by Carol Wyatt
Cam’s phone buzzed, and she thought it might be a text from Jackie, but it was an email from an address that she didn’t recognize. She thought it was spam but opened it anyway. There was no subject which also made Cam curious.
You can’t be that sensible if you thought that you weren’t going to get caught. But if you’re smart, you’ll end things now.
If you ignore this email, she will get fired. Life will be hell for you at college, right up until you graduate. I’ll make sure of it.
I have sufficient evidence of your affair. Do not contact her again. I’ll be watching.
Cam’s heart thudded in her ears. Her mouth had gone dry as she’d read the email. Who… How…
Cam reread the email, trying to figure out who could have known or how they would have any proof.
She wished she’d read the email when she was safe inside her house instead of closing up the youth center. She locked the door behind her and walked a little faster than she normally did towards her house.
Her breath was visible in the cold evening air. She couldn’t wait to get home. There was something about that email that shook her. Someone had been watching them.
Cam had thought that they were being careful. They hadn’t been out in public together and Jackie’s street was quiet. She didn’t think anyone would have noticed Cam coming or going.
When she got home, Cam turned on almost every light in the house. She flopped down onto the couch after she’d hung up her coat and scarf.
She took out her phone and read over the email one more time. She couldn’t make any sense of the sender’s address. It was very ordinary.
Cam’s first reaction was to call Kayla, but she couldn’t. She wouldn’t be able to tell her what was going on. How could she explain this crazy email without telling her about Jackie?
Then she wanted to call Jackie, but would this person somehow know that she’d contacted her? That’s what she’d promised in the email, that she’d be watching. But how far would this person be able to go with that promise? Her phone couldn’t be tapped.
Cam didn’t want to worry Jackie either but what was she going to do? She couldn’t risk going to see her.
What if the person that sent that email was serious? Cam couldn’t risk it.
A tear fell and hit her phone. Cam wiped it away with her sleeve. She hadn’t even realized that she was crying. They should have just waited.
Who would care this much to blackmail her? She didn’t think she had any enemies. Did Jackie?
Chapter 31
Jackie hadn’t heard from Cam all day, but she was coming over later on tonight so Jackie didn’t think too much of it.
She was looking forward to New Year’s for the first time in a long time. Normally, she just went to Linda’s party because she felt like she had to, that it would be weird to stay at home and ring in the New Year alone.
This would be the perfect end to probably the best Christmas break that Jackie had ever had. She felt relaxed, refreshed, and happy for the first time in a long time.
Jackie had sent Cam a text saying that she had the fire on and had already opened a bottle of Merlot to breathe. That was almost an hour ago, but Jackie just assumed that Cam was busy getting ready.
Jackie poured herself a glass of wine and brought it into the living room. She picked up her book from the coffee table and got comfortable on the couch.
Two hours later, she’d drank half a bottle of wine and was almost finished with the book she was reading. But there was no sign of Cam and Jackie was starting to get worried.
If she’d gotten delayed, Cam would have sent her a text or called. Jackie double checked her phone. There were no messages or missed calls.
Jackie swore under her breath. She couldn’t get in her car. She’d had too much wine. She was tempted to send Kayla a text and see if Cam was with her, but she couldn’t. What excuse would she have for asking Kayla?
Jackie topped up her glass. She was probably just overreacting. There had to be a good reason. Something to do with the youth center or her parents, maybe?
She’d wait until tomorrow to get in touch with her. She didn’t want to seem too needy, but she hoped that Cam was okay.
Chapter 32
Cam stared at the ceiling, wide awake at six am which wasn’t exactly like her. She normally had to drag herself out of bed.
Last night, she’d spent hours tossing and turning. When she finally did fall asleep, she woke up a few hours later, covered in sweat, vaguely remembering someone chasing after her in a dream.
Cam threw back the covers and went straight into the shower. She was restless and even though her stomach was rumbling she didn’t feel like eating. She felt sick.
As soon as she got out of the shower, she started packing a bag. She couldn’t stay here. She felt like someone was sitting outside, watching her every move. Even though that was highly unlikely that was how she felt.
She’d go to Kayla’s. She lived on her own and she’d always made it clear that she would be there for Cam if she needed her.
Cam got dressed and dried her hair, throwing her bag over her shoulder and got into her car. She was at Kayla’s twenty minutes later. She thought to grab a coffee from the deli around the corner from her place because Kayla would probably be asleep.
Cam pulled into Kayla’s driveway, parking behind her Jeep. It was just after seven o’clock. Cam glanced up at Kayla’s bedroom window. The curtains were still closed but it was freezing, and Cam hoped that the cup of coffee she was holding would be a sufficient peace offering.
Cam knocked firmly on her door and a half-asleep Kayla answered a few minutes later.
“What’s wrong?” Kayla asked, leaning against the door, her hair disheveled.
“I uh… It’s a long story but I was kind of seeing someone that I shouldn’t have been.”
“Come in,” Kayla said, reaching for her hand.
“I brought you coffee,” Cam said with a weak smile.
“Thanks… So, who was it?”
“I can’t say… It’s over though. I just wanted to get away from my house for a few days because I’m pretty sure she’s going to try and see me.”
“You broke it off?” Kayla asked, as she lead them into the living room.
“Yeah… Things were getting weird.”
“Please tell me that you don’t have a jealous husband hunting you down.”
“No… But it’s not a great situation… For either of us. I just needed to get away and I didn’t know where else to go.”
“Well, you can stay here as long as you need,” Kayla said as she took a sip of coffee.
“Thank you,” Cam said as she sat down on the couch.
She had no idea how she was going to get through the next few weeks. She wouldn’t be in any of Jackie’s classes, but she knew she’d see her around campus. Cam knew where her office was. She could go and see her, try and explain what happened, that it had nothing to do with her, but she didn’t want to risk whoever was blackmailing her finding out.
Cam could feel Kayla’s eyes on her, probably wondering what sort of trouble she’d gotten herself into. She wished she could tell her but there was no point now. It was over.
Chapter 33
3 Months Later
Cam strolled down the street, heading for one of her favorite coffee shops. She left her jacket at home, the warm sun on her skin only improving her mood slightly.
It was a beautiful spring day, but Cam was as depressed as she was on New Year’s Eve, daydreaming about what might have been. She was supposed to be spending the night with Jackie in New York City. Instead, she’d went to bed at eleven o’clock that night after drinking too much wine at Kayla’s house.
Kayla had wanted her to come out. She said that she was going out with some of the women from the softball team, but Cam couldn’t face people. She knew that Jackie probably wouldn’t be there, but she still couldn’t find the energy to go out and try and be happy.
Tha
t was three months ago, and she didn’t feel much better now. She thought that it would get easier as the days and weeks went by, but it wasn’t.
Cam never felt more alone in her life. She couldn’t talk to anyone about what happened. She never told Kayla the full story.
Kayla had just assumed that Cam was dating someone who was married or already in a relationship and Cam had let her. It was easier than trying to explain how she was being blackmailed by someone she didn’t even know.
College was awful. Cam didn’t know how she was getting through it without her grades suffering too much.
Cam was constantly afraid of bumping into Jackie. She didn’t think that she could handle it. She’d probably have a breakdown and tell Jackie everything.
Thankfully, she’d managed to avoid her so far. She’d had dozens of missed calls from Jackie on New Year’s Day especially but almost every day since Cam had gotten a text or phone call.
Cam had ignored them all. It was so hard, knowing that she could just swipe her finger across the screen and hear Jackie’s beautiful voice, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t be responsible for Jackie losing her job, so she let that email continue to dictate her life.
Cam did listen to one voicemail though. It was from January 3rd and it nearly brought down the towering wall that Cam had built up to protect herself.
Jackie was so upset. Cam could hear the desperation in her voice when she played back the message. Jackie just wanted to know that she was okay.
That was the last message that Cam had listened to. She’d deleted all the rest as soon as they came in, not wanting to tempt herself.
She didn’t know how Jackie wasn’t mad at her. Cam thought that she would be furious if their positions were reversed, if Jackie had just vanished without a word.
Cam knew that if it was her leaving those messages, she’d be asking how she could have been dumped without actually being dumped. She’d have asked Jackie to just say it. But Jackie’s voice was weak in that message, like she’d been crying or on the verge of it. There was no anger in her voice and that made Cam feel even worse.
The youth center was the only thing that kept Cam going and got her out of bed each morning. Knowing that she would be able to give these kids professional advice was the only thing that kept her motivated at college.
Cam was spending even more time at the center now. She organized more meetings and fundraisers. She just wanted to stay busy. Time to herself was the last thing Cam wanted. Her mind always drifted to Jackie and those few amazing days they had together when they were honest with each other.
Cam spent all of her time now either at college, studying at home or at a coffee shop or at the youth center.
She pulled open the door of her favorite coffee shop that was only a few blocks away from her house. Today she was meeting Dave, who’d been coming to their Saturday morning meetings for a few weeks now.
He was a senior in high school, but he was already an extremely talented website designer and he’d offered to make a site for the youth center. Today, he was going to show Cam what he’d put together and she couldn’t wait to see it.
Cam found him sitting in a booth in the corner with his black laptop open in front of him. He smiled when he looked up. Cam waved as she stood in line to get herself a cappuccino.
Cam slid onto the brown leather seat next to him a few minutes later. “How are you?” she asked him as she took a sip of her coffee.
“I’m great. Thanks. You?”
“Excited,” she said with a smile. “Show me what you’ve got.”
“So, it’s really easy to use,” Dave said as he typed in the site’s address and started showing her around the website.
Cam was surprised how easy he made it seem now that he’d done all the hard work and got the website set up.
“So, is this what you want to do?” Cam asked him when he’d finished showing her everything.
“Yes and no… I love programming and making sites like this but I’m pretty good at stuff that I shouldn’t be doing… If you know what I mean.”
“Like hacking?” Cam guessed.
“Yeah.”
“There’s probably a legit way to do that though. Working for a security company maybe?”
“Yeah. I haven’t decided where I’m going to go to college yet but I’m keeping an open mind.”
“Thanks for doing this,” Cam said, bringing her mug to her lips. “It means a lot.”
“I only heard about the youth center from a friend. I’d searched online for something like it but the center never came up. This is going to help people find you guys so I’m happy to do it.”
“Thanks,” Cam said with a smile.
“No problem. If there’s ever any problems, just let me know.”
A crazy thought popped into Cam’s head. Her mind was racing as Dave reached for his bag, gathering his things.
“Hey, Dave… Hypothetically speaking, can you trace emails?”
“Yeah. You want to know who sent you an email?”
Cam nodded. “But I don’t want to put you under any pressure to do it… Especially if it’s illegal.”
“Is the email in any way threatening or harassing?”
“Yeah.”
“It’ll only take a few minutes.”
“You’re sure?” Cam asked, feeling her heart rate increase.
“Yeah. I got cyber bullied last year in school and I traced down who sent me those emails. It’s easy. Here,” he said, turning his laptop to face her. “Log in to your email.”
Cam typed in her information and found the threatening email. It was cryptic enough, so she was okay with him seeing it. Jackie’s name or position were never mentioned.
Cam turned the laptop back to Dave and tried to wait patiently as his fingers flew over the keyboard. She had no idea what he was doing but her adrenaline was pumping.
If Dave gave her a name, she didn’t know what she would do with it. She couldn’t turn it over to the police. Would she be able to go to Jackie?
“Here you go,” Dave said, turning his laptop back to her.
Cam’s eyes scanned over all the code and numbers until her eyes fell on a name.
Megan Donovan.
“That’s who sent the email,” Dave said, his finger pointing to a series of numbers on the screen. “And that’s her IP address. Do you know her?”
“No.”
“Well, it’ll be easy enough to find her. That IP address will seal it if you’re going to press charges.”
“Thank you. You have no idea,” Cam said, a smile tugging at her lips. “I’ll just take a photo of all this,” she said, holding her phone up to the screen to capture the name and IP address.
“It’s no problem.” Dave closed his laptop and slid it into this backpack. “I have to get going though. See you next week.”
“Bye. Thanks, Dave,” she called after him, feeling a rush of emotions.
She didn’t know whether to be happy or relieved or furious. She had a name. But who was she? Who was Megan Donovan?
Cam took out her phone and Googled the name in quotations. Pages and pages of results came up, so she tried to narrow it down by typing in some local towns.
Eventually, after scrolling through pages and pages of results she found something she recognized: her college.
Megan Donovan worked in the English department at her college. Why would she do this? Cam had to talk to Jackie.
There was no way that this Megan would be able to follow her every move. Once Cam had taken her threat seriously, Megan probably wasn’t keeping as close an eye on things. Three months had gone by.
How did she find out that they were having an affair in the first place? Cam still couldn’t figure out how they could’ve gotten caught.
Chapter 34
Jackie changed into her running clothes and laced up her white and blue running shoes as she sat on the edge of her bed. Her black hair was already tied back in a ponytail and she made her way out into t
he living room to do a few stretches before she left.
The weather was improving, and she was hoping that it would help get her out of the dark funk she’d been in since the holidays. She needed to get back into running. She knew it was good for her both mentally and physically.
She bent over and did a few more stretches before reaching for her headphones that were on the narrow wooden table beside her front door.