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CHAPTER 31

Raleigh, North Carolina Monday, July 29, 2024

RYDER HILLIER’S REPUTATION AS A TRUE CRIME REPORTER AND breaking-news podcaster had been partially built on her ability to give her fans new details about some of the country’s coldest cases. But Ryder Hillier did not just break news. She found answers. And soon, after she broke the baby Charlotte Margolis story wide open, the mainstream media outlets would jump on the bandwagon and Ryder would be up against the bigwigs like Dante Campbell and Avery Mason and the lot of network reporters who had unlimited budgets and massive teams to chase the story. Ryder had spent the night in her car in the parking lot of Sloan’s apartment complex. The apartment had stayed dark all night. If Ryder wanted to find Sloan Hastings, she needed to get creative.

In a strange twist to the story, Ryder had learned that Sloan Hastings was studying under Dr. Livia Cutty, who was a medical consultant for NBC, HAP News, and a number of other networks, which meant those outlets would have an inside scoop that Ryder did not. The pressure was on. Getting the first interview with Sloan Hastings, even if it was just an ambush video on her cell phone, would be huge for Unsolved and would generate millions of views on her YouTube channel. If Ryder could capture the first baby Charlotte sighting, it would have her ravenous audience salivating. The stakes were high to make something happen, and make it happen soon, which was what brought Ryder to Hastings Family Dental Orthodontics Center under the ruse of a molar gone rotten.

She lay in the chair now with a bright light in her eyes and her mouth wide open as Dr. Dolly Hastings examined Ryder’s upper right molar #2.

“Turn toward me please,” Dr. Hastings said, her voice muffled by a surgical mask as she examined Ryder’s teeth through loupes. “Your X-rays are clear, and the tooth is in good shape. I don’t see a cavity, recession, or foreign body. No abscess either.”

Dr. Hastings pushed away from the chair, placed the mirror and probe onto the tray, and removed her loupes. Dr. Hastings stepped on a foot pedal and raised the chair upright as Ryder rinsed her mouth.

“The pain is not coming from your tooth. It may be a sinus issue, and if it doesn’t clear with antihistamines and decongestants, then you’ll need a CT scan to more closely look at the maxillary sinus.”

“I can do that,” Ryder said. “I’ll get a hold of my primary care doctor if I’m still feeling the pain in a few days.”

“I’m happy to send a report if your doctor needs it.”

“Thanks.”

As Dr. Hastings was readying to leave, Ryder handed over her Unsolved podcast card.

“Dr. Hastings, one more thing. I’m the host of a true crime podcast, and I’d like to make you an offer.”

Ryder saw the confusion on Dr. Hastings’s face and knew she only had a few seconds to make her pitch.

“I’m sure you know that your daughter’s story is about to go mainstream. When it does, reporters will approach you from all the major networks. I’d like to offer you an opportunity to bypass all the nonsense that’s coming. I’d like to interview you on my podcast. The interview will be free from all the fluff and hype the major networks will attempt to place around you, your husband, and Sloan. This will be a sit-down interview where you can tell your story without corporate influence and without the mainstream media shaping the narrative.”

“I’m not interested,” Dr. Hastings said, handing Ryder’s card back to her.

Ryder refused to take the card back.

“I understand if you’re not ready to give an interview,” Ryder said in a hurried voice, “but I’d love to speak with Sloan and give her the chance to tell her story. Again, once the story breaks, the mainstream media will put tons of pressure on her to secure the first interview. I’m here to help, Dr. Hastings. I’m here to take the pressure off your family. If you can tell me where Sloan is, or put me in touch with her, I promise that I’ll be able to get the hardcore reporters off your case by coming out wide with Sloan’s first interview on my podcast.”

Dr. Hastings put Ryder’s business card on the armrest of the dental chair. “I think it’s best if you left my office.”

“Sloan can either tell her story in her own words, or she can allow the media to tell it for her. One will be accurate. The other will be filled with rumors and salacious details. Your daughter is in the unique position to decide which way she wants things to go. And trust me, you won’t get the same offer from the big networks. They’ll shape the narrative to whatever brings them more viewers and more advertisers, and if that narrative is that you and your husband played some nefarious role in Sloan’s disappearance, they’ll run with it.”

When Dr. Hastings didn’t leave, Ryder knew she was getting to her.

“My number is on the card. It’s my cell, not my assistant’s and not my executive producer’s—mine. Tell Sloan to call me. I’ll talk with her directly and make sure she tells the story she wants told, and nothing else.”

“My staff will check you out,” Dr. Hastings said as she stood and walked out of the exam room.

Ryder noticed that she had taken the business card off the armrest before she left.