“I’m sorry, Ivy. But we have to call them. There’s simply no other way,” she whispered into my ear, still gripping me tightly.
Chapter 31
BEFORE
“His name is Timothy, third of his name …”
“Come again?”
Pam coughed on the other end of the line. I pulled my ear away until she was done.
“Delaney’s bully. I talked to JoAnn just like you asked me to. And apparently she’s already solved the mystery.”
I felt a wave of relief slide through me.
If they know who he is, then maybe they can do something about it. Put an end to this horrible treatment of my daughter.
“He’s captain of the football team, you know the type.”
“Not every football player is popular, or a complete ass,” I said, sighing.
“Well … this one is,” Pam said. “Hold on.”
It was her day at the shelter and in the background, I could hear the lonely mewing of cats.
“So, what did JoAnn say about it?”
Pam coughed again. “Damn cats. My allergies are acting up. Fourteen cats in a small trailer. Can you believe that shit?”
“That’s crazy,” I said, mutely, waiting for her to get back on track.
“To be honest, JoAnn acted like they already knew. Apparently, this kid has a history of harassing his female classmates …”
My teeth were grinding involuntarily, the way they always did when I was pissed.
“Let me guess. He’s popular, good at sports, and his parents have money.”
“You know the McDaniel library they built last year? Well, I’ll give you one guess what their last name is.”
“McDaniel,” I groaned.
I was angry – angry enough to want to burn the whole place down, then dance through the ashes in my daughter’s honor.
The nude photo came swarming back, my stomach twisting in knots.
“Well, if they don’t put a stop to it, I will.”
Pam sneezed into the phone. I waited while she sneezed a dozen more times.
“I got to go. Need to see if there’s Benadryl in my locker …”
“Okay. Thanks for asking her for me. I hope you feel better.”
“Ivy, don’t do anything stupid. She asked you not to say anything, remember? Maybe the school will take care of it now that I’ve said something …”
“Yeah, maybe,” I said, doubtfully.
***
Delaney was staying at her dad’s again. He was back from Oklahoma, so I messaged him another reminder about checking the camera footage. He’d promised to message me before he left town last week, but as usual, Michael was a pro when it came to broken promises. He messaged:
I’ll do it tonight. Promise.
If I wasn’t in such a shitty mood, I would have laughed. Truth be told, I’d probably be better off going around him and asking Samantha to look into it for me.
I strolled through the empty house, picking up stray bits of garbage and clothing, wondering how I’d spend my Friday night. I hadn’t logged in to the dating site for days. With everything going on, finding a hook-up had been the farthest thing from my mind.
But the thought of another fun, but brief, encounter with Max made me feel a tiny tremor of excitement. I finished straightening up, then I logged in to my account.
I scrolled through greetings from new members in my inbox, clicked then closed a couple crude photos, then stopped when I saw Ben’s name. It had been weeks since our date, and until now, he hadn’t called or messaged; he hadn’t responded to my string of texts either.
Excited, but nervous, I clicked on the new message from him, noting that he’d sent it two days ago while I was offline.
Ivy,
I just wanted to say I’m sorry for the delayed response. If I’m being honest, I had a wonderful time with you the other night. Up until then, I’d been using this site with only one goal in mind: fun, mindless, one-night encounters … But you … you were something else. Despite trying to move on from it, I’ve thought about you often. Every day, actually. I know you probably think I’m a complete ass for ghosting you, but I would like to see you again some time.
I read his message three times, then logged off.
How immature can he be? Does he really think I’m going to buy his story that I was just so GREAT that he was intimidated by me?!
I went to the kitchen and opened a bottle of beer. I sipped slowly, my mind circling back to the way Ben had felt beside me, his touch soft but practiced, his lips hurried, but also tender and kind …
Carrying the beer, I went back to my computer desk and sent a message to him:
What are you doing tonight?
***
Three hours and nearly a dozen beers later, Ben and I were tangled like a knot on the couch. Not fucking, but talking, and somehow that felt even more intimate than before …
“You know it’s a crime to send nude photographs of minors, especially if it’s nonconsensual,” he told me, pointedly.
“Really?” I was in awe of this version of him – he seemed smart, sophisticated, and concerned when I told him about Delaney’s bully and the dick pics.
“Really.”
“But his face isn’t in the photos, so it’s a little hard to prove, don’t you think?” I pondered.
“You said you saw his number. Do you remember what it was?”
I shook my head. I could remember the area code and first couple digits, but that was it.
“But you pay the cell-phone bill, correct?”
“Yeah …”
“What provider do you use?” Ben pressed.
When I told him we used Verizon, it only took him a few minutes to set up an account where I could check out my bill online.
“And here, under usage, you can see all the numbers coming and going, for calls, texts, and media messages.”
“Really?” I scooted in closer to the screen, pulling up the phone number associated with Delaney’s account. I scanned through them, tracing them back to the date I remembered.
“That’s it. I’m certain of it.” I pointed at the 620 number on the screen. “But how will that help us? Delaney would kill me if I contacted him or his parents.”
“But she doesn’t know me, and neither does he. Do you trust me?”
In truth, I didn’t. I didn’t know him well enough for that, but I trusted him more than most people in my life, which said a lot about how isolated I truly was.
I sat on the bed in silence, watching Ben scribble down the number on the top note in a stack of post-its.
“I’ll block my number. He won’t be able to call back.”
“No. You can’t!” I said, nipping at nails nervously.
“Don’t worry. I know exactly what to say, Ivy.”
He looked so sure of himself, so serious. Quietly, I watched as he dialed the number.
Moments later, he grinned at me, then adjusted his mouth into a grim line and said, “Yes, hello! Is this Timothy McDaniel, the third?”
I couldn’t hear Timothy’s side of the conversation. I closed my eyes, panic rising deep in my chest.
Delaney will kill me if she knows I put him up to this …