Pecked to Death by Vanessa Gray Bartal

something I could do to help.”
     
    She let her luminous, misty eyes settle on him as the male gene that wanted to fix the world began calculating. Get there faster, she silently urged.
     
    “Hey, I know! What if when it’s my turn, you sneak in ahead of me for a few minutes?”
     
    Sadie let her eyes widen in delighted surprise. “What a wonderful idea. Would you really do that?”
     
    “Five minutes?” he clarified.
     
    “Five minutes,” she gushed as she grasped his hand and shook it. This time her enthusiasm was real. “Thank you so much.” She beamed at him again and he blinked at her, dazed. Time to dial it down a little, she thought. There was flirtation, and then there was a line that she never crossed. For all she knew the guy might be married. She dabbed at her eyes again and turned away until his name was called and he poked her.
     
    “That’s me,” he whispered.
     
    “Thank you again,” she whispered in return, and then slipped into the open door before the nurse could protest.
     
    When Doctor Jones entered the room, he wasn’t happy. “Sadie, what is this about? I already told you I’m busy today.”
     
    “This will only take five minutes,” Sadie said, undaunted.
     
    “I don’t have five minutes. Go.” He opened the door and pointed. She didn’t budge. She hadn’t spent so many years with Gideon for nothing; she was unfazed by strong, angry men.
     
    “I’ll just keep coming back,” she said. “You might as well talk to me now and get it over with.”
     
    He gave up much easier than she expected, sighed, and sat down. “What do you want to talk about?”
     
    She sensed by his tired tone that he already knew. “Did you sign Abby’s death certificate?”
     
    “I did.”
     
    “What was the cause of death?” she asked.
     
    “Natural causes.”
     
    “How does someone perfectly healthy die of natural causes?”
     
    “Who said she was perfectly healthy?” he asked.
     
    “She never mentioned any health problems to me.”
     
    “Abby enjoyed her privacy,” he said.
     
    “That’s true, but if she had sensed the end was coming, then she would have said goodbye; she would have prepared me. Then there’s the matter of the letter. You know she insists she was murdered.”
     
    “How can someone predict her murder before her death? And, if she really thought she was going to be murdered, why didn’t she go to the police?” he asked.
     
    Those were good questions that Sadie had already considered and been unable to find answers for. “Did she mention any suspicions to you?”
     
    He paused before answering, biting the inside of his lip as if deep in thought. “No.”
     
    He’s lying. Sadie had bent the truth enough times to recognize when someone else was doing it. “You were her closest friend. Why wouldn’t she confide in you?”
     
    “Why indeed?” he said. He crossed his arms over his chest, a sure sign that he was becoming defensive. He was hiding something, but what?
     
    “Did you actually see her body when you signed off on it?” Sadie asked.
     
    “Of course I did.”
     
    “How did she appear?”
     
    “Perfect. There was nothing suspicious in her death.”
     
    “But what if someone was really good at hiding murder?” Sadie said.
     
    Doctor Jones threw up his hands in frustration. “I was with her when she went, Sadie. I’ve been a doctor almost twice as long as you’ve been alive, and unless you think I’m ready for Shady Acres, then you need to stop questioning my judgment.”
     
    “What’s Shady Acres?” Sadie asked as the reference temporarily distracted her from the importance of his statement. She wondered if that had been his agenda.
     
    He sighed and sat back, looking defeated. “Shady Acres is a nursing home built a couple of years ago. I’m surprised you haven’t heard about it; it’s been big news around here lately.”
     
    “I haven’t kept up much. Now that I think about it, though, I guess Abby did