Cheryl Bradshaw - Sinnerman

Maddie’s eyes were focused on the chief, who was clearly in awe of her. It was something I didn’t see from him too often. Next to them sat Marty, the former mayor of Park City and his wife, and on the other side were some of my old friends from my college days and Gabby’s former boyfriend. All in all, it had been a crappy birthday thus far, but my heart swelled to see everyone gathered around the table in spite of all that was going on.

“There’s the birthday girl,” Maddie shouted when I walked in.

Everyone at the table gazed up at me at the same time with smiles smeared across their faces except Nick. He ogled the drink in his hand with all the fascination of a paleontologist who had just discovered a rare dinosaur fossil within the cavity of a rock.

I said my hello’s and then walked around the table and sat down next to him.

“I went ahead and ordered your favorite martini,” Maddie said.

“Thanks, it’s been a long day.”

Nick rose from the table, and for a moment, I thought he was going to propose a toast.

“Excuse me for a minute,” he said and he turned and walked away.

Once he was out of earshot, Maddie piped up.

“What’s his freakin’ deal?”

“Who knows?” I said.

“Well, don’t let his pissy attitude ruin your special night. Besides,” she said with a finger pointed to the center of the table, “look at all those presents.”

“You guys didn’t need to get me anything,” I said. “Just being here is enough.”

“Oh please, Sloane,” Maddie said. “What’s a birthday party without presents? I don’t care how old I get; it’s still all about the gifts, and on that note, I want everyone here to know that my birthday is coming up next month, and early gifts are accepted.”

I looked around the table and realized how good it felt to be among friends. Every single person seated there had been an important part of my life in some way. Even the chief, who at the moment was beguiled by Maddie’s charms. They’d known each other for years, and never once had I considered them a match.

“How’s the birthday girl?” said a voice from behind.

I turned around and almost missed the pint-sized Moll standing beside me. She was the owner of the place. Her fiery red hair was pulled back into a tight bun that exposed a starry sky of freckles on her circular face.

“Hungry,” I said.

She scanned the table.

“What are we having then?”

In unison, everyone spouted off their orders.

“Now hold on right there,” Moll said. She took her pen from the top of her ear and angled it in my direction. “One at a time now. Sloane, let’s start with you.”

I gave my order and then we went down the line, this time in an organized manner.

“And Detective Calhoun,” Moll said, “I could have sworn he was here a minute ago unless my eyesight’s gone off the reservation again. Where’d that boy run off to?”

Right here,” Nick said.

Moll looked over at him and then placed one hand on the side of her mouth and leaned toward him. In a whisper she said, “You’re flying low tonight detective.”

Nick didn’t comprehend her statement and Moll wasn’t the type to wait around until he did. She tried again!, this time more plainspoken than before.

“Your zipper dear, it’s undone.”

He glanced down and turned away from the table and fixed himself up and then sat in his chair and did his best to pretend it never happened.

“I’ll get this right out to you,” Moll said. “And Sloane, yours is on me tonight.”

She walked away and Nick looked at me and smiled for the first time that evening. It seemed forced, but at least it wasn’t a scowl.

“What do you say we open your presents while we wait?” Maddie said.

Before I could respond, she’d already dug her hands into the pile and moved them down one by one.

“Mine first,” she said.

Maddie’s gift was an envelope that contained two gift cards: one to Nordstrom and another for a spa day, and at the moment, I was in desperate need.

“I love this,” I said.

“So do I,” she said, “it’s for two, and by that I mean the two of us are going to have a great time together.”

I opened a few more gifts, and then it was time for Nick’s. His present was in the smallest package, but the box was an unmistakable bluish color and one every woman on the planet recognized and dreamed of their entire life, except me, and I tried not to squint when I opened it. Inside was the most beautiful necklace I’d ever laid eyes on, a simple but elegant round pendant with the initial S engraved on the front. I suppressed the urge to breathe a sigh of relief and turned to Nick and smiled.

Nick rose from his chair and separated the necklace from the box and wrapped the dainty piece of silver around my neck.

“Do you like it?” he said.

“It’s perfect, thank you.”

“One more present to go,” Maddie said.

She lifted up the last box and shook it.

“Alright,” she said, “who got Sloane a gallon of milk for her birthday?”

The last box was wrapped in burgundy paper with felt embossed black lotus flowers all over it. All four sides were adorned with thick black satin ribbon that rose up the sides and formed a perfect series of bows in the center at the top.

“Wow, you’re not kidding,” I said to Maddie when I relieved it from her grip. “This thing’s heavy. Who’s it from then?”

I looked around the table and no one uttered a word, and there was no card of any kind affixed to it.

“Oh come on you guys, who’s going to take credit for the best wrap job of the night?”

“Maybe it’s a surprise,” Maddie said. “And you’re not supposed to know who it’s from until you open it.”

I shook the box in my hands.

“Feels like a bag of flour.”

“Come on, Sloane,” Maddie said. “Enough with the suspense. Open it already!”

I pulled off the ribbon and took my time removing the paper. I didn’t know why; it wasn’t like I’d ever use it again, but it was so unique, I didn’t want to take the chance of it getting ruined. Once the paper was off, it unmasked a simple white box made of cardboard. I pulled open the lid and peered inside.

“Well?” Maddie said. “What is it? I’m dying over here.”

“I’m not sure,” I said. “It looks like a bottle of some kind.”

I spread my fingers apart and reached down the crevices of the box until they touched the bottom. Clear liquid sloshed around in the container while it rose to the top. Maddie curled her body over the box and pressed her fingers into the sides so it was unable to move while I lifted it. When it was halfway out, the mayor’s wife couldn’t take the anticipation any longer. With eyes that sparkled like a child full of wonder on Christmas Day, she leaned over to get a closer look and then clamped her hands over her mouth and let out a scream that echoed through every orifice of the restaurant, and in an instant the loud, boisterous atmosphere evaporated until all that remained was silence.

CHAPTER 12

“What in the hell is that?” Maddie said.

The chief and Nick launched out of their respective chairs and hovered over me like a couple of eagles protecting their nest. By the time I had the bottle all the way out of the box, no less than six pairs of eyeballs were riveted on the liquid substance within the glass and what floated around inside of it: a severed finger.

“What is this, some kind of sick joke?” Nick said.

The chief held his hand out to me and folded his fingers back toward himself.

“Lemme see that,” he said.

I handed it over and then tipped the box on its side and peered in again. A slip of pink paper was taped flat to the bottom and on it, a message: