What They Deserve

THIRTY-FIVE

Bailey chewed at the remnants of a hangnail, a bad habit she had when she was worried about something. This time, she wasn't quite sure what she was worried about. That's why she had called Sasha to come over. She needed someone to talk to, to try and figure out what the hell was wrong with her. Who better to help her with that than her best friend?

Sam had sent her a text, apologizing for not calling her after their date. He'd gotten wrapped up in a project he was working on and lost track of time. He wanted to make it up to her though. He had a short trip planned for the weekend, something about hiking in the mountains.

That sounded fun and she was dying to see him. She always wanted to see him. And a weekend getaway sounded amazing.

But a part of her remembered the look on his face as the story on the news played. Could it really just have been that he was horrified about the dead woman? Even she hadn't had such a shocked expression as he had. Or was there more to the look that had been on his face?

Bailey jumped up at the sound of her doorbell and ran to the door, whipping it open to see her best friend's face.

"What's up?" Sasha flashed Bailey a warm smile before making her way into the house. She went into the living room with a sack of food and began to set the coffee table up. "Come on. I'm starving."

Bailey went into the kitchen to grab plates and make their drinks, waiting until she was in front of Sasha to begin. "So, I turned on the news last night when you sent that text."

"How crazy is that?" Sasha's eyes widened, her pupils constricting.

"Unbelievable." Bailey answered. "But Sam looked...worried."

"Worried?" Sasha's face screwed up in question. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, when the news anchor said the body had been found outside of Rochester, he looked worried." Bailey hadn't touched her food yet. She didn't even acknowledge that the smell was making her hungry.

"Maybe it's just because it was so close to where he used to live. I mean, that would be pretty scary." Sasha waited a second before taking a huge bite out of her cheeseburger.

"Maybe. But it just looked...I mean..." Bailey struggled to find the words.

"What would he have to be worried about?"

"Exactly." Bailey hadn't considered the question before, but now it was the perfect one to ask.

"I don't think it was worry. I mean, he probably never even met the woman. Rochester is one of the most congested cities in New York." Sasha shrugged and wiped her mouth before taking a sip of her sweet tea. "Maybe his worried look is his shocked look."

Bailey thought about this for a second. "I seriously hope you're right." She shook her head and reached out for her food.

"Well, talk to him about it then."

Bailey gave her a quizzical look as she chewed her fries.

"I mean, it's obvious you're not sold on my theory."

"It's not that. I just feel uneasy about all of this."

"There you go." Sasha shrugged again and gestured toward Bailey. She continued when she noticed that Bailey wasn't following her. "Think about it. This naked, left for dead woman was found. It's a crazy coincidence that she was found close to where your boyfriend used to live. He's surely just as shocked as the rest of us and maybe a bit more shaken cuz he used to live close to where she was found. Why the hell would anyone not feel uneasy?"

Bailey thought about Sasha's words. She wasn't quite sure that Sasha made sense, but figured it was something. "I hope you're right." She repeated her earlier words.

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The cafe was quiet and Bailey had let Micah go home early. The poor guy had been struggling with recent news about a sick aunt the day before.

Bailey wiped the display case in slow, methodical swipes.

There was a chime as the door opened and two ladies came in chattering.

"Hello." Bailey called out, giving them a welcoming smile. She went behind the counter to take their orders. "Go ahead and take a seat. I'll bring your food out."

While she assembled their sandwiches, she could hear part of their conversation.

"Did you hear about that woman they found?"

"Yeah. They figured out that her name was Willow Mayes. She's been missing for like seven months. And they think there's some kind of connection with another missing person. Someone she worked with. I think Willow had even reported her missing."

The tone of voice the woman used would have made Bailey wonder what kind of person feels pleasure spouting out information like that, but that nagging feeling was back; something about what she had just said. Bailey shook her head as she placed the orders on a tray.

"Oh wow!" The other woman seemed to be surprised by the news.

"The other person that's missing is April Wooten. She's been missing about the same amount of time. She disappeared from a trip to China." The know-it-all way the woman spoke now annoyed Bailey. She frowned at her, but the woman didn't notice.

"Enjoy." Bailey forced a smile as she placed the tray on the table.

"Thanks." The ladies went back to their conversation as Bailey walked away.

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Bailey almost missed her appointment with the investors. She made it just in time and did an amazing job. The property she had her eye on was still available, so she made an offer and waited to hear back. Work continued to stay slow, but now that she was anticipating the call from the realtor, Bailey didn't have time to worry about anything else.

She was on her way home when she finally heard back about her offer. It was accepted and she needed to fill out all the paperwork tomorrow.

Excited, she went to the store to get a bottle of champagne. She even considered going back to the cooking place Sam had taken her. She enjoyed it and thought that would be a fun way to celebrate. But who would she take?

Sasha wasn't into stuff like that. And she wasn't sure she wanted to go out with Sam right now.

That surprised her.

Bailey stopped as she lowered the champagne into her basket. Maybe the best thing would be to go out with him again. Maybe Sasha was right and she was misreading him.