Free Key Lime Pie by Josi S. Kilpack Page B

mouth to answer, but the words wouldn’t come. Eric didn’t even know she was here; he hadn’t had a chance to explain what was going on yet. What would he think if she just downloaded her concerns to Sergeant Mathews? But right on the heels of that thought was the reminder of all the times she’d been the one sneaking behind the back of the police. It might have turned out okay, but it had also landed her with community service and caused her to question her own character.
    Mathews was watching her and he suddenly reminded her of Pete—of the first time she’d met him and all the times they’d been together since. More than once Pete had told her that telling the truth made all the difference in a police investigation. Sadie was going to shoot straight this time around; she wasn’t going to be underfoot or hiding anything.
    She took a deep breath and told him about Eric’s call from the day before, about the box, and about her decision to come to Florida when Eric wouldn’t explain what was going on. She ended with her concerns about Eric telling Layla he would be home at nine, yet now it was nearly eleven. “He expected an answer about . . . the body today. I can’t imagine that he’d make himself unavailable.” She paused for a breath, finding it much easier to talk to Mathews than she had thought it would be. It was like sharing her burden, which meant she didn’t have to worry alone anymore. “When Layla first told me he was gone, I assumed he’d entrusted her to deal with the information in his place, but after getting to know her a little better, I . . .” Her voice trailed off. She didn’t want to slander the woman, but there was definitely something . . . off. Enough that she didn’t think Eric wouldn’t expect Layla to take the primary role in something this important.
    Mathews nodded and wrote some notes in his notebook. “I’m surprised as well,” he said, looking up at her and tapping his pen on the pad of paper. “I’ve spoken with Mr. Burton several times since we made the first call to him on Wednesday. I’d asked him for some personal effects of Megan’s and I assume that’s what’s in the box. He said it would arrive today and seemed quite eager for any information I could give him. I called him this morning, after I called Layla, and he said he’d be right in, but he seemed to be a bit distracted. I have a feeling he hasn’t been giving me the full story.”
    Sadie was sure Eric was holding back information from her, but why would he also be holding back from the police?
    Mathews tapped his pen some more, keeping rhythm with Sadie’s thoughts, and raised his other hand to rub his clean-shaved chin. “What do you know about Megan Burton?”
    “I know she disappeared three years ago after going on spring break and that the police had almost nothing to go on. I know she looked like her mother.”
    Looked. Past tense.
    “That’s it?” Mathews asked, surprise flickering across his face. She could almost read his thoughts: how could she be a friend of Eric’s and yet be so uninformed of the most tragic thing that had ever happened to him? It was an excellent question.
    “He doesn’t talk about his past much,” Sadie said. And because I was trying to hide from my feelings toward him, I didn’t dare deepen our friendship by asking personal questions. She felt bad about that now, wondering what kind of difference she could have made if she’d given Eric the opportunity to trust her with his heartache.
    “You said Layla tried to call him after you arrived at her house?”
    Sadie nodded, trepidation filling in the nooks and crannies of her mind as she picked up on Mathews’s growing concern. “He didn’t answer. And . . . did I mention he doesn’t know I’m here?”
    Mathews immediately furrowed his eyebrows. “You mean he doesn’t know you’ve arrived?”
    Sadie made a half-nod, half-shrug motion with her head and shoulders, feeling as though she were about to be