bought it, that I was thinking about destroying the letter.”
“Wow.”
“I know. My head was a little screwy that day. It has been since Gina’s death. But no more. I’m going to figure this out.”
“But what if…” I couldn’t finish.
“I’m wrong?” She bit her lip. “I might be. And I’ll deal with that. Every doctor loses patients. It’s a chance you take when you’re a healer.” She sighed. “We’d all like to be able to heal everyone. Every doctor out there. But no one can.”
I wanted to be supportive of Melanie. She was so strong. So we would investigate this theory of hers. I just hoped that it didn’t turn out to be nothing. I wanted as much as she did for her to be able to put this behind her.
Melanie’s phone rang. “Do you mind?”
“No, go ahead and take it.”
I left the room for a moment, looking through the kitchen to see what we could whip up for lunch. I was hungry. My freezer was full of frozen meals that my personal chef had made up for me. I pulled out two, not even looking at the labels, and threw them in the microwave to heat up.
I poured two glasses of iced tea and returned to the guest room.
Melanie was just ending her phone call.
“What was that about?” I asked.
“It was Officer Lee. They found the place where I was held.”
My heart stopped. “Yeah?”
“It’s in a rural area, about two hours from here. It’s owned by some corporation. No names of individuals are on record except for the registered agent, an attorney in Grand Junction. His name is Frederick Jolly.”
I couldn’t help a laugh. “Jolly?”
Melanie smiled. “Yeah, I know. Funny name.”
“Have they arrested Dr. Cates?”
“No, they haven’t.”
“Why the hell not?”
“They questioned him, but he has an ironclad alibi. He was with his wife at the hospital pretty much nonstop during the entire time I was gone.”
“That doesn’t mean shit. He could have hired it out.”
“I agree, but they don’t have any probable cause. Plus, he reported the Eldorado as stolen. A couple days before I was taken.”
“That could all be part of the ploy.”
“I know that, and so do the police. They’re putting some detectives on the case.”
“Well, there’s no reason why we can’t question him.”
Melanie shook her head. “Nope. In fact, he’s rented a small townhome in Grand Junction.”
