SURVIVAL INSTINCT

CHAPTER: 12

Sarah's Mother's fiftieth birthday party was a big success. Everyone was there. Sarah's brother, Daniel and his wife Sharon, and their two kids. Sarah's sister Courtney and her husband John, and their three kids, the staff from the office, her mother Adriana's best friend Judy, and of course the society reporter from the local newspaper, also known to them as Aunt Rita. She took Sarah's picture and promised to put it in her column, to let everyone know that she was a realtor now and would be happy if needed to sell their houses for them. 

Chief law enforcement officer Ben Stevenson had released himself from duty for the evening and was present, and of course, his son Tony Stevenson too was present. Sarah's mom, Adriana met them at the door, and deftly passed Ben into her friend Judy's capable hands. She snagged Tony's arm to escort him straight over to Sarah. It was as if her mom was presenting the fat rat to the cat. Adriana beamed with a wide smile, "Look, Sarah. Here is Tony."

"So I see," Sarah said. "Hi Tony," she then greeted her childhood friend.

"Sarah." Tony made something halfway between a cordial nod and a gentleman kind of half-bow. They stood in silence for a few seconds.

Her mom, Adriana broke the silence by saying, "You look very handsome, Tony."

Mom then smiled. Sarah suppressed an eye-roll. This was really a little too obvious, even for her mother. Although she was not wrong. Tony did look very handsome. He was almost thirty, yet he was still lean and had no sign of balding, his tall frame set off to perfection in a gray suit with a blue-gray tie that matched his eyes perfectly. Plus he was born and bred to be a thorough gentleman, he knew how to behave. He bowed over Adriana's hand and told her how beautiful she looked. Which her mother actually did. The spa had tinted her hair a lovely golden-brown shade, and she seemed to be relaxed and radiant. Sarah really wished she would look as good on her fiftieth birthday.

"And you Sarah..." Tony turned towards her. "You don't look a day older than you did in high school."

He leaned over and pecked her on the cheek. Sarah smiled. "Thank you, Tony. That is so sweet." Sarah knew it was untrue but sweet.

Sarah's mom beamed. "I will leave you two to get reacquainted." She then left but not before patting Tony's arm and glancing at Sarah, with a look that said clearly, 'Don't you screw up this opportunity, Sarah!' Sarah grimaced in reply.

"It is good to see you again, Sarah," Tony said when Adriana was out of range.

She turned to him. "You too. How long has it been? Three years?"

"No four. Your wedding, remember," he reminded Sarah.

"Oh, Yes." How could she have forgotten? She and Jack had gotten married in St. Louis, at the same St. Louis church where she had been christened twenty-four years earlier, and her Mom had invited everyone that Sarah had ever known, including her old boyfriend Tony, to the ceremony. Tony had moved to California shortly thereafter, and he had gotten married himself just a few months later. Sarah had not been invited to his wedding and had never even seen a picture of his wife.

"I was sorry to hear about your divorce," Tony added politely. He even sounded sorry, which was nice of him.

"Thank you," Sarah said. "Likewise."

He shrugged. It did not appear as if he was too heartbroken. Maybe Sarah's mother was right. Maybe he had married her because he could not have Sarah. "Since we are both in St. Louis again, how about having dinner with me one night? Tomorrow, maybe?" Tony asked her.

No, if he was still agonizing over his failed marriage, it was not apparent, Sarah felt.

"I am really sorry," Sarah replied. "But I am only in St. Louis for the day. I have to go back to Kansas City, Missouri, tomorrow."

"Could you not stay one more night?" He looked deeply into her eyes. Sarah hesitated for a moment, but in the end, duty gained an upper-hand.  

"I cannot. I have somewhere to be present tomorrow at two in the afternoon," Sarah said.

"A date?" He smiled and asked casually, but his eyes were sharp. This was getting awfully serious, and also awfully fast.

"A funeral, to tell you the truth. A colleague of mine was murdered this weekend, and the memorial service is tomorrow."  

That did it. He stopped making advances towards her. "I heard about that. Nasty business." Indeed. "Her throat was cut?"

Sarah nodded. And she must have turned very pale for he looked at her very closely. "The news said one of her colleagues found her. Was that you, Sarah?" Tony asked her.

Sarah nodded again. That memory would probably stay with her until her death. Tony swore. "Why would you go and do something like that, Sarah?"

"I did not do anything!" Sarah protested. "It was not like I knew I would find a corpse when I drove out there!" And if Sarah would have known, she would never have gone.

On the other side of the room, Sheriff Ben Stevenson looked up from his conversation with Sarah's mom and her friend Judy. Sarah was not sure if it was the mention of the corpse or their raised voices that had alerted him, but either way, they had his undivided attention now. Tony took a deep breath. "I apologize. It was just...I hate the idea of you having to face such unpleasantness, Sarah."

"Thank you, Tony," Sarah said, touched by this gesture. "That is really sweet of you."  

Tony took another breath, but before he could utter whatever it was he wanted to say, his father had turned up next to them. "What are you two young ones getting so hot-up about?" He looked at Tony and then at Sarah. Tony flushed and bit his lip. Sarah smiled sweetly.

"Hello, Officer Ben Stevenson. I was just telling Tony that I have to get back to Kansas tomorrow, to go to a funeral."

"Heard about that," Ben Stevenson nodded. He had always been a man of few words. "Sounded bad." 

Sarah nodded. "I don't know how you policemen do it, day in and day out. I have not slept through the night since Friday. Although I heard from Mom that you had a nasty one yourself a few weeks back."

Sarah crossed her fingers hopefully behind her back. If anyone knew the details of what had happened to Isabel Johnson, Ryan's mother, it was the chief law enforcement officer, Mr. Ben Stevenson. 

He scratched his bushy, gray head. "Isabel Johnson, you mean? Over on the outskirts of St. Louis?" 

Sarah nodded. "Mother told me she died. Although she does not know much about it."

"We too don't know much about it," Stevenson grunted. "That place has been mostly empty these days. Bulldozers were due any day. Isabel was supposed to be getting out too. A guy from the construction company went over there to make sure the place was empty. He noticed the stench and informed us. She had been dead for a week or even more. We had nobody to tell us what happened."

"No sign of foul play?" Sarah asked him, with a smile.

Officer Stevenson shrugged. "The way she kept the house, who could tell? Looked like a bomb had hit that place. The cause of death was an overdose, but there is no way to prove if she did it herself, or if someone else was there with her. Nobody has come forward, up until now."

"What about her son?" Sarah prodded further.

"Ryan? He does not live here anymore," Officer Stevenson said.

"But you spoke to him, right?" Sarah asked.

Ben Stevenson nodded. "He is the next of kin; had to arrange the funeral. He had her buried up next to her mom and dad. He arranged it all by phone from Illinois."

Sarah wrinkled her forehead, then quickly straightened, before her mother could turn around and disapprove. "Why Illinois?"

"Seems to be where he spends his time these days," Ben replied.

"Oh," Sarah said, surprised. "I assumed he lived around here. Or in Kansas City."

"Why did you assume something like that, darling?" Officer Stevenson peered at her from under bushy brows.

Sarah grimaced, wishing she had kept her mouth shut. However, it was too late now, to repent. "Because I saw him in Kansas City on Saturday. And today I saw him here in St. Louis?" Sarah explained.

"Down here?" Sarah and Ben exchanged looks. Sarah nodded.

"He was out at the wetlands on the outskirts of St. Louis. Cleaning out his mother's house, probably. It looked as he was looking for something, anyway; he was all full of sweat and grime," Sarah shared the piece of news with Ben.