Page 57 of The Lies You Love
After I ask, I know this is why both the nurse and my mom look the way they do. Mom strokes my hair. “Why don’t you get some sleep. When Dad gets back with dinner, we can talk about everything. They caught him. The Australian man you mentioned. He’s giving up people inside the crime organization. The officer said they were able to arrest almost all of the men in charge.” A tear sneaks out and slides down her face. “How did you get involved with these people, baby?”
“I-I… don’t know,” I answer. “Just once, I interacted with that guy, Hudson is his name, one time when he came into my shop.” It’s probably best to leave out the fact I gave a stranger a ride, so I do.
“They sell people, Auden. You were drugged so heavily it took over twenty-four hours for you to come out of it. The doctors were worried because your heart if it could handle the stress, but all your tests kept coming back fantastic so it was a matter of when you’d wake up.”
“Mom, where is Ramsey?”
The nurse adjusts my IV, meets my gaze, then exits the room. “She didn’t make it. He, he, killed her. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry.” She kisses me on the forehead.
I close my eyes as grief engulfs me. “We don’t know who called the police, but it was the same person who chained Hudson to a pole to keep him there so he could be arrested. It was anonymous.” Beck. I know it was Beck. I wonder how long he plans on loving me from afar and if I’ll ever see him again.
A man in a suit enters my room and my dad trails behind, holding up a fast-food bag with teary eyes. “Poppet, I have never seen a pair of eyes more beautiful than yours.” He kisses me on the cheek as he sets the bag down on the nightstand next to my hospital bed.
I tell him hi, but I feel like I’m underwater, thinking of Ramsey and what her death means. He says almost the same things Mom did, and his hug is warm—reassuring. He hugs my mom after I release him and their love temporarily mutes the pain of losing my best friend just because it exists. “The officer wants to ask you some questions about anything you might remember, Poppet. If you’re up to it,” Dad says.
I nod, wiping under my eyes. “We’ll be right outside if you need us,” Mom adds, squeezing my hand. The love she has for my dad transfers to me, and I understand. It was never them against me or them sharing their love with me. It’s all one big entity. I’ve never looked at it with enlightened eyes. Another gift Beck gave me.
“I love you,” I say.
They both smile and engulf me in a trio embrace. They tell me how much they love me and care about me.
“We’re so glad you’re okay. You’re the thing we love most in the world. Please don’t keep us away anymore, Auden. Please let us be here. With you.” I did that. I kept them away because I thought they were better off without dealing with my issues. I lied to myself for a long time.
“I’d love it if you guys stayed.”
“We’re glad you said that.” Dad looks at Mom. “I’ll put the offer in on the house.”
Mom smiles at him but turns it at me. “It’s close to you.”
I nod, emotion boiling over. They leave, taking their time, eyeing the detective like he’s the enemy before closing the door. He exhales long and drawn out. “Long shift?” I ask.
“You have no idea,” he says, telling me his name and what division he works with. “There are some things I have to tell you as well as some questions. I know you’re just coming around and I feel bad putting you in this position, but time is of the essence.”
The tone of his voice lends to doom and gloom. “I can try,” I reply.
“Ramsey Taerpietier isn’t who you thought she was, Auden. The version you knew was a character she wanted you to know. She was in a protection program because her family was directly involved in the cause of the economic recession. Her mother is in prison, and Ramsey should have been, too.” He rubs his forehead. “We’re trying to locate her father. Did she mention anything about her father to you? She used you for your business. Her father set up drop points in the city and Ramsey would pick up the dirty cash and then filter the money through your store to clean it, then removed it from the account she set up and sent it back to her father. From the moment you trusted her, she was depositing cash, manipulating your books, and lying to you about almost everything.” My head is spinning, but I can’t deny Ramsey could get away with it because I did trust her so much. Sure, some things she did made me question her moral compass, but nothing would have prepared me for this kind of betrayal. It was never Tess. It couldn’t have been. Ramsey lied about that too.
“So, my store isn’t doing well?”
“It is. It is, but we’ll have to close it for a bit while we figure out just how much she ran through there, okay? Ramsey was packed and ready to flee the country when you last saw her. Her father was coordinating her exit and it was set to be swift and total. You never would have seen her again. I guarantee it.” My stomach lurches. I’m unsure if it’s from hunger or because once again, my life is upside down.
I nod, but I’m finding it hard to catch my breath. I grab at my neck and feel the necklace she gave me. A gift that seemed out of place at the time now makes more sense. A thanks for being a doormat and making this easy for me present. Reaching behind my head, I unclasp it and hand it to the detective. “She gave this to me. Unfortunately, she never talked about her parents. It was always a subject she wouldn’t touch. I can tell you the names of people she associated with that seemed strange. Ramsey always called this her second life. We bonded because we both wanted to leave our pasts behind us.”
He takes the diamond-studded chain from me and rolls it around in his hand. “She brought her past into her present in almost every way. Ramsey was never your friend, Auden. Her death,” he says, clearing his throat. “Is actually a very good thing as awful as it sounds. She has done, and ordered done, some horrific acts of violence against people. We think you were targeted as soon as you registered your business. I’m sorry you got wrapped up in this. An anonymous person gave us recordings of Ramsey admitting guilt. If anything, this can be a fresh start for you.” Another one. I wonder if this guy knows my past.
I nod. “It’s a lot to take in.”
“I’m sure. You should rest. Dumping all of this on you has to be tough. Is there anything else, anything else at all you can think of that might help us?”
I shrug. “Just the names of people she’s mentioned. Maybe a list of all the men she’s hooked up with?”
He nods. “That would be helpful.” The detective hands me his card and tells me to email him when I’ve compiled the list and leaves. When I’m alone, in the cold room, my body battered, but my soul finally steadfast, I let myself miss Beck. His smile, his touch, the narrow part of his waist that always seemed inhuman in perfection. The love slips back into my heart and I let it take root there. Even if he’s never mine again, I can let his love heal me. I have to let it in so it can hurt because it’s the closest thing to magic I’ve ever experienced. That’s saying something because medical magic saved my life. If this is my last fresh start, I can’t waste a second of it.
****
“I just don’t think it’s okay for dogs to have table scraps,” Peter says, tying Pork’s leash around the tree.
My dad chuckles. “A little bit of meat isn’t going to hurt the dog, Poppet. It might make him behave better and you have to agree it would make him happier.”
