Page 65 of Comeback
I’m trying, I thought.Hang in there.
I took the seat opposite Trevor. He pushed the stack of folders over to me. I opened it and thumbed through a huge stack of papers.
“I can’t read all this with Nicole and Jeff tied up next to me, Trevor. It’s creepy and weird. Can’t you untie them? They’re not going to hurt you.”
He shook his head. “No way. That’s asking for trouble. You can untie ‘em after I leave.”
Damn.I looked at Nicole, hoping she could read my eyes.I’ll think of something else, Nicky.
I thumbed through the papers. They were records of some sort. I couldn’t make any sense of them—it didn’t help that my blood was spiked with adrenaline and I couldn’t focus.
“I don’t know what any of this is,” I said.
“These are cell phone records.” He reached across the table and stamped his finger into it. “This number belongs to his teammate, Ryan Campbell, who supposedly died in a car accident. This number belongs to your little boyfriend’s fiancée, Megan Smith. And this whole stack of papers is their text message history.”
“Okay …”
I briefly scanned the texts. It was obvious they were romantically involved, sure. If that was Trevor’s big point? I wanted to laugh in his face and tell him that he hadnothing,and this was nothing new, because Jack already told me about their affair. Was he seriously suggesting that Jack had Soupy killed because of this?
But I bit my tongue, pretending to read page after page while I tried to find some way out of this.
“Have you figured it out yet, woman?” he asked with a snort.
“Oh my God,” I gasped, laying it on thick. “His teammate and his fiancée were having anaffair?”
“Now you get it. Glad you do got a brain in there after all.” Trevor nodded gleefully, smiling from ear to ear. “Now read this. Last page. Last text conversation they had.”
I read the last exchange of texts between Soupy and Megan. Soupy told Megan he “couldn’t do this anymore”—that he’d “done the dumbest thing of all and fallen in love” with her, that he couldn’t live with the guilt anymore. He wanted Megan to know that he was coming clean to Jack that night.
Megan begged him not to. She said, “If you tell him, he’ll kill you.”
Soupy’s reply, and final message? “I know.”
“That’s awfully spooky,” I said, glancing up at Trevor. “So what do you think happened? Jack killed Campbell and faked the car crash?”
“That’s whatI’ddo,” he said, sneering.
Yeah, well, you’re obviously insane, dude,I thought, a tingle running up my spine.And Jack’s not you.
Trevor continued. “And it’s kinda suspicious that he suddenly retired without telling his team oranyoneelse in his life where he was going, don’t you think? And now he’s hiding out here in the middle of nowhere?”
“Jesus.” I made sure to swallow loud enough for Trevor to hear. “Thatissuspicious.”
“Andthat’sthe man you’ve introduced my baby girl to. ButI’mthe one who’s unfit to be a parent? Psh. Yeah, right.” Trevor shoved off the table and stood, looming over the three of us like a dark cloud. He stuck his stubby finger in my face. “Now gimme Mackenzie. I want my daughter.”
“You don’t want to be a kidnapper, Trevor,” I said, pleading with him. “Please, think this through. Get a lawyer. Show them all this evidence and you’ll win your custody rights back.”
“I don’t wantcustody rights. I want mydaughter,and you’re gonna gimme her—right fuckin’ now!” he yelled, an acid cloud of his whiskey breath blowing right past me. “Where the hell is she? Or do I have to turn this house upside down to find her?”
I broke down, tears of fright streaming down my cheeks. I knew if he looked, he’d find her—and I might not ever see my daughter again.
All I could do was lie to buy time.
“She’s not here,” I sobbed. “I don’t have her, Trevor!”
“Well, where in the fuck is she?”
“I left her to stay the night at Jack’s house!”
