After leaving the office, I just drove around the city and ended up at the beach. The sound of the ocean had always helped me think. I knew Anthony was behind this, I could tell by the look on his face when we’d left there. I just wasn’t sure how to prove it.
There were people on the beach, but it wasn’t crowded. I found a place away from everyone and sat in the sand. I felt so bad for Karma. She must be scared and confused. I wished I could talk to her, but no visitors were allowed. I hated that she was dealing with this alone. As I stared at the crashing waves, I had an idea. I didn’t know if I could pull it off, but I was going to try.
I’d been at the beach for much longer than I’d realized. The alarm went off on my phone telling me it was time to go pick up Karma’s parents from the airport. I still had Karma’s phone so they could call me when they got off the plane.
Once I parked and went into the terminal, I was slightly nervous, and I had no idea why. I guess I was just hoping they weren’t blaming all of this on me. I went to their gate and waited, gripping Karma’s phone in my hand.
When it rang, I actually jumped a little. I told her mom that I was there and wearing a green t-shirt and jeans so she could find me. I shouldn’t have worried about trying to spot them because Karma’s mom looked just like her. Same red hair and body type. I waved at her to get her attention. They didn’t have any bags to get so we went straight to my car.
“Thank you for plane tickets,” Mrs. Webster said. “We’ve never flown first class before. And thank you for picking us up.”
“It’s not a problem. I’ll do anything to make this better. I’m so sorry this happened.”
“Can you tell us everything you know?” she asked. “I mean, right from the beginning.”
“Sure.” I talked the whole way to the hotel, telling them everything I knew. They both had some questions and by the time I was pulling into a parking spot Mrs. Webster had a few tears. I felt so bad for them. We got out and I checked them in.
“Here are your room keys,” I said, handing them two plastic cards. “Kayleigh should be here in the next few minutes. I hope it’s okay that I asked her here.”
“Of course, it’s okay, she’s like a daughter to us,” Mrs. Webster said.
“Uh, is it alright if I come up to your room while we wait for Kayleigh and Major? I have something I’d like to talk to everyone about.”
“That’s not a problem at all.”
I took Mrs. Webster’s carry-on bag, and we went to the elevators. I’d booked them the best room at the hotel, so we went all the way to the twentieth floor. I could tell they were shocked at the room when we walked in.
“Bodie, this is too much,” Mrs. Webster said, when she saw the room. “An ordinary room would have been just fine.”
“I didn’t want you to have to worry about anything other than Karma while you’re here, so I got the room with the most comforts of home. There is also unlimited room service, or you can eat in the restaurant if you want as well at no charge to you.”
“We can’t accept this,” Mr. Webster said.
“You have to,” I told him. “It’s the only thing I can do for Karma at the moment.”
I think he understood what I was talking about because he nodded at me.
There was a knock on the door and since I was closest, I answered it. Kayleigh came in and ran straight to Mrs. Webster. I couldn’t hear what they were saying to each other, but I could tell that Karma’s mom was happy to see Kayleigh.
“Here’s the paper you wanted,” Major said, handing me a notepad.
“Thanks man, I appreciate it.”
“What is it for?”
“You’ll find out in a minute.”
I waited a little bit until it looked like Kayleigh was done talking to Karma’s parents.
“So,” I started, “I have an idea about how we can get in touch with Karma. I don’t know if I can make it happen but I’m willing to try. I thought we could each write her a short message and I’d try and get a guard to give it to her.”
I saw both Mrs. Webster’s and Kayleigh’s faces light up.
“That’s a wonderful idea, Bodie,” Mrs. Webster said. “I think getting messages of support will mean the world to her.”
“Like I said, I don’t know if I can actually make it work, but I’ll do everything I can. Kayleigh, why don’t you start.”
I handed her the notepad, and she wrote what she wanted to say. Then she gave it to Mrs. Webster. I asked Major to add a message as well. I was going to be the last one, but I decided to do mine later.
When it was time for me to leave, I left my car keys with Mr. Webster. It took some convincing, but he finally agreed it would be nice to have a car. I’d already asked dad to let me borrow a company car. He had someone drop the keys off at the front desk. I said my goodbyes and left the hotel.
When I got back to the dorm, I put the notepad in front of me and said what was on my mind. There was no point in holding back now. I wanted her to know how I felt and that I would do anything to help her.
****
The next morning, I got up early. I hadn’t slept much so having a task to perform actually helped. After getting dressed, I went straight to the station where they were holding Karma. The girl at the front desk was cute, so I was able to flirt my way past her. She told me how to get to the back where the guard’s office was. I waited for a few minutes until someone finally approached me.
“Can I help you with something?” a female guard asked me. I could tell she wasn’t very happy I was there.
“I know no one here can have visitors,” I said, “but I was wondering if I could get this message to Karma Webster. It’s really important.”
I handed her the piece of paper with a hundred-dollar bill tucked underneath it. She peaked under the paper and then read the notes. I think I was holding my breath the whole time. The guard looked up from the paper and didn’t take her eyes off me for at least a full minute.
“Is she your girl?” the guard asked me.
“No, but I wish she was.”
“Where’s her man then?”
“I think he’s the one responsible for putting her here.”
She looked at me some more. “I’ll see what I can do. Now you better get your ass out of here before someone else sees you.”
I watched as she slipped the money in her pocket along with the folded-up paper. She nodded at me and I turned around and made my way back to the front desk. I winked at the girl then left the building. I had no idea if Karma would actually get the note so all I could do was hope.
I went back to the dorm and saw an email from Cathy. She’s managed to get all the information in a way I could easily look at it. I knew I was going to be spending the rest of the weekend going through the data, and I was really okay with that.
Chapter 36
Karma
I had no idea what time they were coming to take me to the courthouse. The best I could hope for was that it was early, and I got to go home today. It was the only thing keeping me going.
Last night, I’d made lots of notes, but none of it seemed helpful. I set the paper down and thought about what might happen today. Worst case scenario was that I went to an actual jail. I wasn’t sure I could handle that, and what would it do to my parents?