Banana Split (35 page)

“Poor kid.” Gayle pulled onto the Kaumualii highway, heading back toward Puhi and, further south, Kalaheo. “Was Noelani really a stripper like Kiki said?”

“Yeah,” Sadie said, thinking of the pictures she’d found on Facebook. “Sounds like she had a pretty tough life, too.” She continued scrolling through the calls she’d missed and realized that she had nearly half a dozen—only Pete’s number was one she recognized. Had she listened to all the messages on her voice mail?

“Everything I’ve heard about her shows that she was really working hard to clean up her act since leaving O’ahu,” Sadie said. “I wonder if Charlie’s still in Kalaheo. The message was left at 1:33, so it was after we talked to the police. Maybe he’s hiding. I think he wants to talk to me. Why else would he have called?”

“When we called the police, you said you were done.”

Sadie tried to read Gayle’s tone, but couldn’t be sure what she meant. “You think I should stay out of it?”

“Oh, not necessarily,” Gayle said. “All these people are coming to you, and, like Kiki said, you care about Noelani—you’re invested. I’m just reminding you of what you said, that’s all. I’m happy to take any direction you feel good about.”

“It doesn’t seem to be done with me yet,” Sadie admitted.

“So, are we going to Kalaheo?” Gayle asked, glancing at Sadie.

“Yeah. I think so.”

Gayle smiled, giving Sadie some comfort that she wasn’t pushing her to do something she was against doing.

She put the phone to her ear where the robotic voice said she had one more unheard message.

“Mrs. Hoffmiller, this is Nat, Charlie’s foster brother. My mom’s talking to the police, but I thought I would call you too. The cops said you saw him. Please give me a call.”

As soon as Sadie hung up, she called Nat, hoping that between the time he’d left the message, which had been around three o’clock, and now that Charlie had been found.

“Nat,” Sadie said when he answered the phone. “It’s Sadie Hoffmiller. You left me a message about Charlie.”

“Yeah,” he said. “You saw him?”

“This morning at the church. But he also called me this afternoon. I just got his message. Have you guys found him?”

“No,” Nat said.

Sadie deflated against the car seat. “Oh. I was hoping you had.”

“And I was hoping
you
had,” Nat said. “When did you see him at the church?”

“Around ten,” Sadie said.

“What was he doing there? Did you talk to him?”

“Not really. He was putting a prayer into a prayer box. Did the police tell you about that?”

“No,” Nat said. “They asked more questions than they answered.”

Sadie told him about the note she’d found in the prayer box. “He’s still looking for her.”

“Ah, man,” Nat said. “Well, thanks for the info. I’ll tell CeeCee.”

“One more thing, Nat.”

“Yeah?”

“Charlie received a note last week, a purple envelope, from his mom. Do you know
when
he received it?”

Nat was quiet. “I just learned about it today. I don’t know when it showed up.”

“The envelope didn’t have a postmark,” Sadie said. “So it didn’t come through the mail, right?”

“I guess,” Nat said. “CeeCee doesn’t know when it came either. I wonder if it was a long time ago—like months.”

“But why would she send it months ago? This is the first time she’s left.”

“Yeah, maybe.” A silence came between them. “So, you’ve talked with Mr. Olie, then?” Nat asked.

“A little,” Sadie said, squirming.

“Did you tell him about Charlie getting away from me and coming to you?”

Sadie hated feeling like she was disloyal to everyone. “I’m sorry, Nat. I had to.”

“Nah, I understand,” Nat said. “I just hope it doesn’t end with Charlie going to another home. We’re the only family he has left, you know. We love him.”

“I know you do,” Sadie said. “And Mr. Olie knows that too. He’s fighting to keep you guys together . . . but the fact that CeeCee didn’t notify him when you moved in is a problem.” She hoped she wasn’t being petty to bring up his culpability in the situation.

“I know,” Nat said, not defensive, just . . . sad. “And my stupidity doesn’t help. I guess Mr. Olie told you about that, too.”

“Yeah,” Sadie said. “But he’s sympathetic. He knows you love Charlie.”

“Could you let me know if you hear somethin’?”

“Of course,” Sadie said, knowing full well she was overpromising everyone.

“Thanks,” Nat said. “CeeCee’s about out of her head with worry.”

Sadie ended the call and explained the gist of it to Gayle.

Gayle smiled sadly. “It seems like Charlie has some people who love him.”

Sadie nodded. “Yeah, CeeCee and Nat seem to really want him, ya know? I just hope he can stay with them.”

Sadie’s phone rang—a stupid tinkling of wind chimes. She’d have to figure out how to change that. A wave of trepidation rushed over her when she saw it was Shawn. There was so much she hadn’t told him, and so much she still didn’t want to talk about. But she’d sent him that number to look up; he was involved now.

“Hey, sweetie,” she said, answering the phone. “How are you?”

“I’m okay,” he said. “But what are you doing? You workin’ a case?”

“Um, sorta.”

“You’ve never
sorta
worked a case before, Mom. What’s going on?”

Sadie bit her lip. Shawn had had a hard time since Boston—they’d both been skirting the topic for months—and despite all she’d done on this case, she didn’t want to burden him with it. Would it be too much for him to handle? How fragile was he? Having faced her own fragility, the thought of tipping him over was overwhelming. But if she really thought he was incapable, why had she texted him the number Charlie had called her from?

“Is it about Boston?” Shawn asked. That had become almost a code word for them. The city where so many bad things had happened now encompassed all the events and feelings and fears—as though it had been some kind of military secret.

“It’s not about Boston,” Sadie said, relieved that it was the truth and realizing that amid all this new stuff, Boston had finally faded into the background. “It’s something new.”

“Well,” Shawn said expectantly and perhaps with relief, “tell me about it.”

“Okay, but don’t get mad.”

“Why would I get mad?”

“Because she should have told you three weeks ago!” Gayle yelled, causing Sadie to jolt. She looked at her friend, who stared at the road. “Well, you should have,” she said in a normal tone. “And you know it.”

“What—is that . . . Gayle? You’re still in Hawai’i, right?”

Sadie took a breath. “Yes. I’ll tell you everything, but understand that I didn’t tell you sooner because I didn’t want you to worry.”

“That excuse again?” Shawn said, both annoyed and sarcastic. “I thought we were past that.”

Sadie sighed and did her best to catch him up on what was happening. To his credit, he took it well and kept his judgments to himself. “So the kid called you from the number you gave me?” Shawn asked.

“Yes,” Sadie said, relieved he wasn’t angry with her. “If you have a minute to look it up, it might help me find him.”

“I already looked it up,” Shawn said.

“Oh.” Sadie scrambled for her notebook. “Where’s it from?”

“A place called Bartley Expeditions, in a city called Kale-ahh-eeo on Kaua’i. Do you want the address?”

“No,” Sadie said. “I know the address.” What was Charlie doing there? He must have called while Jim was out with his expedition.

“So what’s next? What else can I do to help?”

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that was all she needed, but it wasn’t true. She didn’t have her laptop anymore so she had no way of accessing information. “Can you do a quick background on the owner of that business—Bartley Expeditions? His name is James, James Bartley, and he lives here in Kalaheo above his business. He owns a motel next to it by the name of Sand and Sea. He’s been married before and had some stepsons, but I don’t think he has kids of his own.”

“Okay,” Shawn said. “Anything specific I’m looking for?”

“I just want a basic history,” Sadie said. “And I’m curious as to when his marriage broke up and why, if you can find it. Are you sure you have time?”

“Do you think we could move to a place where you trust me to manage my time without having to remind me of my responsibilities?”

Sadie blinked. Shawn was never cross with her. Ever. “Um, I didn’t mean to imply I didn’t trust you.”

“Really?” he said with as much of an edge in his voice as she’d ever heard. “Then why didn’t you tell me all this sooner? You must not have thought I could handle it.”

Sadie felt tears coming. “
I
haven’t been handling it very well,” she said. “And I knew you were having a hard time too. I just . . . wanted to protect you, I guess.”

“I’m twenty-two years old,” Shawn said as though that made him a man of the world. It was still so young in Sadie’s mind. “I’ve faced off with a few murderers, and I do my own laundry. I think I deserve a little more credit.”

Sadie didn’t know what to say.

“And I love you,” he added, bringing the tears finally to Sadie’s eyes. “And want to help you if I can, okay?”

“Okay,” Sadie said, sniffing.

“I’m on this Bartley guy, and I’ll call you as soon as I get any info.”

“Thanks,” she said. “And I’m sorry.”

“It’s all good,” Shawn said. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

Sadie put the phone in her lap and stared out the windshield. “Are you mad at me too?” she asked Gayle, who’d been silent since her outburst.

“No,” Gayle said. “We love you, and we want to trust you, but you didn’t tell us what was going on—and I’m not just talking about Noelani.”

Sadie didn’t know what to say. She assumed Gayle was saying this to make her feel better somehow, but she only felt worse. Was she a bad mother, a bad friend, and a bad girlfriend for not telling the people she loved about her anxiety? Were they all angry with her beneath their concern? If so, it proved the belief she’d been battling that the expectations other people had of her was how she determined her own value. They wanted her whole and saw a broken version of Sadie as unacceptable. If that were true, then pretending she was okay was her only option.

“Hey,” Gayle said softly, poking Sadie’s leg to get her attention. “Life has a funny way of teaching us things sometimes. You’re always the first responder when someone needs something, you love to help, you love to be involved, you love to encourage and support people to be their best selves. You need to learn to accept the same thing when it’s you who needs the help. That’s all I’m saying. When you don’t tell us you need something, we feel like you think we’re incapable, but we’re not. We all know we must be pretty dang amazing to have you love us like you do. All we want is to return the favor.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Sadie said, finding it difficult to accept what Gayle was saying.

“How about thanks?”

Sadie looked at her, unsure of how she meant the comment, but Gayle’s expression was soft and sympathetic. “Thanks,” she said, though it seemed lacking.

“You’re welcome,” Gayle said. “And, see, now everything is good again!”

Sadie smiled weakly and looked around, recognizing that they were getting close to Kalaheo. She’d planned to call her credit card companies during the drive to request replacement cards, and she opened up her file of information she’d brought from the condo. She was hopeful she could get a few of the cards canceled and new ones on their way by the time they reached the church. Or maybe they should go to Bartley Expeditions instead?

Five minutes later, a customer service rep assured Sadie that her new card was on its way. “Could you verify your most recent charge to make sure the card wasn’t used before it was destroyed?” the rep asked.

“Oh, I’m sure it wasn’t used,” Sadie said, thinking of how short the time period was between her being locked out of her room and the discovery of the vandalism. “And I’ll have a police report for you to put on file in another day or two.”

“It’s standard practice to review the current charges,” the woman said. “Can you recall the last purchase you made on your card?”

“Um, I guess it would be . . . oh, yeah, I paid my car insurance,” Sadie said, though it seemed silly since her car was in Garrison. “Last month.”

“I see that one,” the woman said. “What about the charge for Hawaiian Air?”

“Hawaiian Air?” Sadie said, looking at Gayle, who lifted her eyebrows. “When was that made?”

“The charge went through at 8:21 this morning, but . . . yes, there’s the confirmation. It was made yesterday afternoon.”