Page 52 of Saving Meadow

“You will because that’s what Meadow needs,” Mike told me.

Fuck, he was right. Meadow needed me to be clear minded. I had to focus, but I couldn’t. All I could think about was Meadow on the ground in a filthy alley, bleeding.

“Here are the names.” Kristy trotted into the room holding up a stack of papers. She’d been working double time over the last few hours trying to narrow down names. Once the list was manageable, we’d hand it over to Lance and let his department take the lead. However, with our resources and Kristy, we’d be faster at tightening a suspect pool. “Also, I was thinking. You had me searching for newsworthy events on the seventh and twentieth. If the bodies are found in the early morning hours on those days wouldn’t she be hunting the day before? The trauma would’ve been on the sixth and the nineteenth, right? I’m cross-referencing these names with police reports and hospital visits. I’ll have the results in about a half hour.”

“Fucking hell. Kristy’s right.” Joel slammed his palms flat on the table. “We missed it.”

Kristy handed me the list; there was still at least fifty names of single women with no children between the ages of thirty and forty. I quickly scanned the list, and my eyes landed on a name.

Clumsy idiot.

Shit! I fumbled my cell out of my pocket trying to hurry and connect a call to Meadow. I had to warn her. She had to leave her office, now. The call connected and went to voicemail on the first ring - her phone was off. My stomach churned, and fear threatened to choke me. Mother fucker! How’d I miss it?

“I know who it is. Sally come!”

I didn’t wait to see if anyone was following me. I had to get to Meadow. It was almost five; she’d be leaving the office any minute.

By the time I’d opened the back door of the government-issued Suburban and allowed Sally to jump in, Mike had rounded the hood and was getting into the driver’s seat, and Joel slid in next to Sally, both men ready to have my back without explanation.

“Talk to us,” Joel demanded as Mike pulled out of the parking lot.

“Beth Stevens, thirty-five, she is a systems manager. Remember Meadow’s session with Mandy? Meadow said she’d felt uncomfortable when the woman she was talking to called the bartender a clumsy idiot when he’d spilled a drink? My first date with Meadow, Beth showed up at Meadow’s. She said she was there to apologize, that’s not important, but when she turned to leave the pizza guy was behind her. She bumped him and called him a clumsy idiot.”

“That’s a stretch. A lot of people say that,” Joel noted.

“Right. Then I was thinking about the next day; I went to pick Meadow up for lunch. She snagged her purse on her desk and the strap broke. Beth chastised her about buying cheap purses. Suggested she get a high-quality Coach bag, like she had,” I added.

“I’m tracking, I remember the women talking about purses, but I have to say, you’re still reaching a little. The two of those put together make her a strong suspect, but…” Mike trailed off.

“Beth is also a systems manager at Fusion; she’d have access to the company’s cloud database. Meadow told me she was a computer genius. She’d have the access and the knowledge to erase the security footage. I know it’s her.” Sally barked, reminding me of one more thing. “How many times have you heard Sally growl?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Mike asked.

“Just answer.”

“I guess once. When you first brought her into the office, and we were interviewing the father of a missing boy,” he answered.

“We thought it was because Sally was a puppy and not used to strangers,” I reminded them.

“But the father ended up being the offender and buried his son in the family’s backyard,” Joel finished. “Strong investigative work, Nick. I’m supposed to call Lance and have his swat team surround Fusion based on your gut and a dog.”

“Fuck, no. We’ll go in soft. Get Meadow out and ask Beth if she wouldn’t mind answering some questions. Mike, you take the lead, she’s a superficial bitch. You smile at her and give her attention; she’ll eat that shit up. Trust me.”

I dialed Meadow’s work number and still no answer. Not her cell, landline, or text messages. What the fuck.

We pulled into the parking lot, and every instinct I had was screaming something wasn’t right. After telling Sally to stay, Joel, Mike, and I exited the SUV and took off toward the building in a fast clip. I needed to see Meadow.

“Hey. Nick, right?” Meadow’s friend stopped us. “Rory. I met you a few weeks ago.”

“Yes. Hi Rory. Sorry to be rude but I’m in a hurry,” I told her.

“Well if you’re looking for Meadow her department left early today. She didn’t tell you?”

“No.” I looked around and spotted her car still parked in the front row. “Why would they get off early.”

“Funny story, Beth was fired today. She had such a meltdown; management asked her to leave and told her to come back after four to get her things. The entire department was allowed to leave early. I guess Mr. Klein didn’t want anyone around to witness another tantrum.”

“I gotta go. Joel, will you stay with Rory and get the details?”