Sarah ached for her, sensed with every fiber of her being that this tragedy could have been prevented somehow. This woman, a mother who loved so much, gave so much, had lost a child. Sarah had not known a mother like that. Maybe she ached in part for what she’d never had ... for what Rachel Appleton would miss.
When the service ended, a few stayed behind to talk, the rest filtered out. There would be refreshments and grief counseling available at the high school auditorium.
It wasn’t until Sarah stood outside again that she noticed Lex August. He must have been with the crowd at the back of the sanctuary.
She could have cared less if she’d ever seen him again in this lifetime, except she wanted an update. She didn’t care where it came from as long as it was accurate.
“How did your interviews go?” She walked right into his personal space, toe to toe.
There had been a time when she would have admired how he looked in a suit, as she had Conner. But not anymore. Because she knew all too well that behind that handsome face and well-maintained physique beat the meager heart of a complete prick.
He adopted that fake smile that seemed to work on everyone else. “Well enough for preliminary groundwork.”
Code for: I didn’t get shit.
“No new evidence?” She shouldn’t get any glee from the idea that he’d already been here over twenty-four hours and hadn’t learned anything new—other than what the killer allowed him to find.
But she did.
“Not yet.” He adjusted the knot of his tie. “We’re still waiting for the final test results and the full-on autopsy report.”
“No briefing today?”
He glanced right, then leveled his gaze on hers. “Not today.”
Lie.
“Really?” She frowned. “At a dead end already?”
Those blue eyes she’d once thought were so gorgeous tapered. “When we have something, you’ll get it, Sarah. Don’t be a bitch.”
Such a turnabout from yesterday. Split personality, maybe? What had she ever seen in him?
She smiled, enjoying every damned minute of this. “Me? A bitch? Never.”
Walking away felt good.
Damned good.
Conner glanced up as he closed the side door of the minivan and smiled at her. Perfect white teeth. Truly beautiful eyes and so damned handsome.
“Sarah!”
Her attention turning to the sound of her name, Sarah spotted Polly running toward her and waited.
“Hurry up, Pol,” Conner said. “Mom’s waiting.”
Polly practically bowled Sarah over, cupped her hand over her ear, and whispered, “Look over by the picnic tables.”
Sarah’s gaze went instantly to the row of white picnic tables under the trees beyond the parking lot.
Matilda Calder lingered there.
“She didn’t come inside,” Polly said secretively. “She thinks nobody likes her.” Polly shrugged. “She is kind of weird, but I like her. I guess I’m her only friend.”
“Thanks, Polly.” Sarah patted the hand clamped on her arm. “You’d better go. Your mom’s waiting.”
“Polly!” her mother called on cue.
