Page 97 of Jackass
I sucked down as much as I could and slammed the bottle back on the bar. I stepped through the double doors and went to my seat. No one said a word. They all just glared at me.
“What?” I asked.
“Why the fuck did you leave her at the hospital alone?” Cash questioned angrily.
“I didn’t leave her there alone. Jingles was there,” I said, looking at the table. I knew it was an asshole move. But she didn’t want me there. All I did was hurt her.
“She needed you, Jack. She’s your woman. Your responsibility,” King remarked.
“You were there. She wanted me to leave,” I reminded him. “So I left. I needed to clear my head.”
King shook his head, letting me know he was disappointed in me.
Well, join the fucking club, buddy.
I was disappointed in me too.
“Let’s get to work. We have a couple of issues we need to deal with,” Cash stated. “Jingles, play the recording.”
We sat there around the table and listened as Sammy andCarrie’s voices filled the air. Throughout the recording, Carrie switched from frantic to subdued and back again. When the recording ended, we all sat there.
No one knew where to begin.
“Samantha also recorded the conversation on her phone. They had a few more words in the parking lot outside. Her phone might have picked those up, if she didn’t turn it off inside.”
“Nav, do you have anything on the husband?” King asked.
“Yea, he got the papers. Signed for them himself. He’s in Arkansas. He’s shown up for work every day, without fail. I don’t know how he was getting those notes to them, but he wasn’t doing it in person,” Nav concluded.
“Uh, Samantha and I talked about it at the bar before, you know. We both came to the same conclusion. Carrie has an unhealthy obsession with her or Charlie, maybe both.”
Jingles confirmed what I was thinking. Carrie was not who she appeared to be.
“She’s faking the notes,” I announced.
“What? How is she faking them? Wouldn’t Sam recognize Derek’s handwriting? They were together for what, five years?” Blade asked.
“I don’t know if Sammy ever saw them,” I said, shaking my head. “Fuck, I’m so stupid.”
Standing from my chair, I ran my hands through my hair, pulling on the ends.
“When I took Sammy to the house to get her and Charlie’s things, as soon as we walked in the door, Carrie said there was another note. I asked her to see it. She told me she destroyed it. Said she didn’t want Sammy seeing it.” I leaned my hands on the table. “What if there were no notes? What if Carrie has been lying about the notes?”
“Why?” Ghost asked.
“To control Samantha. Carrie controls where they live, how long they stay there. I would bet a note showed up every time Samantha got close to someone,” Cash piped up.
“But she’s been close to Rachel, Grace, and Lily for almost twoyears. Why wait so long?” King asked.
“Maybe it isn’t about Sam at all,” Blade concluded. “It’s Charlie. Sam having friends isn’t a threat. But Charlie’s dad, that is the biggest threat there is.”
“Why not leave as soon as Sam knew Jack lived here?” Colt asked.
“Maybe she thought it would be too suspicious?” Gunner answered.
“That was her mistake. The one scenario she didn’t plan for. The girls weren’t a threat. In fact, they gave Samantha a reason to be out of the house more. Allowing Carrie to have more time with Charlie,” Jingles reasoned.
“But Charlie’s dad has the potential to take Charlie away from her. Which is exactly what you did as soon as you learned you had a daughter,” King pointed out.