Page 148 of Everything She Feared

All these years he’d searched.

Are Magda’s daughter and granddaughter on the other side of that door? Sara’s mother is in a seniors’ home—is it Magda? Is Katie a killer like her grandmother?

Ryan’s breathing quickened as he struggled to decide on what he was going to do.

He had no proof of anything. He couldn’t just ring the doorbell and ask Sara Harmon about her family and plead for her help, especially with all that was happening.

She would shut him down.

No, now was not the time.

His stomach tensed as he walked back to his SUV.

70

Seattle, Washington

Peering at thestreet through the crack in the curtains, Sara watched the KT96 news crew and a second reporter leave.

Grateful fewer media people had come to her door today than yesterday, Sara continued her call with Mel at the diner. He’d allowed her to take another day off.

“I get it,” Mel said. “A couple reporters were poking around here looking for you.”

“I’m so sorry about this, Mel.”

“Well, we’ll just have to figure it out. I’ll juggle things with Polly and Beth and the others, see if we can keep covering for you.”

“Thank you.”

“Do what you need to do, Sara, for you and Katie.” Mel softened his voice, grappling with his unease over the situation. “But if this gets to be too much, we’ll have to talk.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’ll have to see how this plays out, look at the impact on the diner.”

“What?”

“Just do what you need to do.”

After all these years? I started there when I was a teen. I thought Mel considered us family. I guess that all goes out the window now.

Sara’s stomach churned.

She couldn’t lose her job.

Feeling as if the walls were closing in on her, Sara clenched her eyes shut for a moment, then shifted her concern back to Katie. She’d kept her home from school today. Val had offered to come over if Sara needed to go out. Katie was sitting at the kitchen table, flipping through a favorite book,The Loraxby Dr. Seuss.

Sara’s thoughts went to the attic and the horrible truth about Magda. Her stomach roiled as she watched Katie gently turning the pages.

“At school Dylan Frick and his friends said I pushed Anna. They called me a murderer.” Katie’s tears fell on the pages as she stared blankly at them. “Why did he say that?”

“Sweetheart,” Sara said.

“I told you what happened on the cliff. I told the police and I told Dr. Sally, too.”

“I know, I know, but—”

“When will I see Dr. Sally again?”

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