Epilogue
EPILOGUE
AMELIA
Two months later
Transcript of:
Vengeful Vixens
Episode 601
Recorded in June
Released in August
Jynx: Welcome back, Vixens. Season six is going to bring you a whole lot of vengeance, I hope you’re ready, babes. We’re kicking off the season strong here in episode one. I’m here with Amelia Marsh, who as many of you saw in the headlines recently, is the same person as Angel Sanford, daughter of Artie Sanford, also known as the Santa Slayer.
Amelia: Uh, yeah, hey.
Jynx: We had planned to do an episode this season on the Santa Slayer, but when the article came out on you, Amelia, I knew we had to change our angle.
Amelia: Mmm?
Jynx: Rather than focus on the crime and his actions, we wanted to instead bring attention to the people left behind. The effects crimes of passion have on the survivors.
Amelia: Thank you for that.
Jynx: No, babe, thank you for being brave enough to come on here and tell your story. After so many years of working so hard to keep your identity a secret and just move on with your life, it can’t be easy to come out to millions of listeners and get this personal about something so terrible.
Amelia: [laughs uncomfortably] It’s not easy for me. I think everyone handles trauma differently. I know a lot of people are able to go on documentaries and rehash it, but for me, I just wanted to keep my past locked away. But with everything that’s happened, I think this is the right thing to do now. And for the record, I wouldn’t have done this with anyone but you, Jynx. Huge Vixens girl here.
Jynx: [squeals] Are you really?
Amelia: Oh, big time. My partner would rat me out if I didn’t tell you myself so I might as well come clean. I think, for a while there, you were kinda my best friend, Jynx.
Jynx: Awwwww.
Amelia: Saying that out loud, it’s sounding a little creepy. [laughs] I take it back.
Jynx: No, stop!
Amelia: But, yeah, I listened to you while traveling the country all alone in my van, rooting for the survivors all the way, in every story.
Jynx: A true badass Vixen in front of me, babe.
Amelia: Thanks.
Jynx: Now you’ve been on the road, living in a van, all this time, alone? Just to escape the stigma and the judgment you got from your local community after your father snapped?
Amelia: More or less. There were more reasons than just that, but, yeah, escaping the reminders of the incident and judgement over it was a big reason. I’ve finally settled down somewhere though, just recently. I’m done being a nomad for the time being, and my time in hiding is over.
Jynx: And what have you been doing to support yourself all these years? You didn’t even have a social media profile until the day you published that article so you’re clearly not an influencer living off of income from van life videos.
Amelia: [laughs] Definitely not. I write code, I’m a programmer.
Jynx: We love a baddie in STEM! What kind of programming do you do?
Amelia: Web apps mostly.
Jynx: Say less! Let’s talk after the show, I might have a project for you.
Amelia: For sure!
Jynx: So tell me what you’re passionate about, Amelia. What is your message for other Vixens?
Amelia: Mostly I’m just trying to do whatever is possible to prevent crimes from taking place, especially ones that change dozens of lives in an instant. Look, do I think bringing awareness to the effects of actions like my dad’s is going to actually stop them from happening? Odds are that it won’t, but I’m not going to not try to do what I can about it after what my family and I have been through.
Jynx: [claps] And there’s a charity you’re helping gain some time in the spotlight, isn’t that right?
Amelia: That’s right, the link will be in the podcast description if anyone wants to donate to help the victims’ families. I’ve been donating to it for years, but even fifteen years later countless lives are still affected daily by the tragedy, and many never recover. Even small donations add up.
Jynx: Is it okay with you if I make an announcement?
Amelia: Um, yeah, I mean, it’s your show. [nervous chuckle]
Jynx: Because of Amelia’s story making waves, how brave she’s been coming out and speaking up, changing the lens of how we look at modern true crime, Vengeful Vixens is creating a non-profit, Vengeance for Victims, geared toward helping survivors and families of victims who have been affected by tragedies like the ones we discuss on the show. More than just killer entertainment, we want to be a force for good.
Amelia: [gasp] No shit!
Jynx: Zero shit, babe. And moving forward, every sponsor who wants to work with our show will be making a mandatory, sizeable contribution as part of their sponsorship. We’re also doing an outreach program to various media organizations, corporations, and other entities who profit off of the true crime industry and shows like ours, encouraging them to make meaningful donations as well. And listeners, if you’d like to participate, the link is in the episode description.
Amelia: [sniffles] I don’t know what to say, I have no words.
Jynx: That doesn’t really go over well on a podcast, babe.
[both women laugh]
Jynx: Tell me about this place you found to settle down in! What finally got you off the road for good?
[end of transcript excerpt]
It’s some sort of cosmic irony that my podcast with Jynx is airing the same day of the grand opening of Downtown Smoky Heights. New beginnings all around, my favorite.
“Mom!” I wave, standing on my tiptoes in the crowd, trying to flag her attention.
Damn these genes she gave me that only let me grow to five feet tall.
“Mom, over here!” I shout.
Through the throngs of people, I see Weston’s golden head bobbing through the crowd, guiding my mother toward me. Apparently he has no problem locating me. Like it’s a sixth sense of his, he beelines right for me, my mother’s arm linked through his.
“Here you are, Billie,” he tells my mom, kissing the top of my head. “Delivered you to your daughter, safe and sound”
My mom insisted on him calling her by her first name, and it’s beyond adorable how they get along. Hopefully his mom gets here soon and the women can hang out together during the celebration. They’ve been getting along so well, Mom seems to be adjusting to her new life faster than I did.
“This is quite something, isn’t it?” she says, eyes aglow with excitement I can’t remember seeing on her since I was a child. “That sister-in-law of yours really put on a heck of a celebration,” she says to West, and he smiles at her kindly.
“She sure does.”
He shoots me a meaningful wink.
Rory’s been working on us, trying to convince us to let her plan our wedding. We’re not even engaged, but that’s not stopping her from trying to start planning.
With the New Heights project winding down, she’ll mostly be practicing corporate law again, with the reduced workload on the commission front. Rory’s been very adamant that she will have time for an event of “this magnitude,” as she keeps saying.
If he asked, I’d marry him in the woods tomorrow, with just the fireflies and our family as the witnesses, but she says Weston’s waited so long to marry me that he deserves an affair to remember.
I argued that he’s only known me for five months, he hasn’t waited long at all by most people’s standards.
She said it’s been closer to twenty years he’s been waiting and that shut me right up.
Maybe once we’re back from our trip to Maine and Rhode Island she’ll finally get me. That’s if he proposes.
Lexi walks through the crowd near us, and I fail to get her attention too.
“Lex!” West has to yell so loud she can’t possibly miss it and her head jerks up.
We wave her over and she shuffles our way, with none of the verve I’m used to from her.
“You ready for the big day?” I ask, nudging her with my arm. “Heights Bites is going to be officially open!” Well, it’s been open since May, but this feels pretty epic. “Grandly open!” I amend.
Her face falls, what little color she had in it turning ashen.
I frown, but before I can ask her what’s wrong, she’s gone again, off through the crowd.
“She’ll be okay,” my mom says, and I’m inclined to trust her. After all, Lexi’s her boss now, and a much better one than she had at her last job.
A bell tolls and the crowd’s chatter falls to a hushed whisper.
“Thank you so much for coming to the grand reopening of Downtown Smoky Heights!” Rory’s amplified voice reaches us from a podium near the top of downtown, where a giant red ribbon is tied between the sides of the black metal archway that welcomes you to downtown.
The applause is deafening, because every single resident in this town knows none of this would be happening without Rory Weiss-Grady at the helm.
By her side is the mayor of the town, as well as most of the owners and proprietors of the downtown shops and establishments, almost all faces I recognize at this point.
Giant ropes hang down from each side of the street, connected to banners of green cloth, covering every single sign along both sides of the downtown strip.
Once they cut the ribbon, the representatives of all the downtown businesses will line up on their side of the street and pull, freeing the rope and revealing all the overhead signs at once.
Near Aurora, I spy Wyatt (holding our niece), Duke, even Wilder is up there. I look for Lexi, figuring that’s where she ran off to, but being so short I don’t have the best view back here. This place is packed.
After the roar of appreciation quiets down, Rory continues her speech about the project, what it means to the town, and to her specifically. Her words move me to tears, but then again, I have been a little bit emotional lately.
Placing a hand on my belly, I stand on my tiptoes, getting as close to Weston’s ear as I can. As aware of me as he always is, he leans down to hear what I have to say.
“I’m glad the next generation of Gradys is here for this day.”
A heartbeat, then two, and Weston’s jaw drops as his eyes travel from my eyes to my stomach, then he scoops me up in his arms and hugs me to him, combat-booted feet dangling in the air.
“When?” he asks, lips to my ear.
“My guess is that day on the motorbike,” I tell him.
“My little Ninja baby,” he croons.
“We are not naming our baby Ninja.”
“No,” he says. “I have the perfect name.”
Pulling my head back so I can look at him eye to eye, I watch.
“Axle. Axle Billie Grady.”
My eyes spring a leak again. “That is kind of perfect,” I admit.
He puts me down gently, lowering me until my feet touch the ground, and I bring one of his hands to my stomach, intertwined with mine over my dress.
“You are already so loved, Axle,” I whisper to my growing belly. “Your whole family can’t wait to meet you.”
Weston leans down, and though he speaks quietly, like my ears are tuned to his frequency I catch his words.
“You’re going to be our best adventure yet.”