Banana Split (41 page)

She nodded to him that she understood and reached for the board. He relaxed, lowering his hand, his chest laboring to bring the oxygen in and out.

She began pointing at the letters in alphabetical order; he made a brushing motion with his hand, as though telling her to hurry. She started skipping to every third letter, and he seemed content until she landed on U, then he made the brushing motion again, but in the opposite direction. She went back to T then S. At S he raised his hand, palm out in a stopping motion.

“The first letter is S,” Sadie said, then went backward on the alphabet board one letter at a time. N. M. L. He made the stop sign again. “Second letter is L.”

He nodded and brushed backward. K. J. I. Stop. “Third letter is I.” S-L-I? Slide, slick? Was he capable of spelling things correctly in his current state? Slinky?

He brushed forward. J. K. L. M. N. O. P. Stop.

“Slip?” Sadie said, glancing quickly at her legs to make sure hers wasn’t showing. Then she looked at him. He nodded as best he could, then hit her board.

“Is that the whole word? Slip?”

He hit the board again, this time on the number grid.

She started going through them, taking note of the numbers he gave her a stop sign on. “Twenty-three,” she said when he put his hand down. He nodded, looking exhausted.

“Slip 23?” she said altogether.

He nodded and she blinked. What did that mean?

“I’m sorry, ma’am. Time’s up.”

Sadie looked at the nurse in the doorway who was putting on latex gloves, then back at Mr. Olie. He was staring at her. “Slip 23,” she said again, anxious about her confusion. Mr. Olie had worked so hard to tell her something, and she wasn’t getting it. “I don’t understand.”

The nurse came forward and Sadie looked at her, pleading. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Can I stay a few more minutes? He’s trying to tell me something.” She looked at Mr. Olie and pointed to the letter A. Surely one more word would clarify what he was trying to say.

“Ma’am,” the nurse said.

Sadie could feel her anxiety rising. “Just another minute. Slip 23. Okay, is the first letter B, C, D, E—”

“Wait,” the nurse said, looking at the letter board and then at Mr. Olie. “Do you mean a boat slip?”

Mr. Olie nodded, the nurse smiled, and Sadie inhaled sharply. He’d found a boat? He’d told Sadie he was preparing for the emergency hearing on Monday. How did tracking a boat
she
was looking for fit into that?

“I’ll update his chart first, but he really needs to rest,” the nurse said, turning to the computer by his bed.

“Okay,” Sadie said to the nurse. She turned back to Mr. Olie. “Where? Where is the boat slip?” Sadie moved her finger quickly below the letters on the board. He stopped her at N, and she started moving her finger again but he shook his head and brushed backward. “The letter’s before N,” Sadie said out loud.

Mr. Olie didn’t stop her until she got to the letter A.

“N-A?” Sadie said out loud.

Mr. Olie nodded and Sadie went forward again. He stopped her at W, then I, L, and I again.

“Nawiliwili?” the nurse said, looking up from her computer work. “Nawiliwili Harbor?”

Mr. Olie nodded.

“Slip 23 Nawiliwili?” Sadie repeated. The words felt like baby talk in her mouth.

He nodded again.

Sadie looked at the nurse. “You’re familiar with Nawiliwili?”

“It’s a beach, resort, harbor, and shipping port,” the nurse said.

“And a boat slip—that’s those, uh, parking spots for boats?”

The nurse nodded. “Except they aren’t free. The boat owners have to lease the space.”

“Do you want me to go there?” she asked Mr. Olie. When he nodded, she turned back to the nurse. “What’s this harbor like? Is it safe?”

“Safe?” the nurse repeated, looking at Sadie strangely.

“I mean, are there people around? Is it . . . remote?”

“Nah,” the nurse said, waving the comment away. “It’s full of people, really busy.”

Sadie turned back to Mr. Olie. “Is this the boat she was on?” she asked despite her stomach tightening. She didn’t want to go to a harbor and look for a boat, but if this was
the
boat, how did he find it? If only she could get all the information he had, but she could tell he’d given his all to give her this much.

Mr. Olie nodded, then closed his eyes.

“Is there anything else?” Sadie asked.

He shook his head without opening his eyes. The effort to pass on what he’d learned had drained him. Sadie put down the letter board and touched Mr. Olie’s arm again. He opened his eyes briefly, and she saw tears in them. He was scared.

Sadie reached for his hand, and he held on to her, though his grip was weak. She gave him a squeeze, feeling her throat tighten as she wondered if there was anyone coming to hold his hand tonight. That the room was empty, and that she was the only person he’d asked for, seemed to answer her question.

She went from missing Neil to being so grateful to have Pete in her life. Someone to hold her hand, to sit beside her and comfort her through the hard times. She was surrounded by people who loved her, and she felt immensely grateful for each one of them.

“Is he going to be okay?” Sadie asked the nurse as Mr. Olie closed his eyes, a single tear rolling down his face.

The nurse didn’t answer and Sadie interpreted the look on her face to mean that she wasn’t willing, or able, to give a prediction.

Sadie turned back to Mr. Olie and wiped at the tear track on his face with her free hand. “You’re a good man, Tate Olie. You’ve done good things for many people, and this world is a better place for having had you in it. I’ll find out what happened to her, and I’ll do my best to make sure Charlie is safe. I promise.”

His face contorted and though he didn’t open his eyes, another tear rolled down his face.

“Ma’am,” the nurse said softly.

Sadie nodded that she’d heard, then kissed Mr. Olie lightly on the forehead.

“Be well,” Sadie said quietly. “I’ll come see you in the morning with an update.”

When Sadie entered the waiting room, Gayle stood, and Sadie shook her head in answer to the question in her eyes. “I think he found the boat,” Sadie said, sticking to business so she didn’t get overwhelmed by the emotion. “At a marina called Nawiliwili.”

Gayle was already typing the name into her phone as they both fell in step on their way to the main entrance. “Looks like it’s a couple miles southwest of Lihue,” Gayle said as they went through the automatic doors. “And you think he found
the
boat?
Serenity
?”

“He must think it’s the right boat or he wouldn’t have worked so hard to give me the information,” Sadie said. “I guess he wasn’t twiddling his thumbs after all.” She felt horrible for thinking badly of him.

They had reached the rental car when Gayle’s phone rang. Gayle answered the phone, settling into the driver’s seat. She flickered a look at Sadie, who paused with her seat belt partway over her shoulder. Was it Charlie? Was he at the airport?

“I’m afraid she’s not with me right now,” Gayle said into the phone. She paused. “I’m not sure where she is. . . . I suppose I could, but I’m not sure I would be that helpful. . . . Yes, I went to a beach with Bets Earlhart this afternoon. She’s there?” Gayle looked at Sadie again while she listened to the voice on the other end. “I’m happy to come in and make an official statement,” she said, betraying that it was the police on the phone. Why had she said Sadie wasn’t with her? “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She hung up the phone. “Trade places with me,” she said before getting out of the car.

Sadie got out of the car, but when their paths crossed at the trunk, she put her hand on Gayle’s arm. “The police?”

Gayle nodded. “Bets and Pastor Darryl are giving them a statement, and we got pulled into it.”

“You told them we weren’t together.”

Gayle nodded. “You have a little boy to pick up from the airport and a boat slip to look into. You know as well as I do that once you go to the police station, you won’t be investigating this anymore, and Charlie, especially, deserves someone who cares about him be the one to pick him up. Drop me off and take the car.”

Gayle was right so Sadie nodded and went to the driver’s door. It felt strange to be behind the wheel of a car; it had been months since she’d driven. They both put on their seat belts, and Sadie carefully reversed out of her parking stall.

Gayle searched for directions to the Lihue Police Department on her phone. “It’s not far,” she said when the map came up on her screen.

“You’re sure you don’t want to come with me?”

Gayle shook her head. “You can do this,” she assured Sadie, with more confidence than Sadie felt. “And I can help set the scene with the police before you get back.”

Sadie dropped Gayle off a block away from the police department so no one would see her in the car. They swapped phones—not only did Gayle’s have the map from the airport to Nawiliwili Harbor, but it was the only number the airport security had.

Sadie watched Gayle walk to the corner and then turned the car toward the airport in Lihue.

Chapter 44

No one from the airport had called before she arrived, so Sadie parked her car and headed for the terminal.

Once inside the small airport, Sadie walked around, looking at every occupied bench and the face of every person beneath the height of five feet. She wished she had the name of the person in security Gayle had communicated with. After checking the main terminal, she stood in front of the windows that looked out over the road used for passenger pick-up and drop-off and took out the note where she’d written the times for the bus to Lihue.

Charlie had made the call at one thirty—four-and-a-half hours ago. Surely the bus didn’t take that long to get here. Maybe Charlie had changed his mind. If so, she’d have to wait until his flight left to make sure. Or maybe he just hadn’t arrived yet.

She watched hotel shuttles and taxis come and go. She watched sunburned tourists wrestle their luggage toward the ticket counter. One man limped in with one arm in a sling and multiple abrasions on his face and shoulder. Surf accident, no doubt.

When the white-and-green bus pulled up to the curb, Sadie held her breath and moved closer to the doors. She argued with herself about the chances of Charlie being on
this
bus, but it was the time closest to the flight he’d arranged, and he wasn’t at the airport yet.

Five or six people stepped off the bus—adults, one toddler with her mother. As each one disembarked, Sadie became more and more tense. What if he wasn’t here? Where would she look next? And then a little dark-headed boy with a light blue shirt and brown sandals stepped off the bus, a school backpack on his shoulders. He looked up at the signs and moved forward, holding the straps of his backpack and trying not to look nervous.

She didn’t move toward him right away. He was coming to her.

As he entered the building, Sadie stepped in front of him. It took half a second before he recognized her. He took one step backward, as though to run, but Sadie grabbed the strap of his backpack and turned him around before marching him out of the airport, hoping security wasn’t going to chase her down.

He tried to pull away, but Sadie didn’t let up on her grip. “I’ve already told them what you did,” she said. “They won’t let you board the plane.”

He stopped fighting.

“I have to hand it to you,” Sadie said. “I didn’t even consider you’d taken a credit card. You went for the one in the back of my wallet, didn’t you? The one I didn’t use much and therefore wouldn’t notice.”

They crossed the taxi lanes and had reached the public parking lot before Sadie turned and looked down at Charlie. He didn’t look up at her, but she was grateful for his surrender.

“Charlie,” she said, gently, though she didn’t let go of the backpack. “I’m not angry with you, but I need you to come with me, okay? The police need to talk to you.”