Suspicious Minds (Fate #3) (25 page)

“Yeah, I’m sure it does,” she huffed. “What I’m not sure about is
if I believe you.”

“Believe it, Ollie. It did. Only she was so wasted she didn’t
remember any of it. I knew she wouldn’t, so I made them all leave the bedroom,
and I lay down next her. When she woke, she thought she’d slept with just me. Later,
when I talked to the guys, they admitted to each having sex with her more than
once. I wasn’t going to ever tell her. I knew she’d freak the fuck out. I
figured it was better if she never knew. Then she got pregnant.”

“Oh my God,” Olivia gasped as it dawned on her what he was
saying.

“Yeah, and the worst thing is one of those guys was Samoan and
the other one was Mexican. No way will she believe that kid is mine when we’re
both vanilla white. It’s why I kept telling her she should get an abortion. I
preferred she think I’m a total asshole with no regard for her beliefs than to
tell her the truth. But she wouldn’t listen, so I finally had to tell her.”

“What did she say?” Olivia asked, almost terrified to know the
answer.

Olivia had since fallen back on the sofa, unable to stand anymore
as she heard all the horrific details.

“At first, she didn’t believe me, but I swear to you on my baby
sister’s life it’s the truth. And then, I don’t know. I guess maybe she
remembered bits and pieces because she suddenly broke down, crying hysterically.
She said she’d been having flashbacks but thought maybe it was something she’d
dreamt when she was high or something, because she didn’t think it could
possibly be true. She also knew I wouldn’t know which guys were in her so-called
dream, and the more she talked, the more she remembered and was even more
hysterical.”

Olivia covered her face now. She could only imagine what Margie
was feeling. She remembered the night she’d agreed to the threesome, and she’d
only had a few strong drinks. The next day she actually wished she’d had more
because she remembered it all. The shame had been unbearable when she’d sobered
up and realized what she’d done. It was all she could think of for weeks,
months. And she’d done it with Jay and another girl, not two completely
different guys.

“The night I told her two days ago, well three now, was the last
time I heard from her. I was hoping she was with you because, aside from your
house, I can think of only one other place where she might be.”

That jolted Olivia to sit upright suddenly. “Where?”

Jay explained how when he questioned Sailo and Julian, the two
guys she’d been with, he hadn’t told them about her being pregnant. He knew both
would be against her having it. Jay’s brother ran with the lowest of the
lowest. But it was worse than he initially thought. His brother warned Jay
these guys might actually hurt Margie if she didn’t agree to an abortion.

“Julian already has two different baby mommas with two kids each,”
Jay said, sounding even more worried suddenly. “The last thing he wants is
another one on his ass about giving her money. So I knew it was crucial that he
didn’t find out about it. But my stupid-ass brother got drunk and let it slip
that Margie was pregnant. That’s when I knew I had to tell her, and then later
that night I made my brother promise that if his thug friends went after her he’d
let me know before they hurt her. I’d convince her to abort one way or another.
The night I told her, when she finally calmed down, she mentioned needing to
get away. I encouraged her to, but she was so freaked out already I didn’t want
to tell her she might be in danger on top of everything else I’d just dumped on
her. The next day she was gone, but my brother said he hadn’t heard anything.
Then he got pinched. He’s been locked up for days now and has limited access to
talking to anyone. That’s why I came down here. I was hoping she’d be here. I’m
waiting on a call from my brother. He should know something by now, but I’m
pretty sure I know what the answer’s gonna be, and if it is, I really think you
should come with me. My brother was sure of one thing when it came to Julian: that
guy don’t fuck around. Like all his friends, the guy already has blood on his
hands. Not so much Sailo, he’s actually been known to have a heart, but my
brother said Julian’s as cold as they come and he knows how to cover his tracks
well. If he’s gotten to her, there are only two possible outcomes: either she’s
already had the abortion or she’s dead. My guess is she had it. I know when she
was so hysterical the idea of an abortion was suddenly not such an impossibility.
I told her what she’d be getting herself into if she ended up stuck with a baby
from one of those two thugs. She didn’t want any part of that lifestyle. She
hasn’t been taking her anti-depressants in a while, so if she had the abortion,
we both know the state of mind she must be in.”

Olivia had already started gasping with every new horrid detail Jay
explained about this whole mess. But this was so much worse than she would’ve ever
imagined. Even if they hadn’t killed her best friend, Margie could still be in
grave danger.

“Suicidal,” Olivia gasped again.

She’d been on her feet almost as soon as Jay started explaining
about Sailo and Julian not wanting any part of possibly being Margie’s baby’s
dad. Now she stood there with her hand over her mouth, shaking her head. How
unfair was all this shit? They took advantage of her being high and out of her
mind and didn’t bother taking precautions. Now they were going to threaten her
life if she didn’t abort? The bastards!

“Hold on!” she said as something suddenly came to her.

She began scrolling through her text messages until she came to
the last one she’d gotten from Margie days ago. It had appeared to be
incomplete and didn’t make sense, but now it might. She found it and reread it.

I really NEED to talk to you. I don’t know how I’ll . . .

That was it. Olivia remembered feeling so frustrated because, if
she had to guess, this was another distress signal from Margie. Her best friend
needed
her then and now possibly more than ever, but she hadn’t been
able to get a hold of her since.

When she got back on the line, Jay wasn’t there anymore, but she
could hear him talking to someone in the background. Jay’s voice was doing all
the talking, so she figured he was on his cell. She tried to listen because she
couldn’t make out what he was saying, but based on his tone he didn’t sound
happy.

Continuing to clutch her chest, she waited anxiously. She heard
him trying to calm someone now, and that only alarmed her further. Finally he
got back on the phone.

“Okay good news and bad news,” he said. “She’s with Sailo. My
brother was right; the guy’s nowhere as bad as Julian.
She
called
him
.
He didn’t go looking for her. I guess they’ve been talking on the phone and
shit even before the threesome, but she always begged him not to tell me. She
called him and asked him if he’d take her to get the abortion. She needed
someone to drive her home, and she didn’t wanna call me. He said she’s pissed
at me for not having told her sooner about her night with Sailo and Julian. He
fucking didn’t either!”

“Who cares!” Olivia said, barely able to believe that Margie had
actually willingly had an abortion and
this
is what Jay was concerned
about. “What’s the bad news?”

“She had it yesterday, and now she’s freaking out on him. Keeps
talking about wanting to die. She’s off her meds and doesn’t have any with her
but refuses to call her parents or go home and get them. He’s been with her
since yesterday at a hotel room, but now he’s freaking out because the last
thing he wants is to have to call 911. The guy has all kinds of warrants and
shit. He’s threatening to just leave her there.”

“No! He can’t!”

“I told him to get her some meth or at least weed. It’ll calm her
down at least until we can get there and you can convince her to call her
parents.”

“He should call her parents,” Olivia said frantically. “
I’ll
call them. I just need to know where she’s at and they can go down there and
take her home.”

“Are you nuts? You know what her parents are like. They’ll call
the cops! I can’t do that to the guy. He did the right thing and hung with her
all night. He probably would’ve been willing to hang with her longer if she
hadn’t started flipping out on him. But he’s really freaked. He said she has
moments where she gets really loud when she’s crying and he’s afraid someone in
one of the other rooms might call the cops.”

Olivia had seen firsthand how hysterical Margie could get. She
understood why Sailo would be freaking out.

“I gotta make a call to get some weed and shit out to Sailo’s
hotel room,” Jay said quickly. “I’ll call you in a few.”

Her mind spun now as Lorenzo came to mind. Understandably, he’d
be livid if she left with Jay. The thought of how quickly he went from her
sweet beautifully tender boyfriend to the hard ass Rosie had first told her
about and she’d already experienced in small doses, made her cringe. This could
cost her, but she had to believe that if he really loved her he’d understand.
Margie had been there for Olivia during one her darkest hours ever—a time when Olivia
had also entertained thoughts of taking her own life.

Olivia had sent Margie a text the moment she’d hung up with Jay.
She needed some kind of confirmation that what Jay was telling her wasn’t some
kind of elaborate lie again.

I want to be there for you if you need me, but I need to
be sure this is you, Margie. So answer me this. Who did I say for years would
someday be my husband?

After a few minutes went by with no response, she felt stupid for
sending the text in the first place; then her phone pinged and her heart was
suddenly at her throat. It was Margie. Her response was two words.

Tim Tebow

With tears in her eyes, Olivia texted her back immediately. Her
phone didn’t even ring one full time when Jay called back. “The drugs are on
their way to Margie’s hotel room, but there’s no guarantee she’ll take them. I
gotta get there before he bails on her. You don’t have to go, but—”

“Come pick me up,” she said as she finished throwing another
change of clothes in her bag. “I need to be there for her.”

She rattled off her address, figuring he’d already found her
address once when he sent her the flowers so no need to try and keep it from
him now. Instead of worrying about that, she went over her half-baked plan to
buy her some time so she wouldn’t have to tell her brothers or Lorenzo the
whole truth until she was able to talk to them in person.

The morning had started as one of the most exciting and sweetest
in her life but had quickly spiraled to one the most terrifying mornings of her
life. She didn’t know what they’d find when they finally got to Margie, but
just as harrowing was the thought of having to tell Lorenzo she was with Jay.

Seventeen

Lorenzo

I’m about to board a plane to Dallas. I finally got a
hold of Margie, but she’s in bad shape. I need to be there for her. I’ll
explain everything when I talk to you later today. I love you!

Lorenzo stared at the text from Liv again. It was the
first thing he’d read when he landed in North Carolina hours ago and he
immediately turned on his phone. He’d yet to hear from her since, despite his
attempts to call her several times. Oddly his call had gone straight to
voicemail each time. He was trying to keep an open mind, but like yesterday his
gut was telling him something was wrong. He cursed the fucking timing of this
deployment. He could’ve been there with her. He also cursed the fact that all
this time he hadn’t thought to exchange numbers with any of her brothers for
times like these when he was worried about her.

Once he’d reported to duty he was required to turn his phone off.
The little time he had during breaks he hadn’t wanted to spend making phone
calls to try and track her brothers down. That would likely have Lorenzo
leaving messages only to have to turn his phone right back off when his break
was over. Lorenzo wasn’t sure he wanted everyone in on this yet. It could be
nothing more than Liv wanting to be there for her despondent friend. He wasn’t
sure yet how much her brothers knew about the situation if at all. He decided
it was best to wait at least until tonight when he was done with training. If
he hadn’t heard from her by then, he’d have no choice but to start making calls,
even if it might open up a can of worms.

He was on his lunch break now and he’d hoped that by now he would’ve
heard more, but he still had nothing. The damn knot he’d had in his stomach
ever since he read her text earlier was only getting tighter. He hated the
memory it brought on of when he’d last felt this bad: the night he got the call
about Linda being in a wreck.

Lunch break was nearly over, and Lorenzo hadn’t bothered getting
anything to eat. For obvious reasons, he didn’t have much of an appetite. Still
lost in thoughts of what Liv might be doing but most annoyingly who else might
be with her, he flinched when his phone rang in his hand.

His eyes were immediately on the screen, but he didn’t recognize
the number. Under the circumstances he didn’t care. He swiped his finger across
the screen anxiously and answered.

“Lorenzo?”

His brows pinched at the female voice he didn’t immediately
recognize. “Who’s this?”

“It’s Emilia,” she said. “Livi asked me to call you.”

“Em? Yeah, yeah,” he said, standing from where he’d been sitting
and gripping the phone a little tighter. “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

“Yes, she’s fine,” Em said quickly. “She just lost her phone. She
thinks she left it on the plane. She doesn’t have your number memorized. I had
to call the firing range and get it from Vince. But she wanted me to call you
as soon as I did and let you know she’s fine. She’s with Margie now.”

Lorenzo was already heading back to his training. He had precious
little time before he had to report back, but he needed to know a few things first.
“What happened? Why’d she have to go so suddenly?”

“I don’t have all the details. She just said Margie had some kind
of nervous breakdown and she had to be there for her. No one was here when she
left, so she didn’t get a chance to explain to anyone. We didn’t even know she’d
gone to Dallas until she called me. I’m the first one to hear from her.”

That last comment made Lorenzo slow down. “She didn’t call your
brothers?”

“Uh, she might’ve now,” Em said, and if Lorenzo weren’t mistaken,
he caught the slightest bit of unease in her tone. “My number was the only one
Margie had on her phone. She didn’t have my brothers’, but I gave her their
numbers.” She laughed softly but even that sounded strangely forced. “It’s
crazy how nowadays no one memorizes numbers. She didn’t remember their numbers
either.”

“But Margie’s okay now?”

“Yes,” Em said readily. “They got her back to her parents, and
everything is gonna be fine. I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to get a
hold of Vince since I was in class when I got the text from her, so she asked
me to leave you a message as soon as I did. She didn’t think I’d get a hold of you
because you’re in training. But she also wanted me to call her as soon as I was
done leaving you a message with your phone number so she can call you or text
you. You want me to do that now since you’re available?”

Lorenzo glanced down at his watch with a frown. He didn’t have
time. He needed to report back in less than two minutes. Already he was rushing
back toward the training grounds.

“I was on a break,” he explained. “But it’s over now. Tell her to
call me after five tonight. I really wanna talk to her.”

“Okay, I’ll let her know.”

“Em?” he said before she could hang up.

“Yeah?”

“Who’s
they
? Who else is she with?”

The line went quiet for a moment. Then he heard her clear her
throat. “She, uh . . . didn’t say. It was just a couple of texts that I couldn’t
even read until after class because we’re not allowed to have our phones on in
class. She didn’t answer when I tried calling her after class, so I just went
ahead and started to track Vince down. I just now got the phone call from him,
and I was going to try to call her again as soon as I left you her message.”

For a moment, he was tempted to challenge that. Logically, if you’re
going to speak or text to anyone in terms of “we” as in “we just got her back
to her parents,” you wouldn’t bother using
we
and Em wouldn’t have
mentioned
they
, unless it had already been clarified who
they
were. But he wouldn’t be confrontational about it, not with her sister anyway.

It had only been a few minutes since he’d hung up with Emilia,
and already the annoyance was overriding any previous feelings of concern. But
he welcomed the annoyance. He preferred it to the utter jealousy mixed with
fear that Jay still had that kind of power over Liv, something she adamantly claimed
he no longer did. He may’ve once again persuaded Liv to do as he
wished—convinced her she needed to go back to Dallas—with him. On the premise
that it was for Margie’s sake.

Lorenzo was still determined that any reaction to all this wouldn’t
be swayed by his past, and he had every intention of giving Liv the benefit of
the doubt. She was a sweet girl and clearly a great friend. If she saw fit to
drop everything to fly out on a whim to be by Margie’s side, she likely had
good reason. He wouldn’t fault her nor would he question the obviously rash
decision. It shouldn’t matter that she’d never once mentioned that flying out
to be with her friend was even a consideration, not even after finding out she’d
gone missing. Given the time she sent the text that morning, something big must’ve
happened overnight.

Despite all the possible rational explanations, he could already tell
this was going to take all the fortitude he could summon to not jump to
conclusions. The adrenaline he was already feeling about the possibility that
she was out there spending time alone with her ex was a living, fiery thing. But
he refused to let it manifest into what he knew it could—make him imagine the
worst. It was very possible that, as she mentioned in her text, after leaving
his place today, she’d finally gotten a hold of her friend and was compelled to
be there for her. If that’s all this was, then he’d be supportive and
understanding. It didn’t have to be what he was already blowing up in his head.
Just because her ex had been in town last night and she’d been more than
noticeably bemused from just seeing him again for the first time in years, it
didn’t mean he was the reason for her impulsive decision.

It didn’t mean that by “they”
she’d been referring to her
and Jay.

It didn’t mean she’d been with the guy since this morning.

It didn’t mean Lorenzo had to lose his shit—yet.