“I would’ve slept with you back then,” I remark.
“Don’t say that. Jesus Christ, that’s fucked up, Zoe!” Winston exclaims, scrubbing his palms down his face.
“It’s the truth, unlike half the shit that’s coming out of your mouth.”
“Everything I’ve told you today is true,” he mutters.
“So, I’m supposed to believe that you were lying ten years ago, but not lying now?”
“Yes!”
“Well, I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can do that.”
“Fine. Whatever,” Winston grumbles when he pulls out his phone. “I need to make a fucking call and then I’ll take you home.”
“Okay,” I agree with a sigh as I rest my head back on the seat.
“Get everyone to the table for a meeting, prez,” Winston says into the phone as he looks out the window at the cars rushing past us. “I think I’ve found one of our suspects. Long story, but I even have a name—Joey Simpson. Yeah, we need everyone there so we can figure out how to bring him in. I’m an hour away so I’ll be there as soon as I can. See ya.”
Winston doesn’t say a word to me about his call before he shifts the car into drive and clutches the steering wheel to get us back on the road.
“So, the guy with the tattoo on his arm is a suspect?” I ask, just because the silence is deafening. Later, I’ll need time to think about everything Winston just told me, but not right now while I’m sitting beside him.
“Yes.”
Great, we’re back to one-word responses again.
“What did he do?” I prod.
“He was one of four men who kidnapped several girls, held them prisoner, and repeatedly raped them.”
“Oh, wow,” I say with a shiver.
“I’ve had nightmares about that happening to you because I didn’t know where you were or if you were safe.”
“You could’ve called,” I point out.
“I did call and text you, over and over again, but you wouldn’t ever answer me!” Winston exclaims.
“I was angry at you and didn’t want to talk to you back then right after it all happened. But maybe I would’ve answered if you had tried later on.”
“Forgive me for thinking that you would eventually come home, so we could talk,” he huffs.
I don’t respond to that because I don’t want to admit it was too hard to think about seeing him, knowing he didn’t feel the same way about me.
Now, he’s saying he did and I’m so fucking confused.
I’m so lost in my head, I don’t even remember the trip home, but sooner than expected, we’re pulling up in our parents’ driveaway.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Okay,” I agree, momentarily disappointed he’s not coming in with me now. But then I remember he has a Savage Kings meeting to get to.
“Lock up,” he tells me before I shut the car door, as if that wasn’t a given.
When I’m inside the cool, silent house full of memories, I collapse onto the sofa with my stupid purse full of porno DVDs in my lap.
I wish there was a way to know for sure that what Winston told me today was true, that he cared about me the way I always wanted and didn’t tell me because he didn’t want me to miss out on my dream of traveling the world and becoming a model. Not that my career turned out very well, but at least I did what I set out to do.
Then I remember Winston saying something about going to my father the morning before my party. Grabbing my phone from my purse, I call my father. He doesn’t answer, of course, because he’s on vacation. I should feel guilty for bothering him and Debra, but I need answers that can’t wait.
I sit in the quiet house, thinking, unmoving, until my phone finally rings in my palm.
“Hey, Dad,” I answer.
“Hi, honey. Everything okay?”
“Ah, yeah. Of course. How’s the trip going?”
“It’s wonderful, just wonderful. The weather is perfect. Deb says hi.”
“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself,” I tell him sincerely. “But, um, the reason I called, I just had something I wanted to ask you really fast.”
“Sure. What is it?”
“Do you remember back when I was getting ready to leave for Paris?”
“I’m old but not senile yet,” he says with a chuckle. “Yes, I remember.”
“Did Winston come to your office and talk to you about me?”
“Ah, yeah, I seem to recall him barging in just before your party. It was one of the only times I remember him ever raising his voice at me. But I couldn’t be angry with him, not when he was just looking out for you.”
“He was?”
“Yes. I remember he demanded that I tell you that you couldn’t go on the trip. I’m surprised he didn’t show up at your party and raise hell about you being too young to leave on your own.”
“He didn’t,” I say softly. I went to him, I think to myself, since I’ve never told our parents I went to see Winston that night and stayed with him.
“Probably because what I said got through to him,” my father says.
“And what did you say to him?”
“Oh, I don’t remember everything we discussed, but I do remember telling him that sometimes when you love someone, you have to support them, even when it means letting them go off to chase their dreams.”
Holy shit.
So maybe it is possible Winston lied to me…because he loved me?
“Honey? You still there? I think our call got dropped,” I hear him tell Deb.
“I-I’m still here,” I say. “Thanks for talking to me, Dad. I’ll let you get back to your vacation.”
“All right. Talk to you soon!” he says before he ends the call, leaving me confused, happy, and incredibly sad, all at the same time.
Chapter Thirteen
Winston
* * *
“Thank you all for coming in on short notice this afternoon,” Roman says once everyone is seated at the Savage Kings’ table. “Now, I’ll turn it over to Winston, who has some big news to share with us.”
“Let me guess,” Cannon speaks up. “He’s getting a personality transplant?”
“Fuck off,” I tell him, flashing him my middle finger. “This is serious.”
“Everything is always serious for you,” Cannon mutters. “Do you even know how to relax?”
“Well, this time it is serious,” I assure him. “Later, I’ll relax by fucking you up.”
“Winston,” Roman warns.
“It’s his fault for starting shit,” I say, pointing a finger at the surfer boy. “But you’re right. This is important and nothing to joke about. Today, I found the man with the dagger tattoo on his arm…”
“You found one of Tessa’s kidnappers?” Verek asks. “Is he fucking dead?”
“No. I wish, but not yet,” I tell him. “We were in a place with what I suspect were several armed witnesses up in Bolivia, North Carolina.” I withhold the fact Zoe was there and there was no fucking way I would get into a shootout when she could possibly get hurt.