Page 91 of Broken Butterfly
At Fallon’s frat party, I didn’t remember who Maria was, but with my memory returned, lucky me gets to remember my ex-best friend now. She was the girl who I thought was my best friend but was only using me to get close to Ryder because she was jealous of me and wanted him.
“I had a guy look into the pictures posted on the website and he traced it back to her registered IP. She’s not very smart. She should have used a proxy server,” Fallon tells me.
Mr. Worthington continues, “Miss Santiago is being questioned by the Charlotte police as we speak. Mr. Montgomery has asked that I represent you if you decide to press charges against Miss Santiago for online stalking and bullying. These are both class 1 misdemeanors in the state of North Carolina.”
I absorb what he’s telling me. I know Maria lost it at Fallon’s frat party over a month ago, but to stoop so low as to post those sick and repulsive photos about me and the guys? To destroy my car? It doesn’t make sense.
Just then, the young police officer—I wish I could recall his name—comes back in and tells us they have video pulled up. He leads us into another room where a large flat-screened television is mounted on the wall in front of a long table.
“Suzie, pull it up,” the officer calls over to the woman sitting in front of a computer.
The video feed clicks on after a second. The video image is not great, but there’s no mistaking my Hellcat parked at the end of the lot. A figure dressed in black, and wearing a black hood that covers his face, carefully walks by my car, holding what looks like a tire iron. It’s clearly a man, not a woman. So not Maria. Maria is tiny, only a few inches taller than Meredith. This person is tall and masculine-looking even though we can’t see his face. The figure looks around a few times and then jams the more pointed end of the tire iron into each of my car’s tires. He looks around again and then starts pummeling my car to shit with small, quick hits.
“How could no one hear that? It was morning for Christ’s sake. The campus was full of students by that time,” Ryder argues, his voice angrier than I have ever heard it before.
We watch as the man writes his message then runs off screen, but not before he turns his head in the direction of the camera and I see that he’s wearing a black face-covering with eye and mouth openings.A fucking facemask. I’m transported back in time to the night when I watched my entire family die right in front of me. The night of my attack.Hewore a black facemask that night. My stomach rolls and I feel light-headed and nauseous like I’m having an out-of-body experience. I think I’m going to be sick.
The young police officer turns around and is about to say something when I bolt upright, race over to the trashcan next to the door, and throw up. Ryder is beside me in an instant, as is Fallon, but I don’t hear what they’re saying. All I hear is the buzzing as my brain relives that night.Every single secondof that night. Every scream of pain and anguish. Every slice of his knife.Hailey.
I grab desperately for Ryder and throw myself into his arms, my legs strangling his waist, as I squeeze a chokehold on him and don’t let go. My mind is going in a million different directions, down a thousand different roads.
“I’ve asked the Charlotte police to account for Mrs. Santiago’s whereabouts today,” Mr. Worthington calmly states. Maria always wanted to live in Charlotte and go to university there. I hope she enjoyed it because I’m not letting her get away with what she’s done.
Ryder sits back down in one of the hard seats at the table, me still safely tucked in his embrace. I find the young police officer standing near the door where he’s speaking with two other officers. All three of them are watching me.
I aim my statement at the CU officer. “I’ve been harassed and bullied on campus and online. I would like to file an official complaint, and I want to speak with Sheriff Barnes in Wake County, and Detective Harnett with the North CarolinaCriminal Investigation Division.”
Chapter 25
Fallon and Mr. Worthington stayed with us the entire time we were stuck talking to one police officer after another. Elizabeth spoke with Elijah’s dad and Detective Harnett over the phone. Maria was supposed to be brought in for official questioning tonight in Charlotte and slapped with a restraining order thanks to Mr. Worthington’s legal expertise. Hopefully, she’ll get criminal charges too once it’s verified that she was responsible for posting the online pictures. The police took possession of Elizabeth’s car for fingerprinting and whatever else they do. It’s been a while since I watched an episode ofC.S.I.Not only are we dealing with the stuff from Maria, but the unknown vandal as well.
I had to call Dad to let him know not to send the tow for Elizabeth’s car just yet. I didn’t exactly tell him why. If I did, I would have to admit what Maria did, and I’m too ashamed at the moment to have that conversation with them. So now we wait, but we also have to get on with our lives while we do.
Elizabeth has been dealing with verbal attacks for days. The thought of some guy putting his hands on her thinking she’d be down with it makes me want to punch something. I mean, what the fuck? The guy at fight night went after her because of the lies Maria posted online to hurt Elizabeth. What the hell was I thinking when I caved and got into a relationship with Maria in high school? How can someone be so cruel? I feel so damn guilty. Maria’s obsession with me is part of the reason why Elizabeth is suffering now. If anything happens to Elizabeth because of Maria, I will never forgive myself. I’m this close to giving Fallon the go-ahead to take matters into his own hands to deal with her.
As soon as we got home, Elizabeth jumped in the shower so she could have a minute to herself. I texted the twins. I’m not worried about her need to be alone right now like I was at the library when I thought she was shutting me out.
“Baby!” I shout down the hall to her when I hear the shower turn off.
“Yeah?” she calls back.
“Jay and Jules are on their way over. They’re freaking out over what happened to your car, so be prepared. You may want to put your ring away for the next couple of hours while they’re here.”
Elizabeth saunters into the kitchen where I’ve just finished re-heating soup for us to eat. It’s been a long fucking day, but she looks so fresh and gorgeous with her damp hair braided to fall over one shoulder, wearing a soft cotton long-sleeved sleep shirt and fleece reindeer pajama pants.
She kisses me thank you and takes the bowl I offer. “I put it on my necklace with the locket. I can’t bear the thought of it not being on my finger, so being next to my heart with Elizabeth Ann is the next best thing.”
I’m leaning against the counter island across from her. “I love you so damn much.” Her returning smile warms my heart. “Wanna elope?”
“Is that what you want?” she asks, silently slurping a spoonful of soup, her eyes reflecting intrigue back at me.
“We could always do a quickie marriage in secret, let my family plan whatever they plan, and get married twice,” I jokingly suggest. But then, when I think about it, it sounds like a brilliant idea. Marry my girl twice. I can definitely do that.
“And deprive your mom, Jamie, and Brea of their grand plans? They’d hunt us down and burn us at the stake if we had a quickie marriage.”
We grin at each other as we consider the merits of eloping.
“All kidding aside, how are you handling what happened today?”
