by Maisy Morgan
Mary, Preston, and Lilly wound up outside a small diner just down the road from the hospital. According to the app on Lilly’s phone, this was where Matthew was. “You think he just came out to get some breakfast?” Preston questioned as they piled out of his truck. They headed inside the diner, but Matthew was nowhere to be seen.
“I’m starting to get really worried,” Lilly said. They checked her phone again, but it seemed pretty clear that this was where Matthew was supposed to be.
“I’m going to try calling him again,” Preston said, pulling out his phone. There was once again no answer. Preston walked up to the woman at the back counter who was taking orders of patrons by the bar stools. “Ma’am, we’re looking for a young man in his mid-thirties. Hold on, I think I’ve got a picture of him…” Preston went through his phone for a moment, located a picture of Tripp, Lilly, and Matthew, and he held it up for the older woman behind the counter to see. “Can you tell me if he was here earlier?”
“Yeah, actually,” the woman said. “Came in and got breakfast this morning. A few hours ago.”
“Was he by himself?” Preston asked.
“He was while he was eating, but he left with someone. Handsome guy—blond hair. Tall white guy,” she said. “Real looker,” she added.
“Did they seem friendly towards one another?” Preston asked.
The woman shrugged. “All I can tell you is they went out the front door together, and I think I saw them go left around the side of the building. They were talking real quiet. I can tell you that.”
“Thanks,” Preston said, coming back over to Mary and Lilly, who had been patiently listening form the sidelines. “Come on,” he said.
They exited the building, and Preston led them around the side of the building. “Check that app again—is it really saying his phone is here?” Preston questioned.
Lilly continued looking at her phone. “It says his phone is here at the diner.”
Preston pulled out his phone again, calling Matthew. As they circled around the back of the building, they heard a distant ringing. “That’s Matthew’s ringtone,” Lilly said, and they began looking around.
They checked all around the back of the restaurant, but no luck. At last, Preston found it, in decidedly the worst place it could have been—inside the dumpster. “That’s not good,” Mary said anxiously.
Preston wiped the phone off on his trousers, with laced brows of suspicion. “Why would Matthew ditch his phone in a dumpster?” Preston questioned.
“I don’t know,” Lilly said. “I’m really worried now…” She started to grow pale and looked as if her legs might slip right out from under her. Mary put an arm around her to offer support and comfort.
“Don’t start worrying yourself too much just yet,” Mary told her. “So far, we don’t know why he contacted Preston this morning or why he ditched his phone. I’m sure there’s a logical reason for it.” She tried to rub her arm softly, which quickly became more of a hasty, panicked motion.
Preston, who had been playing around with Matthew’s phone, seemed rather quiet. “Did you find something?” Lilly, who looked like she was carrying the weight of the world, asked.
“Yeah,” Preston said. “I found what it is Matthew was wanting to show me. Look at this.” He turned the phone around, and they saw a picture of Sven and Tasha together. It was certainly not in a boss and assistant sort of pose. They had their arms wrapped around one another, and Tasha was playfully nibbling on his ear while Sven grinned wildly.
“Tasha and Sven dated?” Mary questioned.
“I didn’t know that,” Lilly said. “He was always pretty mean to her.”
“How long have you known Sven and Tasha?” Preston asked.
“Not long,” Lilly said. “We had only just met them when we arrived in Georgia.”
“What about Donnie?” Preston asked. “How long had Donnie known them?”
“I’m not sure,” Lilly said. “I mean, I know Donnie had met Tasha in LA. That’s how Matthew got the part.”
“I think I know what it is exactly that Matthew found out,” Preston said. “Donnie won Tasha over all right. Won her over, but she was dating Sven. Sven got played by Donnie bad. Donnie wooed Tasha and got Tasha to show Sven and the directors Matthew’s headshot to get him an audition. Sven probably didn’t know Tasha was doing it because of her relationship with Donnie. Eventually, I bet Sven found out about it. Donnie dumped Tasha. Sven started treating his assistant like trash because he found out about it.”
“If Sven knew that Tasha had cheated on him with Donnie, that’s motive,” Mary said. “Not to mention Donnie really hurt Tasha. Even if Sven was being a jerk to Tasha for the affair, he might still care about her too. So Donnie not only broke them up, but he also hurt someone Sven cared about.”
“A handsome blond guy shows up at the diner, according to that waitress,” Preston said. “I happen to know one handsome blond guy who might have motive to hurt Matthew—if he knew that Matthew found out about his relationship with Tasha, that is.”
“You think Sven followed Matthew all the way up to Atlanta?” Mary questioned.
“Possibly,” Preston said. “Lilly, you said that they didn’t need Matthew until later today—do you know if Sven was going to be on set today too?”
“No, he didn’t have any scenes he was filming this morning,” Lilly reported briskly.
“So he’s not on set,” Preston said. “Would give him time to follow Matthew. Where do you think Matthew got this picture?”
“I know he’s been asking people around set a lot of questions for you,” Lilly said.
“Matthew was working the case?” Preston asked.
“He got in trouble with the director the other day,” Lilly said. “He was snooping around everyone’s trailers. Said he was looking into what happened to Donnie.”
“So he’s been snooping around,” Preston said. “He must have found this picture on Tasha or Sven’s phone. And Sven found out that Matthew suspected he killed Donnie for revenge.”
Lilly was a bit shaken. “So where are they now?” she questioned. “Do you think… Do you think Sven’s hurt him? Why would Matthew leave with him if he thought Sven was dangerous? Maybe he forced him to leave with him? Maybe Sven… if he already killed Donnie, what’s to stop him from hurting Matthew too?”
“We’ll find him, Lilly,” Mary said.
They heard the sound of breaking glass and looked up. A homeless man was currently digging around through another nearby dumpster that belonged to the next building over. Preston flashed his badge. “Sir!” he exclaimed. “Mind if I talk to you for a minute?”
The homeless man cringed. He looked around, seeming to think about whether or not he wanted to run, but at last, he approached. “Yes, Officer?” he asked.
“You hang out over here a lot?” Preston asked.
“I ain’t breaking no law,” the man said.
“I didn’t ask if you were,” Preston retorted. “I just need to know if you saw two men over this way this morning. Couple of nice-looking guys in their mid-thirties. Maybe one of them—”
“I saw two men fighting this morning,” he said, cutting Preston off.
Preston pulled out his phone, showing again the picture he had of Lilly, Matthew, and Tripp. “Any of these guys?”
He pointed to Matthew. “That one there. Saw him get thrown into the side of that dumpster. Other guy carted him off. Had a gun with him. I hid… I’m sorry…”
Mary could feel her daughter quivering beside her. She squeezed her tight. “Just tell me exactly what you saw,” Preston said.
The man nodded. “Well, that kid in the photo came running down this way. Other guy, blond guy, chased him over. Rammed into him—knocked him into the dumpster. They were talking—shouting a little. Couldn’t really tell what they were saying. Wasn’t my business. Something about a girl, I think. Blond pulled a gun out to keep the first one from running off. Blond guy took the other guy’s phone and dumped it. Then they got in
a car and drove off. Driving some sort of blue sports car—really fancy thing.”
“That’s the rental car Sven has been using since they got here to Georgia,” Lilly said. “A blue Dodge Viper. Got it from some exotic rental car place here in Atlanta.”
“Those exotic rentals usually have some sort of GPS,” Preston realized, whipping out his phone. “We can track him!”
It took about twenty minutes of shouting at people on the phone, but eventually Preston had the name of the company who had rented the car to Sven. They patched him through to the rental company, and they were able to give Preston a location. Preston shook hands with the homeless man, thanking him for his help, and the three of them sprinted back to his truck. “Lilly, get on the phone with 911. Tell them Officer Preston of Senoia is here in Atlanta requesting backup—that we may have a hostage situation.”
Lilly did as she was told, speaking to the 911 operator on his behalf. They pulled up outside an abandoned apartment building, and Preston told Lilly to stay in the car while he checked things out. Mary did no such thing; she couldn’t help herself from trying to find Matthew and do all that she could to help him. After all he had done for her and her daughter, she felt she owed it to him. She followed Preston. Preston peered inside some of the first-floor windows, and sure enough, he spotted Sven. In one of the rooms, Mary could see Matthew seated in a corner, along with Tasha; Matthew had his arm over Tasha, and Sven was pacing the room with his gun and shouting at them both.
Preston and Mary ducked to avoid being seen. “I’ve got to go in,” Preston said. “He’s escalating fast. By the time backup gets here…”
“Be careful,” Mary said.
Preston nodded and entered the building through a side door. Mary peered up through the window. Matthew saw her, and his eyes went wide in surprise. The apartment Sven had dragged them off to was empty apart from an old, worn mattress.
Mary ducked down just as she heard the door fly open. She heard a gunshot and Tasha screaming. When she peered up again, she could see Preston on top of Sven—his gun tossed aside. Mary darted around the side of the building and hurried into the room as Preston was sitting Sven up—now handcuffed and swearing under his breath. Mary spun around to Matthew, who was helping Tasha stand; Tasha, Mary could now see, had her wrists tied together in front of her. Her glasses were cracked, and she was sobbing terribly. Mary hurried over to them both, and she put her arms around Matthew’s neck. “I’m so glad you’re all right!” she exclaimed, a little surprised at herself.
“How did you find us?” Matthew exclaimed with surprise and great appreciation in his voice, and he turned towards Tasha, helping to untie her wrists.
“The rental car has a tracking device on it. But no time to explain that. Come on, Lilly’s waiting for us,” Preston said, forcing Sven to walk as he marched out of the room.
Lilly jumped out of the truck the moment she saw them leaving the building, and she ran up to Matthew and threw her arms around him just as a number of patrol cars came pulling up.
They discovered that Sven had seen in his phone that Matthew had sent himself the picture to show to Preston. When he had realized what Matthew knew, he had panicked. He worried Tasha would tell everyone about their past relationship as well, and he had kidnapped her and tracked Matthew down. He thought that doing so would cover up his murder of Donnie.
“It’s finally over,” Matthew said, relieved, as one of the Atlanta officers took over and left with Sven.
“I’m going to have to go to the Atlanta station to give my statement,” Preston said. “If you want to go back to the hospital, I’ll loan you my truck and hitch a ride with one of the responding officers.
Mary thanked him; Tasha went with him to the station as well. Mary was eager to get back to the hospital—back to Tripp and to Hannah. Matthew and Lilly both seemed eager to get there as well. When they arrived back at the hospital, Roy was the only one in the waiting room. He smiled at them. “Where have you guys been?” he asked.
“It’s a long story,” Matthew said with a smirk. “We’ll have to fill everyone in later. Where is everybody?”
“They’re all in the back. Hannah’s awake from her surgery,” Roy said. “I waited out here so I could walk you guys back.”
Mary smiled. “How is she doing?” she asked as the three of them followed Roy.
“Groggy, but she’s doing all right. She was really glad Tripp and Draco were here when she got up,” Roy said.
They entered into a small room. Hannah was lying back in a large bed, her head wrapped in bandages. Tripp and Draco were seated on either side of her bed, laughing and smiling—making jokes that were making her grin tiredly up at them.
Preston texted Mary; he was on his way back already—one of the officers was giving him a ride. “Hannah, how are you feeling?” Mary asked.
“Well, I guess it’s no surprise that I have a headache,” she said. “But other than that, I feel pretty good.”
“Doctor said the surgery was a great success,” Cindy said, smiling weakly. “We’ll have some follow-ups. But things are looking up.”
“Good,” Mary said sternly but hopefully, telling herself that she now had something else to add to her prayers of gratitude at night: Hannah’s slow but steady recovery.
“She’ll have to start chemotherapy soon,” Cindy said, not looking pleased with this. “But that’s something to worry about another day.”
Mary smiled as she watched Hannah and her friends. The three of them were a team and had been together through it all. It was then she noticed something: Tripp and Hannah were holding hands.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Mary pulled up outside of Whitewater High School late one evening. Next to her was, not Tripp, but Preston. He was dressed up in one of his nicer button-up shirts and had even spritzed himself with a bit of cologne. In the back seat were Lilly and Matthew. “How long has Tripp been at the school?” Preston asked.
“He’s been here all day,” Mary said. “After school let out, he and the rest of the drama students headed straight to the theater for a dress rehearsal and sound check. He has been texting me all afternoon. I think he’s nervous.”
“I would be too,” Lilly said. “Oh, I’m so excited. He’s been working so hard…”
“He’s going to do great,” Matthew guaranteed happily. They could tell that Matthew was glad that Tripp had taken such an interest in their new shared hobby.
They exited her car; Mary had dressed nicely today as well, adorning herself in a little black dress. She wasn’t much of a dress kind of woman, but she felt that tonight’s Whitewater Showcase was worthy of it. Cindy was waiting for them, along with Anna, Roy, and Sarah Jane. Mary smiled. Cindy was looking like she could take on the world. The past few months had been good for them. Hannah’s surgery back at the start of the new year had been a huge success, and the cancer in her hip had almost entirely disappeared after only a few rounds of chemotherapy. It had practically vanished overnight, in fact. And, last month, Hannah’s father had been escorted from prison to the hospital where he could donate one of his kidneys. Turns out he was the perfect match.
Ever since the kidney transplant, Hannah’s health had improved drastically. Her hair had started to grow back, and she was currently rocking a sort of punk-rock look, which had improved Hannah’s mood drastically, which, in turn, meant Cindy was doing better as well. As Mary and Preston approached the group, Cindy was on the phone. “Yes, Lenny, I’m going to film the scene for you,” she said with a slight eye roll.
Mary raised a brow, realizing she was on the phone with her ex-husband, who, as far as Mary knew, was still in prison. “You excited, Sarah Jane?” Matthew asked in a whisper so as not to disturb Cindy’s phone call.
Sarah Jane giggled. “Draco sent Mom and Dad a picture of him in his costume. He looks really silly, but I like it.”
“Draco nervous?” Lilly asked.
Anna nodded. “He has been doing nothing but studying his lin
es all week. He’s had the script memorized for months, but he’s afraid of messing up his big scene.”
"He’s got this,” Mary said.
“How about Tripp?” Roy asked.
“You know what, looking back to early this year when he was practically shaking over the idea of performing on stage, he’s doing pretty well for himself,” Mary said.
“He’s just excited he gets to make out with his girlfriend on stage,” Sarah Jane said, and her mother popped her in the back of the head.
“Yes, Lenny, I’ll tell her,” Cindy said with another eye roll. “That’s sweet… yes, I’m sure she knows that. All right, we’ll be by next week, and you can watch the video, I’m sure. Okay… Lenny… Lenny, I’ve got to go. All right, bye.” Cindy hung up the phone, but there was a slight smile on her face.
“He was able to call you?” Mary asked.
“Yeah, he went back to prison as a hero,” Cindy said, shaking her head but smiling all the same. “The warden likes him now, and he’s able to have a few more personal calls than he used to.”
“How are he and Hannah doing?” Mary asked.
“Really well,” Cindy said. “I’ve got to be honest; I wasn’t sure what to expect from him. When the doctor told me I couldn’t give my daughter my kidney, I panicked. I didn’t want her to have to be on dialysis all year waiting for a match. I didn’t think Lenny would do it, but he did.”
“He’s her dad,” Ray said. “And despite how bad he has been at filling that role, he’s still her dad. I’m glad he and Hannah are talking. I’m sure that’s good for her, honestly.”
“Yeah, it’s been good for sure,” Cindy said, and her eyes squinted as she looked through the windows of the lobby leading to the theater. “Looks like half the football team is here. Are they volunteering?”
They slipped into the lobby entrance of the school. It was all decked out for the showcase. The students’ headshots lined the wall, and there were stars and a red carpet draped out. “They really do go all out for this thing, huh?” Lilly questioned.