Page 42 of Chosen Path
“Please forgive me.”
She mustered a small, insincere smile, and they walked on. As they neared the hardware store, her pace slowed. He could see the wheels in her mind turning as she tried to figure out how to get rid of him.
It was now or never. “Doctor Hart’s trying to get in touch with Corrine’s son. Do you know how to reach him?”
She stared at him, her chest heaving under her coat and her nostrils flaring. “Why would I? Derek Wolf left Scandia Bluff sixteen years ago, and good riddance.” Her voice was rough and cold.
He wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d spat at his feet. But, of course, she was too well-mannered for that. Instead, she stomped forward, yanked the door to the hardware store open, then pulled it closed behind her forcefully.
Bodhi stood out on the sidewalk and watched her go. After a long moment, he laughed. Molly had been wrong. It was entirely possible to have worse luck in getting information than she had, and he’d just done it. Much like Molly’s report of her conversation with the hardware store owner, Kimberly Dickerson’s reaction seemed wholly out of proportion to the inquiry.
Corrine Wolf’s former colleagues were hiding something. The only question was what.
CHAPTERTWENTY
The bell over the hardware store’s front door rang wildly as Kimberly stormed inside. Greg looked up from his reading.
“Is anybody else here?” she demanded.
For the second time in less than an hour, Greg abandoned his seed shopping. “No.”
“Good.” She nodded sharply, then locked the door and pulled down the shade. “We need to talk.”
“I know, that’s why I left you a message saying we need to talk.”
“What did you say to Doctor Hart?”
“Like I said in my message, she came in here asking about Derek Wolf. I told her I didn’t know where he was and asked why she even needed him.”
“And what did she say?”
“He’s Corrine’s next of kin. She said they need to notify him about her death. And he’ll need to make the arrangements.”
She flicked her wrist as if disposing of the doctor’s admittedly reasonable concern. “The council can do that. We always do when there’s no family.”
He shifted uncomfortably. She narrowed her eyes. “I mentioned that, and she brought up Nik.”
She ripped her hat from her head with a savage motion. He sort of wished she hadn’t removed it, because a prominent vein pulsed in her forehead whenever she was worked up. And sure enough, it was throbbing wildly. He told himself not to stare at it. It took a superhuman effort.
“What about Nik?”
“Nothing much. She drew a comparison, you know, because we’re taking care of his arrangements.”
“Humph.” She was only mildly appeased.
Greg felt faintly queasy, as if he’d eaten something that didn’t agree with him—like, for instance, Wendy’s dense wheat bran muffins sweetened with blackstrap molasses.
He wasn’t sure if his mild nausea was due to Kimberly’s blue-green pulsating vein or what he was about to say. Either way, he needed to get the words out. He took a breath, then forced himself to express the thought that had been swirling around in his mind ever since Doctor Hart’s visit.
“But, she has a point, Kim. Corrine does have family. By rights, we really should try to get in touch with her son.”
She arched her eyebrows and gave him a cold look.
“I know, it opens a can of worms. But his mother is dead. Doesn’t he deserve the chance to say goodbye to her?”
Kimberly closed her eyes and pressed her fingers against her forehead as if staving off a headache. After a moment, she whispered, “Lord, give me strength.” Then she snapped her eyes open. “Do you know where Derek Wolf is? Right now. Could you reach him?”
“Well, he’s somewhere in Canada or Maine, I presume. If I were looking for him … I suppose I’d start in Montreal.”
