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She lay in the chair now with a bright light in her eyes and her mouth wide open as Dr. Dolly Hastings examined Ryder’s upper right molar #2.
“Turn toward me please,” Dr. Hastings said, her voice muffled by a surgical mask as she examined Ryder’s teeth through loupes. “Your X-rays are clear, and the tooth is in good shape. I don’t see a cavity, recession, or foreign body. No abscess either.”
Dr. Hastings pushed away from the chair, placed the mirror and probe onto the tray, and removed her loupes. Dr. Hastings stepped on a foot pedal and raised the chair upright as Ryder rinsed her mouth.
“The pain is not coming from your tooth. It may be a sinus issue, and if it doesn’t clear with antihistamines and decongestants, then you’ll need a CT scan to more closely look at the maxillary sinus.”
“I can do that,” Ryder said. “I’ll get a hold of my primary care doctor if I’m still feeling the pain in a few days.”
“I’m happy to send a report if your doctor needs it.”
“Thanks.”
As Dr. Hastings was readying to leave, Ryder handed over her Unsolved podcast card.
“Dr. Hastings, one more thing. I’m the host of a true crime podcast, and I’d like to make you an offer.”
Ryder saw the confusion on Dr. Hastings’s face and knew she only had a few seconds to make her pitch.
“I’m sure you know that your daughter’s story is about to go mainstream. When it does, reporters will approach you from all the major networks. I’d like to offer you an opportunity to bypass all the nonsense that’s coming. I’d like to interview you on my podcast. The interview will be free from all the fluff and hype the major networks will attempt to place around you, your husband, and Sloan. This will be a sit-down interview where you can tell your story without corporate influence and without the mainstream media shaping the narrative.”
“I’m not interested,” Dr. Hastings said, handing Ryder’s card back to her.
Ryder refused to take the card back.
“I understand if you’re not ready to give an interview,” Ryder said in a hurried voice, “but I’d love to speak with Sloan and give her the chance to tell her story. Again, once the story breaks, the mainstream media will put tons of pressure on her to secure the first interview. I’m here to help, Dr. Hastings. I’m here to take the pressure off your family. If you can tell me where Sloan is, or put me in touch with her, I promise that I’ll be able to get the hardcore reporters off your case by coming out wide with Sloan’s first interview on my podcast.”
Dr. Hastings put Ryder’s business card on the armrest of the dental chair. “I think it’s best if you left my office.”
“Sloan can either tell her story in her own words, or she can allow the media to tell it for her. One will be accurate. The other will be filled with rumors and salacious details. Your daughter is in the unique position to decide which way she wants things to go. And trust me, you won’t get the same offer from the big networks. They’ll shape the narrative to whatever brings them more viewers and more advertisers, and if that narrative is that you and your husband played some nefarious role in Sloan’s disappearance, they’ll run with it.”
When Dr. Hastings didn’t leave, Ryder knew she was getting to her.
“My number is on the card. It’s my cell, not my assistant’s and not my executive producer’s—mine. Tell Sloan to call me. I’ll talk with her directly and make sure she tells the story she wants told, and nothing else.”
“My staff will check you out,” Dr. Hastings said as she stood and walked out of the exam room.
Ryder noticed that she had taken the business card off the armrest before she left.
CHAPTER 32
Raleigh, North Carolina Tuesday, July 30, 2024
RYDER HILLIER HAD SPENT MONDAY NIGHT PARKED AGAIN OUTSIDE Sloan’s apartment. The apartment stayed dark through the evening and night, and Ryder knew the woman was not staying there. Now she was at the Raleigh Medical Examiner’s Office with a different plan. Ryder’s research told her that Sloan was assigned to a second-year fellow named Hayden Cox. She pulled a photo of Dr. Cox from the OCME website and was staring at the man as he walked from the building and toward his car. Ryder hustled across the parking lot.
“Dr. Cox?”
Hayden Cox paused as he was opening his car door. He looked at Ryder with a curious expression.
“Yes?”
“Hi. I’m friends with Sloan Hastings and in from out of town. I was hoping to see her before I left, but I can’t seem to find her.”
Dr. Cox smiled but kept the curious look on his face—or was it suspicious? The squinted eyes and half smile made it hard to tell.
“Why don’t you call her?”
Ryder smiled. “I’m trying to surprise her. We went to college together.”
