Whispered to Death by Vanessa Gray Bartal

Author:Vanessa Gray Bartal [Bartal, Vanessa Gray]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dry Creek Press
Published: 2019-08-25T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

The next place Sadie went was the playground at the park. She headed for the group of moms, the ones whose children were busy buzzing around the playground. She recognized someone she knew from high school and approached.

“Sadie Cooper, as I live and breathe,” Jennifer said. She and Sadie hadn’t been friends. Jennifer hadn’t been on Sadie’s radar one way or another, but Jennifer hated Sadie with the sort of passion usually reserved for a character in a John Hughes movie from the eighties.

“Hey, Jennifer. Can I ask you a question? It’s kind of weird,” Sadie warned.

“I wouldn’t expect anything else from our former homecoming queen turned chicken mascot turned private investigator. You know what your problem is, Sadie?”

“I’d be hard pressed to pick just one,” Sadie said. This must be how horses felt when gnats tried to pelt their flesh. It was annoying but, in the long run, how much damage could they do?

“You think you’re too good for this place, for us. You always have.”

“Yeah, it’s good to catch up. Anyway, can I ask you that question? You’d be helping me out a lot for a case I’m working on.”

Jennifer perked up importantly. “I suppose.”

“You’ve had four kids,” Sadie said, her gaze roaming over the mass of children swarming the playground. She could pick out Jennifer’s children because they were the ones torturing the others. Jennifer had been the kind of kid who liked to pluck wings off flies and sizzle ants under a magnifying glass long after it stopped being acceptable curiosity and started being worrisome foreshadowing. She would bet money Jennifer was the head of the PTA, the kind who, though good at organizing, filled everyone with fear and dread.

“Each of those children was a choice, a precious gift. Maybe if you weren’t so selfish, you’d settle down and have kids of your own. You know Luke wants children. He’s dad material.” Half the town thought she and Luke were together. The other half was waiting with baited breath until they were. Sadie didn’t care enough about their opinions to comment either way.

“He’ll be glad to know you think so. Anyway, my question is this: when you were pregnant, say about four months, could you have scaled a wall, climbed onto a high fence?”

Jennifer blinked at her. “Are you making fun of me?”

“No, I genuinely need a serious, thoughtful answer. Please, it’s important. And you used to play soccer; you’re in good shape. I need to understand how pregnancy changes your athletic ability, if it does.”

“It did,” Jennifer said, her tone wary as if she expected Sadie to stand up, point, and say, Ha, ha, gotcha, sucker! “At four months, the uterus begins to expand to the point of discomfort. It’s noticeable, swollen and tender, like you’re carrying a softball in your pants. Not cumbersome like the late stages, but you feel it. And the tendons begin to pull, especially with subsequent pregnancies as gravity takes a toll.”

“Thank you,” Sadie said sincerely. “How do you feel emotionally at four months?”

Jennifer looked into the distance, remembering.

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