“I don’t know.”
“He has always been too gentle and kind. I’ve never seen him hurt a fly. He has always been so sensitive. If anything, I thought he let girls walk all over him a little too much.”
“The thing is that everyone has secrets. I mean, not everyone has secrets like Tom, but there are always things that we don't know about our friends and loved ones.”
“I knew that he had some anger issues. He was really mad at me for rejecting him. And he said some awful things to me about my writing. But to do what he did to Caroline? I just never knew he was capable of that kind of evil.”
Aiden shrugs. “Maybe he didn’t know either. Maybe that was the first time he ever did anything like that.”
“That’s no excuse!”
“Yes, I know that. Of course not. But I’m just saying that maybe this was something new that he did. Maybe he didn’t know he was capable of any of that either.”
I stare at him, trying to figure out what he’s saying.
“I’m not taking his side. Not at all, Ellie. I’m just trying to show you that maybe he hasn’t been duplicitous the whole time you knew him. Maybe he just snapped.”
I take in a deep breath and wait a few moments before letting it out. I don't know what to think. Maybe Aiden is right. Or maybe Tom has been this asshole the whole time I’ve known him and I was just completely blind to it. Who the hell knows? In either case, I want the police to find him and I want him to pay for what he did. He really hurt me. And not just me. He really hurt Caroline. He’s a predator. A real predator. And I’ve been friends with him for years. I feel like such a fool.
“C’mon, let’s take a walk.” Aiden tugs on my shirt.
“No.”
“C’mon, please?”
I sigh. I don’t know what it is about being cold, but sometimes staying put and not actually moving a muscle feels warmer than standing up and letting the cold air engulf you completely. Aiden holds out his hand to me with a hopeful look on his face. I can’t say no. Besides, a walk would be good for me. If I can’t bear to go back inside, I can at least stretch my legs out a little bit and get the blood moving through my body.
“Okay, fine.” I finally cave and let him pull me up to my feet. I follow Aiden down the path between the cottages and back up around the other side of the house. At first, I think we’re going to go down to the water, but instead we weave around the whole property going the long way around.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“I don’t know. We’re just walking.”
Holding on to his elbow, I put all of my weight on him. But he doesn’t seem to mind. He’s basically propping me up. I even close my eyes and let him lead me wherever he wants to. I’m utterly exhausted. I’m so tired that I don't want to be here anymore. I can’t bear to. Instead, I just want to be as far away from here as possible - somewhere where people are kind, there is no pain, and the sun is shining and warm.
When we come around the bend toward the front of the Warrenhouse mansion, Aiden stops. Since he’s leading me, I practically run into him. The jolt forces me to open my eyes. At the top of the stairs, I see the police officer who interviewed me, talking to Tom and Carrie and her parents.
All four of them are dressed in their pajamas and wearing thick robes on top of them. Tom, Carrie, and her mom are all wearing long coats and hats. Wait a second. What is going on here? I peer up the steps to make sure that I’m seeing everything right. I don’t know about Mr. and Mrs. Warrenhouse or Carrie, but Tom should definitely not be wearing his pajamas. Or a hat. It’s a small ski cap, but the way it’s tugged so low around his head, it’s covering up practically any sign of where I had hit him with that rock.
Tom sees me from the top of the stairs, but doesn’t acknowledge me at all.
I’m about to go up the steps when Aiden pulls me back. There’s another police officer standing in front and slightly to the side of us and his job seems to be to prevent anyone from going up the stairs.
“What’s going on?” I ask Aiden. He shrugs.
Everyone on the porch is talking in such hushed tones that I can’t hear a thing. So, we stand here watching and waiting. Why aren’t they arresting him? Why are Carrie and her parents talking so much? The police officer is carefully taking notes just like he did with me, without making a move to put his handcuffs on Tom.
And then it hits me.
“Oh my God,” I whisper to Aiden.
“What?”
“He’s telling them that he was asleep the whole time,” I say. “That’s why he’s dressed like that.”
“He wasn’t wearing pajamas before?”
“No, not at all. I mean, he was naked. But the clothes that I saw on the floor were what he wore to the party.”
Aiden shrugs and shakes his head.
“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens,” he says after a moment.
How can he remain so calm and patient? No, I need to stop this. I need to tell them that he’s lying. And if Carrie is saying that he was with her, she’s lying, too. I need to put a stop to this.
I make a move to go up the stairs, but the police officer at the bottom blocks me.
“May I help you, ma’am?”
“He’s lying,” I say loudly. “They’re all lying.”
“Lying about what?”
“I mean, I don’t know exactly what they’re saying but he was not wearing those clothes when I saw him. And if he’s saying that he was asleep the whole time, that’s a lie.”
“Okay, ma’am,” the cop says, continuing to prevent me from going up. “But we cannot allow you to interrupt the interview.”
“What? I’m not going to interrupt anything.”
“You have already given us your statement. Now, we’re trying to get another statement.”
“Even if it’s a lie!” I say. Aiden puts his hand on my arm but I shrug him off. Why is no one believing me? What is going on?
“This is how we do things,” the cop says after a while.
“They’re going to figure it out,” Aiden whispers in my ear, trying to push me away from the porch without much success. But I can’t contain my anger and disbelief anymore.
“You have to ask him to take off his hat!” I scream loud enough for everyone on the porch to hear me. “I hit him with a rock in the temple. I’m sure it left a mark.”
Tom shakes his head and says something to the police officer.
“Please, you have to believe me!” I scream louder.
“Ma’am, if you can’t contain yourself, I’m going to have to put you in the back of the cruiser.”
Aiden grabs me by the arm and pulls me away. “No, that won’t be necessary. C’mon, Ellie. Let’s let them do their job.”
“But they’re not doing their job,” I say as he pulls me away. He’s squeezing the top of my arm so hard that it’s throbbing in pain. No matter what I do, I can’t force him off me.
“Let me go!”
“Not until you calm down.”
“I don’t have to calm down.”
“Yes, you do. Let them do their jobs. They’re going to figure it out.”
“No, they’re going to believe him.”
“Ellie, please. I don't want you to get arrested.”
“I don’t want to get arrested either.”
“What do you think being put in the back of the cruiser means? Those doors don’t open from the inside, you know,” Aiden says, shaking me. He’s holding me by my shoulders, trying to make me focus on him. But all I can see and hear is what’s happening on that porch. I can’t look away.
“I need them to know the truth,” I say, burying my hands in my pockets and sulking. And then, it hits me. Yes, of course!
Chapter 12 - Ellie
When they finally believe me…
I run my fingers over Aiden’s cell phone and everything becomes crystal clear. Suddenly, I remember that Tom still has my phone. He took it away from me. So, he must still have it. Of course, he may
have left it in Caroline’s cottage, but he may have taken it with him.
But wait, he’s wearing different clothes. I doubt that he still has it on him. I look up at him and watch how expertly he is playing the part of the innocent man. The police officer is asking him questions, and he is shrugging and volunteering a lot of information. His shoulders are relaxed. His face doesn’t have a single ounce of tension. Has he always been this good of an actor? Or did he just recently develop this skill?
I always thought that Tom was a good guy. I always thought that he was honest and hardworking. Maybe he was a little put upon, you know he worried a little too much about things that don’t really matter. It’s like he always carried the world on his shoulders. He wanted to be this perfect idea of a journalist that he imagined Ernest Hemingway was and he wanted to live up to someone else’s fiction. He didn’t see people as people, but as stories and illusions of who they were. He believed the myths and he always hated himself for being unable to live up to those myths.
But now, looking up at him standing on that porch, pretending that he did nothing wrong, that he was a complete innocent, I see a completely different man. He’s no longer kind or sweet. He is just as self-absorbed, but not in the romantic way that I was once attracted to. He’s not just cocky and confident. No, he’s more of a psychopath. He is wearing a mask for the world and only I can see the truth. And Aiden, but that’s only because he believes me. No, I have to do something to show his true self to everyone. Without that, the Warrenhouses will never believe me. And neither will Carrie. And despite my feelings about Carrie, she deserves to know the truth about the man she’s about to marry.
“Excuse me!” I yell, running past Aiden and the cop positioned at the bottom of the porch. The only reason I’m able to sneak by is because both of them have let their guard down. And, by the time they realize what I’m doing, it’s too late.
“Ma’am, you can’t be here,” the cop on the porch says to me. His voice is flat and calm. He’s unnerved by my outburst. Carrie, Tom, and the Warrenhouses, on the other hand, all take a few steps away from me. As if they are afraid to catch my crazy.
“Ellie,” Carrie says softly. “Can you please excuse us?”
This isn’t the Carrie I know. She’s quiet and reserved. This is the Carrie that she pretends to be around her parents.
I shake my head.
“No, I’m sorry.”
“How can we help you, miss?” Mr. Warrenhouse asks. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Aiden’s bewildered expression. Suddenly, I remember that his livelihood and the survival of Owl hangs in the balance. It’s all up to Mr. Warrenhouse, or rather Robert. I don’t want to screw that up. Of course not. But they deserve to know the truth.
“I don’t know what Tom told you.” I turn partly to the police officer and partly toward the Warrenhouses. Tom is standing a bit further apart, on the periphery, but still close enough to intimidate me.
I take a deep breath. “I don’t know what Tom told you,” I repeat myself. “Or why he’s dressed in his pajamas and a robe, but I suspect that he is not telling you the truth.”
“How so?” Mrs. Warrenhouse asks.
“I caught him…having sex with Caroline. She was unconscious. Passed out. And when I tried to call the police and report him, he took my phone away and attacked me.”
“I did no such thing!” Tom says. “I was in bed with Carrie the whole time. Tell her!”
“Yes…he…was,” Carries says tentatively. Her statement isn’t as confident or sure as it seemed before. I don’t know if she’s lying or just covering for him, but at this point I don't really care.
“Yes, you did,” I say. “He wouldn’t let me leave. When I finally got out of that cottage, he attacked me. I had to hit him with a rock just to break free.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Tom laughs at me, shaking his head. I look at him and everyone else staring back at me. I have to make them believe me somehow.
“He probably has a mark someplace. I hit him pretty hard around the temple.”
The police officer narrows his eyes. I see him scrutinizing Tom’s appearance. “That’s not true,” Tom says.
“Well, in that case, you wouldn’t mind taking off your hat, would you?” the cop asks. Tom’s face loses all color. It’s as if all the blood drains away from his face.
“Listen, I didn’t tell you earlier because I had no idea she was going to make this kind of accusation. But I fell earlier.”
The rhythm of his speech speeds up. He’s looking for a way out. For a possible explanation for the mark that we both know is there.
“Please remove your hat,” the cop says. We all wait. After a few moments of hesitation, he finally pulls it off. He runs his fingers through his limp messy hair, turning his right temple away from us. But no matter how much he tries to cover it up, it’s there. As clear as daylight. There’s a small cut and bruise, right next to his hairline.
Mrs. Warrenhouse gives out a little gasp.
“I slipped and fell last night. In the bathroom,” Tom rattles off. “I had a little bit too much to drink. But then I was in bed with Carrie the whole night.”
“Is that true, Carrie?” Mrs. Warrenhouse asks.
Carrie nods, looking down at the ground. She’s avoiding eye contact with her mom and all of us. I can see that she’s having doubts and isn’t entirely sure at all. I glance over at the police officer. If he wasn’t having doubts about Tom’s story before, he is now.
“Did you say that he took your phone?” he asks after a moment.
“Yes, he did!” I say. Finally, I feel like I’m making some progress. All the doubts that he probably accumulated in his head are finally starting to add up to something bigger.
I take out Aiden’s phone from my pocket.
“What are you doing?” Carrie asks.
“I’m going to call my phone.”
“I don’t have your phone, Ellie,” Tom says. “I have no idea why you’re doing this. I thought you were my friend.”
This makes me mad. He’s using our friendship to appeal to my sense of empathy. He’s trying to manipulate me. I read that in an article about psychopaths before. That’s their go-to strategy. Normal people have friendships and relationships, and if they are involved with a psychopath in their life, then they are easily manipulated because the psychopath sees nothing wrong with pulling at their heart strings to get what they want.
“I thought you were my friend, Tom. I thought you were Caroline’s. I never expected you to do that to her.”
“I didn’t do anything to her, Ellie. You’re—“
“I’m not wrong,” I interrupt him.
“No, you’re just…mistaken.”
I stare at him. Is he really saying this? The confidence in his voice is unnerving. If I didn’t know the truth, I would be tempted to believe him. Wow. Shivers run down my spine. He’s actually giving me chills.
“No, I’m not.” I dial my number on Aiden’s phone. Please be somewhere around here, I say to myself. It has to be around here.
Of course, I wouldn’t put it past Tom to hide the phone somewhere where no one would find it. Maybe even toss it into the ocean. But I pray that he didn’t think it through that much.
We all wait for a few moments, but we don’t hear anything. After a few minutes, it goes to voice mail. Shit.
“No, no, no. He took my phone,” I insist. “Please, you have to believe me.”
The police officer shakes his head. “It’s fine. I do,” he says unconvincingly.
But that’s not good enough. I dial the number again. Again, we all wait to hear something. Anything.
“Okay, miss, let me finish talking to these people here, okay?” the police officer says to me. “I already have your statement.”
He is escorting me away from them. “If we need anything else from you, I will be in touch.”
He walks me all the way down the stairs and hands me over to Aiden. Aiden puts his arm a
round my shoulders and gives me a reassuring hug.
“It’s going to be okay. They’ll figure it out,” he whispers in my ear. But somehow, that doesn’t make me feel any better. They don't believe me now and there’s nothing I can do about it. I feel tears welling up in my eyes. My throat closes up as I gasp for breath. I’ve become overcome with emotion and regret and there’s nothing I can do to stop any of it. No one believes me. At least no one who really should. Aiden wraps his arms around me and wipes the tears that stream out of my eyes.
“You’re okay. You’re okay,” he whispers over and over.
My nose starts to run and no matter how much I inhale and try to keep it all inside my throat and mouth, all the goop starts to come out. Gross. I turn my face away from Aiden and everyone else as I continue to ugly cry.
Somewhere, in between my gasps for air, I hear the front door to the house open. Through the tears, I can’t quite make out what’s going on. But as I wipe them away and slow down my breathing somewhat, I realize that there’s another police officer up on the porch with them. He’s not the one who I spoke to and he isn’t the one who blocked my entrance to the porch. No, this is someone entirely new. I’ve never seen him before.
“What’s going on?” I ask Aiden. He shrugs.
We watch as the police officer, the new one who is wearing blue latex gloves, shows the other one something. They both turn to face me.
“Is this your phone, miss?” he asks, holding up my phone with a light pink glittery cover.
“Yes! It is. Where did you find it?” I exclaim.
“In Ms. Warrenhouse’s room,” he says. Carrie shakes her head, stepping away from Tom.
“Carrie, no, this is some sort of misunderstanding,” he says, grabbing her hand. But she shakes it off and walks away from him.
“Please, you have to believe me.”
Tom continues to beg and plead, but it’s all to no avail. Carrie and her parents extricate themselves from him and go inside. Tom tries to follow them inside, but the police officer who took my statement takes him by the arm and escorts him down the stairs toward his cruiser.
Black Bounds Page 5