Have You Seen Me?(49)

“Okay. Maybe I could even go with you.”

“I’d love that, Button. . . . What time did you schedule your Uber for?”

I glance at my watch. “Fifteen minutes from now.” I knew I’d been cutting it a little close, but I figured I could change it if the police kept us waiting.

Roger reaches out with his free hand and gives my fingers a squeeze. “Why don’t you push it back? We could have a glass of wine at the house or I could make you a cappuccino. You know what a good barista I am.”

I express my thanks but tell him no. Part of me is sorely tempted to stay, but I need to get home and finally fill Hugh in. Plus, hanging at Roger’s will increase my chance of running into Marion, who’s bound to be back from Princeton by now.

And sure enough, she strides from the kitchen as we enter the house, dressed smartly in beige slacks and a matching V-neck cashmere sweater. Even from across the room I can smell her fragrance, that cloying mix of roses and jasmine.

“So how did it go today?” she asks, advancing. Her eyes flick back and forth between Roger and me as if she’s watching a tennis match.

“Very perfunctory,” Roger says, covering. “Ally talked to them, they asked her a few questions, and that was it.”

She allows her gaze to light on me. “Oh, but it must have been hard for you, dear.”

“Thanks, but it wasn’t so bad.”

“Well, hopefully this is one of those cold cases they’ll be able to finally close.”

“Would you mind if I poured myself a glass of water?” I ask her. “I have to take off in a minute.”

“I’d be glad to get it for you,” she says and disappears.

Next to me, Roger scratches the back of his neck, looking distracted. He’s asked Marion nothing about her friend, the ditched wife, so maybe it really was a story concocted to explain her absence.

As I check my phone and report to Roger that my Uber is two minutes away, Marion returns with a glass of ice water, a small wedge of lemon bobbing on top. Am I too hard on her?

She and I say good-bye with an awkward hug, and Roger sees me outside, where a gray Toyota soon pulls up.

“Button, promise me you won’t let this eat at you,” Roger advises. “The bottom line is that you did the right thing by going in today. You have no reason to feel anything but good about that.”

“Thanks, Rog. If Nowak does share details about the case with you, will you let me know as soon as possible?”

“Will do. By the way, I forgot to mention earlier that I looked up Dr. Hadley, and she passed away a couple of years ago. No one seems to have taken over her practice and that means her records might be long gone.”

I nod, resigned—I hadn’t expected any luck on this front—and hug my brother tightly. When I open the car door, the driver confirms my identity, and a minute later we’re off. I twist in my seat to see Roger moving quickly into the house.

We’ve barely left the driveway when I spot a text from Hugh.

How was the visit with Roger?

Good. Will fill u in later

Great. Any problem if I work til 8 here? I need access to files.

Sure, no prob. see u then.

Despite my response, I’m frustrated. I now have so much to update Hugh on, and I feel the need to do it tonight, before I’m rear-ended by another discovery or situation.

I suddenly notice I have a voice mail that must have come in while I had my phone off at the police station. It’s from Mulroney.

“Call me,” he says. “I’ve got news.”

Grabbing a breath, I phone back immediately, but to my chagrin, he doesn’t pick up. “I’m available all day from this point on,” I say in my message, not disguising how desperate I am to speak to him.

I’m about to scroll through emails when Nicole finally returns my call from the morning.

“Sorry to miss you earlier,” she says. “But remember, I mentioned I was only coming in for the afternoon today?”

“Oh, right, yes.” Something she’d told me weeks ago about how she’d been unable to find an earlier flight back from Jamaica wiggles into my head. Another memory slip on my part.

“I’ll make up the hours at—”

“Don’t worry about it. How was the wedding?” I say, at least recalling that.

“Nice. Of course, my sister wanted to save money by holding it during hurricane season, and we’re just incredibly lucky the weather was okay. . . . Um, listen, I saw your question about Greenbacks. There must be some kind of misunderstanding. I never called anyone there.”

“But if it wasn’t you, who was it?”

Nicole hesitates briefly.

“Uh, I hate to throw anyone under the bus . . .”

“Just tell me, Nicole. Please.”

I hear a quick intake of breath on the other end. I’ve never been short with her before.

“It may have been Sasha.”

Why would Sasha be calling over there?

“What makes you say that?”

“I overheard her on the phone when she dropped by our office a couple of weeks ago, and she mentioned Greenbacks. I don’t think she was talking to anyone in the company then, just talking about the place, but it caught my attention because I know you used to work there.”

“Can you imagine any reason she would contact them?”