Chapter Thirty-Four #3
Faith got into her car and started to steer away from Channel 9 for the final time.
At the main road she saw that nutjob, Steve, again in his car, leering at her.
Of course he turned to follow her, as he always did.
Could she have called the police on Steve and asked for a restraining order?
She probably could have if she was choosing to stay in her old life, but she was shedding it like lizard skin.
She peeled away from Steve going so fast he couldn’t keep up and turning at a place she normally didn’t to get away from him.
Then she changed her wig quickly and drove to the designated meetup spot with Hope to switch cars and pick up her burner phone, along with cash for gas and food.
She handed Hope the nanny-cam teddy bear and Matthew’s water bottle and took off, all the way to Door County, Wisconsin.
Faith had none of her clothes from the apartment, not even her toothbrush.
Everything had to seem normal to investigators.
Hope took Faith’s car to the secluded spot where she was allegedly strangled so the car would be towed and inspected as part of the investigation, and then Tom picked her up and dropped her at her apartment.
He was back with plenty of time for the eleven o’clock news.
Around Gary, Indiana, Faith called Hope on the burner phone to compare more notes. She told her about meeting the intern in the parking lot and handing the intern the note. Hope said it was all good except for one thing: not having an envelope.
“Incredibly stupid, Faith,” Hope said. “Who was this intern? What if she looked at the note?”
“No intern is going to disobey the orders of talent,” Faith reassured Hope. “No way in hell. She’s just a baby-faced college kid. Don’t worry. Plus, she wouldn’t have a clue what it meant even if she did.”
“I am worried, that was reckless of you,” said Hope. “We have to think ten steps ahead for the rest of our lives. I think we’ll need to keep tabs on this intern. What’s her name?”
“Uh … Olivia, I think.”
“Uh … Olivia, I think? That’s your answer?
You have to pay attention to damn details, Faith.
This is your disappearance and I’m wrapped up in it too, so is Tom, so are two policemen, possibly an ambulance driver, and the medical examiner.
Don’t play games and don’t be foolish. What the hell else do we know about this intern who you just handed a very weird piece of paper? ”
“Wait, I remember,” said Faith, not liking the feeling of being admonished by her older sister as she had been so many times as a child.
“Yes, it was definitely Olivia and she told me she had an aunt who is a major fan of mine and is in the Fair-Weather Friends Fan Club. Carol Henning was the aunt’s name.
I remember because Olivia had me autograph a picture for her and Carol’s husband, Jim.
I also remember that Olivia said she tells her aunt everything and that they’re super close. ”
“Well, now we’re getting somewhere,” said Hope.
“I’m going to google Carol Henning, Detroit, and see if I can find any pictures of her, like maybe from wherever she works or something.
Then I’ll go to the vigil they are sure to plan in your honor and look for this woman.
If she’s there I’ll cozy up to her and try to get some info.
I can tell when people are lying so I should be good at this.
You’ll see it all through the teddy bear camera. Sound good?”
“Sounds good.”
“You have to be way more careful, Faith. We have everything on the line here.”
“I know…”
Faith hung up but felt angry. No intern was going to look at a note, it just wasn’t going to happen. Even if the intern did, what was the worst that could come of it? It was all good.
And it seemed to be. Faith drove all night, arriving just as the sun was starting to rise in Gills Rock.
She checked to see if there was anything official out in the world about her, but other than a “Where’s Faith?
” Reddit and some speculation on X there was nothing.
She fell into bed and slept more deeply than she had in months.
When she woke, news of her “death” was just getting out.
Smiling as she made a simple breakfast with ingredients Hope had stocked up the previous week, she took a mug of coffee outside and sat overlooking the bay, thinking, It’s done, it’s all done now.
I am a free woman. Hope was going to plan the fake funeral for family and say that she had Faith’s body cremated immediately.
It was all going perfectly.
For two days.
But then Tom began to gum up the plans.
It started that Monday night after the disappearance. Faith’s burner phone rang as she came out of the shower. She had left it on the side of the sink. She jumped, thinking it was Hope. But the number was Tom’s.
“Hey, everything OK?” she asked, grabbing for a towel as she juggled the phone against one ear.
“Yes. Are things good for you in Gills Rock?”
“It’s like heaven here, the most beautiful little house in the woods on a cliff that overlooks the water. A big backyard, a fire pit. It’s amazing.”
“Sounds like paradise. How’s it going for Hope? She’s still here in Detroit, right, keeping an eye on things?”
“Yes, all good for Hope. She’s headed to a Fair-Weather Friends Fan Club meeting tonight.
She’ll take a teddy bear with a camera in it so I can see what’s going on if I want to, and she’ll keep using her fake name of Heather and changing her voice and posture so no one can ever put two and two together.
She connected with the aunt of this intern who handed you a piece of paper.
Are you absolutely sure the intern didn’t seem like she read it? ”
“No way, she was just a kid delivering something. Nothing to worry about there.”
“Thank God. So what else do I need to know? I saw the pregnancy push alert earlier.”
“Yeah, that’s blowing up, great idea as sympathy is absolutely pouring in. Listen, Faith, I do have something important to talk to you about, though.”
“What is it?”
“Honestly … this is awkward … so I’ll just come out and say it. This whole thing is a lot more than I bargained for.”
His voice had shifted, taking on a stronger and darker tone. Her throat tightened up.
“I wanted to help you, as a friend and a colleague. I really did, Faith. And I did my part. I did everything but, quite frankly, the stress of this has been overwhelming. More so than I envisioned. I actually had to take a sick day today.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said. “Is there anything else?” Not that she didn’t care that he was stressed out, but she had paid him a lot of money, and there was no way he was more stressed than her.
She wanted to be sure there was nothing else he needed to talk about, nothing that more directly impacted her.
“Everything is going all right with the whole ruse, but I lost my entire weekend between interviews about you and the vigil. I’m not sleeping, I’m worried.
It’s all been a lot. I’m calling because I think I deserve another fifty thousand …
for my troubles. I went in too low. The ME got a hundred thousand and I think I should too.
I am asking you and Hope to wire me more money. ”
Faith’s hands turned so cold she wondered if a person could get frostbite indoors in the summer.
“Are you kidding me? You’re kidding, right?”
“I think you know me well enough to know that I’m not the type of person to joke about something like this. I’m dead serious.”
Faith was stunned into silence. Her friend was trying to milk her for more money. She opened her mouth to form words but nothing came out.
“Faith? Are you still there?”
She had to clear her throat. Her fingers remained ice.
“I’m here.”
“I trust Hope will take care of it by tomorrow? Since she’s still in Detroit it should be an easy wire transfer. You have my account number. I would like it by noon.”
Anger started to bubble up from every corner of Faith’s belly. Who the hell did Tom think he was?
“This is insane, Tom. We agreed on a price. Hope and I can’t just give you fifty thousand more. Money is tight. We have to live within our means. I know it’s stressful but you are one hundred percent in the clear. I’m not giving you more money and there’s no debating.”
Silence. Faith could feel the anger coming from his end too.
“Faith, you realize I’m in the driver’s seat here, right? I am one of only four people outside of Hope who know you’re alive. What if I went to the police?”
Faith thought of all of the things she had told Tom during this conversation alone: the fake name Hope had used, the nanny-cam teddy bear, Hope’s attendance at the FWFFC meeting at the coffee shop that night. What if he’d recorded it?
“Are you blackmailing me? You would be implicated too. Lose your job, your reputation, the ME’s job and reputation ruined, the police officers, are you insane? You can’t be doing this. You were in on it as much as me.”
“I hold all of the cards, Faith. I don’t have to implicate myself or anyone else but I could make your life very miserable.”
“Oh yeah, how?”
“For starters, watch me play around with your pregnancy rumor. The station pushed it out today and you’re getting mountains of goodwill.
I know the assistant ME very well too. I might just put in a call and slide her a little cash to cast some doubt on the report. Just enough to get everyone rattled.”
Tears came into Faith’s eyes. She was so tired of people doing this sort of thing to her.
Taking advantage of her, pushing her in ways she didn’t want to be pushed.
Tom, who had suggested this whole thing.
Tom, who had been a friend, or so she thought.
It went back to her dad pushing her around, punishing her with clothes.
“No,” she whispered, a sob threatening her throat. At least her fingers were regaining some normal warmth. “Just stop this, Tom.”
“Fifty K by tomorrow at noon, Faith. That’s all I’m asking. I know you both have plenty of money now from that jewelry heist and a lot more coming from insurance. Tell Hope.”
He hung up on her. Faith let herself cry for several minutes, and then she screamed until she had nothing left. Curling into a ball on the bed, she felt sorry for herself for a while, lost in pity, but then started thinking.
Hope would go ballistic. Money was everything to her, and they didn’t have 50K just lying around. Yet their lives would be ruined if Tom ever went to the police with the real story.
Slowly a solution started to form. It was not a perfect plan, but it was as close as she could get.
Glancing at the clock, she realized that Hope would be in the middle of the FWFFC event.
Faith turned on her nanny-cam app and peeked at the meeting through the teddy bear’s stomach camera, but it seemed rather boring, as they were all just talking about where to give donations in honor of the baby.
She had to text Hope right then what was happening and the plan she came up with. Tom wanted his money by noon Tuesday, but she was fairly confident she could hold him off at least a day and put the wheels in motion.
Sending the text to Hope, she watched through the nanny cam. The camera went sideways and upside down, and then showed nothing but black. Faith knew Hope had likely thrown the bear into her purse and rushed out. She waited for her sister to call, and Hope did about forty-five seconds later.
“I just got to the car,” Hope said, panting. “That jerk-off Tom is asking us for more money? Are you frickin’ serious?”
“Yes, but don’t worry. I have a plan. It took me all afternoon but I came up with something that gets us even more in the clear.”
“Do tell, Sis, do tell.”
As Faith laid it out, Hope muttered “Aha” and “Yes” and “Wow.” Then she said, “I’m on it.
I’ll tell Tom we’re good to go with the money but I’ll say to meet in person at a private place for the handoff.
Then I’ll bring three water bottles: Matthew’s and two other Channel 9 ones you’ve given me over the years.
I’ll put champagne in all of them and keep Matthew’s in my purse.
I’ll tell Tom we’re going to toast our good fortune—we’re both rich, after all.
His will have cyanide in it. A pharmacist friend once told me how to order it on the web.
It can be shipped as fast as any product.
I can get it overnight. I’ll drink from my bottle.
Tom will die shortly after drinking from his.
I’ll put Matthew’s bottle in the console.
Earlier I will have texted Matthew to meet me at this remote parking spot at 12:15.
Then right after Tom keels over I’ll call the police anonymously on a burner phone and tip them off to a man dying in his car by the lagoon.
Then I’ll take off. Police and paramedics should arrive just after Matthew.
It will look very, very bad for him. Matthew should be up the river without a paddle.
Oh, by the way, I tried to sniff around with good ol’ Aunt Carol again tonight at the meeting.
I lied to her and told her I heard a rumor that Chloe said you gave an intern some piece of paper.
I’m just trying to break her down for some info.
She hasn’t given up the goods yet but it sounds like we won’t need it now anyway.
Tom won’t be squealing anything to anyone soon.
That asshole doesn’t know who he’s messing with. ”