by Brenda Novak
He scowled. “What are you saying? You think the Mansfields are paying her?”
“Unless she’s started believing her own lies. Or she’s looking forward to being in the spotlight again. She has to have some reason. I’ve fulfilled my sentence, so it can’t be for a conviction.”
“That’s why we both need to be there. To figure it out. So...what do you say?” He lowered his head to see into her face. “It won’t be easy to confront her, but I think we should take her on.”
“Why?” Phoenix asked. “They’ll believe her, like they already do. What they’re really hoping for is to convince you.”
He squeezed her hand. “She won’t be able to, Phoenix. That’s not why I’m going. It’s been so long. Things change. I’m hoping we can get the truth out of her.”
Phoenix didn’t even dare to hope, not after all the letters she’d sent Penny that’d gone unanswered. And not after all the days she’d prayed for a miracle, to no avail. “How? How could we possibly make her admit anything?”
“I’ve been working on that.”
They passed the hardware store, the soda fountain, the dress boutique. “Excuse me?”
“I don’t want to tell you about it yet, don’t want to get your hopes up in case it falls through. But I also don’t want you to worry too much. They’re not going to have quite the advantage they think.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked.
“You’ll see.”
She felt her eyebrows draw together as she looked over at him. “Tell me,” she insisted, but they were already turning into the high school.
“Just trust me,” he said as he parked.
He got out, but she couldn’t bring herself to follow him. Not immediately. So he came around and opened her door.
“I’ll be right by your side,” he said. But in some ways that was worse. They were making a statement and almost everyone would have some reaction to it.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, then let it go in a rush. “I hope Jake does well,” she said again, and climbed out.
26
Phoenix was quiet at the game. Riley was sure she didn’t say more than two words through nine innings. She sat surrounded by his male friends, kept her gaze trained on the baseball diamond and shook her head every time anyone offered her anything—a hot dog or gum or sunflower seeds.
Plenty of people stared at them. Riley could hear whispering, too. Isn’t that the woman who killed Lori Mansfield?...You don’t think Riley’s taking her back, do you?...She’s pretty, you gotta give her that, but shit, how do you take a murderer back into your life, let alone your bed? If he’s not careful, she’ll stab him in his sleep.
He knew that Phoenix could hear them, too, even though she pretended she couldn’t. He wished he could go around and make them all shut up, but those wagging tongues were just something they’d have to endure. Interest would fade with time, as everyone got used to having Phoenix back and seeing them together.
His parents didn’t end up coming. Riley guessed his mother would give him some lame excuse later. She’d say they got too busy or were too tired, but he figured they’d purposely avoided the high school once they learned Phoenix would be there. They didn’t want to be seen with her, didn’t want to be perceived as giving their blessing to his acceptance of her. They were waiting for the big confrontation this weekend, hoping that would set him straight and put them all back on the same footing.
But, God willing, by then he’d have some interesting show-and-tell of his own.
* * *
Jake came over after practice the next few days, and Riley stopped by after work. Phoenix’s trailer was small and hot and far humbler than their house, but they spent a lot of time in it. She assumed they liked that she made them dinner—she had to cook for her mother, anyway—and maybe they enjoyed getting out of their usual surroundings. Because they didn’t even mention the heat or the things she lacked. Neither did they try to convince her to come to their house instead. They seemed content just to be wherever she was.
On Friday, Riley brought over a small TV and a stack of DVDs, and they had a marathon movie night. When Jake fell asleep on the couch around midnight, Phoenix could tell that Riley was tempted to take her into the bedroom. They hadn’t slept together since the cabin. They’d both been working too hard. Or, if they weren’t working, Jake was with them. But as much as Phoenix craved Riley’s touch, she was afraid their son might wake up.
“God, I miss feeling you beneath me,” Riley whispered as he stood behind her in the kitchen, where she’d carried the bowls they’d used for popcorn.
“Maybe we’ll have some time alone this weekend,” she whispered back. But they both knew what was happening tomorrow. He was picking her up at ten and taking her over to his parents’, where the Mansfields and Penny Sawyer would meet them. She wouldn’t be able to sleep a wink, not with that on the horizon.
“You’re not scared to see Penny, are you?” he asked, turning her to face him when she kept on washing dishes.
“I’m terrified,” she said. “I’m afraid you’ll believe her. I wish you didn’t even want to hear what she has to say.”
“I’m not as excited about it as I was.”
She dried her hands. “What does that mean?”
“I had something hopeful going, like I mentioned when we were driving to the game. But—” he grimaced “—it sort of fell apart.”
“What was it?”
“I hired Corinne’s private investigator to do a little work for me, too. Had him do a background search. He even managed to track down Penny’s ex-husband.”
“What did you want with her ex?”
“People share secrets with their spouses all the time. I was hoping he’d tell me that she admitted she was the one who caused the accident.”
“But she didn’t?”
“I personally think she did, but he still feels too loyal to divulge anything that could get her in trouble.”
“So we have nothing. Just more of her lies.”
He rested his forehead against hers. “I’m sorry. I really hoped for better.”
“Does that mean we can cancel tomorrow? Just go on the way we’ve been?”
“Canceling will make me look scared, as if I’m afraid to hear the truth, or I won’t face it. I should go. But I can stand up for you. You don’t need to be there.”
“Heck, no!” she said. “If you’re going, so am I. At least if Penny sees me, it won’t be as easy for her to lie—although she certainly managed it in court.”
“Nothing she could say will ever persuade me that you’re anything less than the wonderful person I know you to be,” he said. Then he kissed her, several times, until their kisses grew heated and she pulled away.
“Not with Jake here.”
He didn’t complain. He just woke Jake and followed him home.
Phoenix thought she’d be alone for the rest of the night, with the next eight hours to dread their meeting. But Riley returned less than an hour later, alone, and stayed until dawn before going back home to slip into his own bed before Jacob could wake up.
* * *
“This feels like Groundhog Day,” Phoenix said as Riley parked at the curb outside his parents’ house.
“Groundhog Day?”
“Haven’t you seen that movie? My mother has a copy. We watched it the night I got home. Bill Murray’s in it. I wasn’t interested enough to pay a whole lot of attention. I was mostly indulging her. But he lives the same day over and over again.”
Riley seemed confused by the comparison. “This day isn’t like any other. You haven’t seen Penny for seventeen years.”
“But I’m heading into treacherous territory—like at the baseball game yesterday, the cabin before that, the restaurant when I first got out of prison. Only—” she bit her lip “—this is the most terrifying.”
“I won’t let Penny treat you badly,” he said.
“It’s your mother I’m worried about. This’ll be the
closest I’ve come to her since we broke up.”
He chuckled. “She’s not as scary as you think. And we’re not broken up anymore. That changes things.”
“We’re not broken up right now. But what happens after we walk into that house and Penny starts spewing her poison?”
“I told you. It won’t change anything between us. I thought last night would’ve convinced you of that.”
“Last night was...memorable.” She smiled playfully. “Let’s go back, take off our clothes and forget all about this.”
He walked around to open her door. “Appealing as that sounds, we have to get through this first. We can’t flinch from it or they’ll think they’ve won.”
She leaned around him to see the front door. “They always win.”
He studied her for several seconds, then frowned as if he was growing uncertain. “Maybe you should stay out here. I have no idea what they might say to you. I can’t stop them from talking, and I don’t want to see you hurt. I’ll call you in if...if it could help.”
“No. I’ve come this far. Let’s see if Penny can lie like she did before, now that I’m no longer a pregnant, panic-stricken, eighteen-year-old facing extensive prison time.”
She climbed out, and he took her hand as they approached the house.
“You don’t have to hang on to me,” she said.
“I know,” he responded, but didn’t let go.
They weren’t late and yet everyone else was already inside. It felt as though her enemies had gathered in advance, so they’d be able to launch a unified attack.
For all her tough words, she found herself gripping Riley’s hand a little tighter.
All eyes immediately turned her way. Phoenix ignored the malevolence on Buddy’s face as well as the somber expressions of the others. She even ignored Riley’s mom. She was most interested in Penny, who glanced up but would not hold Phoenix’s gaze.
“Thanks for coming.” Riley’s mother nodded at Phoenix in a stiff yet polite greeting.
Phoenix nodded back but didn’t speak.
“You two remember Penny.” Helen motioned toward the tall, bone-thin woman several seats away. “I suggest we go ahead and start, get this over with as quickly as possible.”
Corinne took the lead. “Penny, I know it’s difficult to recount what you went through. We cried about it together on the phone. But Helen’s right. It’s better to just...lay it out there.”
They were treating Penny so gently. Lori’s murderer! Phoenix couldn’t believe the irony...
Penny cleared her throat and shifted, but still didn’t speak. So Corinne prompted her again. “Can you tell us what happened the day my daughter was killed?”
It was almost imperceptible, and yet Phoenix thought she saw Penny cringe before squaring her shoulders.
“It’s like I said before. In court. Nothing’s changed.”
Phoenix had expected to be self-conscious, to feel as she usually did whenever she left the safety of her trailer. But all of that fell away as she studied Penny. This was the person who’d caused her to spend seventeen years in prison for a crime she didn’t commit, who’d cost her all that time with her son. Penny was the one who’d gotten away without consequence, and yet...there was an air of desperation about her, as if she’d fared even worse than Phoenix since they’d last met.
Why? What was it? Penny was still somewhat attractive, with her long blond hair and high cheekbones. She was dressed nicely, too—in a long skirt with sandals and a pretty blouse, sheer in the sleeves. Her clothes looked brand-new, which gave Phoenix the impression that she’d dressed up for this occasion.
Or that she’d been dressed up...
Phoenix’s mind reverted to what she’d believed about the Mansfields paying Penny to come. There had to be something in it for her. This couldn’t be about justice; it was Penny who’d escaped justice.
“Can you give us more details?” Corinne asked. “Go over it step by step?” She continued to speak softly, as though she was addressing a frightened child. That galled Phoenix, but it was effective.
Once Penny started talking, she told basically the same story she’d given the jury. Only she wouldn’t look at Phoenix when she spoke. She kept stopping and Corinne would have to persuade her to start again. Soon, Penny grew so agitated that she began biting her cuticles—and interrupted herself to ask how long it would be until they drove her back to the airport.
That was when Phoenix noticed the sores on her hands.
“Why do you think Phoenix aimed for Lori?” Corinne asked, once again trying to keep Penny focused.
“Phoenix hated Lori.” Penny sounded like a robot. Phoenix suspected she’d rehearsed this part. “She was...jealous of her. She wanted Riley.”
That was the same motive people here had ascribed to her since it happened. There was nothing new or unexpected about that, since they’d also said it in court. Penny didn’t embellish the original story, didn’t re-create any dialogue from when they were in the car, as the Mansfields were obviously hoping she would. But it was the best they could get out of her.
Bringing Penny here didn’t seem to be adding anything new. Maybe that was why Helen seemed frustrated when she took over. “To be fair, we also need to hear from Phoenix.” She gave a grudging nod to Riley. “Phoenix, do you have anything to say?”
“It’s a lie,” Phoenix said. “I didn’t turn the wheel. Penny did, and she knows it.”
Penny didn’t jump up in indignation as she’d done in court. She shrank in on herself.
“Why?” Helen asked. “Why would Penny turn the wheel?”
“Let’s ask her,” Phoenix said. “Penny? Why did you do it? And why did you let me go to prison for it?”
Jiggling her leg, Penny seemed to zone out, as if she were just putting in time, and again gave no discernible response.
“Penny?” Helen prompted.
Scowling, Penny grew slightly belligerent. “I didn’t. I don’t care what anyone says. Why would I want to hurt anybody? I had nothing against Lori.”
“I don’t believe you meant to hurt anyone,” Phoenix said. “It was an accident, right? Something stupid you did just to be funny. And it wound up having tragic consequences.”
Penny shook her head. “No, of course not! You’re wrong. She—she’s lying,” she said, pointing at Phoenix. “I told you she’d just accuse me.”
Riley spoke up. “All we want is the truth.”
Penny got to her feet, then swayed and nearly fell over before regaining her balance. “I told you the truth. I can’t believe you’d question my integrity. I shouldn’t have to sit through this. I’m done. I came and I told my story, like you asked. Now, who’s going to take me back to the airport?”
“Hold on,” Riley said, raising his hand. “My story? That’s revealing, isn’t it?”
“I meant the story,” Penny corrected, looking a bit rattled.
Riley’s eyes narrowed. “Sure you did. Then maybe you won’t mind answering a few questions.”
Her gaze darted to Corinne before moving back to him. “What questions? I told you everything. You can’t keep me here against my will!”
“We paid for your trip,” Corinne said. “And we’re paying for your time, since you said you’d miss work.”
So there was money involved. That answered at least one of Phoenix’s questions—why Penny would be willing to do this. Phoenix was almost certain she had a drug habit. Maybe she didn’t make enough at work. Maybe this was the only way she could get another fix. Drug addicts had been known to rob minimarts for fifty bucks or less.
“She doesn’t even have a job,” Riley said, but Corinne was too focused to react to that.
“I think you owe us a few more minutes at least,” she told Penny.
Riley waited until he had Penny’s undivided attention. Then he said, “Do you know a man by the name of Roger Hume?”
“That—that’s my ex,” she said.
“We agree on one thing, then. Roger i
s your ex. You were married to him for nearly ten years. Is that correct?”
Phoenix had no idea where he was going with this. Riley had told her when they were cleaning up last night that Roger hadn’t given him what he wanted.
“What does that matter?” Penny said. “We haven’t been together in a long time. He’s ancient history.”
The Mansfields—and Riley’s parents—were so caught up they watched with open mouths.
“You were officially divorced four years ago,” Riley went on. “But the marriage fell apart much sooner. From what he told me, you two fought constantly because of your drug habit.”
She seemed stunned and confused that he knew so much. “No...”
“I had a background check done.”
She blinked at him. “Which means...what?”
“I have the police records to prove it. You’ve been arrested for trying to run Roger down with your car, striking him with your fists and trying to set fire to your own apartment. Once you were arrested for being naked in the street, so high that you didn’t know who you were or where you were, and—”
“I want to go,” she broke in.
Phoenix could hardly hear above her own heartbeat. What was Riley doing?
“What kind of drugs do you use?” he asked. “Because you clearly haven’t stopped.”
“That’s none of your business. This has nothing to do with my habit or my marriage or anything else.”
“It has everything to do with your habit,” he said. “You came here for the money, am I right?”
“No.” She shook her head but it was a pretty obvious lie. “I suffer from depression, so...so I’m on medication for that. But a lot of people suffer from depression.”
Riley clicked his tongue. “This is a little different. Roger said things would get so bad you’d disappear for a week at a time. He told me you were haunted by a terrible tragedy that occurred during your senior year, said you just couldn’t put it behind you.”
She waved a hand to indicate the room at large. “Haven’t we all been haunted by Lori’s death? I was in a vehicle that struck and killed another human being!”
Riley lowered his voice but spoke as if there was no question about the veracity of what he said. “Because you grabbed the wheel.”