across anyone who might have answers for Helen’s death, to share whatever I needed to. You two have a lot in common because she’s desperate for answers and I know she’ll want to talk to you. I’ll call her and let her know you’re going to be in touch. Is that all right?”
“Yes, of course. Thank you again.” Sarah stood and walked to the door.
“Sarah?”
She turned.
“Come back if you need to.”
Sarah hesitated. Nodded. “Thank you.” She stepped to the door of the waiting room and blew out a breath. Tears battered her lids and she refused to let them fall. For several minutes, she simply stood there and battled to get her emotions under control.
Footsteps sounded behind her. “Sarah?”
Sarah pressed her fingers to her eyes and turned. “Yes?”
“I called Mrs. Long,” Mel said. “When I explained everything, she said she could meet you right now if you could head to her house.”
“We can do that, thank you.”
“Of course. And again, I’d love for you to come back.”
“We’ll see.”
Mel nodded, then disappeared back into her office. Sarah took another five minutes to simply breathe and process. Then pushed through the door to fill Gavin in.
And tell him they had a couple of stops to make.
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
When Sarah stepped through the door into the waiting room, Gavin caught her eye and held out a hand. “How’d that go?”
“Not exactly like I’d envisioned.” She gripped his fingers and he could feel the tension running through her.
“What do you mean?”
“She’s a nice woman. And just as confused as everyone else about Dustin’s . . . suicide.”
Gavin gave a mental grimace at the way she choked on the word.
“She said the same thing Caden did. That Dustin was up and looking forward to getting on with his life.”
“So, that was a bust?”
She sighed and offered him a slight smile. “Not completely. I don’t think the doctor had anything to do with Dustin deciding to jump off the roof. And I don’t think she missed anything, which is unfortunate, because I doubt she can help us figure out why he did it.”
“I’m sorry. I know you were hopeful.”
“I was. I still am. She gave me the name of a former patient’s sister.” She told him about the patient—a doctor who witnessed the bombing of an orphanage.
Gavin shook his head. “I can see how that would be horrific to live with.”
“She saved some of them, Gavin. Because of her, some of those kids are alive today.”
He sighed. “As much good as she did, she could probably only focus on the ones she lost.”
“Yeah. So . . . I need to take care of something.”
“Let me guess. Dustin’s place?”
She raised a brow. “Yes, eventually, but first, Lucy Long.”
“Who’s Lucy Long?”
“Helen Craft’s sister. It’s about an hour drive.”
“That’s fine. We’ll leave now.” Gavin pulled his keys from his pocket, and Sarah filled him in on more details of the woman’s story as they walked toward his truck.
“Thank you,” she said, crawling into the passenger seat. “For the first time, I have some hope that we may learn something new about Dustin and his state of mind in those last few days.”
Sarah twisted her fingers together, then released them. Twist, release, twist, release.
He reached over and placed a hand over hers. “It’s going to be all right.”
“Sure.”
She fell silent and he left her alone while she disappeared into her thoughts.
An hour later, Gavin spun the wheel, entering the neighborhood where the Longs lived. He pulled to the curb of the second house on the right and parked. The front door was open and a small dog sat just inside the storm door. When they approached, it barked and ran in circles until a woman hurried to sweep it up into her arms and open the door.
“Hi, I’m Lucy. This is Buster.”
Gavin introduced himself and Sarah, and they soon found themselves in the den with the dog happily seated in Gavin’s lap.
“Let me know if he bothers you,” Lucy said. “I can put him in the backyard.”
“He’s fine,” Gavin said. “I’d like to have a dog one day.”
“Then I like you immediately. Dog people are the best.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry, I need to remember my manners. Can I get you anything to drink?”
Gavin declined.
“I’m fine, thanks,” Sarah said. “I really appreciate you being willing to talk to us about your sister.”
“I like talking about her. It’s a way of keeping her alive and close to me.” Tears welled in her eyes but didn’t fall. “What do you want to