***
The next morning, I was in a horrible mood and did not bother putting makeup on or doing my hair to visit Mike. I just slicked all my hair back into a high ponytail and washed my face. To be taken more seriously, I grabbed my black glasses, which I hadn’t worn in years, and put them on.
I rushed out the door early just in case Jason returned home—I did not want to hurt him—or want him to hurt me. My stomach growling would have been embarrassing, so I grabbed a bagel from a nearby café on my way there.
A little behind schedule, I rushed into the chaotic police station.
“Hi, I’m Lily. I’m here for Mike Durling,” I whispered as if anyone were listening.
“Okay, we’ll call you back in fifteen minutes,” said the woman at the front desk.
Those fifteen minutes lasted a lifetime. I was shaking as my mind wondered about what Mike had to tell me. I knew it could not have been good but it could not have been too bad.
I looked out the window to ease my mind. Then, I found myself searching to see if any annoying paparazzi had followed me. None did because no one seemed to recognize me.
“Lily!” Mike searched for me in the busy station. “Lily?”
I pulled my hat off my head. “Hello, Michael,” I said.
“It’s Mike,” he said and shook my hand.
“Oh, I thought that was a nickname and—” I stopped myself from rambling on.
Mike was very tall, tanned, and had a thick mustache. He was wearing a long coat and high boots that seemed outdated—a typical detective.
He led me to his messy office and another man, dark in complexion with smooth skin, sat on his desk. They both had the same badges on so I assumed they were partners—in crime.
“So, you’re Kathy Evan’s daughter, right?” the man on the desk asked.
“Yes, Sir,” I whispered as my hands began to shake visibly now. Mike pulled me to sit and gave me some mint gum—maybe my breath was foul. I had forgot to brush my teeth.
“It’s Calvin,” the man on the desk said.
Mike pulled out a huge folder that had a mug shot of Jason on it. I began to wonder how they got that picture of him. Then, I got chills thinking of how they could possibly get that photo—I shook my head, not wanting my thoughts to go haywire.
“So, your assistant Paul called and told us to investigate on your boyfriend Jason Lawson,” Mike said while shuffling through the files.
“Is that right?” Calvin got up and shut the door to block out the loud chaos outside the room.
“Well, yeah, but Jason is my husband,” I corrected him.
“Husband?” Calvin shook his head in disbelief.
“Yeah, we got married July twenty-sixth; two weeks after my eighteenth birthday.”
“Wow, darling,” Calvin said as he opened up the file and pulled out a photo of Jason. “Paul said that most likely you would hold the wedding.”
“But I couldn’t. Tons of people were coming.”
“Well, you’re going to wish you did hold the wedding when you leave,” Mike said.
“Is this him?” Calvin held a photo up to my face.
“Yes,” I sounded as if I asked a question.
“How old is he?” Mike said.
“Um, twenty-three. He’s twenty-three, right?” I said.
“Oh man,” Calvin, scratched his forehead. “Well, Lily we do not want to overwhelm you, but there is a lot you need to know about Mr. Lawson. We wished Paul would have told us you were going to marry him still,” Calvin said. “Lawson isn’t twenty-three; he is thirty years old.”
My heart dropped to my lap. Then, I remembered what Ana had told me a while back—he’s been working for me, for the last three years. Did she know his real age? But, why would he hide that from me? “Thirty? Are you sure? He’s been working for Ana, Ana Billson, the actress, for three years…”
“Yeah we know. Apparently he lied since you didn’t know,” Mike said. “Let’s tell you the whole story.”
“Jason Lawson was born Philip Jenkins. He married back when he was eighteen to a woman named Crystal Bell. Bell died a year later from unknown substances,” Calvin paused so I could collect all the info. “So, a year later, he was twenty; he was arrested for DUI charges. Six months later police said he was highly depressed from his wife’s death so they dropped the DUI case against him and just gave him some kind of community service, which was odd to do. Did you know he was previously married, Lily?”
“Oh my gosh, no! I didn’t even know he changed his name.”
“Okay, there is more,” he paused, “seven months later he was now twenty-one, he remarried. He married Bell’s best friend, Samantha Johnson, who was born to a very wealthy family. They soon had a son together, who now lives in Arizona. A little over two years later, when he was twenty-three, Sam died from a heart attack on a trip to New York. Police grew suspicious of her death but no charges were filed. It was over looked. He almost took in over ten million dollars after her death but it went to their son.”
“I can’t believe he has a son,” I said.
“Yes, he lives with his aunt,” Calvin said. “May we continue?”
I took a deep breath, realizing the worst was not over. “Yes.”
Mike continued the story. “At twenty-four, he was arrested for drug trafficking in Mexico. He spent only seven months in prison. He bailed out apparently.”
Calvin continued the story, “About two years later—”
“He was twenty-six.” It was obvious Mike didn’t think I could do basic math.
Calvin rolled his eyes. “Well, yes, at twenty-six he remarried again. This was one of his most interesting marriages because he married Daisy Lively. You may have never heard of her but she was very famous in her country—a gorgeous model from Brazil,” he showed me a picture of her and she looked very familiar to me. “By this time he was a personal assistant for a Brazilian clothing designer. That was how he met Daisy. Well, back to Daisy; she was a good girl. She had a good relationship with her family, but suddenly over time, she began to act strange. She said she began to see things, she would throw tantrums, even felt like she would pass out for no reason—”
“Oh my god! Wait, the same thing happened to me—the exact same thing. I would end up in the hospital with my stomach pumped saying I overdosed on unknown drugs, but I was convinced that I was an addict. I told the doctors all that stuff and they just said I needed rest because I was ill. And everyone is accusing me of doing drugs, which I know is impossible. Could Jason have had something to do with it?”
“Hmm, Daisy died too soon to investigate. The autopsy said she died from an accidental drug overdose but she was model and lots of models take drugs,” he paused, “when did these events happen or better when did they begin? Were you with Jason?”
“Um, well, I can’t remember when they started. No wait…” I paused as both Mike and Calvin stared at me with narrowed eyes. “Okay, back in France I remember I found some white powder in his suitcase, but…” I paused again trying to remember—this didn’t help the feeling of them not believing me. “Oh yeah, I remember I was at the hotel in Europe. I freaked out! It was the worst feeling ever. Almost like death came to visit me.”
“Death?” Calvin said.
“Yes death,” I nodded.
“Was Jason with you?”
“Yeah, he calmed me down though…I think.”
“How?” Mike said.
“Hmm…I don’t remember. I just know I was running and like barking,” I chuckled.
“This is no laughing matter, Lily. You have to remember. If you say the same things has happened to you as Daisy then—”
“Yeah, it happened again where I ended up in the hospital. Oh no, the time I was in the hotel with Paul and with the scissors. I had no control, and then at my eighteenth birthday I freaked out.” I put my head between my knees. It sounded as if I were making the story up as I went along. I could tell they did not believe me and not rememberin
g much, did not help.
“Hmm…” Mike said as he waited for me to speak.
“Amazing, are you sure you don’t remember. You have to think what he had given you before all those fits. Anything at all? Something was causing you to have no self-control,” Calvin paused, “it’s something that when they do an autopsy, it comes up like a drug overdose to some unknown drugs.”
“Well, I've been in and out of the hospital! It's hard to remember,” I sighed. “Exactly how many times did he marry?” I said, with my head still between my knees.
“Three—four including you.”
“And they all died,” I muttered. “Am I the next victim? What does he want from me?”
“Hmm…”
“Well, there’s more to my story…” I sat up straight and they both nodded for me to continue. “Well, he got a bit aggressive a few times with me. In France, he claimed that he saved me when the truth is he was the one who beat me. Ana knows, she was there and she saw everything. He also makes me feel like I’m insane all the time when I know I’m not—like he plays tricks with my mind. I think he switched our carpet in our home and he moves my things. Also, he had this guy named Jerry do something with all my money. All of it is gone out my account. I asked him what happened, but he just choked me and left.”
“Jerry?” Mike began flipping through papers in Jason’s file.
“Yeah Jerry.”
“This Jerry doesn’t happen to be Jerry Jenkins?”
I thought about it—he was right. I remembered seeing a paper with his name on it the other night. “Yeah I guess.”
“Damn.”
“What?”
“Jerry is one of the best scam artists. He is good at defrauding ones like you. He just got out of jail a few weeks ago,” Mike said.
“How do you guys know all this stuff?” I said.
“It’s our job. Jason’s been investigated a few times in his life.”
“Hmm, I suppose—a few.”
“Listen, sweetheart, you should stay with someone. We don’t want you alone with him anymore, just until things get settled,” Calvin said. “And a little less confusing.”
“Hmm, okay,” I sighed.
The room grew quiet as they began to write. I closed my eyes—crying within. I tried to focus on the past months with Jason. It hit me!
“The juice! Orange juice! Juice! Fluids!” I said. “He drugged me with juice or something. It has to be. Every time I drank that, I was nuts. He hasn’t given me any recently though. But, he only gave it to me on certain days. He had some in the refrigerator.”
“If you can get that and bring it in—”
“No, too risky. We’ll get a warrant to search the home,” Mike said, cutting Calvin off. “We’ll stick to the plan. Lily is going to stay with someone where we can contact her. We’ll handle this.”
“Thank you! Thanks so much,” I paused, “do you believe me? You believe me right?”
“Uh, yeah of course we do,” Mike nodded. “This man is dangerous and we’re so happy you came before it was too late.”
“Too late…you guys think he wants to kill me?”
“Anything is possible,” Calvin said. “But, we don’t want to scare you.”
“Too late.”
“You can leave now. Everything will be handled,” Mike said.
“Thanks again,” I said as I walked out their office. “Thank you.”
Throughout the day, I thought if I should have been calmer—less shaky and more business. However, it was too late to think about what I should have done. Then, I thought about what they were thinking about my quote on quote illness and the fact that Kathy “the crazy woman” was my mother. Everyone knew she was foolish and it would be no surprise that her daughter was mad too. I remembered those deep stares they gave me that read “she’s crazy! Run!” On the other hand, how could I convince them to believe me if I didn’t even believe myself.