Safe With Me, Part 8 (The End) Read online

  "Yeah."

  "Well, apparently in 2005 he joined some 'missing persons' forum to look for his long lost sister." She puffed out her bottom lip in a fake pout.

  I read through the message. It was so sad. He posted several pictures of a very youthful, innocent-looking Susie and told way too many details of her history in a desperate attempt to find her. She was involved in a public scandal and was sent to live in foster care, from which she ran away. She was eventually found in a small town in Missouri and spent the next few years with her aunt, here in Lockwood. When she turned eighteen she again disappeared and the police hadn't been helpful to their family. Matt said he wanted to add the details about foster care and Missouri in case she'd recently been in contact with anyone she knew from that time in her life.

  The responses went on and on from people saying they knew her from somewhere, or responding with their own messages about similar stories. A few people offered prayers. And then, one person wrote that her face looked similar to Mia Jacobs.

  "Wow," I said. "That's terrible. I've searched for her name so many times and never found that."

  "I put in 'Mia Jacobs,' 'North Carolina,' and 'Lockwood.'" She continued to work on her document.

  "Why are you doing that?"

  She shrugged. "Why not?"

  "You're a detective."

  "I can find anything. People should know better than to fuck with me." She laughed. "You should see what I did to the slut who tried to steal my last boyfriend. And nobody can even trace it back to me."

  "What? You're not gonna do anything with that document, are you? I thought you were just joking."

  "We'll see."

  "No, seriously."

  She let out a dramatic sigh. "Fine. Whatever. I'll sleep on the idea. Just have another shot and pass out, Joan."

  Tyler

  Monday, January 31, 2011

  8:55 AM

  I had just pushed the door open to enter the building when my phone started vibrating in my pocket. When I saw it was Michael, I cringed a little. I knew I'd have to see him today. I'd flopped out of bed twenty minutes earlier prepared for a day of awkward conversations. Wished they didn't have to start so soon.

  "Hello?"

  "Hey man. What'd you think of that note?"

  "What note?"

  "The note. You know. This morning? On Facebook?"

  "I got no clue what you mean. Where are you?"

  "In the hall outside class."

  I hung up and put the phone in my pocket and started to walk faster through the crowd, mildly curious.

  Michael, Corbie, and Dan stood in a huddle against the wall of the busy corridor.

  Corbie was the first one to see me. "Hey. Don't you check your email in the morning?"

  "Yeah. Why?"

  Michael snorted. "Fuckin' Kate. She didn't tag you in that note?"

  "We're not friends. Facebook or otherwise," I said.

  Michael snorted again. "Well, just 'cause I'm her Facebook friend don't mean I'm her real friend." He handed me his phone. "Here."

  I immediately started to read. In seconds, I was sad and horrified. Mostly horrified. "Is it wrong that I wish I could beat the shit out of a girl?"

  Dan shook his head. "We're all thinking it. Have you talked to Susie? We can't reach her."

  I glanced up at Dan for a brief moment. Damn. Less than a minute earlier, I would've been most scared of losing my temper with him. My anger now had a new source: Kate.

  "No," I said. "I was gonna see her after class." I handed Michael's phone back to him. Part of me wanted to continue reading the note out of curiosity about Susie, but it wasn't the time. I quickly dialed her number.

  Dr. Schultze gave us a nod and a hearty, "Good morning," as he walked past us to the classroom.

  A few students filed in behind him, all of them giving me odd looks. Kate must have gotten to all of them.

  Just as I heard the message that Susie's voicemail was full, I saw Corbie point at someone behind me. I put my phone down turned to look. It was Kate, hair and makeup all done up, wearing her long leather coat and matching boots. She always stuck out to me from the other girls because she looked so high-maintenance, like she cared too much about how she looked. Here it was, a sleepy Monday morning, and she casually strolled down the hall like it was Saturday night and she had a hot date.

  Yeah, I was about to ruin her perfect little morning.

  "Hey!" I rushed toward her, making her stop outside the door. "You're lucky I don't hit women." Except maybe the occasional sound spanking of the woman I loved, but that was another subject entirely.

  She cocked one eyebrow, glancing first at a few people who were still lingering in the hall on their way to class, then she looked up at me. "What? Is reality too much for you? I hope you got tested. Half the school needs to go to Student Health because of her."

  I took a deep breath, trying to subdue my anger. Corbie and Michael both started to talk at once.

  Dan came around beside her and said, "I know you hate her but you went too far. You have to realize that. Talking about her parents?"

  She shrugged just as Susie came around the corner.

  Susie dragged along. As she drew closer, I noticed her eyes were red and puffy like she'd been crying. Made me feel like an ass for getting upset with her.

  The hallway was now empty except for us. I heard Dr. Schultze's muffled voice as he started his lecture inside the classroom.

  Kate tried to shove past me. "I'm late for class."

  I held my arm out to the side just as Michael filed in beside me. "You're not late for anything."

  Susie stopped several feet behind our little cluster, facing Kate's back. "What's going on?"

  Corbie walked up to her. "We've been trying to call you all morning."

  She groaned. "Yeah, you and everyone else. I haven't looked at my phone since yesterday."

  Kate gave me a defiant glare, then turned around on her heel to talk to Susie. "You’re just,” she paused for a dramatic sigh, “so pathetic. And sad.”

  Susie looked around in confusion as we all started to talk at once.

  Corbie extended his phone to her. "She posted a note about you this morning."

  Susie's eyes rolled. "Whatever. I thought you guys all probably knew by now anyway. Did the note have some naked pictures?"

  Kate snickered. "It had a lot more than that. But the most important thing is that I just ruined any hope you ever had of getting a job. But it’s your fault. You’re the one with the trashy little secret.”

  Susie chuckled. “It’s okay. It doesn’t even matter.”

  Kate took a step closer to her. “Doesn't matter? Are you crazy? Nobody in their right mind will ever hire someone like you.”

  I stood on my toes to look past Kate at Susie. "You have to see this note."

  Kate then turned around to look at me. “You stay outta this.”

  “No,” I said. “You brought me and everyone else into this when you posted that note. There’s something seriously wrong with you.”

  “It’s not a big deal.” Kate shrugged. “There’s no privacy with the Internet. Anyone could’ve found those links.”

  "What links?" Susie's eyes perked up, suddenly interested.

  Kate turned to her again. "Just some stuff I found. You've been a whore for a long time, haven't you? Got your dad fired from a church. Sent your parents to the bottom of the Neuse River. All so some pastor's son could tie you up and videotape the neighborhood boys having their way with you. You're the most pathetic person I've—"

  Her speech was interrupted when Susie pushed her to the ground.

  Dan stood closest to Susie. He started to reach down to pull her away, but her fist had already hit Kate's face.

  When he stood back, he glanced up at me, wide-eyed. Then we, the four guys, quickly shared a look — a silent understanding. It all happened in seconds. Corbie stepped back and looked up and down the empty hall. Michael turned over his shoulder to the classroom doo
r behind us. Dan stood over Susie with his arms out, his face twisted in agony like he was waiting for just the right moment.

  I waited until I heard Dr. Schultze's voice shout inside the classroom, no doubt in response to Kate's screaming. It wasn't that hard to pull Susie away. Dan and I each took one of her shoulders. When she was back on her feet, she looked down at Kate with tears in her eyes.

  "Oh no," she whispered. "I can't believe I did that."

  "It's okay. She's breathing. She'll be fine. Come with me." I took her arm and guided her down the hall near the bathrooms.

  The guys stayed around Kate, answering to the people who were mumbling with concern for the girl laying on the floor, achy and bloodied.

  "You need to call the police yourself," I said. "But don't worry. Everybody knows what she did to you."

  She was crying. "Can you pull my phone out of my backpack, please? My hand hurts."

  "Sure, baby." I found it right away and handed it to her.

  She pushed a few buttons. The other person person answered quickly.

  I heard Susie weakly say, “Gloria, hey, it’s Susie Lombardi.” She paused. "I think I'm gonna need a lawyer."

  Tyler

  Tuesday, February 1, 2011

  10:15 AM

  "It's so good to hear your voice again," I said into the phone. "We've all been so worried." I was in the hall outside class.

  "Sorry to bother you in class. I just got released and I'm gonna be out of touch for a little while. I probably won't call anyone else."

  "Are you kidding?" I chuckled. "Don't worry about bothering me. I was going crazy wondering what happened. I can't believe they made you spend the whole night in jail."

  "Hey, it's not the worst place I've ever slept. Had to wait for my lawyer to work some magic. I was lucky to get a hearing so fast."

  "So, the charges were dropped, just like that? You didn't need us to testify or anything?"

  "Yeah, the judge called it 'assault four.' Like, assault in the fourth degree. It's a misdemeanor. My lawyer knew exactly what he was doing to get the charges dropped."

  "What about what Kate did to you? Isn't there some kind of law against it?"

  "My lawyer said it'd take a while to get a case together because she didn't have a history of harassing me online and everything she posted in the note was true."

  "That's bullshit! You should get her in trouble."

  She let out a little groan. "No. I don't want to. I just want it over with. In fact, I'm about to head out of town for a little while. I have to go take care of some paperwork I've been putting off for a long time. My trust fund has all these rules and…" She paused to mumble to herself for a second. "It's all because of Kate. I have to pay her a settlement."

  "What? Like, money? She gets money for what she did to you? How much?"

  She groaned. "I'm not allowed to talk about it. Please don't tell anyone, okay? I'm not happy about it either but I really just don't wanna be in and out of court. Yesterday was painful enough. I just wanna forget." She sniffed like she was crying.

  "I'm so sorry, baby."

  "I've never done anything like that to anyone." She took a breath. "I've been in a few fights but they always hit me first."

  I waited as she cried for a while. None of us had been in contact with her because the jail said she wouldn't be allowed visitors for a few days, if she even stayed that long. Over the course of the day that passed since the fight, it had never once occurred to me that she might be sad over what happened. The general consensus among our friends was that Kate deserved much more punishment than what Susie gave her.

  "Sweetie," I said, when I heard a break in her tears. "Do you want me to go out of town with you?"

  "Actually, I think I need to be alone for a while. I'm not even going back to my house yet. I have to go meet with my wealth manager and she's taking this late flight from North Carolina. It's gonna be a really crazy day."

  "I can handle a crazy day."

  She laughed, sweetly. "I know. Look, it's more than that. I feel so gross. I'm exhausted 'cause I didn't sleep last night, and I really need a bath. You wouldn't believe all the shit I have to do in person because of this. Meet with a bank. It's so stupid. But it'd be great if you could go to my house once in a while and make sure it's okay. Thanks to Kate I have all these harassing phone calls and there's probably a bunch of crazy people knocking on my door."

  "See? That's why she needs to get in trouble. She put all your information out there to hurt you."

  She produced a painful sigh. "Tyler, please drop it. I appreciate your anger but seriously, I just need it to be over." Another sigh. "I'm sure you read that note she posted. I don't like going to court. It brings back some really bad memories. I'm so ashamed that everybody knows about it now."

  "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

  I waited while she cried again. It made me want to cry, too. How could anyone be so heartless, putting all of someone's life out there like Kate did? Everybody now knew that when Susie was fourteen, she and two other girls her age were involved in some kind of scandal involving nude pictures and video taken by her pastor's son, a guy named Elliot Haney, who had just graduated from seminary. Since the girls were all under age they were witnesses at a trial and their names weren't listed in the public court records but we assumed from other things we read that the people in her town knew who the girls were. We found old newspaper articles about the trial online. Corbie and Michael said they recognized a second guy involved who pleaded guilty to a lesser charge: Jerry Lyons. They were pretty sure he was the tattooed guy who showed up at Susie's front door years ago, the one she screamed at until he left.

  Shit, I wanted so badly to be with her today. I could hear in her voice that she was deeply sad, probably for a lot more reasons than she was telling me. But maybe she just needed to be alone, like I did over the weekend. Maybe she'd come back and feel better and we could finally pick up where we left off.

  "Okay," she said. "I'm gonna go now. Tell everyone I'm fine and I'll be home sometime tomorrow. And please, please don't tell anyone about that settlement."

  "I won't baby, I promise. Can't wait to see you tomorrow."

  "So I guess you're not upset with me anymore?"

  "No." I smiled. "And hey, before you hang up." I cleared my throat. "I love you."

  She giggled, sounding truly happy for the first time since I answered the phone. "I love you, too."

  Susie

  Tuesday, February 1, 2011

  9:30 PM

  "I'm so glad you wanted to get together in person," Gloria said. "You keep me young. You're my only client who doesn't have an old man smell."

  I laughed and picked up my drink. "I'm glad we got together too. I needed this."

  She nodded. "After the last couple of days, I'm sure you did."

  Of course, she agreed with me. She usually did. My real dad, Preston, told me that sometimes when he was feeling down and just wanted someone to play golf with someone who'd agree with him and kiss his ass, he'd call his wealth manager. I now knew what he meant. She jumped at the chance to meet me with less than a day's notice at the nicest hotel I could find in Eugene, Oregon. We had just eaten dinner and were now treating ourselves to cocktails in the lounge at a comfortable, circular booth, sitting next to each other and talking like old friends.

  Naturally, I knew full well that my money was actually paying for her trip, but I didn't care.

  Gloria Gallagher wasn't as agreeable as some of Preston's other employees. She was a spitfire, and that's why he liked her. She and her husband, Richard, both worked for the same financial management company and were merely two of the people Preston employed to manage not only his wealth but various investments that had taken on lives of their own. Before he died, he said he wanted me to stay close to Gloria. She didn't know it, but she didn't have to kiss my ass. I'd never take my money elsewhere, simply because Preston spoke so highly of her. I had a feeling it was because he also wanted me to have some type of
mother figure in my life, and he wanted it to be someone he knew and trusted. Gloria assured me many times over the years that she was always there for me, and I didn't take advantage of her nearly enough.

  She was a youthful sixty-two and one of the classiest dressers I'd ever known. Tonight she sat before me in a red business suit that somehow managed to look both formal and casual when she wore it. Her white hair was short and sophisticated and made her look much younger than her years. She was all set to retire several years earlier to spend time with her new twin granddaughters but she said she preferred working part time. I assumed it was probably helpful that she had low-maintenance clients, like me.