Page 38 of Justified Lies

“I was just about to grocery shop, which you know I loathe. I’ll come up.”

“No. You don’t have to do that, it’s an hour and a half out of your way.”

“Nonsense, I’d much rather hang out with you. Are you okay until I get there?”

“Yeah, definitely. I hate to see you drive all this way, but if you are looking for an excuse to get out of errands, I could really use a hug.”

“Say no more, I’m leaving in five.”

“You are the best.”

“I love you too, see you soon.”

****

Isabela arrived just under two hours later. She had coffees and a bottle of wine in hand when Lianna opened the front door.

“I didn’t know what you needed more, caffeine or alcohol. So, I brought both.”

“Going to law school was the best decision I ever made.”

“Because you met me?” Isabela laughed, entering the house, and kicking off her shoes.

“Obviously.”

Lianna took the coffees and led Isabela into the kitchen. While waiting for her friend to arrive, Lianna had showered. But then her energy wore out. She didn’t bother with her hair and wore her coziest pajamas, even though it was barely noon.

Setting down the wine with a clunk, Isabela held out her arms and made a come-hither motion with her hands.

“Come to momma. You look like crap.”

Laughing, Lianna walked into her friend’s arms for the comfort she so desperately needed. As Isabela squeezed, Lianna felt the tension melting away. In the moment, her situation wasn’t so desperate, and she wasn’t alone. It was comical really,finding so much support from a woman whom Lianna could rest her chin on the top of her head. Looking down, Lianna found big brown eyes staring up at her in question.

“Do you have any chips?”

Releasing Isabela, Lianna smiled. “Go sit down, I’ll grab the snacks.”

A minute later, Lianna was curled up into the corner of her couch with trash TV playing mindlessly in the background.

“Is this about Gabe?” Isabela began softly.

“Ha,” Lianna laughed humorlessly. “No, well, yes, we’ll get to him.”

Isabela watched her patiently, so Lianna went on, filling her friend in the giant dead spiders and poignant message left in the mailbox.

“It seems silly now, that I cried over bugs. I’m really losing it,” Lianna said.

“It’s not silly, it’s disgusting. Also, you realize this isn’t a joke, right? It’s honestly gone too far at this point.”

“I know. The police were out here last week because of the marks by the back window. I filed a report, telling them about the raccoon as well. I called again after I got off the phone with you and added this to my file.” Lianna sighed.

“What did the officer say?” Izzy asked.

“That it appears someone is targeting me and that I need to be especially careful of my surroundings. To not go out alone if I can help it. The typical. They don’t trace calls unless it is part of ongoing litigation due to a backlog. They did offer to send an officer over but that is pointless. The spiders are cleaned up.”

“What about the note?”

“I threw it in the garbage.”

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