“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Just tired,” she said with a weak smile as she eased past him. She found Susan in the living room, sitting on the floor in front of one of the stereo speakers. Kneeling beside her, she said, “I’m taking off soon. I’m beat.”
Susan gave her a sidelong glance. “You look it.”
“You’re the third person who’s told me that in as many minutes.”
“If Sam Craig was one of them, it may be the only thing he and I agree about.”
“Sammy’s a good guy.”
“He rubs me the wrong way.”
“Give him a chance. He has a good head on his shoulders. He may be a little too blunt sometimes, but his heart’s in the right place.”
“A little too blunt—that’s putting it mildly. But maybe I’m being too harsh. Where we come from, social niceties are important. He obviously comes from somewhere else, and his roots show. He’s a cop, not a diplomat.”
Savannah sat for a minute, quietly listening to John Denver sing “Annie’s Song” on the radio. She always found the song uplifting. It ended too soon. Without realizing it, she held her breath. But the voice that she heard was bright and bubbly rather than the one she longed to hear.
“Your dial is set at cool country, 95.3 FM, WCIC Providence. I’m Melissa Stuart, with you until midnight. Right now, it’s ten twenty-three, thirty-nine degrees and raining outside our studios. Look for showers to continue through the night with clouds beginning to break by dawn, maybe even a little sun by midday. Meanwhile, I’ve got three of the hottest coming up on 95.3 FM, WCIC, kicking off with the best of Shenandoah.…”The music began right on cue.
“Strange,” Savannah whispered, “the words are practically the same, but the effect is so different.”
Susan sounded bemused. “He’s so much better.”
“Was this already set at CIC?”
“Uh-huh. Megan listens all the time.”
“Wonder if she was listening last night.”
“Wonder if she’s listening tonight.”
Savannah shivered. “God, I hope she’s okay.”
“Me, too.” Susan looked at her sister. “You really do look tired. Are you sure you’re not sick?”
“Sick at heart, maybe. I wish there were more I could do.”
“My God, Savvy, you’ve done so much already.”
“But we haven’t learned anything. The lab is coming up with zip. Chris and Ginny are coming up with zip. You can’t believe how frustrated I feel.”
Susan thought for a minute before saying, “I can believe it. It’s like I said before, you have the highest expectations of anyone I know. I watch you coordinate everything, but you think you’re not doing enough. You can only do so much, Savvy. You’re human. Just like the rest of us.” That said, she raised her glass and took a sip.
Too tired to argue, Savannah sighed, then stood. “You won’t have too much, will you, Suse?”
Susan shook her head. “I won’t.”
“Check on Will every so often?”
“Uh-huh.”
“And call me if anything happens?”
Susan nodded.
Satisfied that things were under control with her sister, at least for the time being, Savannah went in search of Will. She found him in the dining room, glancing through the silver drawers. “Anything missing?” she asked.
