The Calling Of Quinn Taylor

Chapter Twenty-One

    “You just won’t stay away, will you?” Stacy says, chuckling. “Come in.” She seems rather pleased with herself. “I apologize for the behavior of my husband… soon to be ex husband.”
    She’s wearing a tight dress that reaches her knees and a pair of pantyhose to top off her look with stiletto heels. Where is she going? She’s literally in her own house, dressed in skimpy clothing! 
    “I just came to drop by,” I say, following her into the kitchen. I picture sits on the island-- a picture framed of her, Joseph, and… Larsen. They’re sitting in lounge chairs, holding up beer cans and smiling. “And check in… you know. I thought it’d be nice to see how doing and have some girl-to-girl talk.” 
    She smiles and opens the fridge. 
    “Would you like some water? We have flavored bottles if you’d like,” she says.
    “No, that’s fine.”
    I feel around in my pocket, just to double check that my phone is still there. I can’t afford to not get this on video. By now, the police are already on there way. 
    I have to get to work.
    “Can I talk about Maeve?” I ask as she sips from a bottle of water.
    Her body tenses and she freezes for a second, but plays it off. 
    “Go ahead,” she says, planting a fake smile on her face. 
    “She was murdered,” I say, staring her straight in her brown, evil eyes and suddenly, her smile fades. “And you know as much as I do-- your husband didn’t do it.” 
    She sits the bottle down and hands me a cold, sinister stare that makes my bones fall weak. 
    “I just answers,” I say. “Why did she write a letter? You know, that’s how I found out? She left a… a puzzle for us to find out in that letter.” 
    “I gave her a chance,” she says. “I told her she can either leave or I’ll make her leave for good.”
    Yes. Here it is. A confession. 
    I’ve done it. I’ve finally found out the mystery. I solved it. 
    “But why the letter?” I insist, pushing myself up from the chair I’ve sat down in. She doesn’t hesitate to answer. Instead, she answers with confidence and a lack of worry. 
    “I gave her the option to write one last thing before she’s gone and I had look over it,” she says, clicking her heels closer to me. “I never knew why she picked you.” 
    “Why didn’t she go to the police?” I ask. 
    “For one, I warned her everyone she loved would be gone… just. Like. That.” She snaps her fingers and her eyebrows narrow in as her head tilts like a dog’s. “And second of all, I’m protected.” 
    Protected? By what? Wait a second. 
    My eyes find the picture sitting on the island. She’s protected… by the chief of police. 
    Larsen knows. She knows everything. But her best friend is the one who commited the crime. 
    “When I found Maeve unconscious in my husband’s office, I took pictures of her and hid them under his couch. Then I killed her and decided those pictures weren’t enough. If someone was to come after me, I’d blame him. After all,” she says, dancing her fingers along the kitchen island. “He did have sex with her.”
    “He raped her,” I say, correcting her. 
    “No,” she says, flashing her glare back up to me. My pulse quickens. Where the hell are the police? “She came onto him.”
    Seriously? She can’t believe him! 
    “Is that what he told you?” I exclaim. “That’s what you did it. You killed Maeve because your sick, twisted husband told her she came onto him?” 
    The door bursts open and Larsen stands there, staring at the two of us. 
    Stacy’s worried eyes trace back and forth between Larsen and I. There’s no hiding it now. She has to arrest her. It can’t be a choice anymore. 
    “Here,” I say, pulling my phone out. I press play. “This is all the evidence you’ll need to put your bestie in jail.” 
    And that’s it. 
    The mystery is solved-- completely solved. 

    That day, I drive to Wes’s house and tell him everything. I tell him that everything is okay and nothing bad can ever happen again. 
    And that week, things begin to fall back into place. Keller and I have a movie night where we fall asleep with bags of popcorn beside us. 
    Jessie and Riley split up, knowing it’s what’s best. 
    Then finally, I go to Wes’s again. But this time, it’s for something different. 
    “Wes?” I say, opening his door. He’s finishing sliding a shirt on. 
    “Oh, hey,” he says. “Miss me already?” 
    He already looks ten times better-- his warm ivory skin color is back and his eyes are now to their original color… like how they were when I first met him. 
    All this time before I knew him, he saw me in the halls. Maeve said in the letter he knew me-- he saw me, he was falling for me before prom. 
    And I never knew it. 
    “I love you too,” I say, perking a smile. 
    He grins, biting his lip in an effort to hide his happiness. 
    I knew he remembered telling me. 
    He walks towards me, sending the spirling feeling of uneasiness in my stomach… but it’s not a bad feeling. It’s… it’s… something good. 
    Then he grabs my hand, intertwines his fingers in mine and leans in for a kiss.