by L. P. Dover
Both men stood from their chairs and shook our hands. Sam was the one who spoke, “Good morning, Ms. Townsend and Mr. Davis, I’m Sam Lennox. Thank you for coming by so quickly.” He motioned toward the other two chairs. “Please, have a seat.”
Cooper and I sat down, and so did Sam and Officer Stilwell, both tense and on edge. Opening up the file splayed in front of him, Sam clasped his hands together and took a deep breath. “Ms. Townsend, before we start, I’m sure you already heard that we’ve spoken to Luke Collins and everything came up clear for him.”
I nodded. “Yes, he came by my house last night.”
Sam nodded and leaned forward on his elbows, glancing back and forth between me and Cooper. “I figured he would considering he was anxious to get out of here and talk to you. Even though his alibi came back conclusive, I still wanted to check around to see if he had any friends that could’ve vandalized Mr. Davis’ car on his behalf.”
“Did you find anyone?” Cooper asked.
Sighing, Sam looked down at the file and pulled out a piece of paper. I couldn’t tell what was on it, but when he peered up at me there was an insurmountable look of concern in his gaze. “Ms. Townsend, there were a few prints that showed up on the knife, including yours, but I know that’s because you were the one who bought it. However, there was the tiniest bit of a print that we detected, and it happens to be someone you know.”
Cooper reached over and took my hand, squeezing it tight. “Who?” I asked.
Almost reluctantly, he slowly handed me the paper, but before I looked down I took a deep, shaky breath. The second I glanced down at the paper I gasped as everything came tumbling down around me. It was definitely someone I knew, and someone who hated me more than the devil himself.
It was Scott’s mother … Marianne Easton.
It’d been two years and she still hadn’t let me live down what happened to her son. I continued to feel guilty over losing Scott, but I wasn’t going to let her torment me anymore … or Cooper for that matter. I let the phone calls slip by and let her grieve by calling me names and cussing me out because I thought it would help her come to terms with what happened. Obviously, that wasn’t the case.
Handing the paper to Cooper, I clenched my teeth and glared at Sam. “Please tell me you have her in custody. I’m done letting that woman ruin my life.”
He shook his head. “No, that’s where our problems come in. I’m familiar with your past with the Eastons and what happened two years ago. Has she tried contacting you at all recently?”
I scoffed, “For the past two years I would get phone calls right around the time Scott died. As you can probably see in the file, the anniversary of the date was two weeks ago.”
“Yeah, I noticed that. After we got the results we tried to contact her, but got in touch with her daughter instead. Apparently, she’s been missing for a couple of weeks now. She said it wasn’t unusual for Marianne to take off for a few days, especially around this time of year.”
The woman had seriously lost her damn mind. “So what happens now? Are we supposed to sit around and wait for her to do something else to us?”
“What about a restraining order?” Cooper cut in.
“We can do that,” Sam advised, “but she’s not going to know there’s a restraining order. From what I read in the file, and from what the daughter has said, it appears there’s been a lot of issues with Marianne’s health. Emily is on her way to Charlotte in hopes that she can find her.”
“Great,” I groaned sarcastically, “now there’ll be two of them in the same city who hate me. They’ve made my life a living hell for the past two years. I thought in time it would all stop, but it didn’t.” Closing my eyes, I sighed and leaned over on my elbows so I could rub my tired eyes. “Are we done here or is there something else you need from me?”
“Actually there is,” Sam mentioned hesitantly. “Although, I’m not too sure you’re going to like it. Emily asked if there was a way she could speak to you when she got here. She told me it was important to the case.”
I snorted and got to my feet. “I’m sorry, Detective Lennox, but I refuse to talk to her. She’s just as bad as her mother. I usually try to see the good in people, but when it comes to them they can go to hell for all I care. I can’t let what happened in the past control my life anymore.”
“I understand, Ms. Townsend,” Sam agreed. “Until we find Mrs. Easton I want you to be careful out there. We don’t know what she’s capable of, or what she has planned, but we will find her.”
Cooper got to his feet and put his arm around me before acknowledging Sam and Officer Stilwell with a nod. “Thank you, gentlemen. We’ll keep our eyes and ears open.”
It looks like I’ll be sleeping with one eye open.
Two Days Later
“Why do you think she’s targeting you?” Kate asked, circling her fingers up and down my bare chest.
It had been two days since we found out it was Scott’s mother who was trying to tear us apart. She still hadn’t been found, but we knew she was out there plotting her next move. We both decided that staying together as much as possible would be our best bet. If Marianne wanted us apart she wasn’t going to get it.
We had just eaten dinner and Kate decided she wanted to watch a movie. It just so happened she picked out Oklahoma, which was a musical my grandmother watched constantly when she was still alive. When she would watch it that was my grandfather’s excuse to take me outside and pass the ball around so he wouldn’t have to hear it. Unfortunately, I didn’t have that option this time.
Tilting her chin up with my finger, I bent down to kiss her lips. “My guess is that she doesn’t want you happy with anyone, love. Maybe she thinks you don’t deserve to be happy,” I told her. “Did you ever try to date anyone after Scott?”
Shaking her head, her hair tickled the skin on my chest as she lifted her gray gaze to me. “No, I never made time for it. You and Luke are the only ones I’ve gone out with recently.”
“Then there’s our answer,” I stated. “She never had a reason to come after you until now. I bet if you would’ve started dating someone before, all of this would’ve happened sooner.”
She laid her head back on my chest and groaned. “Ugh, you’re absolutely right. I never thought about that.”
“Do you want to watch another movie? Or do you want to do something else?” I asked, hoping she’d get the hint.
For the past two days she’d been so stressed over everything going on that every night after dinner she’d basically pass out. I had missed holding her and feeling her touch to the point where I honestly came to the conclusion that I had a problem. I was addicted to her and I needed her … bad.
Giggling, she hopped off of the couch and took off her shirt, her perky breasts peeking up over the top of her bra. Fuck, I wanted to taste her, to feel her beneath me; two days was two days too long. Slowly, she peeled off her shorts, which only left her in her sports bra and thong.
Smiling, she said, “I need to take a shower first before we do anything else. Do you care to join me?”
With my cock as hard as a rock, how could I refuse? “You’re damn right I do. Go get the shower running and I’ll be right there, love.”
I heard her steps pattering up the stairs, and it wasn’t long before the shower water turned on, but unfortunately, the doorbell rang as well. It was most likely Lara, and I was about to send her on her merry way. However, when I answered the door … it wasn’t her.
It was a woman with really short blonde hair—probably in her mid-twenties—dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a yellow tank top. In her hand was a file, and on the label it read Scott Easton.
“Who are you?” I asked, narrowing my gaze at her.
She swallowed hard and cleared her throat, her voice desperate when she spoke, “Look, I know I’m not supposed to be here, but I didn’t know what else to do. I’m Emily Easton. I really need to talk to Kate, please.”
“Why? So you can make he
r life miserable the way you and your mother have done for the past two years? Fuck that. You need to leave … now. She doesn’t want to see you, and she made that perfectly clear to the police.”
Tears began to stream down her face and her lips trembled. “If I could change the way I acted I would do it in a heartbeat. My mother needs help and I’ve been trying to find her, but I don’t know where else to look. I need you to give this to Kate,” she cried, handing me the file. “If I had known the truth, I know things would’ve gone differently. Please tell her I’m sorry and that I regret every mean thing I said to her. She was the one who actually saved my brother in the long run.”
Turning around, she started off down the driveway, wiping her tears along the way. I had no idea if I should believe anything that came out of her mouth or believe what was in the file. For all I knew it was something to try and fuck with Kate some more.
Flipping through my texts, I found the one from Mason with Sam’s number in it. Quickly, I called it, hoping Kate would still be up in her room.
“Sam Lennox,” he answered.
Quickly, I rushed to the opposite side of the house. “Sam, this is Cooper Davis. Emily Easton just showed up at Kate’s house and dropped off a file for her to look at. Do you have any idea what it could be? I would look myself, but I don’t feel right doing that. Kate will be pissed as hell at me if she finds out I called Mason to help her out.”
Sam chuckled. “Yeah, I figured that was the case so that’s why I didn’t mention anything about that the other day. Mason said you were a close friend of his wife’s, so I figured you were a good guy if he thought highly of you. Anyway, I was about to call Ms. Townsend and give her an update. I just finished validating the contents in that file to make sure everything’s legit. Please make sure she reads it. It’s not something she’s going to like, but it’ll shed some light on the whole situation.”
“Have there been any leads on Scott’s mother?” I asked.
“Not yet, but we’re working on it. When we get a lead it’s like she’s one step ahead. I’ll keep you posted though.”
As soon as I hung up, I could hear Kate’s footsteps coming down the stairs. “Cooper, where are you? The water’s getting cold up here.”
With the file in my hand, I met her at the bottom of the steps and watched as her smile slowly disappeared into a mask of confusion. “What is that?” she asked, sweeping a glance toward the file.
“It’s for you, love. Emily Easton dropped it off and wanted you to take a look at it. She said she was sorry for all that she’s done and that you really need to know what’s in the file.”
Kate scoffed, “And you believe her. It’s nothing but lies coming out of her mouth. I don’t want to read that garbage.”
Snatching the file out of my hands, she rushed off toward the kitchen. When I caught her, she was about to throw it in the garbage, but I held out my hand, stopping her. “Don’t throw it away, Kate. I called Sam while you were upstairs and he confirmed everything that’s in the file. Whatever’s in there is true.”
Blowing out a heavy sigh, Kate closed her eyes and pulled the file tighter against her body. “Do you know what’s in it?” she asked.
Rubbing her bare shoulders, I shook my head and bent down toward her ear. “No, love, I don’t. Why don’t we go upstairs and take our showers? Then we can both sit down and look at it together.”
She nodded her head and started up the stairs, holding the folder against her chest. I had no clue what was in it, but I knew whatever it was wasn’t going to be easy. I just knew I needed to be there for her like she was for me.
The tan folder sat on my bed for about an hour while I stared at it in complete silence. What if Emily gave Sam a totally different file than she gave me? Sam didn’t give Cooper specifics on what was in there, so we didn’t know the truth either way, and it was too late in the evening to call him and ask. Cooper kept quiet beside me, tracing his fingers along my arms and my legs in hopes that it would help calm me down. Nothing worked.
“I’m scared, Cooper,” I finally admitted. “I want to know what’s in here, but in a way I don’t.”
Cooper sat up on the bed and pulled me into his body, placing a leg on each side. “I know you’re scared, and believe me, I was scared when I stopped taking my pills because I thought I wouldn’t be able to handle it. But I had you with me to help me through it. Now, I’m here to help you through this. Open the file, love, and let’s find out what’s going on. Scott would want you to know the truth.”
His last comment was all it took. Scott would want me to know the truth, especially if he could see the way his family had treated me over the past two years. Sliding the file toward me, I hooked a finger underneath the cover and flipped it over. Taking a deep breath, I blew it out slowly and gazed down at the first piece of paper. It was Emily’s phone number and a simple phrase of ‘I’m sorry’ written on it.
The next document that came up was a medical bill with Scott’s name on it. Flipping through all of the papers, I saw that they were all medical forms, a ton of them. “Why would she show you his medical bills?” Cooper asked, reading them over my shoulder.
I looked through more papers. “I’m not sure, but there’s a lot. There has to be something that tells us why. All of these bills are for CT Scans, MRI’s, and other types of tests. I don’t get it.”
“Did you know he was going to the doctor a lot?”
My throat tightened and I shook my head. “No, I didn’t. He must’ve gone to them when I was in class.”
By the time I got through all of the medical bills, I came across a DVD in a see-through orange case with my name on it … in Scott’s handwriting. Swallowing hard, I held it in my shaky hands as a tear rolled down my cheek. What could possibly be on it?
“Do you want to see what’s on it?” Cooper asked softly. “I can step out of the room if you want to watch it alone.”
Wiping the tears away, I sucked in a nervous breath and took the DVD out of the case. “No, I need you in here.”
I put the disc in my DVD player and turned on the television. My heart raced and thumped so hard I thought I was going to be sick; especially when I pressed the play button. At first the screen was blue, but then it changed to Scott’s bedroom at his house. It was the same room I found him in.
Immediately, the tears poured down my cheeks and even more so when Scott sat down in front of the camera with the sweetest smile on his face. He had on his favorite Metallica T-shirt, along with the navy blue baseball cap I got him when I went to a medical convention in Chicago. The date on the video read that it was February of 2011. No wonder he looked so different; it was when things with us were perfect and we were happy. It wasn’t until a couple of months after that when everything started going downhill.
“Scott,” I whispered, tracing the lines of his face with my fingers. Cooper was still on the bed behind me while I sat on the floor, staring at what used to be the love of my life. It was like the whole world moved in slow motion until I heard the first words come out of Scott’s mouth.
“Kate,” he murmured sadly. “I don’t even know where to begin. Hell, I don’t even know why I’m making this video, but the therapist I spoke to said it might be a good idea to do this since I’m not exactly the type of person to express my feelings. It’s strange that I can say them to a camera, though. I … I don’t think that makes any sense, but whatever I guess.”
“I didn’t even know he was seeing a therapist,” I cried, peering over my shoulder at Cooper. He didn’t say a word as I sat there and sobbed; he just listened. What kind of therapist was he seeing? I wondered.
Chuckling, Scott looked down at his desk and shook his head, his smile slowly disappearing to a flat line. “I know you’re going to have so many questions, and I’m hoping I’ll be able to answer some of them, but first, I just wanted you to know that I love you. I love you, Kate, and even when I die I will always love you.” He paused for a second, taking a deep breath and th
en another. When he finally looked up at the camera, a tear escaped the corner of his eye and landed right on his desk.
“You see, Kate … there’s something I need to tell you.”
Biting his lip, he stared right at the camera. It was as if he was looking directly at me with those warm hazel eyes that I loved so much. I held my breath and waited on him to tell me, but he didn’t. Instead, he huffed and shot up out of his chair.
“Fuck, I can’t do this.”
Immediately, the camera went blank and that was it, but then it started right back up and the date claimed that it was two days later. This time he was shirtless, and his blond hair was tousled like he’d just woken up.
“Good morning, Kate. I did some thinking the past couple of days while you’ve been busy studying for your exams, and I realized that there’s so much in your life I’m going to miss. Do you hear that sound in the background?” he asked, putting a finger to his lips. I listened closely and it sounded like running water … and me singing.
“Oh my God,” I whispered hoarsely. “I’m there. He’s filming while I’m there.”
“Yes, that’s you singing, Kate. Every morning when you’d get up at the crack of dawn to get ready for school, I’d lie in bed and listen to you. You always thought I was asleep, but I wasn’t. I promise to get to the important stuff soon, but I figured I would show you first why my life has been better with you in it.”
In the background, the shower water stopped running and I could hear myself sliding the shower curtain over. Scott raced back over to the bed and climbed under the covers while I snuck out of the bathroom and grabbed the set of royal blue scrubs I had hanging on the closet door. Once I had them on, I crept out of the bathroom with my towel on top of my head, and tiptoed over to the bed to kiss Scott gently on the cheek.