He didn’t finish the sentence, and I was sure I could figure out what he was thinking. “For now I need to just let it go? Things have been going pretty well without bringing up all that again?”
“That’s not what I was going to say. Yeah I was kind of thinking it—just the pushing along and making the best of what we’ve got—but I would never deny you the opportunity to reflect on it or have questions. You have the right to feel however you want, Taryn.”
“It’s just going to be one of those things that will always haunt me. It’s never going to go away. It happened, and I can’t change that. I also can’t change the fact that you might have to deal with that, too. Because of your highly publicized career, I really hope that whatever turns up won’t affect you negatively—”
“Taryn, I already deal with an asshole father. That’s not anything new because I even write about it. Now I don’t know what would have come from the whole ordeal with my dad and Rachel but… We don’t have to deal with that, so I’m not thinking about it.”
“So you’re not worried that anything else might come from their relationship?”
He gave me a blank stare. “Like what?”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged.
He didn’t say anything for a while as he stared out the windshield. Finally he said, “Are you referring to who killed your sister? Are you saying that you still think it could be my dad?”
“I’m not saying anything, Jared. And no, I don’t want to think about any of that.”
“But were you? I understand, Taryn, but just so we’re on the same page here…”
“I don’t think your dad had anything to do with the death of my sister. Can we not talk about this? I didn’t mean to ruin the day. I’m sorry.”
With a sigh he said, “You didn’t ruin the day. You can talk to me about anything. And I’ve told you that I would never share anything about your private life in any way. You know that, right?”
“Yes, I know that,” I smiled. I placed my hand against his face and kissed him. “I just don’t want to talk about any of that today, okay? I love today, and I want it to end on a happy note.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You’re getting kind of poetic, you know. You love today? Sounds like a good song.”
“Then write it for me.”
“I think I will. Gotta finish the other handful about you first.”
“Ha, well don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”
“Hey, I know what I’m doing,” he tried to say seriously.
“People do stupid things when they’re in love.”
That made him laugh. “Okay, I agree with that. But I truly believe this next album is going to be amazing, thanks to my amazing and inspiring future wife. Damn, I love the sound of that.”
I loved the sound of it too.
Chapter Thirty-Five
It’s interesting how life can feel so ideal, and everything seems to be in its proper order. And then all it takes is one thing to make you question yourself.
Jared left for L.A. two days later. It was hard for me to see him go, but I was happy that I’d be joining him in a few days. He did officially propose to me the day that he left. The ring was beautiful, the moment was perfect, and it was very private with just the two of us. He’d even written me a song that made me cry. He was soft, and it was rubbing off on me.
Zack called me the night Jared left. It was almost as if he knew he was gone and I figured that he probably did. I couldn’t answer the call though. I was floating on air because of my new status with Jared, and I felt it was better to just keep the scab on my former relationship and let it heal.
Zack left me a message though, asking for me to call him back. I never did, and he called again the next day. That message was a little more submissive, and he told me how much he loved me and needed to see me. I knew I couldn’t avoid his calls for too long, especially because there were things I needed to tell him.
However, word spread faster than I could possibly have imagined. Mainly because of Jack’s update online that said: Congrats to my bro Jared on his engagement. Man, I never thought I would be a part of social trending, but I was within the hour. And no, I couldn’t help it when I read tons of the responses that went along with that news, both good and bad. The bad ones didn’t bother me that time, even though I felt a little sad that people were so judgmental. But I didn’t get upset, and I tried to take Jared’s advice and focus on the positive messages instead.
“Your engagement to some chick is trending worldwide right now,” I said when he answered my call that night.
He laughed and replied, “I won’t even tell you what’s going on down here in L.A.”
“Hmm. Does that mean I need to be looking my best for paparazzi photos?”
“Yeah, maybe. But hey, Jack and the guys want to throw a party for us this weekend. Are you okay with that when you make it down here?”
“Um, sure I guess so. As long as you get to do the inviting, right?”
“Definitely. That’s what I told him.”
“Okay, then that sounds fun. You mean the dinner with my family wasn’t exciting enough for you?”
He laughed again. “That was perfectly nice. Honestly.”
I knew he was being truthful. He liked the low-key aspect of being with my family, and after we broke the news to them that we were engaged, my parents insisted on going out for dinner that night. I was really glad that Jared seemed to fit in well with everyone, including my grandparents, whom he got a huge kick out of. My grandpa was kind of a big mouth, but Jared was witty enough to keep up with him, and Grandpa thought that was pretty admirable in and of its self. Jared didn’t even bat an eye when Grandpa asked, “And you plan on having babies with my granddaughter?” Jared smiled big and answered, “Hell yeah, I hope so.” My brother kind of turned red, but everyone else seemed intrigued. Except for Maggie, because at the time she was involved with her ice cream sundae.
I talked to Jared for about an hour. He told me the latest on the house we wanted to buy, which was that someone else had put in an offer on it, too. But there was kind of an arrogant tone to his assurance that I shouldn’t worry about it. I had to chuckle, wondering if he had allowed Cassandra to throw his name on the bargaining table.
We also discussed wedding plans, too. I had no idea what kind of wedding I wanted, and being that Jared was a big time celebrity, I felt a little bit of pressure about it. Was it required for us to do something big?
My concerns eventually came out and he assured me that he definitely did not need something high profile. In fact, he was strongly against it if I was okay with that. He said that money wasn’t an issue, and we could do whatever I wanted, but making a grand presentation of it was out of the question. That made me feel a lot better, and knowing that my mom was worried about being cut out of the wedding planning, I felt comfortable that she would do a great job with it.
I did not need a celebrity-wedding planner; I had a fantastically organized mother.
The day before I was supposed to leave for L.A., I got another phone call from Washington. This time it was Detective Bronson, but I was nervous just the same.
“We’ve learned some new things about Rachel’s case,” she told me. “I’d like you to come to Everett if you can.”
“Um, I’m not sure if I can right now. I’m supposed to be down in L.A. tomorrow.” I really didn’t want anything to interfere with seeing Jared, and frankly, all of the dead ends in my sister’s case were wearing on me. “Uh, can you just fill me in on the latest?”
“We’ve got a suspect in custody, Taryn. We believe that he knows something about your sister’s murder, or was even involved somehow.”
My body went cold. It was what I’d been waiting for. But now that it was finally real, it scared me. I feared the next part of the conversation: the who and the why.
“His name is Nathan Oliver,” she continued. “Does that name sound familiar to you?”
I swallowed as I tried t
o process the name. “Uh, no it doesn’t at the moment. How does—uh, how did he know Rachel?”
“That’s what we’re still trying to figure out. We have evidence that strongly suggests he was with your sister the night she died, but he’s not talking. We don’t know why, or if he knew Rachel, or if it was just a random act of violence…”
I didn’t respond at first. My head was trying to organize the information. Finally I said, “So what can I do to help? Is there something I can help with?”
“I don’t know, Taryn. The only thing I can think of is if you talk to him yourself.”
“What? Is that even allowed?”
“Yes, and given the circumstances, I think it’s our only chance right now. Sometimes suspects just wait for the right person to confess to, or sometimes they’re intrigued by the different approach, and sometimes they just like to screw around with the cops to see how far they can push ‘em. If they know they’re caught, might as well have some fun with it, I guess.”
“Well tell me about this guy. Is he a criminal, is he aggressive, is he—?”
“So far he just sits in interrogation and says nothing. We can’t force him to speak. The only thing I’ve heard him say is “no thank you” when we’ve offered him something to drink. Other than a few traffic violations over the years, he looks pretty clean.”
“How long has he been there?”
“Since yesterday. I’ve had four different detectives question him and they all get the same results. I’ve come across guys like him and just have this feeling… I just think if you talked to him, like on a personal level—as Rachel’s sister—maybe something will click with him. We can only hold him for another eight hours…”
Since Detective Bronson was requesting my help, I felt I had no choice but to comply. There hadn’t been anything that I was able to help with so far except answer questions, so I actually looked forward to the opportunity. I was anxious about it, but I wanted it to accomplish something.
Jared was a little freaked out. He kind of had the same reaction I had when I called him right after Michelle’s phone call. He understood why I needed to do it, but he wanted to come with me. I actually preferred that until he added, “But I can’t until Friday, hon. We’ve got some important meetings tomorrow. I honestly can’t bail on it, not when we’re getting down to the wire. I can see what I can do to change something, though…”
I remembered that, which is why my flight to L.A. was for the evening when Jared was done for the day. “Keep your commitments, Jared. I’ll do this, help out with what I can, and I’ll fly to L.A. as soon as I’m able to. I think my dad might like to go with me, you know. I think… Yeah, I think he would feel it necessary to do that.”
“I definitely don’t want you going by yourself. If your dad can’t go with you, then let me know so I can make it work. Okay?”
I agreed, and Jared felt a lot better about that. It wasn’t even until later that I wondered if it was because of Zack. I hadn’t even thought about that while making plans to return to Washington until my mom specifically asked me if I planned on seeing Zack.
“Mom, I hadn’t even considered it. I’m too worried about Rachel’s case right now.”
“Okay. I was just wondering.”
I knew she meant well so I sighed and put the clothes down that I had been packing at the moment. “He’s called me a couple of times and left messages. I haven’t called him back.”
She was quiet for a few seconds. “Has he called since the news broke about you and Jared?”
I thought about that for a moment and then shook my head. “No, he hasn’t. But I’m sure he knows by now, and it was really chicken of me to let him hear about it that way.”
“You feel like you owe him a personal report?”
I looked at her and said, “I don’t know. Don’t I?”
She took her time answering. “I don’t feel that you do. Unless…”
I studied her carefully. “Unless what?”
“Well, unless you’ve given him reason to believe that he still has a chance with you. I don’t think you’ve spoken to him since before your engagement, so there might have been certain things that you said to him at the time that might have changed since. I recall you were still undecided at that point.”
“I don’t think I was undecided. I believe that I had my answer but it was just of matter of letting Zack go. Everything fell into place just right and I didn’t have any doubts.”
“Okay, I understand that. But Zack never got that memo. Maybe now he has through the media, but not from you directly.”
“What are we actually talking about? I know that I haven’t told him personally, so are you saying I should?”
“No, I’m just trying to understand why you called yourself chicken for not telling him yourself. Now I understand.”
“What do you understand?”
“That he’s been waiting for another conversation with you. He’s had hope this entire time that you’d choose him over Jared. He was giving you the time to consider it. I know I’m just saying out loud what you already know, but you don’t tell me everything, Taryn. I’m just kind of piecing it all together. I’m sorry for talking in circles, but I needed to understand entirely if I were to give my advice.”
“And are you going to? Give me advice?”
She paused at first and watched me finish packing. “Only if you want it,” she said as I zipped my bag.
I turned to face her and said, “Of course I want your advice. I’m heading back to Washington, Zack may or may not know that, but if he calls me again, I’m probably going to talk to him. I do feel like I owe him that because yes, we did tell each other how we felt, but the answer I basically gave him was “not right now.” He knows I love Jared and he respects that, but yes, he did try to convince me to come see him when Jared tours, and I may or may not have responded the right way. I’m not sure.”
I sighed with frustration and waited for her to speak. She actually sat on my bed, and I wasn’t sure if that meant I was going to receive a long lecture or what. Finally she said, “Taryn, you have something really special with Jared. I see the two of you together, and even though he’s not exactly the type that I would have pictured you with, you seem to fit. I like him. A lot. He loves you unconditionally, it’s easy to see that, and he’s amazing with Maggie. The three of you are going to be a very happy family, and when you and Jared start having kids of your own… There’s just something amazing about that. I just…”
“Don’t want me to screw it up.”
“Taryn, it’s not that you’re going to screw it up, but relationships are very precious. And when you’ve committed yourself to someone, there is a trust there that’s hard to get back if you break it.”
“I don’t plan on doing anything to damage my relationship with Jared. I love him. I would never hurt him like that.”
“Not knowingly. I believe that, sweetie. But sometimes things are said, or something that seems innocent may not really be.”
“Like what? You mean like talking to Zack on the phone? You don’t think I should?”
“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I’m not you, Taryn. I don’t know how you feel about him. I just don’t want it to be harder for you than you think it will be. I don’t want you to have any doubts because of it.”
Even though I was slightly irritated that she seemed to question my resolve, I could understand her point. Had I been avoiding Zack because I didn’t want to start doubting my decision? Maybe. But I knew I wanted to marry Jared and that was the choice I had made. I was happy with my decision and I looked forward to my future with him. Zack couldn’t be a part of my life the way he had once been and I was sure of it.
I didn’t like disappointing people, and giving him my decision was what I’d been putting off…
My dad and I arrived in Washington a few hours later. I wasn’t even set on checking into our hotel yet and I wanted to head straight to the precinct. I was nervous again, but I
knew I was doing the right thing. But that was until I saw the suspect that they had in custody.
I’d seen him before.
Chapter Thirty-Five
“What do you mean you’ve seen him before?” Detective Bronson asked. I could tell she was excited about the fact, but cautious at the same time.
I looked him over for a few more seconds to make sure. He was probably in his mid-twenties and had an average look to him, but I was positive. “I don’t know where, but I’ve seen him before.”
“Recently or while Rachel was still alive?”
“Uh…with Rachel, I think.” Even that sounded odd to me, being that I never really saw my sister around any men. Not on a personal level at least, which made me consider—“At the banquet thingy that I photographed for her,” I realized. I thought more carefully and then nodded my head. “Yeah, I’m sure of it. I remember him through my lens.”
“Did you take pictures of him? Do you happen to have them with you?”
I shook my head. “No, but you could probably access them through the Miller and Harris website if they still have it on there somewhere.”
She motioned to another detective to do just that and he left the room. “What do you remember about him? Why was he there? Is he affiliated with the company somehow?”
I thought long and hard again, and finally shook my head. “No, I don’t think he was a part of the business in any way because he wasn’t in those photos. Which also means that he probably won’t be in any of the pictures of that event if they were posted. But I do remember taking at least a picture or two of him, like I did of everyone else there.” I thought about Jared, being that he wasn’t in any of the posed photos either. He was just there for his dad, not as part of the banquet.
“What are you thinking about?” my dad asked.
I looked at him and said, “I think Jared talked to him that night. Maybe I should ask him about it.”
“Didn’t you run that guy’s name by him already?”
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