The Truths We See

Chapter 24

Jimmy and I sat in the waiting area of the police station, waiting on Heather to finish giving her witness statement against Rob. She'd insisted on driving us with her as moral support. She was sad about doing this, and I couldn't really blame her. It was hard for me to turn in my brother. I did spend that night he admitted he did it wondering if I really should, but I knew I had to see it through to the end. I always have been and always will be someone who has to finish whatever they start. 

Which is why I felt a surge of confidence when I took Jimmy's hand and told him, "We need to set a day soon."

He looked at me in surprise. "It takes a lot to plan a wedding, you know. We can't just do things on a whim. It needs a lot of planning."

"Which is why we need to decide when to do it now instead of waiting much longer."

He pulled his hand away to put his arm around me. "Why is that?"

I leaned into him and played with the hem on my jeans. "Because it won't be much longer until Ben and Rob will be arrested, probably, and then there's my father's trial. I want to leave right after that."

He absentmindedly drew circles on my shoulder with his thumb. "Okay, so what date were you thinking? It's November, so January, maybe?"

I pulled out my phone and we began debating the date. By the time Heather was ready to leave we had settled on January 12. She dropped us off at Lilly's house and we got out. I stopped Jimmy at the door and turned to him. He faced me and took both of my hands. His smile faded when he saw my face. "What's wrong? I thought you were excited to tell Lilly about our decision," he said.

"I am, honestly, but it's just that I know I have to tell her about Ben." I glanced at the door. "I don't know how."

Jimmy hugged me. "Just do it gently, okay?"

I took a deep breath and nodded. I reached for the door and opened it. The TV was blaring. I pulled Jimmy into the house and called, "Lil? I'm home and I've got Jimmy with me!"

"I'm in the den!" I pulled Jim behind me into the room she was in and she muted the TV. "So, what have you been up to this morning?" Her eyes sparkled and I felt the familiar sensation of guilt and sadness crash over me. 

I forced a smile as me and Jimmy sat on the couch. "Well, I have to tell you something. Two somethings, actually. One something is good and other something is bad. Which would you like to hear first?"

Lilly frowned and gave me a serious yet scared look. "What did you do?"

I glanced at Jimmy and found him giving me an encouraging smile. "Well, we set a date for our wedding."

"When?" She didn't smile, though she did grow slightly less serious. 

"January twelfth."

She gave us a small smile before growing serious again. "What's the bad something? It's not Ben, is it? Is he okay?"

I frowned and swallowed. "He's fine," I said in a slightly high-pitched voice. I was silent for a moment before letting out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding and just doing what I knew I needed to do. "I mean, he's not physically hurt. But, um, it is about him." I felt like I needed to take full responsibility here, and that meant telling her that it was me who uncovered what the police needed. So I steeled myself and said, "Ben helped Rob steal his own money in hopes of getting even more money. Rob let him take the fall and told Ben he'd pay him later. I found the security video from that night in Rob's office and told the police about it."

Lilly's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. Her eyes glistened with tears and a few leaked down her flushed cheeks. She looked mad, but, unlike I initially thought, she wasn't mad at me. "That idiot!" she screamed, standing quickly and pacing. "That was the stupidest way to get money!" She tugged at her hair so hard that I worried she'd begin ripping it out at the roots by the handful. She let out a frustrated noise. After a few paces she stopped and glared at me. "Are they arresting him right now? Are they? You seem to know so much more than I do about my own husband."