CHAPTER FIVE — STEPHANIE
I smile when I see him sitting on the bench. Thank God he's here.
"John," I say, smiling. He gives me a quick hug. "Follow me," I say. "We don't have much time."
I lead him towards the public bathroom area in the park and hand him a bag. "Change into these."
"What are these?" he asks, opening the plastic bag.
"Clothes," I say.
"And why would I do that?" he asks.
"It's better if you don't know. Just trust me."
He pauses for a second, squinting. "These aren't contaminated or poisoned, are they?"
I pause for a second, then laugh. Maybe I should be offended, but I just find the entire thing amusing.
"No," I say, laughing out loud. "Of course they're not poisoned. Who do you think I am, the KGB?"
He laughs and waves his hand as if he was just joking, but I don't think he was.
I pause and tap a manicured finger to my chin. "Anyway, just get changed. We only have a few minutes before he shows up."
John gives me one last look and then disappears into the bathroom. I glance at my phone: 6:26. We're pushing it. Why didn't I get him to meet me here earlier?
Finally, after what seems like an eternity, John emerges.
"Okay, let's go," I say.
"Go where?"
"To the trail," I say. "Now, when we pass by David, just lean into my ear and start whispering. He's paranoid. It'll throw him off. Got it?"
"Okay. Should I say anything in particular?"
"Yeah, just say something about lawsuits or filings or something. It doesn't really matter. If he catches a few words, that would be perfect."
"I'm trusting you here not to fuck me over," John says.
"I'm not," I say. "The only one who's being fucked over is David, although he kind of did this to himself."
John nods, an odd look on his face.
"All right." We jog slowly to the trail for a few seconds and then start walking.
I've run into David multiple times on this very run, so I know exactly when he passes by different landmarks, and he should be passing by the lake in approximately one minute.
"Okay," I say to John. "Let's start now. So, do you know about the lawsuit?" I ask, whispering in his ear.
I glance out of the corner of my eye. There he is, maybe 20 feet away. It takes a second, and then he sees us, his eyes widening. I divert my attention back to John.
"Yeah, and the lawyer fees are—" John says, but I tune him out.
I peek out of the corner of my eye. David is approaching us. It's almost time.
I reach into my pocket and pull out the folded pieces of paper. They're folded in four. I smooth them out and hold them up towards John's face, as if I'm showing them to him.
I peek again. David's right there, eyes narrowed, jaw clenched. Adrenaline rushes through me. I lean to my left, bump into David, and drop the papers.
"Oh, sorry," I say. "I'm so clumsy." I reach down to gather the papers, and David does too. He pauses as he picks one up and scans it.
"Wait," David says, his eyes narrowing. "What the hell is this?"
I look at David. He's holding a piece of paper with his name on it.
I did one of those cheap "look up somebody for free online" searches earlier today — websites where you get a bit of a background check on someone.
Then I used AI to embellish a bit based on things I know about David: his background, where he went to school, etc.
Basically, I'm trying to make it look like an investigator is following him. Or looking into him. Whatever. The point is, I want David to think John and I hired a private investigator to follow him.
Why? Well, that doesn't really matter. All that matters is that it's enough to rattle David.
I snatch the paper out of his hand. I don't want him to look too carefully, or he'd probably realize it's made up.
He looks at me and then at John, even more confused.
And then, as he scans John, a look comes over him that I've never seen before.
"What the fuck? Where the fuck did you get those?" he says, pointing at John. He jabs his finger at John's chest.
I step back and pull out my phone, open up my camera app, and press record. It's go time.
"Whoa," John says, stumbling backwards, hands raised. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes. You fucking do," David says. He grabs John by the shirt. By his own shirt, technically. "Why the fuck are you wearing my clothes?"
David's eyes dip down to John's shoes. His fucking shoes. And his goddamn watch. "What the hell?" He grabs for John's wrist and starts to undo the watch.
"Hey." John pulls back his hand. "Get off me."
"Yeah, I'd suggest getting off," I say loudly. "I'm recording this, and if you don't stop right now, I'm going to have to call the police. Get away from him," I say to David.
David looks at me. The expression on his face turns from anger to almost despair. For a second, I feel bad. Then I remember that he's trying to evict me, and I feel myself harden again.
He's silent, and then he just says, "Why?"
But his sad voice won't fool me. He fooled me once, and he sure as hell isn't going to fool me again.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," I say coldly. "Please, leave John and me alone. We feel unsafe in your presence. Walk away, or I'm going to call the cops right now."
David looks at me once more. "Stephanie?"
I refuse to make eye contact and just walk backwards. And then, without looking at him, I hit stop and turn.
At the last second, I glance back, and the saddest look I've ever seen is painted on his face. I feel a pang in my chest, but I shake it off. He's acting, I remind myself. It's all an act.
The End