Chapter 2
Willow sat in the kitchen, sipping on a glass of wine. The day had gone by so fast she couldn’t believe it was already time for dinner.
Brandi walked through the door with her briefcase in hand. She slammed it onto the table and sighed the most exhausted sigh.
“You won’t believe what I just discovered!” She shouted. She only shouted like that when she was excited about things. Willow knew her like the back of her own hand.
“If I won’t believe it, I need you to tell me what it is. I know you probably stumbled upon something amazing.”
“That, I did.” She reached across the table to take a sip of wine from Willow’s glass. She was determined to explain everything to Willow but was also a little nervous about her discoveries.
“Is it really bad news?” She knew deep down it had to be a doozy if Brandi hadn’t come straight out with it but she still had no idea what to expect.
“Well, it’s not good but nothing about this whole situation is good. The good thing is, I know how to prove you’re not part of it. The bad thing is, your husband is really a piece of work.” Brandi declared.
“Spill it. I guess now is as good a time as any.”
“Yea. I feel you but, you say that ‘til you find out what I know.”
“The only thing that could make this worse is if he were a murderer.”
“Well, we know he’s not that.” She scoffed. “He may be a con artist but he wasn’t a murderer. He stole money. Not lives. He wasn’t a savage.”
“Do we really know?”
“Why, I thought you’d never ask.” She slapped a thick folder of paperwork on the table.
Willow’s eyes grew large. She wasn’t sure what was in the folder but she knew it was thick full of secrets. She tensed her core, prepared to jump down the rabbit hole.
“What is all that?” Willow asked. She was taken aback. If Brandi came home with a bunch of paperwork, you’d best believe it was worth every second to go through each one thoroughly.
“Now, love. This is what I brought to you. There’s a little bit of everything in these files. I hope you know what to do with all of this information.”
“Give me the cliff notes on it. I don’t think I can stomach going through all of these files. I’m a little anxious about it. I know if you took the time to find all of this, then I need to take the time to read it but I just can’t…not yet.”
“I think you’re gonna want to read it. But I won’t force you.” She looked over and Willow was face first into the pages of the folder.
“He’s not who you think he is at all. His name isn’t Charlie. His real name is Greg Taylor and he’s wanted in at least three states as of this morning. He’s been changing his name for years. No wonder they can’t zero in on him. He’s smart. But not smart enough,” she explained. Greg wasn’t too smart if he got caught in a paper trail. She knew it and so did the police.
“So what about that Christian guy? Is that in there, too?”
“Christian Chavez? Yep—check the folder and you’ll see all of his aliases and disguises. Some of the things he did to make himself inconspicuous are over the top. Did you know he could grow a full beard? Like a whole beard. He doesn’t even look like Charlie in some of these. Most of them. He truly was a chameleon.”
She couldn’t believe her eyes. In some of the pictures he didn’t even look like himself. She couldn’t even recognize him. The more she looked, the more she felt sick to her stomach. This man was wanted in at least three states and there was no doubt about it that he was a con. Charlie had also been named Christopher Ramirez, Michael Washington, and Connor Delvechio. All of those different personas were of different ages. She didn’t know who he was anymore.
“This is sickening. I can’t believe this. He really had me fooled. I can’t even stomach hearing this anymore. I lived a lie for years. And I had no clue.”
“He’s just that good, baby. Some people are really good at doing something they aren’t supposed to. He’s one of them. And just because he wasn’t a good man, doesn’t mean you should feel any way about it. He’s a horrible person who knows how to infiltrate any situation. Unfortunately for you, you fell in love with a persona that wasn’t real. No matter how real it felt to you. And I can’t even begin to imagine how much that stings. How much that hurts your core. I just can’t fathom it. I see a lot of cases all the time but I’ve never witnessed anyone I was close to go through anything like this.”
“I know it was all fake but why do I feel like he actually did love me for real? I know I should forget all of it because it’s not real. I know I should just delete all of our pictures and all of our texts. I know it should be easier for me to just let go given the situation, but it just makes me wonder… am I not worth being loved for real?”
“Oh, sweetie. Of course you are worth being loved for real. You deserved love. You deserve happiness and you thought you had it. It’s not your fault. I really believe at some point, he may have actually loved you and that’s why he stuck around so long but…I don’t want you to feel like you have to compensate for a man who has no conscience. You deserved better. That’s all there is to it.”
Regardless of anything her friend said, she couldn’t understand why she was so compelled to know if his love for her was true. If she believed him for so long, what did that say about her? Could she believe anything that anyone said to her?
Willow was in shock. Her brain completely consumed with the most horrible thoughts. Charlie had really taken advantage of a slew of women just because he simply could. It was crazy. He could have even started a cult. That was how much of an influence his love had on the women he met. They fell head over heels for him easily. He had the gift of gab and he took advantage of it.
“I feel sick to think this was all just a game to him. I don’t even understand what he was trying to do with me. I don’t have millions of dollars. I don’t have a hefty inheritance. So why did he target me? What did he see in me?”
“Stability. You were a safe choice. Maybe he was ready to settle down and stop scamming. Maybe he needed someone stable to show him how. I don’t know. I can’t think like he does. I just know what I know. And that is…he needed you. Some people come into your life to drain you of your best qualities. I’m willing to bet that’s exactly what Charlie did. You were the best thing he knew. Which is why he never wanted to share you.”
She was right. He never wanted to share her. He was like a kid with a toy firetruck. He didn’t want to share his best toy with anyone. And he didn’t. He stayed with her and played with her until he couldn’t anymore.
“I hate that I was a safe space for a psychopath. Sociopath. Sicko. I don’t know what to call it. I hate that I was the love of a scammer’s life. I also hate that people think I was in on it just because I married him. How could I be in on anything when we barely even talked about anything deep when we were living under the same roof? It was like some days he would let me in, and other days he wouldn’t even try. He knew how to keep me on my toes. He knew how to reel me in and I’m kicking myself because I should have known better. I should have seen the signs and yet, here I am.”
“Here you are being a bad ass who isn’t going to take things lying down. Right? We can fight this. He’s not as smart as he thinks. Even with fake names, he’s still leaving a paper trail. It’s not like we’re starting from scratch… We have this much on him,” Brandi pointed down at the stack of papers. “We can bring him to justice, Willow. But I can only do that with your help. I can’t do it without you. Are you sure you’re ready to do this? I don’t want to put too much pressure on you.”
He needed to be dealt with. It had been too long since he even felt the threat of possibly being caught. They were on the case, and they were going to make sure that he got served with what he deserved. Willow steeled herself as they continued to flip through some of the pages.
“Here. Christian Chavez married Monica Keller in 2009.”
“Wait… is Charlie even really my husband? I know we have a marriage license but is it even legit? Considering he’s still married to all of these other women?”