by K. C. Crowne
“Jenny?”
“Yes, who’s this?” the girl responded.
I was boiling with rage, but I took a few deep breaths to calm my emotions before speaking. I knew she was easily scared. Better to go in with kindness than anger.
“It’s Charlotte Grey. I was hoping you had a moment to talk?”
“I--You need to talk to my lawyer,” she stammered. “I’m sorry, Charlotte.”
“Sorry about what?”
“I can’t talk to you. You need to talk to Peter… err, I mean my lawyer. All communication should go through him.”
“Jenny, please, I’m not angry with you,” that was a bold-faced lie, but I pulled it off well. “I just want to know why you’re doing this. After everything I did for you… did Peter put you up to this?”
“I’m sorry, Charlotte.” Was she crying?
“Sorry for what. Please, Jenny, just help me understand what’s happening here. Are you sleeping with Peter? Did he ask you to turn against me?”
“It’s not like that, Charlotte. It’s not-- I’m so sorry, but you’re the one who left him and ran away with your lover. You hurt him.”
She was rambling and crying, her words coming out fast, and she wasn’t making much sense, but I picked up on everything. I picked up on what she wasn’t saying as much as what she was saying.
“So he did put you up to this? Do you know he punched me, Jenny? He gave me a black eye.”
“No! No, he’s not like that,” Jenny said. “He’s a good man. He deserves a good wife, someone who won’t leave him like--like you did.”
“I left him because he hit me, Jenny. If you’re involved with him, it’s only a matter of time before--”
“I don’t believe it. I’m sorry, Charlotte, but you need to talk to Peter.” She was still crying, and I could tell she wasn’t completely sure of herself. She was stuttering and still fumbling with her words. She wanted to pretend to be confident, but it was clear she wasn’t.
But she believed Peter, clearly. She was led on by his smile, the warmth he exuded whenever he met someone that could benefit him. His charming good looks, and of course, all that money too. He probably promised her European getaways in his family’s private jet - something she probably couldn’t experience otherwise.
And I knew Jenny, the girl from a lower middle-class family who had to work hard for everything she ever had. She had big dreams. Peter offered her everything she could ever want and served it to her on a silver platter.
I remembered being that girl. Not lured in by money, but by stability. After leaving Eli, what I needed was to not be alone, and he seemed to know that and made sure to always be there for me, even if just physically.
Before Jenny hung up on me though, I had to get a few words in. “I offered to pay for you to go college, Jenny. That wasn’t Peter. That was me. I saw something in you. You’re talented, and I knew if you’d had the opportunity to go to college, you’d be successful one day. Do you really think this is the way to make it big? To break into the business through lies and social media drama? Because if so, you’re mistaken. Peter isn’t going to support your dreams -he’s going to use you and spit you out once he’s done with you. You deserve better than relying on a man like that.”
The line went dead before I could say anything more.
God, I just hoped she remembered what I’d done for her.
What I was still willing to do for her because I believed in her.
And she was willing to throw it all away over an abusive asshole.
Ooo000ooo
About an hour later, there was a knock on my door.
“Come in.”
Eli stepped into the room, worry lines on his forehead.
“Let me guess, Peter has spread even more lies to ruin my reputation.”
“No, not at all. I just got off the phone with Jenny, and it’s really strange.”
I perked up, hopping from the bed and standing in front of Eli, hopeful about what he was going to say.
“And?”
“Well, she seemed to think I was a lawyer,” he said, a cocky smirk. “I seem to be good at that today or something. But anyway, I asked her for the digital proof she had, but before I could finish my request, she told me she’s done, she’s deleting all her accounts and that she’s sorry.”
“Wait, all of them? Her blog and Instagram were already pretty popular before all of this, they meant the world to her.”
I hurried over to the laptop Eli had given me earlier and searched for Jenny’s gardening and landscaping accounts.
Her Twitter and Instagram were gone. Deactivated. Not even a note to explain why, nothing. Just gone.
Her blog, however, was still there. And there was a new entry titled, I’m sorry.
I clicked on it, and the only thing it said in large letters was.
I’m sorry, Charlotte. I’m going to fix this.
“Holy crap,” I said, leaning back in the chair. “She’s going to come clean about everything.”
Relief washed over me, though I had to admit, something felt off about all of this. Why would she delete her accounts if she planned to fix things? She should have shared the truth there. Based on her reaction on the phone earlier, I thought maybe she was feeling emotional.
“I’m going to call her,” I said.
“What? You don’t have her--”
“I do. I called her earlier, and I suspect that’s why she’s changing her tune,” I said.
Eli gave me a look, cocking his head to the side. I didn’t care if he was disappointed in me, clearly it worked. Clearly, I’d gotten through to her.
The phone rang and rang before going to voicemail.
“This is Jenny. Please leave a message.”
I rambled a bit - “Hey Jenny, I saw your blog post and all your deleted accounts. It sounds like you want to make things right and I really appreciate it. Please call me so we can talk. And thank you for doing the right thing in the end.”
I hung up. “Voicemail,” I said to Eli, likely stating the obvious. “Hopefully she’s okay. She was really emotional when we talked earlier.”
“I would guess so. It’s not easy to be confronted by the person whose life you’re trying to destroy with your lies.
I plopped back down on the bed, feeling both relaxed and exhausted now that it appeared things were going to get better.
“Yeah, I imagine so. Once I got through to her, reminded her of everything I did for her, and how Peter was just using her-- I think it made her realize what she was doing. Hopefully she no longer believes his lies. She’s a good girl, she deserves better than Peter.”
“Hopefully she came to her senses then,” Eli said.
No scolding me for making the call earlier, or even asking why I hadn’t told him. After living so long under Peter’s thumb, I had expected some line of questioning from Eli, but if he was upset at me for calling her without asking, he didn’t let it show.
Chapter 12
Eli
My phone buzzed with a new alert. Jenny’s name had finally come up online.
A week had passed, and Jenny’s social media accounts were still gone. Her blog went down a few hours after everything else, including the apology to Charlotte. Jenny’s voicemail was full, and no one was answering when we tried to call. Eventually, the calls stopped going through, and I told Charlotte that it appeared Jenny got rid of that number.
I clicked on the link and waited for the news article to load. I was hopeful that she was talking to the press and finally coming clean about everything.
The title confused me right from the start.
Local Red River Girl Found Dead From Suicide.
What did that have to do with Jenny, I asked myself as I scrolled through the article.
Then my heart stopped.
Jennifer Hancock, 21, was found dead in her apartment in Red River, Tennessee.
The article stated the cause of death was from hanging.
“Shit,” I mutte
red, my heart going out to the girl. I didn’t know her, but from everything Charlotte had told me, she didn’t deserve to go out like this. She was troubled, clearly, but Charlotte insisted she was still a good person and I believed her.
“What happened now?”
I hadn’t heard anyone come down the steps into the kitchen. I looked up and found Charlotte staring at me with wide eyes.
“I have some bad news about Jenny,” I told her.
“Why? What happened? Is she back online?” Charlotte rushed over and joined me at the kitchen table.
“Not exactly,” I said. I wasn’t sure the best way to tell her the news, or how to prepare her for the bomb I was about to drop. Instead, I simply handed her the phone.
Her brow furrowed as she read the headline, seemingly confused at first. Then she kept reading, and her face turned white.
“She’s-- She’s dead?” she asked.
“It appears so,” I said softly. “I’m so sorry, Charlotte. I know you really wanted to help her.”
“They said she killed herself a few days ago, so just a couple days after I called her,” Charlotte covered her mouth with her hands. “Oh God, do you think I--”
“No, I don’t think you had anything to do with this, Charlotte. There was far more going on in her life, this went deeper than her accusations. She was caught up in something bigger than she could handle.”
“Do you think Peter--”
“I don’t know. I think we should rule him out as a suspect. I mean, the girl was literally ready to expose the truth and make things right. What would that have done to his reputation?”
“But it says she died by suicide, that she hung herself.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time that a murder was made to look like a suicide.”
Charlotte leaned back into her chair, her hands covering her face. She breathed deeply a few times, as if intentionally counting her breaths before speaking.
“That poor girl… I just want to find out what happened to her.”
“Me too,” I said.
“Eli, I’m so sorry for dragging you into all of this. I had no idea anyone would die because I left Peter.”
Tears welled in her eyes, and I rushed to her side, taking the seat next to her instead of sitting across from her. I wrapped my arm over her shoulder and let her fall into me, burying her face away as I smoothed the hair on the back of her head.
“It’s going to be okay. I’ll get to the bottom of this,” I whispered. “I promise you, if Peter killed her, he will be behind bars.”
Charlotte lifted her head up and her blue eyes looked so pitiful and full of pain.
“Thank you, Eli.”
Her words honestly surprised me.
“For what?”
“For being here for me, even after everything I’d done to you. For just-- being one of the good guys. I didn’t realize how few men like you there are in the world until now. I really can’t believe I let you get away all those years.”
“Shh, let’s not worry about the past.”
“I can’t help it. I see how you handle everything - you’re so caring, so compassionate. You never even met Jenny and yet you want to get justice for her. It’s seriously amazing, so thank you.”
She raised her head and before I knew what hit me, her lips pressed against mine.
Her tears soaked both of our cheeks and my beard. I held her face in my hands, fighting the urge to keep her close to me, to keep kissing her, but I gently pushed her away. She rested her forehead against mine and closed her eyes.
“I’m sorry, I’m just--” She didn’t finish her sentence, so I did.
“You’re emotional and vulnerable. You need to feel loved; I get it. And I do love you, Charlotte, but this isn’t the time for us to explore our feelings. We need to get through this first and see how you feel on the other side. If you still want to kiss me then, by all means, I’ll kiss you back. But until then, we need to take things slow.”
She nodded and slipped out of my arms, wiping at her cheeks with her hands.
“Jenny didn’t deserve this,” she said.
“I agree. And neither did you,” I said. “I’m going to make some calls, see if I can find out more about this case.”
“I appreciate it so much, Eli. I really do.”
“I know,” I said.
“I get the feeling that even if this didn’t involve me at all, you would still want to get to the bottom of this.”
“I would,” I said. “A young woman is dead, and I would want justice to be served if someone is behind this. Doesn’t matter if it’s Peter or some random off the street. I started the security company with my brothers to help people, and that’s what I intend to do.”
She sighed and looked down at her hands. She muttered something like, “I was such a stupid girl,” but I didn’t hear all of it.
I didn’t ask her to repeat herself.
I just said, “You need to stop beating yourself up over the past, Charlotte.”
And I left it at that.
I stepped out of the room and dialed the local sheriff who just happened to be a friend of mine.
Ooo000ooo
“Yeah, Teddy, what do you got?”
I had called the sheriff about an hour before and was surprised he called me back already.
“So, I spoke with the sheriff handling the case, and based on all the evidence, I can say that without a doubt, this one looks to be a suicide.”
“No sign of any foul play?”
“No foul play, no. In fact, cameras caught her buying the rope at the local home improvement store about an hour before she likely killed herself. She was alone at the time it happened, that was verified. However, there is something worth noting here.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked.
“Yeah, so the victim’s body had a few bruises, mostly on her face. Nothing that would have happened during the actual suicide.”
The blood in my veins ran cold. That bastard… He hurt more than just Charlotte, and I knew it in my heart that Peter was the one behind that.
“You’re absolutely certain it wasn’t a homicide?”
“Well, no, I can’t be 100%. I’m not on the case or anything, but based on what the sheriff told me, I believe him. There is enough proof that she planned this out and executed it herself.”
“What kind of proof?”
“I can’t give you details in an ongoing case, Eli.”
“So there is a case? They’re investigating this?”
“They’re looking for the person who hurt her, yes. Not because they believe that person murdered her, but they would like to ask them some questions.”
“What if I told you I knew who hurt her.”
“And do you have proof?”
Dammit. “Not really, but he’s hurt someone else in a very similar fashion.”
“Would this person be willing to talk to the cops, to press charges?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, unless they’re willing to come forward and offer up some proof, I’m not sure there’s much the cops can do. They can’t bring someone in without a reason.”
I sighed and leaned back in my chair. I knew he was right. Charlotte would have to talk to the cops. At least then, they might have reason to suspect Peter and look into the matter. Who knows what they might find out once they dug beneath the surface?
But since Charlotte’s face was already mostly healed up, it would really come down to her word against his, and the idea of putting Charlotte into Peter’s warpath didn’t sit well with me.
Then again, it wasn’t my choice.
I knew Charlotte wanted to get to the bottom of this, for Jenny’s sake, and that was her decision to make.
Chapter 13
Charlotte
I’d been in contact with the Red River sheriff’s department. I had talked to them over the phone, and even asked if they’d like for me to come home to file my statement in person. No response. The stress of the
situation was weighing on me as the days went by. Before long, I realized that it had been at least two weeks since the sheriff said, “they’d call me if they had any questions” and it was clear that they couldn’t care less about the fact that Peter was responsible for hitting me, as well as hitting Jenny.
My stomach twisted and turned; the anxiety was literally eating me up.
Or was there something more than anxiety at play here?
I checked the calendar on my phone. My period was four days late.
I was never late. Of course, I knew stress could contribute to missed periods, but deep inside of me, I knew exactly what was happening. Because I’d been there before.
I went through the mental checklist.
Over the last couple of days, I couldn’t even think about eating breakfast. My stomach protested the moment I woke up every day, and it continued until well after noon. I couldn’t even go downstairs while Eli made breakfast, the smell alone turned my insides. I stayed in my room, pretending to sleep in while I hugged the porcelain god.
At night, the indigestion was nearly unbearable. I struggled to sleep as my throat felt like it was literally on fire, even as I cut out most of the food that could trigger such a reaction.
It’s probably not food or stress causing any of this, Charlotte.
Shit. Don’t you think I know that? I argued with myself.
I paced the bedroom, trying to think of a way to get my hands on a pregnancy test. But how? I couldn’t add it to the shopping list and expect Eli or one of his brothers to pick it up without asking questions. If it was negative - and I knew, in my heart, that was a very big if - I would cause a lot of drama for nothing.
And considering what had happened in the past, the last time I was pregnant, the last thing I wanted to do was have this conversation if I didn’t have to.
Tears already stung at my eyes, thinking back to when I had these exact same symptoms. The only other time my period had ever been late. Back then, I hadn’t recognized all the symptoms; it took me longer to break down and take a test. I was older and wiser now though, and this wasn’t my first pregnancy rodeo.