Baked Alaska by Josi S. Kilpack Page A

neck, all her determination to be calm drowned out by her concern for him. Shawn let her hang on for a few seconds, but stepped back as soon as she loosened her grip. Pete stood to the side, but Sadie only had eyes for Shawn. “Are you okay? Where were you? Who is she?”
    Shawn glanced at Pete, giving Sadie a chance to read the fearful expression on Shawn’s face. “What’s wrong?” she asked, looking between the two of them. Pete had his detective face on, which meant she couldn’t read any of his thoughts. He rarely used it with her these days, and she hated seeing it in place again. It shut her out, and more than anything right now, she didn’t want to be shut out. “What’s going on?”
    “I told Shawn he needed to come tell you he was alright, but that the rest could wait until morning,” Pete said, giving her a pointed look. She remembered her promise that she wouldn’t grill Shawn if Pete would bring him to her cabin. So much easier said than done.
    “The rest? What’s the rest?”
    “I’ve got to go talk to security,” Shawn said, looking to Pete for help, which raised Sadie’s blood pressure even more. Were they ganging up on her? Had Pete told Shawn to wait to tell her whatever she should know right now? Or had Shawn asked Pete to support him in keeping Sadie in the dark?
    “Why?” Sadie asked.
    “He just needs to talk to them,” Pete said. “To see if he can help. He also needs to find out if she’s okay. We’ll have more information in the morning.”
    “You can tell me who she is before you go. Why won’t you tell me?” She looked at her son, who was obviously upset. Why wouldn’t he want his mother to comfort him?
    “Mom...”
    “Can I come with you?” she asked, trying to think of any way to be a part of this.
    “I think it’s best if Shawn and I go to security alone for now. Meet us in the library tomorrow morning at eight, okay?”
    “I don’t understand why you won’t talk to me,” Sadie said, hearing her desperation.
    Pete took her hands, gave them a squeeze, and told her in a gentle voice that everything would be fine.
    They really weren’t going to tell her anything.
    She finally nodded, as much out of embarrassment to be losing it as in agreement. But her backing down seemed to be all Shawn needed to excuse himself from the situation. He started down the hall without another word.
    Pete glanced at Shawn, and then back to Sadie. “Please trust me on this. We’ll see you at eight. Take one of your sleeping pills; make yourself get some rest. Tomorrow might be a long day.”
    “Pete Cunningham,” Sadie said, her voice shaking as tears filled her eyes. She took as deep a breath as she could before she continued. “Not telling me what’s going on is only making me panic more. Don’t—”
    Pete glanced down the hall again, but Shawn was almost out of sight. “Please trust me, Sadie. Please sleep.” He squeezed her hand quickly, then hurried down the hall, catching up with Shawn just as he rounded the corner toward the elevators.

Chapter 8
     

     
    Sadie stood in the teeny-tiny bathroom of her cabin and held the small pill in the palm of her hand. She hadn’t taken one of her prescribed sleeping pills for a few months—not since the nightmares had subsided, at least the really bad ones that left her confused, sweating, and shaky in the middle of the night. When she’d packed her medications for the trip—bringing this one, just in case—she never imagined she’d need it because Shawn was talking to the ship’s security officers about a woman he didn’t want to tell Sadie about, and that he and Pete were in cahoots to keep her out of it.
    She stared at the pill, considering her options. Instead of following Pete’s suggestion, she could leave the cabin and go to security herself. If she were obnoxious enough, they would likely take her to Shawn and Pete. They might even tell her something themselves—on purpose or on accident, depending on how she