THE VIRTUOUS CON

by Maren Foster

  “They were ugly. All kinds of graphic things I’d rather not talk about. Guys saying they’d rape me so violently that I’d be wishing they’d go easy on me like Nate had. Guys saying they would rape and then murder me to teach all women a lesson.”

  “Oh my God.”

  I let out a deep sigh. “I kept them all in case you want to see them. Some were online.”

  “One other thing. Were you and your friend having an affair?”

  “Adam?” I said.

  “Yes,” she said.

  “No. We grew up together. We were in love, I guess we always had been, but we didn’t act on it,” I lied. “We were planning to move home. He was there for me through what was a really tough time, and I guess I was there for him too. His wife had just died. He wanted to sell his house. He didn’t want to stay here without her.”

  “Okay, we are going to need you to come down to the station to sign some paperwork, including a statement about what happened tonight. You can stop by first thing tomorrow.”

  “Okay. Should I call my lawyer?”

  “If you want to, sure, but the statement will just be a written transcript of what you’ve told us tonight.”

  “Okay. I’ll be there first thing tomorrow.”

  I got my cell phone, went up to my bedroom, closed the door and called my sister.

  She answered on the second ring, “Hey.”

  Phew! “Hey, I need help.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I think so, but there’s been a terrible fight. Adam and Nate are both dead. I just gave a statement to a detective from the Greenwich Police Department. She wants me to come in first thing tomorrow morning to sign a witness statement. I don’t know whether I need a lawyer.”

  “My God. Yes, you do. I’ll book a flight right now,” she said.

  “You don’t need to come out here.”

  “Yes, I do. I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer,” she said.

  “Okay. Will you book a one-way ticket then and drive back with me tomorrow?”

  “You are planning to drive home tomorrow?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Are you packed?”

  “Yes. First thing tomorrow we can go to the station to review and sign the statement. Then we can hit the road.”

  “Oh, okay. Yeah, why not?”

  “Okay, I just found a seat on the last flight out tonight. It leaves in two hours so I have to go.”

  “Thank you!”

  “Of course. Gotta go.”

  “Love you!” I said.

  “Love you too.” She hung up.

  There were still a few forensic investigators in the foyer when I went back downstairs. Now it really looked like a crime scene. A large section of the area rug had been removed, but there was still quite a bit of dried blood on the remaining section. There was crime scene tape around the front of the house and haphazardly hanging off the front hall staircase. The floor of the den and front hallway were covered in dirty shoe prints, wet from a recent summer shower.

  I found the keys to the house that I had given to Nate. They were laying under the table. My purse was much lighter for the weight of Nate’s gun, which had been taken as evidence. My boxes and suitcases were piled up in the back of my s.u.v. I opened the hatch door of Adam’s car and pulled out the two big suitcases he had packed for himself. I squeezed them into the back of my car. Adrienne will want these. I put my overnight bag and my purse on the passenger seat.

  I opened the garage door manually. By the time I was back in the car I could see the news crews beginning to move. I turned the key in the ignition, and drove out onto the driveway. I had to get out and manually put the garage door down. As I did, the news crews surrounded me.

  The lights on their cameras lit up the driveway and the questions started: “Wyn, what happened?”; “Wyn, did you kill your husband?”; “Did he attack you?”; “Wyn, did Nate kill Adam or did you kill them both?”

  Not tonight boys, it’s over!

  I got back in my car and slowly maneuvered past them. In the rear view mirror I watched them follow me back down the driveway.

  I pulled into my garage and didn’t get out until the garage door was closed. I tried to wait up for Ali but fell asleep on the couch. She knocked on the front door to wake me up. I let her in and threw my arms around her. She reciprocated and held me tight.

  “Hey, are you okay?” she asked.

  “I’m alive,” I said.

  “Yeah, wow, I can’t believe Adam is dead.”

  “I know. It happened so fast. There was nothing I could do.”

  “Let’s get some sleep and then we should talk about what happened and what you told that detective before we go to the station.”

  “Okay. I’ll make breakfast before we go.”

  The detective led us back to an austere room, where we were asked to wait. She asked to take a look at my cell phone. Ali gave me a critical look but I nodded.

  “It’s fine,” I said and handed it to the detective. Anything they could use against me they should already know. There’s nothing left to hide. I’m finally free. He was the monster. I did nothing wrong.

  We waited silently until the detective came back and handed me my cell phone and a sheet of paper. “Please read this carefully and if you believe that this is an accurate reflection of your statement regarding the events of February 27th, please sign on the line at the end. This witness statement can be used in a court of law. It will be entered into the file as evidence in the case.”

  “Thank you,” Ali said and took the paper. “Please give me a few minute to consult with my client.”

  Ali studied the statement and then handed it to me. It was all there, factually correct but devoid of the emotion that had coursed through me as I learned that the man I loved was the reason for all of my pain, and then as my rapist plunged a fileting knife through my lover’s heart. The description captured none of it, just words to describe the actions I had witnessed.

  “Does that seem accurate?” Ali asked.

  “Yes.” In our morning preparations in the motel room I hadn’t told her about the revelation about Adam’s role in my original encounter with Nate. I wasn’t sure I would ever tell anyone, but now certainly wasn’t the time.

  “It looks fine to me. Nothing in here contradicts a defense based on self-defense. I think you can sign it.”

  I signed on the line.

  The detective made a copy of the form and put it on the table in front of me. “You’re free to go,” she said. “We’ll call you if we have any more questions.”

  “Can she leave the state?” Ali asked. “She has a vacation planned soon.”

  “No charges have been filed against her.”

  “Thanks.”

  Ali and I got back in my car.

  “There’s one place I need to go before we head out,” I said. I have one last bit of unfinished business.

  “Whatever you need to do,” Ali said.

  Mom

  Friday, June 8, 2018

  Manhattan

  We got on the Pike, drove into downtown Manhattan, and parked near City Hall Park. Ali walked with me along the promenade toward the historic bridge. Spandex-clad runners and cyclists passed us as we made our way to the tower where Nate and I had affixed the lock for a photo op. I took the lock out of my pocket.

  “What is that?” Ali asked.

  I opened my hand and held out the lock.

  Ali pursed her lips and shook her head.

  I wrapped my fist around the lock, wound up, and launched it as far as I could into the heavy morning air. Finally free! I lost sight of it as it disappeared into the East River. As I looked out toward the horizon and the expanse of dark grey water I began to laugh. I laughed until I began to cry. How did it come to this? But as I looked out at the open horizon in front of me and the world beyond the bridge, the vastness before me reminded me that my broken heart was minor in the grand scheme of things. I’m still here. I made it
. I have Ali and Vi. I’ll survive this too.

  I turned to Ali, and she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me. I hugged her back.

  “Okay, we can go now,” I said.

  We walked toward Manhattan. Back in the car I pulled onto the highway heading out of town, and we sat in traffic until we were clear of the sprawling suburbs. We drove in silence and eventually Ali fell asleep.

  I was tired but the desire to be as far away from Greenwich as possible, to feel safe again, kept me going. There’s only one place that I can feel safe now.

  We stopped only for fuel: gas, caffeine, and candy.

  “Thank you for coming all this way for me,” I said to Ali when she woke up.

  “Of course. I know you’ve been through hell. Why wouldn’t I do what I can to help you?” she said.

  “I don’t know, because it was all my fault.”

  “Look, at first I struggled to understand what you did, and my encounter with Nate pales in comparison to what he did to you, but the more I listened and tried to put myself in your shoes, the more I understood. I get it, or at least I respect that you made the choices you thought were best for you at the time. I love you. I forgive you. I don’t want to hear anything else about it. Let’s move on, together.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  She squeezed my hand.

  “How are you? How is Soren? Have you been really busy planning the wedding?” I asked.

  “Soren and I broke up,” she announced without hesitation.

  “Oh no, I’m so sorry. What happened?”

  “I called off the engagement,” she said.

  “What? Why?”

  “Just didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of being married in the end. The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became. I was dreading our wedding day.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” she said. “I am who I am. I don’t need to be married to be happy.”

  “But you were so happy with him for so long. So don’t get married, but did you need to break up?”

  “Well, I broke off the engagement and then he broke up with me. He said he needs some space and time. We’ll see. I’m not sure what will happen now.”

  “I understand.” I squeezed her hand in mine.

  Despite her best attempts, Ali fell asleep as we pulled out of the next rest stop.

  I lost cell reception in the Allegheny forests of western Pennsylvania, and began to flip through the few radio stations that came in.

  “And in the Old Testament we learned about punishment and we learned about what we are called to do when we have been wronged…‘You must purge the evil from among you. The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.’ But in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells his followers, ‘You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you’.”

  I turned the radio off and I drove in silence. An eye for an eye, an eye for an eye. It’s over. Forget it. Let it go.

  An eye for an eye. In the miles upon miles of open road I saw Nate, raising the fileting knife into the air. It happened so fast. Adam laying helplessly in his own blood. An eye for an eye. Nate standing over him…I had no choice…it was self-defense…an eye for an eye. The gun. The explosion. The impact. The blood. An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.

  As I drove toward Toledo, the sky in front of us turned a glorious shade of pink. My cell phone rang.

  “Kristen?”

  “Wyn! I’m so glad you answered! I got you on The Late Late Show two weeks from today.”

  “That’s amazing!”

  “I have a couple other speaking events in the works, too,” she said, “What does your calendar look like this month?”

  “Wide open actually,” I said. “Book anything, everything.”

  “Will do. I will let you know!”

  “Thank you!”

  She hung up.

  “Sorry I fell asleep again,” Ali said.

  “Yeah, it’s fine,” I said. “You took a red eye to New York for me. Sleep.”

  I drove through Gary, Indiana as dusk was taking hold. Rusty colored industrial behemoths stood between the highway and the vast expanse of Lake Michigan. Grey smoke billowed from chimneys, flames danced, bright blue, white, and orange amidst a grey fog. Mustard-colored clouds hung low and heavy in the sky, chimneys spewed flames. The scene was otherworldly.

  I rounded the bend at the south end of the lake and saw the city glowing in the distance. Tears began to roll down my cheeks. All of the pain and for what? How things could have been. I imagined living near Vi in an apartment downtown. Taking a little girl with pigtails to see grandma. There was no man in the scene this time. It was just us.

  We parked in a garage down the street from Vi’s condo. It was late and dark and we left the big suitcases in the back of the car and walked straight to Vi’s building. Jeremiah greeted us.

  “How are you little lady? It’s so nice to see you and your sister again!”

  “I’m fine, thank you, Jeremiah. Yes, I’m back to stay for a while. We both are. How are you?” I said.

  “Great, I’m doing just fine, thank you. You two just go on up.”

  “Thanks.”

  We walked down the hall to Vi’s door. I paused for a minute and took a deep breath. Yes, she will understand. Ali knocked.

  It took a few minutes, but eventually Vi opened the door.

  “Freddie, what on earth are you doing here?” She asked. “Ali!”

  “I’m lucky to be alive,” I said and Vi seemed to understand without knowing more. She held her arms out and I practically ran into them.

  “Thank god, you’re safe,” Vi said. “I love you.”

  “I love you too,” I said, as the tears began rolling down my cheeks.

  Ali joined the embrace, clutching Vi and me from behind.

  “I’m so glad you are both safe,” Vi said.

  “Me too,” I said through tears.

  Vi let go. “Well, come on in. You are welcome to stay as long as you’d like, of course.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  I picked up my overnight bag and carried it to the guest room. Ali came in behind me and closed the door. “Are you going to tell her what happened?”

  “Yeah, I will. I’m just so tired right now. I think I need to get a good night’s sleep first.”

  “You know it will be on the news soon.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “And you know as well as I do that keeping an unbearable secret will eat you up inside.”

  “Mom did it for all those years.”

  “And I think she regrets it now. It didn’t make her happier,” she said.

  “Yeah, I know. I’ll tell her. Just please keep it to yourself for now.”

  “Okay, it’s your story to tell.”

  The next morning Vi made tea and we sat on the couch and talked.

  “So, how long do you think you’ll be in Chicago?” she asked.

  “Not sure, probably a while. I have no reason to go back anytime soon.”

  “What’s your plan while you’re here?”

  “Not sure. I wrote a memoir about everything that happened with Nate. It should be released this spring. My agent is going to try to line up some promotional events before the release.”

  “Oh my gosh, that is wonderful,” she said. “I’m so happy for you.”

  I heard approval in her voice in a way that I had never heard before. Her support was sincere.

  She’s finally proud of me.

  I
nodded, “Thank you, Mom. And Mom, there’s something else I need to tell you.”

  Did you enjoy THE VIRTUOUS CON?

  Please take a moment and leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or your social media platform of choice. Your support means the world.