Page 82 of The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

Suddenly the aromas of fried food and coffee made her sick to her stomach. She looked over at the pickup window again. Thankfully the waitress was headed their way, two plates balanced in one hand, a glass of milk in the other. When Iris put their food on the table, Sage was going to ask if they could get it to go, but Eddie had already started eating. He wiped his mouth and looked at her.

“You okay?”

She nodded and picked up her fork.

He covered his pancakes with syrup, then held the bottle over her plate. She nodded and he poured some on hers. “So do you think he’ll come looking for you?” he said. “After he finds out about Rosemary, I mean.”

The blood drained from her face.Oh my God. He thinks Wayne wants to kill me, too.

“What is it?” he said, alarmed. “What’s wrong?”

“You think Wayne is going to come looking for me?”

His eyes went wide. “No! Not Wayne. I was talking about Alan! You said you might stay with a friend for a while.”

“Oh.” Her shoulders loosened. “I . . . I doubt it. Why would he?”

“I don’t know, to apologize?”

“Yeah, right.” She stared at her plate, at the greasy bacon and sticky syrup, and the swooning sensation stirred in her head again.What if Wayne Myers is Cropsey? What if he killed all those missing kids too?

“What about your sister’s funeral?” Eddie said.

If he got away with all those murders, surely he’ll get away with killing Rosemary and Evie. And me.

“Sage?” Eddie said. “Did you hear me?”

She blinked and looked at him. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

“I asked if you would go to your sister’s funeral.”

She put down her fork and took a sip of milk, trying to think straight. “Alan won’t pay for a funeral. He’ll just let them cremate her, or whatever Willowbrook normally does with deceased residents.”

“I’m pretty sure they send anyone who isn’t claimed by family to the city crematorium.”

“Well, that’s what he’ll let happen, then. And honestly, I haven’t had time to think about that.” It was the truth. But she should pay her respects and say goodbye to Rosemary. For real, this time. “I guess I should be there to say a prayer or something.” Her eyes grew wet again.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “Maybe you can go with me when the time comes? It’d be nice to have someone else there who cared about her.”

“Okay,” he said. “Sure. If you want.” He picked up his fork and started eating again. “And, you know, you can stay with me for a while if you want, instead of hoping one of your friends will take you in.” Instantly realizing how his offer probably sounded, embarrassment colored his face. “Just until you figure out what you’re going to do, I mean.”

Taken aback by the offer, Sage wasn’t sure how to say no without seeming ungrateful. She could never live with someone who worked at Willowbrook anyway, even if it was just for a little while. “I appreciate that,” she said. “But I hardly know you, and we were together when we found my sister, so it might not look good.”

“No problem,” he said. “But what do you mean it wouldn’t look good? Wayne is the number one suspect. Not you. Not me.”

“I know,” she said. “But Dr. Baldwin tried to make Detective Nolan think I killed her and Evie because I knew their injuries were the same.”

“What the hell? Did he think you were sneaking out and killing people or some bullshit? Doesn’t he realize that if you could have gotten out of that place you would have left a long time ago?”

“I don’t know, I’m just telling you what he did and what I think. Did you get the feeling Detective Nolan suspected you during his questioning?”

He looked at her like she’d grown an eye in the middle of her forehead. “No, not at all. But then again, Wayne had already run off at that point.”

“That’s true. I hadn’t thought about that. Did you know Detective Nolan wanted to send a cop over to his place? But his file was missing.”

“Wayne’s file?”

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