Chapter 18

Trevor glanced around the office.

He knew his colleagues had been in here last night. They’d found that second phone under Sadie’s desk.

Trevor also had two phones. Why? Because he was hiding something.

His jaw tightened. That was generally the reason why a person had two cells—to separate two parts of their lives.

So what was Sadie hiding? What other part of her life did she not want them to know about?

She looked spooked right now with her pale skin and shaky hands. Was that because of everything that had happened? Or were there other reasons? Did she remember a part of her life she didn’t want to reveal?

Nothing seemed certain anymore, a fact that left him feeling unnerved.

As Sadie continued to chat with April, he scanned the people in the office. Two men popped their heads out of their offices—company executives if he had to guess. A delivery man walked through a back entrance, a dolly stacked with boxes in front of him.

Another man caught his eye, and Trevor sucked in a breath.

He’d seen that man last night. In the restaurant.

He had dark brown hair, a small build, and was probably in his sixties.

The name on his door read “Juan Blevins.”

Was that a coincidence that another of Sadie’s coworkers had been at that restaurant last night? Why hadn’t he and Guy talked to each other?

Trevor supposed it was possible they hadn’t seen each other.

But he stored that fact in the back of his mind.

Despite Frank’s heads-up, everyone watched curiously.

Did any of these people have any answers?

There was only one way to find out.

By talking to them.

While Sadie and April continued to talk, he slipped away.

The woman sitting in the desk closest to Sadie’s office appeared to be an administrative assistant. She was in her fifties with salt-and-pepper hair to her chin and a quiet demeanor.

“Hi, there.” Trevor plastered on his best smile. “I’m Trevor. I’m guessing you work with Sadie?”

The woman smiled back. “I’m Mary. And, yes, I do.”

“We’re trying to piece together parts of her life. As you probably know, she has amnesia.”

The woman frowned. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“When was the last time you saw her?”

“She stopped in yesterday morning but only for a second. She’d taken the rest of the day off, but she didn’t say why. But I know she liked going to the beach, so I assumed that was it.”

“She’s only worked here for six months,” Trevor continued. “Did she ever mention where she worked before that?”

“I think maybe she said she worked for some small company in Ohio.”

“Ohio? Did she say if that’s where she’s from?” She was the second person to mention Ohio.

Mary shook her head. “That wasn’t my impression, though she never really talked about her past much.”

Another sign that Sadie could be hiding something. Trevor didn’t want to believe it, but sooner or later he would have to face reality. All the facts were adding up.

“Any good friends here at the office?”

“Just Guy, I guess. But Sadie liked to keep to herself.”

“I understand. Was she acting like herself yesterday morning when you saw her?”

Mary nodded. “I’d say so.”

Trevor tried to put together a mental timeline.

If that man who’d been found dead in the woods—John Breckenridge—had been killed in the morning, would that have given Sadie enough time to come into work and then leave to meet Trevor at the beach?

He wasn’t sure.

He remembered the blood he’d seen on her arm and hands. He’d already given Larchmont the towel so it could be tested.

It wouldn’t tell them who had been hurt. Technology wasn’t that advanced. But maybe they could match blood types. See if it belonged to the man who had died yesterday.

“There is one thing.” Mary glanced around as if she didn’t want anyone to hear.

“What’s that?”

“As Sadie was walking past me yesterday, she dropped something.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “I picked it up and started to tell her, but she was already out the door. I figured I would give it to her when she came in yesterday, but then . . .”

“What was it?”

She opened her drawer and picked up something. Then she handed it to him. “It was a picture of this man. At first, I wondered if she was cheating on Guy.”

As soon as Trevor saw the picture, he knew exactly who this man was.

It was John Breckenridge, the man who’d been murdered yesterday.

“Then I saw his picture on the news this morning,” Mary whispered.

“Did you tell the police?”

Mary paused and then shook her head. “No. I thought about it. But Sadie helped me out when I didn’t have money for my husband’s heart surgery. She gave me some money. Told me I didn’t have to repay her, even though I wanted to. I thought I at least owed it to her to keep this to myself . . . for now. You’re her friend, right? You’re looking into this?”

“I am.”

“Then figure out why she had his picture. I don’t want to get her in trouble. Can you do that for me?”

“I’d be happy to.”

He slipped the photo into his pocket before anyone could see it.

What had Sadie been doing with a picture of the dead man?

Trevor didn’t like any of the conclusions his mind wanted to draw.

* * *

As April scooted from the room, Sadie glanced at Trevor in the hallway.

Something had changed on his expression.

Had that woman he was talking to said something of interest?

She turned her gaze away before he saw her staring.

She’d been hoping for answers when she came here to the office. But now she felt as if she only had more questions.

She ran a hand along her desk, trying to picture herself sitting here crunching numbers. There were no personal items. No photos or inspirational quotes or awards she’d won.

The only thing that added any personality to the area were the colorful pens in a smiley face cup on her desk and a small, fake succulent beside it.

Why was it so hard for her to visualize herself working here?

She wasn’t sure.

Realizing she had a moment to herself, she used her fingerprint to unlock her computer.

Her lungs felt frozen as she waited.

She wasn’t sure what she expected to find, but her nerves felt tight enough to snap.

The screen lit, and she scanned the files on the desktop.

Nothing caught her eye. There were only invoices and other business-related things.

Nothing that sparked any type of memory.

She studied the file names.

Nothing looked suspicious or gave hints to anything.

Then again, what had she been expecting?

For fun, she clicked on the most innocuous files, one titled Invoices.

She began scrolling through the documents, but there was nothing of interest.

Until she spotted another folder in the Invoices folder.

One labeled: Invoices to be double-checked.

Sadie clicked on it.

Only invoices weren’t inside.

It held photos.

Photos of . . . a tall man with white hair.

Her blood went cold.

Why in the world did she have pictures of this guy on her computer? Who was he?

Before she could ponder it longer, a shrill beeping sound filled the air.

Was that . . . an alarm?

Then she noticed the smoke lingering near the ceiling.

It was a smoke alarm, she realized.

The building was on fire.