“No, I didn’t,” he said. “But Faith and I were in love, deep love. Look…”
He took a string bag off his back and pulled it open, reaching in and producing two pieces of paper.
“I brought these to prove it to all of you.”
Glancing down, she saw an autographed photo of Faith, exactly like the picture Olivia had procured for Carol, and a handwritten note. Reading both, Carol was surprised to see that Faith had said some rather nice, and very flirty, things to Steve. Maybe they were boyfriend and girlfriend. But then something caught Carol’s eye. She squinted and said, “May I see these more closely, Steve?”
“Sure.” He shoved them her way and Carol looked each over carefully. The thing that stood out, as obvious as could be, was that the handwriting was not the same as the writing on the autographed picture of Faith Olivia had given Carol. Not even close. Whereas the writing on Carol’s autograph was tall, bold, and easy to read, this was slanted and very curlicued. The signature was not close either. The one Carol had utilized a giantFand smallera, i, t,andh.This one was almost the opposite. TheFwas small and the other letters seemed to get larger with each one. Carol wondered if Steve had written this himself or gotten someone else to write it. She wasn’t sure, but she figured it wouldn’t hurt to show this to Olivia. Quickly, she scrambled for an idea.
“Steve, these are so beautiful, the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I’m such a huge fan of Faith’s. Would you mind if I took pictures of these just to have and hold on to, to remind myself how special she was?”
Carol looked at him expectantly. Steve didn’t respond at first and had an uncertain look on his face, so Carol doubled down with a comment she had a feeling might resonate with him.
“This would remind me of the incredible love you and Faith shared, and of your devastating loss. No one has suffered a loss quite like yours.”
With that he nodded and said she could take a picture. Carol put the picture and note on the table closest to them and quickly snapped two photos, then handed the items back.
“Thank you,” she said. “I will cherish these. Have a good day now. And thank you for loving Faith so much.”
“Yeah, OK, see you,” Steve replied.
Carol walked out. She felt good that she had donated fifty dollars, the most she felt she and Jim could afford right now, and she felt good that the FWFFC was finding ways to honor that poor precious and innocent baby. She had new info to share with Olivia about one of the possible suspects plus his weird autographed photo and letter.
But as she got to her car a different thought came into her head: the moment when Heather had stood up and thrown Mr. Bojangles into her purse, dashing off so hastily for reasons only she knew. Heather had seemed to morph into a very different-looking, and -sounding, person. Her voice got deeper and stronger and was justdifferentfrom the other times she had spoken. The nasal tone was gone. It was like an entirely new being overtook her. Heather’s shoulders were back and not hunched, her eyes had an intensityCarol had not seen. Her stride as she hustled to the parking lot looked different from the way she had walked with a slight limp before. In fact, the limp seemed entirely gone. It was as if whatever text Heather got had zapped her into a new human being, and it felt unsettling in a way Carol could not properly place.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Olivia
June 4
Olivia was back at her internship Monday trying simultaneously to be the head-down, focused intern that Channel 9 expected her to be, and to spy on Laura and Matthew to see if she could pick up any clues about why Faith would have put the two of them in her note to Tom.
Laura was gone for a chunk of the afternoon, and when she returned she went straight to Perry’s office and shut the door. Matthew was milling about the newsroom telling various people how unfair it was that he had to work seven days in a row.
Olivia was trying to focus on another bump she had been assigned to write, but it was hard not to have her attention diverted thinking of Laura and Matthew. While both seemed so normal, Faith could have known another side of them. Could either be up to no good, even a killer? It made Olivia shiver, and she wrapped her cardigan around her even more tightly as she tried not to be obvious about peeking at Matthew as he whined to yet another person about how he was constantly taken advantage of.
Olivia thought his demeanor was inappropriate given that the news of the baby had just come out and that he was covering for someone who had passed away. Show a little respect. She would have worked seven days in a row in her future career. Wasn’t that just a part of TV news? Olivia’s professor had told the class she once worked a month straight for the Super Bowl and two weeks straight for political conventions. True, the professor had also said the crazy hours eventually drove her from the news, but Olivia was just getting started in her career. Crazy hours didn’t scare her, and other than Gizmo she had no obligations.
Perry and Laura came out of Perry’s office about four, and Olivia saw Laura walk to the five o’clock producer and whisper something in his ear. He looked surprised, and a little annoyed, but nodded. He then leaned over to the associate producer and whispered something to her. They both started typing furiously on their rundowns. It looked like they were making some sort of change, but their computers were too far away for Olivia to clearly see.
Laura walked over to Olivia. Olivia stiffened but tried to act normal. A nervous smile was all she could muster and she felt her eyes darting around. Could Laura be a killer disguised as a new mother? Olivia’s nerve endings seemed to stand straight up at attention.
“Olivia, I’m running behind today because I had to do something this afternoon. Can you please go to the weather center and ask Matthew if he needs more than his usual two minutes, thirty seconds tonight in any of the shows? I saw it’s possible we might get some thunderstorms. Thanks.”
“Uh, OK, sure,” Olivia said, and her nerve endings went from standing on edge to being lit on fire. She was being sent from one possible suspect to another, and Matthew would likelybe alone in the weather office. It was one thing to converse with Laura out here in the middle of a busy newsroom, but to have to do so with Matthew in a quiet weather office made Olivia a little uneasy. She gulped. Laura was looking at her, waiting for her to stand, but Olivia’s entire body felt encased in cement. She truly wasn’t sure if she’d be able to rise at that moment.
“Please go now, Olivia. We need to know if Matthew requires more time in the show,” said Laura with a tinge of annoyance in her voice.
Olivia stood up as if in a trance, her arms and feet not even feeling attached to her body. She moved through the newsroom like a sleepwalker.
The weather-office door was closed. Stopping in front of the door, she took several deep breaths and wiped her brow before tapping lightly. No response. She tapped again, harder. Nothing. Trying the handle, she discovered it was unlocked and gingerly pulled it open just a bit, peeking around.
Matthew was sitting at the main desk, looking over some printed maps. He had earbuds in and was bopping his head around. Glancing up at Olivia, he pulled his earbuds out without a smile.
“Yes?” he said.
Olivia summoned all of her courage, reminded herself of her spying duties, also reminded herself that the newsroom was just steps behind her and she could run if he tried anything, and stepped in.
