Focused, page 21
part #2 of True Images Series
“I understand he’s your friend, but what can you possibly do that the police can’t do? Except get yourself in trouble?” She was quiet again, but her silence spoke loud enough. “Unless there’s more to this than I know.”
“Lee, please trust me that this is something I have to do. I have reasons for not telling you, but I hate keeping secrets from you.”
My voice was so tight I could barely talk. “Then why are you?”
“For one thing, because I knew you’d freak out and tell me to stay out of it. But I have to do this.”
I felt like I was about to implode. I tried to calm down, taking a long, deep breath. “Please, Sienna. If you’ll tell me what’s going on, I promise I’ll help you get done whatever it is you’re doing.”
I heard the muffled sound of crying. “I don’t want you to be mad at me, but I can’t tell you. Not yet.”
I tried to think rationally. What could I do to keep her safe? Why did I have to be stuck here in Arizona? Maybe I could catch an early flight back. No my parents would never go for that, not without knowing why. And I didn’t have much to tell them. I needed someone who was already there.
“Sienna, have you told your mom?”
“No way. I’d tell you before her.”
“You’re killing me. Look, can you please, please not do anything dangerous until I get back?”
“I’ll try not to,” she said. She took a shuddering breath and continued, “Are you angry?”
“I don’t know what I am, Sienna. Worried, scared, and yes, a little angry. Why can’t you stay out of trouble?”
“Why can’t I….? Because I care about people, that’s why! Maybe you should try it sometime. Not everyone’s life is full of fans and press conferences and glorious futures. Do you think Parker asked for all these problems? Do you think I did?” She was crying again. “Sometimes people need help because their problems are too big for them to face alone. And helping people is more important than staying out of trouble. I don’t want to talk anymore tonight. Maybe tomorrow. Goodnight.”
Just like that she was gone. “Call Ended” glared at me from the screen of my phone.
My thoughts whirled with everything I needed to sort through and I knew my emotions were interfering with my logic. It killed me that I was making Sienna cry, but something she’d said made me wonder if there was more to our conversation than I realized. “Sometimes people need help because their problems are too big for them to face alone,” she’d said. Something about this was affecting her personally. If I could just figure out what.
One thing I could do. I could get someone to watch out for her until I got home. Luckily, I knew someone who wouldn’t mind the job.
Chapter 22
Sienna
My mom had called me every day she’d been gone on her honeymoon, but I’d always assured her I was fine so she could get back to her vacation. Especially since I was still working through how I felt about her being married to Alex. But when she called Friday morning, I wanted to talk.
I’d already talked to Mari about my conversation with Lee. I’d obsessed over every word and nuance of our conversation, and she’d agreed with all of my conflicting emotions. It should have made me feel better, but it didn’t. Maybe talking to my Mom would help all these feelings that I didn’t know what to do with go away.
“Mom, I’m so glad you called. There’s something…” I began.
My mom interrupted me though. “Sienna, look, I only have a second. I wanted to tell you that Alex and I will be home tonight. I wanted to tell you so you can let Mari’s mom know you won’t be there tonight.”
“Tonight? Um, okay,” I said, feeling lost.
“Yes. Isn’t it exciting? Our first night as a family. You got your stuff moved over to your new room, right?”
“Uh, not all of it.” I fudged. Not any of it besides the few things my mom had helped me move before the wedding. “I’ll finish today.”
“Great. Look, I’ve got to go. We can talk tonight, all right?”
“Sure.”
When our call was disconnected, I dropped the phone onto Mari’s bed. She must have heard me sigh because she called from the bathroom, “Something wrong?”
“No.”
She came out, walking bent over as she shook out her curls. As she tossed them back over her shoulder, she said, “Sure you don’t want to hang out with Will and me?”
“I’m sure. You haven’t gotten to see each other much this week. You don’t need me tagging along. Besides, I have to finish packing up my stuff, for real. My mom and Alex are coming back tonight and they want us to do the real family thing tonight.”
“Well, that’s cool,” she said tentatively.
I stood up and tossed down the pillow I’d been holding across my lap. “Is it?”
Mari came over to me and put her hands on my shoulders. “It will be. You’re letting yourself freak out about nothing. You’ve got some messed up stuff going on in your life right now. That isn’t one of them.”
I forced myself to relax, and when Mari felt my shoulders drop, she pushed me backwards on the bed and pounded me with a pillow. “Now, pretty yourself up and get something done today. You’ll feel better.”
“Why should I dress up to go pack?”
“Because you’ve been looking like a hobo all week and I’m tired of it. It’s depressing.”
Mari made me borrow one of her shirts since I hadn’t packed anything that met her ideas of cute. So, an hour later as I got to my house, I was not only wearing a cute blue peasant shirt with white embroidery along the neck and hem, but I’d even put on makeup. Well, technically, Mari had put it on me because she hadn’t been satisfied with the dusting of powder and smear of lip gloss I’d started with. She drove me crazy sometimes, but she was right. I did feel a little better.
As I went through the front door, I braced myself for the stale air and hollow echo that was new to the house. I hated it.
I hated the empty nails sticking out from the wall and the plush rectangles in the carpet where furniture had kept it from being worn down. Mostly though, I hated the memories that lurked in every corner. The memories used to be what made it feel warm and safe. Now they were ghosts reminding me that my life had changed.
That’s probably why I hadn’t been able to do much packing in my room. It was my safe haven. The one place in the house that still felt like it belonged to me.
I opened the door and took it all in. Except for a half filled box on the bed and a few stacks of junk around the place, it looked like it always had.
“Well, get on with it,” I told myself. I hated the way my voice sounded so loud, so I didn’t speak again. I worked until noon, sorting through my closet and dresser. I was proud of how quickly I filled up a trash bag with things I didn’t need any more. No use filling up my new room at Alex’s house. I wouldn’t be there for long. It was temporary.
With that done, I looked at my picture wall. My heart beat faster as I reached for the first push pin.
My phone rang in my pocket, and I answered, thankful for the respite.
“Hello?”
“Sienna. Hi. It’s me, Layton.”
It took a minute for my brain to catch up. “Oh.” Why was he calling me? “Hi.”
“I came across a photo contest I thought you’d be interested in. The grand prize is a $10,000 scholarship.”
I didn’t know how to react since our last encounter had been less than pleasant. “That sounds like a good one.”
“Yeah, but you’re going to have to be fast. The deadline is next week.”
“That sure doesn’t leave me much time. I should be able to figure it out though. Can you send me a link to it?”
“I don’t have a link. Just a packet that came to the paper. I thought maybe I could bring it to you.”
“That would be amazing. I’m at home if you want to swing by with it. Or I was about to go get some lunch. Maybe I could meet you somewhere?”
“Why don’t we meet for lunch?”
I didn’t like that idea at all. Getting some contest information from him was one thing. Eating lunch with him was another. “No, I don’t think so. I’m busy today so I was going to grab something fast. Besides, Lee wouldn’t like it.”
“Oh, it’s nothing like that,” he said quickly. “I’m sorry about what happened last time. I want to make it up to you. Tell you what, how about if I bring some food with me, as a peace offering, and we talk about this contest for a minute? It’s run by the national media group that owns our paper and my editor gave me some ideas about what kind of stuff they’ll be looking for.”
“I don’t know…”
“Come one. There’s nothing even remotely like a date about that.”
“Okay. Sure. I guess.”
“Great. What do you want to eat?”
“Grab me a burger or a sandwich. I’m not picky.”
“There’s a great deli next door. Give me thirty minutes or so. What’s your address?”
I gave it to him and hung up, hoping I hadn’t just gotten myself into a new problem.
True to his word though, Layton was very casual and only seemed interested in helping me out with the contest. We ate the incredible Rueben sandwiches he brought and went through my whole portfolio trying to pick the one that had the best chance of winning.
“I think we need to narrow it down to three,” he said.
The doorbell rang before I could respond. “Huh,” I said. “Who in the world is that?” I asked. Layton, of course, had no idea and just shrugged.
When I opened the door, I saw that it was one of the last people I would have expected. “Michael?”
“Hey, Sienna. Can I come in?”
“I guess so,” I said, waiting for him to say why he was here.
When he saw Layton, he turned to me looking suspicious. “Who’s that?”
So, apparently, I needed to do introductions. “This is Layton Palmer. He’s a photographer – friend- of mine. Layton, this is Michael Fine. He’s a friend of Lee’s.”
They nodded their heads like guys do and continued to size each other up. “What’s he doing here?” Michael asked.
I couldn’t help but laugh, mostly because this was so bizarre. “He’s helping me with something. What are you doing here?”
“Just hanging out.”
I looked at him blankly. “Okay.”
He heard the skepticism in my voice and winked. Like that told me anything. “If you guys are doing something, don’t worry about me.”
Layton and I had been eating at the kitchen counter with my computer in front of us, mostly because the stools were the only furniture left in the house. Michael grabbed the third stool and sat down like he was completely at home. He put his soda down and started messing around on his phone.
Layton kept glancing at him, trying to figure out this new situation. When he looked questioningly at me, I shrugged, even more perplexed than he was. He picked up our conversation where we’d left off. “Well, like I said, let’s try to narrow it down to three.”
“Sounds good,” I said.
We worked for a while longer, but Layton was totally distracted by Michael’s presence. Michael didn’t seem to be bothered at all, however, and barely even looked up from his phone. When he did it was to shoot a sharp look at Layton. I wasn’t surprised when the poor guy had enough and said, “Well, I guess I’d better get back to work. Let me know which one you’ve decided on.”
“Sure. Thanks for your help. I’m excited to see what happens.”
When I shut the door behind Layton, I turned to Michael and said, “Okay. What’s going on? Why are you really here?”
He ignored my question. “Does Lee know you’re hanging out with that guy?”
“Wait. Lee. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”
His eyes opened big and he did his best to look innocent. “No.” I glared at him until his resolve crumbled. “Yes.”
I pressed my hands to my eyes and raked them down my face. “Why? Is he trying to keep tabs on me?”
Genuine surprise crossed his face. “No. He’s worried about you. He said Caleb was causing trouble again and he wanted me to keep you safe while he was gone.”
I relaxed a little. Lee was incredibly worried about me last night. I understood that. I just wished that he would understand. Of course, I hadn’t given him much to understand, had I? Maybe sending this mountain of muscles over to my house was the best he could do.
“Fine. If you’re going to hang out, you’re going help out,” I said, walking past him.
“Where are we going?”
“My bedroom.”
“Sounds great,” he said, his voice as smooth as chocolate.
I stopped and turned around. He was right behind me. “Don’t get any ideas. You’re going to help me move my stuff. Did you come in your truck?”
“Yes,” he said, sounding less enthusiastic than before.
“Perfect. I won’t have to wait for Mari’s dad to get off work.”
As he followed me to my room, Michael asked, “So, do you hang out with that guy often? I’m pretty sure I should have kicked his butt out of here. If you’re going to cheat on Lee, it should at least be with me.”
I handed him a heavy box of books and said, “It’s so far from being anything like that, believe me. And if it makes you feel better, I’d go out with you long before Layton.”
“Awesome. Come on. Load me up.”
I’d barely been able to lift the box he was already holding, but he didn’t seem to be struggling yet, so I stacked another on top.
It only took about an hour to empty my room. My little bit of furniture fit in the back of his truck and the rest of it fit in my mom’s car. The only thing I hadn’t touched was my photo wall. I still couldn’t bring myself to do it. It wasn’t like we were selling the house tomorrow or anything, so I decided to leave it for now.
“Where to now?” Michael asked.
“My step-dad’s house. He lives over on Olive Street.”
He wrinkled his nose. “Never thought I’d have to go to Mr. Greeley’s house.”
“Oh yeah? Well I never thought I’d be living there.”
My new place of residence was a conservative brick house on a quiet street of similar brick houses. I could only find it by checking the house numbers over the garage. I pulled into the far side of the driveway and Michael pulled in next to me.
As we met at his tailgate to start unloading the truck, Michael said, “It looks like a nice place.”
“It is. I like it,” I said, thinking of the small and dingy but familiar homeliness I was trading for it. “This feels so weird though. I’ve never moved before, at least, not when I was old enough to remember.
Michael shrugged in typical guy nonchalance. “It’s no big deal. You’ll see.”
“Well, maybe it’ll help when all my stuff is in my room.
Michael and I both grabbed a box and headed to the front door. I set mine down to find the new key on my key ring. This was its maiden voyage into the lock it was destined for. With a quick twist of my wrist, the key turned the lock and I opened the door.
I picked up my box again and led Michael through the house to my room. “Just set that….”I began. But before I could finish, something black caught my eye, glinting in the closet. The folding doors were only partially shut, allowing me to see through the crack between the two panels. Glad that muscle boy was with me, I slowly opened the door and immediately jumped back.
“Cool dress,” Michael said. “I’m going to go get more stuff.”
I didn’t bother answering. Clearly, he had no idea how awesome this was. There was a gorgeous black gown hanging in my closet. The one I’d fallen in love with when Mom and I were shopping for bridesmaid’s dresses. It was long with heavy, clingy fabric that glistened as the light overhead caught the silver threads that shot all through the gown. It had a halter neck that was covered in black and silver beads. Pinned to the bodice was a note that said, “You shouldn’t have to wear a bridesmaid dress to prom. Welcome home. — Alex. P.S. Don’t worry. Your mom picked out the dress so it should fit.”
I immediately took a picture and texted it to Mari. I picked up the skirt with one hand and let the fabric slowly slink out of my hand. I wanted to try it on so bad, but just then, Michael came in pulling my headboard behind him.
“I’ve gotta go soon, so we might want to get this done,” he said.
“You got a hot date or something?” I asked, teasing him.
He looked at me like he didn’t get the joke. “Of course. It’s Friday night.”
I laughed. “Okay, Romeo. I’m going.”
It didn’t take long to get everything carried in. When we were done, Michael and I surveyed the disaster that was my bedroom – boxes stacked everywhere, trash bags with clothes spilling out, my bed frame and mattress leaning against the wall.
“Good luck,” he said. He checked the time on his phone. “It’s been a blast, but I’m heading out.”
His dry tone had me laughing as I thanked him and said goodbye. I’d have to thank Lee for sending him over too. That was sure to get a funny reaction.
I reached for a bag of clothes to unpack when I heard my phone beep in my pocket. Glad for the delay, I pulled it out expecting to see a text from Marisol. Sure enough, she was gushing over my dress and already planning accessories for it. I rolled my eyes and laughed. Another text coming in from Parker sobered me immediately however.
I need your help. I’m out at the Murphy’s place setting up cameras, but I need some duct tape or something to get the right angle on this camera. I’m running out of daylight. Can you bring me some?
My heart started beating fast at the thought of going out there. By myself. When it was getting dark.
Can’t you figure something else out?
It took a few minutes for his response to come in. I wandered nervously around my room as I waited. Finally, he texted back. I’ve been trying to for the last hour. Don’t worry. Nobody’s here. That’s why I have to finish this tonight!
Well, here it was. The moment I made my big decision. Helping him would have big consequences if—no—when Lee and my mom found out. Plus, I could be helping to catch my own father in a criminal act. Still, I couldn’t let Parker take the fall for something he hadn’t done.
