No One But You (Silver Springs #2)(89)

“Whoa, wait a minute,” Sadie broke in. “He was tried and found innocent. I think the state has done all it can do.”

“Not in this regard, I’m afraid.”

“But refusing to let Angela come home makes no sense,” Sadie argued. “Dawson wants her here, and she wants to be here. Why would the state insist on continuing to pay for her care when she has a family member who’s willing to step up?”

Unperturbed, as if she dealt with emotional situations all the time—and, of course, she probably did—Ms. Strauss climbed behind the wheel. “Because we’re responsible for her well-being. I don’t feel it’s wise to take the risk, not when Angela is receiving the care she needs at Stanley DeWitt.”

Dawson was going to be heartbroken. He would believe he’d let Angela down—and his dead parents by extension.

Sadie caught the door before Ms. Strauss could close it. “But you can’t believe the media reports,” she said. “Please. They don’t always get it right.”

She put her key in the ignition. “I’m not basing my decision on the media reports.”

“You have to be! What else could be influencing your decision?”

She sighed audibly. “I received a call from someone yesterday that definitely made an impact.”

Sadie’s mind raced as she tried to imagine who might’ve contacted the state in regards to Dawson getting his sister back, but no one came to mind. Who else would care? Distant relatives? The prosecutor? The detective? “From who?”

“From someone who’s very concerned about this situation, concerned enough to let me know where things really stand.”

“Who?” Sadie repeated with more insistence. “It couldn’t be anyone who knows what he or she is talking about.”

“It was an officer on the Silver Springs police force,” Ms. Strauss announced, as if that cinched it. “He let me know in no uncertain terms that Dawson Reed has gotten away with murder.”

Sadie felt the blood rush to her head. “Excuse me?”

Ms. Strauss looked a little shocked by the power behind her outburst. “I was saying that I have it on good authority—”

“No. That isn’t good authority. The officer who called you was Sly Harris, wasn’t it.”

A hint of color crept into her cheeks. “Yes. How did you know?”

Closing her eyes, Sadie shook her head. “Because he’s my ex-husband. He hates that I now have a job that enables me to move on without him, so he’s been doing everything possible to make life for me miserable—Dawson, too, since Dawson’s been kind enough to help me. Officer Harris wasn’t acting in Angela’s best interest when he contacted you, Ms. Strauss. He was acting in his own best interest, was trying to cause trouble for Dawson.”

“I’d rather not get involved in any domestic disputes.” She lifted a hand as if to indicate that what Sadie had said was none of her business.

“Then don’t,” Sadie responded. “I’m telling you Dawson Reed didn’t kill his parents. Why would he be so intent on catching the real culprit if he was the guilty party? Why would he spend over $2,000 on a forensic specialist to come out and collect specimens from the bedroom? Why would he move back here, where he’s been treated like a pariah, and try to take care of his mentally handicapped sister, when he could take the money he received from his parents’ estate and start over, footloose and fancy-free, somewhere else?”

“To make himself look innocent, of course.”

Sadie shook her head in disgust. “Don’t you see how weak of an argument that is? He wouldn’t waste the time or the money. Especially because nothing he’s done so far has changed anyone’s mind! He’ll have to find the culprit and prove his innocence in order to make the people of Silver Springs believe him, and he knows he has little chance of that. He’s only fighting because he feels he owes it to his parents.”

A scowl suggested she would continue to resist Sadie’s logic. But what she said next indicated some softening. “I’ll think about it.”

There was nothing left to do but let her close the door. Sadie’s heart sank as she watched Dawson’s only hope of getting his sister back put her car in Reverse and start backing down the drive. She didn’t want to go in and tell him that his sister would have to remain institutionalized.

“Damn it. Can’t anything go right?” she mumbled.

Knowing that he was waiting to hear what Ms. Strauss had wanted to talk to her about, and feeling the weight of the inevitable, she turned, heartsick but resolute, toward the house. She needed to leave town sooner rather than later, she decided. Sly would not leave Dawson alone as long as she was here with him.

Before she could go more than two steps, however, Ms. Strauss stopped, rolled down her window and poked her head out.

“Fine,” she called out. “I’ll check into it. If what you say is true, that Officer Harris has a personal interest in this situation and there are others who will vouch for Mr. Reed’s character, I’ll recommend that the state allow Angela to come home.”

Sadie couldn’t believe her ears. “Call the chief of police. I’m not asking you to take my word alone. You could visit Lolita, who owns the diner in town, too. She saw Officer Harris nearly strike me in the restaurant on Sunday. It was right after that I applied to get a restraining order against him—although I haven’t yet had my hearing on that.” She thought about telling Ms. Strauss about the fire. In her book, Sly had done a lot more than almost strike her. But she had no proof he was the arsonist and didn’t want to come off as unbalanced or too acrimonious.