Though she hated causing her aunt more distress, the woman needed to know.
“Someone tried to kill me,” she said.
Concern rippled over Aunt Debby’s features and she slowly sat on the bed. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“Because I didn’t want you to worry.” Not yet. Not until she spoke again with Gage Sessions. She still struggled to grasp he’d been the one to rescue her. Save her life.
On the Coast Guard cutter that brought her to safety and the Coldwater Bay Hospital, Gage had been more than reassuring when he’d wrapped the blanket around her. Then at the hospital, he’d suggested she rest. She might remember more about what happened so she could answer the questions when someone came to investigate.
Sadie had last seen Gage in college over seven years ago. They’d been close friends then. He’d cared about her as more than a friend, she’d known, but she hadn’t felt the same because she had been in love with someone else. Would the outcome have been different today if it had been a stranger rather than Gage risking his life to save hers?
Aunt Debby pressed her hand on Sadie’s forehead as though checking her temperature, unease still evident in her eyes. “And you’ve told the sheriff?”
“I told the Coast Guard and someone is letting the sheriff’s department know for me.”
“Good. You’ve been through a lot. Just get some rest and once your core temperature is back up, they’ll release you. I’ll take you home and take care of you. Remember, you’re not in this alone, Sadie.”
“I know.” And Sadie thanked God for her family.
She closed her eyes and rested on the pillow. She wished she could remember everything that had happened. One minute she was at Karon’s house. The next she was on that boat fighting to survive. Who did the boat belong to, anyway? With it hidden in the depths of the Pacific, would she ever find out?
If only she could remember more. Was hypothermia messing with her memories? When she’d woken up on the boat, she’d been extremely groggy with the world’s worst headache. That hadn’t been hypothermia. No—she’d been drugged.
A flash of a memory zinged back to her.
Sadie glanced down at her hospital gown. “Aunt Debby?”
“Yes, sweetie?”
“Where are my clothes?”
Her aunt chuckled. “It’s customary to wear a hospital gown in the hospital. Don’t you remember changing?”
Vaguely. “No, I mean, what happened to them after I changed into this?”
“Oh, I took them home to wash and dry them.”
Oh, no. “Could you do me a favor? I need you to go through the pockets of my hoodie. I found something on the boat. It could be important.” The pendant was a link, the proof she needed that Karon had been on that same boat. Possibly evidence that Karon’s killer was now after Sadie.
A chill crawled over her that had nothing to do with her recovery from hypothermia.
Aunt Debby agreed to search her pockets back at the house and left Sadie alone with her thoughts, which turned out to be a bad idea. She couldn’t exactly rest like everyone insisted when someone had gone to such trouble to attempt to kill her.
She wished Jonna was here already. Her sister had been an ICE agent while living in Miami. Sadie didn’t know what had happened in Florida to send Jonna running back to Washington. She only knew it had been something bad, and Jonna hadn’t wanted to talk about it. So maybe she wouldn’t help Sadie feel all that safe.
Fortunately, she didn’t have long to fret. In walked Gage Sessions, his presence filling her with relief and the overwhelming impression that she was safe with him. And why shouldn’t it? He’d saved her today, after all, and she could still sense the protectiveness, the heroism, pouring off him. But she didn’t want him to notice just how relieved she was to see him. More to the point...
“Gage, I remember.” She sat up in bed. “It’s starting to come back to me now.”
“You mean why you were on the boat?”
“Well, sort of. That part is still fuzzy, but what happened before.”
He moved closer to the bed, his form trim and fit, his jaw strong and his bright hazel eyes sharp. With his sun-bleached hair, he was the same guy from a few years ago, yes, but there was something different about him. He seemed more self-assured. Experienced. A thrill ran through her. Really, Sadie. Focus.
“Well, I’m listening.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall closest to her bed.
“Okay, give me a second.” She squeezed her eyes shut and dragged in a few breaths. “I’d gone to Karon’s house with her mother’s approval. Her mother had thought Karon’s death suspicious and I agreed. It’s hard to believe that Karon, a marine science major working at an environmental company, a good swimmer and certified scuba diver, had drowned. If she’d intended to swim at all for some sort of research, she would have at least had on a dry suit to keep her warm. Karon had taken time off and was staying at their vacation rental house on the coast. Her mother—who lived on the other side of Coldwater Bay in Joshua—was planning to meet her there when she could get off work. Karon never returned to the house but instead her body was found...” Sadie couldn’t even choke out the rest. She closed her eyes and tried to shove aside the deep anguish in her heart at the loss of her very dearest friend.
When she opened her eyes again and looked at Gage, his gaze was penetrating. Almost accusing. “So you went to her house for your own investigation.”
She shrugged. “Yeah. There wasn’t any crime scene tape or anything. The authorities ruled her drowning death an accident.”
“What happened next?”
She tried to picture everything in her mind. Tried to remember it all. “Her vacation rental house is right along the beach above the rocks. I remember thinking how apropos that the storm clouds were brewing in the distance. I couldn’t understand why no one in law enforcement found her death suspicious.”
“They’ll listen now, Sadie, since someone tried to kill you.”
She was glad she could talk to him and he really listened and believed her. It was just like old times, only much more serious. “Not just someone, Gage. The same person.”
“Keep talking.”
“I came back for the funeral. I’d been in Indonesia researching for a grant I desperately need—I’m a marine biologist now—when I got the call. Nothing could have brought me back. Nothing except the death of someone I love. Do you understand?”
His expression turned somber yet compassionate. He moved closer, appearing absorbed in her story. “Yes, I think I do. What happened next at Karon’s house? I want to know how you ended up on the boat.”
He questioned her like an investigator, keeping her on track. “Well, I remember something crashed outside the house. I thought it was a garbage can. I glanced out the window but saw nothing but branches scratching the glass with the gust of wind. I booted up Karon’s laptop and what I found stunned me. I guess it shouldn’t have.”
Gage inched closer. “What did you find?”
“The thing had been wiped clean.”
“And did you call the authorities?”
“No. That’s where my memories grow fuzzy and unclear. I had this creepy sensation that someone was watching me. I can’t say for sure but I think someone was there with me. I remember...someone. Just not who or even what they looked like. If it was a man or a woman. And the next thing I remember is waking up on that sinking boat with no radio or flotation devices. My head