“Fell on the stairs, huh? If you want me to buy that, you’ll have to at least say you were drunk.”
With those words, she turns around and leans on her crutches into the bedroom and closes the door. I feel heavy-hearted. I don’t like having to lie to them, but I guess I did it because I felt it was necessary. Right now, I just can’t deal with more broken hearts. I know more are bound to come once their dad is put in jail, but right now, I hope to have just bought us a little time.
Chapter 35
I sit in my car for a few minutes, finding strength. The gray two-story house in front of me looks like it is accusing me of something. I’m scared of what I’m about to do, but I feel this is the only way. It is Saturday, and I have left Damian with his grandparents. My parents wanted to take them both to the beach, but Isabella didn’t want to go since it is hard to walk on crutches in the sand, and she has a lot of homework to catch up on. She is determined to pass her grade even if it means she has to do work every day, also on weekends, in order to do so. So, I have allowed her to stay at the condo alone for a few hours while I do this.
Meanwhile, I have been speculating like crazy over the past few days about what to do. I know I can’t just do nothing and pretend like I don’t know what my husband has been doing. I can’t go to the police since he has threatened to come after the kids and me if I do. So, I don’t dare to do that. But there is something else I can do, and now I am sitting in my minivan, parked on a street on base. Technically, I still live in my house further down the street, which I passed on my way here. That way, I still get to keep my ID card and still have access to the base. It was no problem getting past the guards at the gate. I drove up there and passed the card out the window. Active duty military cards are called CAC cards and have microchips in them. Mine is civilian and has a barcode on the back. A guard at the gate uses a handheld scanner to check it before I drive onto the base. Being here again doesn’t make me feel very good. Passing my old house made me feel sick, to be honest.
You can do it, Laurie.
I take a deep breath and decide now is as good a time as any. I get out of the comfort of my car, then walk up toward the house. I check the driveway to make sure Ryan’s truck isn’t there. I’ve been trying to track him via the app the past few days, but he must have turned the location tracking off or deleted the app because his icon is gone. This means I have no way of finding out where he is or what he is doing. It scares me.
I ring the doorbell, then wait.
I touch my nose gently. It isn’t swollen anymore, and neither is my lip. I still have a crack in it, and my nose is still sore like crazy, but I no longer look like a monster, which pleases me.
The door opens, and a face appears. My heart drops for a second as I prepare myself for facing this woman again.
“Laurie?”
I smile, trying to seem genuinely happy to see her. “Hello, Lotty.”
“W-what brings you here? We haven’t seen you in forever.”
“I would like to speak to your husband, actually. Is he here?”
She nods. “Yes. Yes, of course. Come on in.”
She steps aside and lets me in, then closes the door behind me. I can tell she is puzzled and slightly uncomfortable about me being here, but I choose to ignore it. She smiles; it comes off as awkward and forced.
“He’s in the backyard, mowing the lawn. I’ll get him for you.”
I follow her out to the back patio. Their backyard is fenced in, unlike most of the houses on base. Base housing is managed by a private company, and they run things pretty much the same as most rental property management companies, including taking care of your lawn—except when you have a fenced-in backyard like Chip and Lotty do. Then, you have to mow it yourself.
The sound of the mowing tractor that Chip is riding drowns out everything else, and he doesn’t see Lotty till she is up close. I can hear her yell, and Chip finally stops the machine. They talk, and she points in my direction. Chip gets off the machine, then walks toward me.
“Laurie?” he says as he approaches me.
I smile and nod. There’s an uncomfortable silence. I know they’re waiting for me to say something, but the words don’t come yet.
“I’ll get us some iced tea,” Lotty says and disappears inside.
We sit down on the soft patio furniture. Chip is sweaty, and his forehead is glistening. He wipes it off on a towel, then grunts tiredly. His wife returns with a tray between her hands. She smiles nervously and serves me a glass of iced tea. I take it and drink.
“How have you been, Laurie?” Chip asks after downing an entire glass for himself. He is crunching the ice while he speaks.
“Yeah, how have you been?” Lotty says. She sits with her hands in her lap. “It’s been a while. How are the kids; are they okay?”
I nod. “They’re okay, given the circumstances.”
Lotty nods, looking down. “Of course. They must miss their dad.”
I scoff. “Of course, they do. But he’s not himself. And that is actually why I have come.”
“Oh,” Lotty exclaims, then shifts in her seat.
I focus on Chip. He’s the guy I need to tell this to. He’s the guy who should know. I put my glass down. Chip grabs a small silver case he always carries in his pocket and pulls out a long black e-cigarette, then starts to vape. The smoke filling my nostrils is nauseatingly sweet.
“We need to do something about Ryan,” I say. “Now, I hate to come here, going behind his back, but we need to stop him.”
“What are you talking about, Laurie?” Chip asks, looking at me like he’s already determined that what I am going to tell him will be ridiculous—that he is above having to listen to all this nonsense. He doesn’t have the time for it.
The way he looks at me makes me nervous, and the words are more difficult to find now.
“I think…I believe…I don’t think Sandra killed herself.”
Chip rolls his eyes. “Not this again. We’ve all heard how you tried to incriminate Ryan for this to the OSI. Please, don’t humiliate yourself again.”
“But it’s not just her,” I say, losing confidence by the second now. “It’s also Ted and the other night…Duke.”
Chip shakes his head at me. “All suicides. I really don’t appreciate you coming here and using these tragic deaths to…”
“Look at my face,” I say and point at my lip and nose. “He did that to me. Ryan did all that.” I fumble with my phone and find the picture of me that I took on the day after my meeting with Ryan in Duke’s bathroom. “Look. This is what I looked like right after. Ryan did this, Chip. In Duke’s house. I was there. He was trying to kill him when I tried to stop him. I am not making this up, Chip. You’re the leader of this squadron; you’re his leader. You can do something.”
Chip stares at the photo, then at my face. He hands it back to me, still shaking his head.
“Listen, Laurie. I know things aren’t well with Ryan. I have known this for quite some time. He comes here now and then; he sleeps on the couch, and I hear him scream at night. I can see in his eyes that something is wrong. And I am sorry if he did this to you; it’s truly awful.”