Page 20 of Dirty Ex-Mas
As I get ready for bed, I wish for the millionth time that Reed had social media accounts so I could go online and see what he’s doing or where he’s been. There is literally no way to cyber-stalk the man, it’s frustrating. But it gives me another reason to want to stalk him in person. And then I have to wonder about my sanity, since one, I’m so preoccupied with this guy. Two, Ireallywant to stalk him online or in person, I don’t care which. Three, I can’t imagine either numbers one or two are healthy behaviors.
I’d ask my therapist about it except I don’t go to therapy anymore. I’d ask Daria about it, but she’d probably give me some kind of blanket statement encouragement about him and me. That’s mostly because she doesn’t get it. Daria has never been on the unrequited end of love. Anytime that she’s wanted someone they’ve either wanted her first or wanted her back.
She’s exquisitely beautiful, like for real—thick, dark hair, porcelain skin, and dark eyes. She doesn’t even need makeup. I look at her sometimes and wonder what it would be like to have that face looking back at me in a mirror. Not that I’m insecure. Much. If I didn’t love her dearly, I’d have to hate her. I mean, men fall for her all the time, especially guys that come into the bar. If Reed liked her, Daria and I would have to stop being friends. For real.
I’d miss her though.
Also for real.
8
Daria
I’m almost afraid to let Mack know what information we got on David Tremblay. Partly because he will lose it when I do. I’m even keeled, mostly, and I almost lost it. One of my girls, Alyssa, and I did some digging, she hacked his email. The idiot deleted stuff all the time, but never emptied the trash in his email, so she easily retrieved a ton of stuff. Including email exchanges from a few of the fake profiles he used on the dating apps.
I’m willing to bet if we cross-referenced some of these names with missing persons, we’d find multiple matches. This is the part I hate about working with Mack. When I find out information like this, that points to someone’s guilt, my first instinct is to kill. But I can’t do that when the FBI is on the case. I have to play nice, for Mack’s sake, rather his career’s sake.
As we wade through more of David’s crap, it’s clear he’s being coerced into luring, drugging, and handing off these girls. What we can’t find is what he doesn’t want exposed and why or who is holding it over his head. I wonder if it would make a difference to me either way. It doesn’t change the fact that’s he’s guilty with what he’s done, but maybe it would help me understand his rationale better. I mean, this is a guy that my best friend dated.
Of course, we find nothing to indicate where the girls are being held. If the email trail is any sign, he’s been doing this for over a year. In the beginning he used his real name, but then started changing it a few dates in. Still uses his real picture though. He must just be the luckiest guy in the world that they haven’t caught him yet. This plan of his is not foolproof by any means.
What stops me though, forcing me to go back downstairs just to keep my fury intact and let Alyssa give me a report later, is when we find that one of his initial targets was Quinn. I look at emails from David where he references Quinn. Where he plans to meet her, what she looks like, the approximate time the drop off will be.
Quinn’s original purpose was as a delivery and not a date. I think back to when they first met, trying to recall as many specifics as possible. But he just didn’t make that much of an impact on me. He’s one of those guys that looks like every other guy.
I remember they didn’t date for a long time, a few months at the most, definitely less than a year. Their very first date ended early with Quinn falling and spraining her ankle. She’s not exactly the epitome of grace. David took her to the emergency room. I believe she brought him to a BBQ some mutual friends were having for their second date, maybe? Or else I’ve got that reversed. This would have been back when Mack and I were still together. She was so excited at the prospect of double dating. What I don’t remember is why they stopped seeing one another.
Shortly after Quinn, David met the woman he’s marrying. From the looks of it, she was never one of his targets. I only know who she is from the wedding announcement that turned up in our search. She’s from a very wealthy family, so it behooves him to marry her, instead of kidnapping her, if he’s going in for the long con. Who knows, maybe he loves her.
Regardless, Quinn is like this brightness in my life I didn’t realize I needed until I had it, and I am so thankful for her. Where I’m dark, she’s light. When I’m half empty, she’s half full. Her chaos balances my compulsive organization. As Quinn would say, she’s the yin to my yang, and it works well for us. It’s rare that women can meet as adults and become friends, but we did. We clicked from the very beginning—I’m not sure what I would have done had David been successful with his abduction plan.
I need to run this all by Mack, he usually knows the best course of action. And is probably the only person who I will defer to, ever, and especially with something like this. I get too emotional and can’t remain objective in crimes against women; and definitely not with human trafficking. Which is why it’s easier to kill first and think about it later. The guilt that I carry over the loss of my sister is tremendous.
She was my younger sister; it was my job to take care of her.
I failed.
I take a deep breath and grab my phone to text Mack.
ME: Call me when you get a moment.
MACK: Give me five.
I set the phone down and mentally prepare what I want to say to him. I need to just deliver the information with no emotion or inflection. Tell him what I know, leave it at that, see if he wants/needs my help after that.
The burner rings after three minutes.
“Hey,” I say, sinking into my office chair and rubbing my forehead with the fingers of my free hand.
“Whatcha got?”
“David is the guy. And Quinn was one of his initial targets.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah.”
“You got anything I can legitimately use?”
