“Sue, this is Kathy. I was thinking of our boy, and I remembered he had these cufflinks that his father had given him. I’d like them back. They have a lot of sentimental value to me. Call me.”
“You mean dollar value,” Sue muttered as the call hung up.
“Sue, this is Kathy. Why haven’t you called me? Did you find the cufflinks? I just miss our boy so much. He was such a…”
Sue frowned at the phone and put her hands over her ears to block the woman’s voice. After a few seconds, she dropped her hands and looked down.
“…a special dinner in his honor. Of course, we expect you to be there, but we won’t need you to say anything. I told them you’d be there. I’m going to need you to make sure you clean yourself up. And do your hair. Not like the funeral. Please tell me you’ve been to a salon. Just call me.”
Sue felt the tension building back in her chest as she touched her hair. In fact, she had not been to a salon. She’d colored her hair with a cheap box from the grocery store. She hated that she felt like she needed to go to the dinner, even when she didn’t want to. That old guilt and insecurity ate at her. “No, Kathy, I will not be honoring our boy.”
Ugh. She hated when Kathy called him that.
“Sue, this is Kathy. Why haven’t you called? I can’t do everything. You need to get in touch with me. There is so much we have to discuss. Oh and did you find the cuff links yet?”
Sue flipped off the phone.
“Sue, this is Kathy. Call me.”
“Sue, this is Kathy. I’m losing my patience. Call me.”
“Dammit, Sue, this isn’t how adults behave. I swear I don’t know how my son even put up with you like he did. I told him you were—you need to call me. Do it for Hank. You owe him.”
“Sue, where the hell are you?”
Sue gave a small snort of disgust and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Get a grip, Kathy. It’s been like a day.”
“Hello, Mrs. Jewel, this is Officer Hollen from the St. Louis Police Department.”
That caught Sue’s attention. She picked up her phone to look at the unfamiliar number.
“We have some folks here who are very concerned about you. If you get this, please give me a c—”
There was a pause, and she heard a faint voice in the background. Sue slid the message progress bar back a few seconds and turned up the volume.
Kathy’s voice sounded to cut off the officer’s, “You need to look in the river for her. She was never a strong woman. My son was a saint for taking care of her. I told you she was addicted to pain pills, right? And my Hank stood by her the entire time, so patient and loving.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the officer said, her tone placating. Then for the message, he finished, “Please give me a call back on this number anytime.”
Kathy called the police on her because she didn’t return a fucking phone call about cuff links?
Even though it was late, Sue dialed the officer’s number and began to pace as it rang.
“Officer Hollen,” the man answered.
“Uh, yeah, um, hi, Officer Hollen, this is Sue—Susan Jewel. You left me a message that I needed to call you. My phone was dead, and I just charged it.” Sue went to the window and glanced out but didn’t see what she looked at as she concentrated on the phone call. “I think my mother-in-law might have…”
…gone insane and called in the cavalry.
“Yes, hello, Mrs. Jewel. Thank you for getting back to me. You’ve had us worried.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. Everything’s fine. I’m fine.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Would it be possible for you to come down to the station for a quick conversation so we can clear this up?” he asked.
“Um, no, I’m sorry. I’m on a small trip right now,” she answered, dropping the curtain and resuming her pacing. “I’m out of state.”
“Where would that be?”
“Freewild Cove, North Carolina. I’m staying with friends,” she said. New friends, but friends. It wasn’t a lie.
“And when are you expected to return?”
“I’m not sure. It could be awhile.”
“Ma’am, are you sure everything is all right? Your mother said you—”
“Mother-in-law,” Sue automatically corrected.
“Yes, ma’am, she said that you have been out of contact for a while, and when she let us into your house, she indicated the state of things were not how you normally kept them.”
A while? It hadn’t even been two freaking days.
“Oh?” Sue frowned, not knowing what state she left the house in. “I mean, I guess I packed really fast.”
“The front door was unlocked, and there appeared to have been a struggle,” he said. “Can you explain that?”
“I must have been upset.” Sue took a deep breath and closed her eyes. With her husband’s job, he’d often interacted with police officers. They generally liked him. “My husband just passed away. I needed to get out of the house, so I came to visit friends. I swear everything’s fine. I’m fine. I’m just… fine.”
“Yes, I found Detective Sanchez’s card in your living room. She filled me in on your accident,” he said. “After such severe injuries, you can see why we were worried that something worse might have happened to you.”
“Well, I’m sorry you were worried. I’m fine,” she insisted.
“I’ll tell you what. Give me your address, and I’ll call Freewild Cove’s police department and have them come to check on you, just to be sure. How about that? Then everyone’s minds can be put at ease.” His tone said he wasn’t asking her permission.
“I’m not sure of the address. It’s an apartment,” she answered, looking around for something that might have an address and not finding anything but the phone numbers Vivien had left her for their cell phones. “Um, just tell them it’s the apartment on top of Warrick Theater. It’s a small town. They’ll know.”
“Warrick Theater,” he repeated.
“Yes.” Sue took another deep breath. Damn Kathy for this.
“Very good. I’ll give them a call. Expect someone to come by in the morning,” he said.
“Okay, thank you—oh, wait, um, Officer Hollen, if you don’t mind, please don’t tell Kathy where I’m staying,” Sue said.
“Oh?”
“I mean, I know that sounds dramatic, but it’s not. I just, I mean, I came here to get away from things.” Sue frowned. She shouldn’t have said anything. So what if Kathy found out? “Never mind.”
“I won’t give her the address, but you should call her. She’s very worried about you,” Officer Hollen said. “She’ll be pleased to know you’re safe.”
“I’ll call her,” Sue said.
“Good. I’m happy to hear you’re all right, ma’am,” Hollen stated. “Expect that visit in the morning.”
“Okay, thank you, officer.” Sue listened to him hang up and slowly placed her phone on the counter. It took all of one day for her old life to come dragging her back in.