Chapter 9
Why would anyone put up with this madness? Especially someone who knew their worth. It was obvious she hadn’t quite figured out her worth.
She stayed in. It wasn’t the best day to go out. It had rained relentlessly for the entire night and morning. The wind was howling and it reminded her of hurricane season. Despite the weather being gross, she was in a great mood.
“I think I want to just stay in the house today,” she explained. “No. I didn’t think about it that way. Micah, it’s a really gross day out. I just would rather be home.”
Micah had been asking for a date for days. She didn’t dare tell him she went out with Tommy yesterday. She wouldn’t want to make him jealous. She was finally living her life. Single. After thinking about it all day, she decided to try calling the sheriff of Tallahassee again.
When she answered the phone, a familiar voice picked up.
“Mrs. Shorts?” she asked.
“Oh? They didn’t tell you? I’m the new deputy in town. If you’re calling to speak to my husband, good luck.”
The phone went dead. Willow couldn’t believe her ears. The sheriff was Charlie’s step father. Whatever the issue was with Charlie, it was clear that his mom was there in position to cover the tracks. But what was there to cover if he didn’t do it? It seemed to her that they were going through a whole lot of trouble to keep things under wraps for someone who was supposed to be innocent.
Okay, Charlie. Or Greg—whatever your name is. What are you doing? What’s the game plan here? Why is everyone rushing to your defense?
Even though she’d told Micah she was in for the day, she decided she needed to at least take a walk. She needed some fresh air. Yet, when she opened the door, she found a letter on the steps.
Her eyes grew large. Her heart pumped out of her chest at the message. She looked around and searched to see who could have left it. Not a trace of anyone in sight.
The letter read as follows:
Perhaps there is never a right time to explain to you. The person you’re married to is not who you think they are. Charlie needs to be looked into. He’s more dangerous than you realize and you did yourself a favor getting away from him. Thank your lucky stars.
She was never super worried until now. There was someone out there who was giving her clues about her husband. Someone out there was telling her she was married to someone dangerous.
And the worst part about it, she believed it. It sent a chill down her spine to read the letter. The only thing she could think to do was rush to Brandi’s office.
She hopped into her car and did exactly that. She’d been there before but she never thought she would actually need her help like this. She was shaken. It was shown all over her face. Her body language screamed, “Please help.”
“What’s going on?”
Brandi could sense the tension and noticed the look of horror on her face.
“Someone left this for me at the cottage. I don’t know who or why but I feel like it’s some kind of sick joke. Richy… He’s the only one who knows about me. It wouldn’t make sense for it not to be him.”
“You sure? I mean, Sanibel is bigger than it looks.”
“Maybe so. But he’s literally the only one who knows.”
“I can give it to my guy and see if he can run it for prints. If you’re really sure about this. This is becoming a Drew series. I’ve seen a lot of things in my life but I don’t understand for the life of me why they keep targeting you.”
“Because they think I’m part of this. I’m not. I keep trying to plead my case but no one wants to hear that! OH and get this! I called Tally today! Do you know who the new deputy is !?!”
“Please don’t tell me it’s who I think it is.”
“Imagine being married to the Sheriff of Tallahassee AND appointed to be the new deputy. How does that even work? Isn’t that a conflict of interest? I don’t understand.”
“They definitely do things way differently around there. I don’t get it either. What did she want?”
“She told me to stop trying to find Charlie. That he was gone and didn’t want to be found. I find that so hard to believe. I wonder if she did something to him or if she knows where he is. I wonder what her part in all of this is.”
“We can definitely find that out. It won’t be hard either.”
“How do you do this all day?”
“I don’t. My team does. It’s imperative that we do though. I mean, look at you. You’re a mess. All because someone decided they wanted to screw with you. You’re going through enough as it is. My job is supposed to make it easier for you. I’m so sorry that it’s not. I’m so sorry that someone wants to turn your life around. I’m sorry that Charlie isn’t who we thought he was. You deserve so much better. You’ve always deserved better. I hope after being here and away from him, you’ve decided to file. I know it isn’t my business though. I know it’s not my decision. Ultimately, you have to decide when you’re done playing this game. Are you done?”
It seemed to be the simplest question to ask at the time. The easiest answer would have been, yes. But…they both knew it was more complicated than that. She hadn’t even thought for a second that Charlie could be a danger to her. But he could. He was. She hadn’t the slightest clue who he had pissed off in the past. And if for one second she was linked to him, that was all they needed… a motive to hurt her in order to get to him. It seemed Charlie was a real piece of shit. They both knew it.
She hated him so much. She wished she could call him and tell him herself. She was angry. She was frustrated. She was lost. The whole time she had thought she had something real and it was all just a lie. She put up with so much just for him to be inauthentic. She wanted to mourn for her marriage. She wanted to scream. She was ambivalent. She had so many emotions that she almost stroked out.
“Breathe. He’s a dick. I know. But he’s going to get his. Him and his mother.”
“I can’t wait to wipe the smile off her wrinkled, decrepit face. Talk about a woman I can’t stand.”
“I’ve never liked her very much either. I always wondered how a guy like Charlie could come from such an evil soul. Now, I see they’re two peas in a pod.”
They were absolutely twins. It took a while for her to notice. She can’t even fathom the fact that Charlie was this scammer. It hadn’t set in. Part of her still wanted to fight the realization but the proof was in the puddin’.
“I hate this. I hate this so much. I hate that I don’t know if I’m coming or going. I hate that I don’t know who is telling the truth. I hate that now, I look at a guy and wonder if he really is who he says he is. I hate that I can’t trust. I hate that I loved him. I hate that he lied so much. Was it all a lie? Why? Why didn’t he just leave me alone? Why did he choose me? Did I look gullible to him? Was it something I did? Is it my karma?”
Her thoughts and words came hard and fast as she paced, fidgeting with her fingers.
“How does someone do something like this? To more than one person. How do you look someone in the eye every day for years and just lie? The worst part is I wanted a family with this man. Can you imagine the messed up genes our child would have had? Is it genetic? I hate that I’m doubting my feelings.”
Willow’s shoulders visibly sagged before she continued, “That I feel guilty for hating him even though he deserves every bit of it. I hate that I still love him even though it’s clear he doesn’t love me and couldn’t ever love me because when you love someone… I mean, really truly love someone you couldn’t do this. You wouldn’t. Would you?”
Brandi didn’t know what to say or even how to console her friend. This wasn’t easy on her either. Watching her friend wither away because some jerk decided he wanted to play with her heart. It hurt her to see. She wanted to catch him so bad. She was determined to catch him. And while no one else had, she was going to.
“No. No, you wouldn’t babe. When you love someone, you take care of their heart. You consider their feelings. You don’t lie to them. You tell them the truth and give them the choice to take it or leave it. What he did to you was not fair. It’s not okay. And the fact that you weren’t his only one target… it’s disgusting no matter which way you spin it.”
They were quiet for a second. They just waited for the results of the fingerprints. The results came back inconclusive. They couldn’t decipher the prints because Willow had touched all over the letter. She was still distraught about everything. She couldn’t get herself together.
“Will, don’t cry because if you cry, I’m gonna start crying and then I won’t be able to stop.”
Brandi was a strong girl. Tough as nails but her Achilles was definitely her best friend. She couldn’t stand to see her hurting. At any point in life if she had, the results were always the same. The two of them would cry until they saw each other and then they’d laugh. They had an unbreakable bond. It was the kind of friendship that movies were made of.
“Hey B! I got a lead on something. You might want to take a look at this.”
“What is it?”
“The idiot left his hair follicle right above the date. I’m running it back through the system now. I’ll let you know what I find.”
And that was all she needed to hear. You’d have to get up pretty early in the morning to fool a lawyer whose father was a detective. She’d learned that most people slip up, especially when they thought they’d covered all bases. In fact, they never did cover all bases. It was always some small, minuscule mistake that got people caught up.
“How do we know that it’s who it says it is? I mean, we’ve had a lot of different visitors in the past. That hair could be Tommy’s or even yours,” Willow asked. She was just curious as to how things worked. She knew that it was way more complicated than it sounded.
“That’s just it. We know the cottage had multiple visitors but which one of them is more likely to leave a note? A certain someone who”s been following you since you got here? I mean, he’s always around. How does he even do that?”
“Richy.”
They both nodded their heads collectively. All signs pointed to the one and only Richy. He had been onto her since she got to Sanibel and now, he had left a creepy letter! Unacceptable.