Saint Sloan (Saint Sloan #1)(49)

“Boyd’s physical therapist? Maybe we can call him to verify Boyd’s condition.” She remembered the card Boyd had given her when she’d visited, when Boyd had said Ray had never come over.

“Oh… I don’t remember.”

Hmm… “That stinks. It would have been a helpful clue if we had the name or number or something.” She tried again, hoping he’d remember. If he remembered, things would be so much easier. It would mean he really had been to Boyd’s house. If not, then she didn’t know what to think.

“He probably couldn’t tell us anything anyway. Doctor-patient confidentiality,” Ray said without looking at her.

“Yeah. I’m sure that’s what it is.”

“Wait. I feel like I’m missing something here,” Mackenzie said, looking between Ray and Sloan.

Quickly, Sloan decided not to bring it up now. She’d wait until they were alone and then she’d ask. No need bringing it up in front of everyone else. “You’re not.” Sloan answered her friend. “I’m just trying to figure things out. That’s all.”

“Anything else we need to know?” Sloan’s mother asked.

“A woman apparently called the flower shop with my credit card. Darcy knows my locker combination. And I went to see Boyd today.” Sloan added the last part quickly, hoping they’d all latch on to the whole Darcy-knew-her-locker-combination.

She wasn’t so lucky. “You did what?” Aaron nearly jumped out of his chair. “Alone?”

“Yeah, alone. I had questions. He had answers,” she challenged back. “I can’t just sit around and let things, bad things, happen to me. I have to go out and try to help myself.”

“You have us to help you,” Aaron said very sternly.

“And what a big help you, in particular, have been,” she shot back. He thought she was crazy, for Pete’s sake, after one little bit of information from the flower shop. He’d done more harm to her today that Mr. ICU had.

“Do you even want me here?”

She was so mad she didn’t even think about her answer. “No. Not really. You’re making things more difficult.”

“Fine. Good luck trying to figure out who is stalking you. You obviously don’t need my help.” Aaron got up and flung the back door open. Without another word, he slammed it shut behind him.

The four left sat in tense silence. Great, Sloan. Just great, she thought to herself.

“I’ll go get him,” Ray said as he got up from his stool.

“Don’t,” Sloan said, surprising herself. “Let him go. We can do this on our own.”





FOR THE NEXT FEW hours, until way after dark, the four of them sat in the kitchen, talking about different scenarios in which her stalker could be getting his flowers to her. They considered Darcy, Tanner, Mrs. Lawrence, and even Sarah, Travis’s cousin.

“Sarah’s dad got a job in the area, and Travis’ parents are letting them stay in their house,” Mackenzie reported. Her voice changed when she said Travis’ name. “I don’t think she’s doing this or is even a threat. I think she’s new to school and sort of knows me so she’s hanging close to me in the cafeteria. I don’t see anything to connect her to the roses and notes.”

One person scratched off the list. Good. At least it narrowed it down.

“It’s very strange that Darcy knows your combination,” Sloan’s mom chimed in.

“I agree. Plus the person who called the flower shop was a girl. She could have pretended to be me.”

“What about your credit card, though?” her mother asked. “Whoever it was used it and got it back in your bag without you knowing it. Is Darcy that close to you?”

“I don’t think so. I don’t know. I haven’t even really been close to her since then except for Biology, and she sits a long way from me. We bumped into each other yesterday, but that’s it.”

Mackenzie’s head shot up. “Like bumped bumped or just walked up and started talking?”

“Like bumped,” Sloan said. “When I walked into the classroom she was there, and we bumped into each other. She was still miffed because I accused her of using my locker combination.”

Sloan could see the wheels turning in Mackenzie’s head. “Could she have put the card back in the bag when she bumped into you?”

“She couldn’t have put it in my billfold. That’s where I usually put it.”

“But that’s not where it was,” her mother said.

That got Sloan’s attention. “When I found it in your bag, it was just lying in there. I thought it was strange, but didn’t say anything because you’d had such a rough day.”

“Holy cow. She so could have done it,” Mackenzie said.

Sloan wasn’t so sure. “I guess, but why? Why would she come after me… again? We made up. She hates Boyd as much as I do.” Sure, Sloan knew she had tried to forgive him. She’d even told him she had, but right now, she was still big on the hate.

“Who knows why Darcy does anything?” Mackenzie sighed. “But it’s a lead. And a pretty good one at that.”

“It’s something,” Sloan said, laying her head down on the island. They weren’t getting anywhere with this. Not really. What did it matter who was sending the flowers? Someone was and had threatened her and her mother. Would the police even believe them if they one hundred percent figured it out and told them?