“Andy, what did you do?!” Candi’s voice starts to quiver, and I can hear her tears through the small speakers. “Tell me what happened!”
“I killed him for us, baby. I did it because I'm so in love with you; no one can take you away from me. Not anymore.”
He killed him?He has to be joking… right? Andy stays on the line; I can hear him panting as well as Zane's parents' loud sobs in the background.
“You shouldn't say things like that. It's not funny.”
“Candi,” Andrew begins. He says my name, and I imagine his shoulders relaxing. “I'm serious. I killed him so we could be together. I couldn't let him take you away from me. You're mine, and I'm yours. Baby, we belong together.”
“Think about what you're saying right now…” The receiver is pressed to my ear as I move a pair of light grey fleece-lined sweatpants up my hips. “You can't kill Zane. You'll go to prison!”
“I can, and I did… just for you.” My heart sinks, and my phone falls from my hand onto the plush carpet. “Candi… I love you. Don't you see that? I'd do anything for you.” His distant voice resounds loudly in my ears as I grab and change into my North High Cheerleader tee shirt that was still lying on the floor next to my hamper. “I'd do anything for you.” I never asked you to kill my ex-boyfriend.
“Andy,” I place the phone next to my ear again, listening for him as well as more laments from Mr. and Mrs. Torrence and the surrounding neighbors. “Don't leave, okay? I'm coming over there.” Quickly, I slide my pink fuzzy slippers over my Adidas ankle socks and run out of my house.
“You are?” It pains me to hear the excitement in his voice, and my heart breaks knowing it may be the last time I'll ever see him. “Don't worry, Candi. I'm not going anywhere.”
All I can see as I run down my short driveway are flashing lights from the police cars and ambulance in front of the Torrence house; their sirens fill the once peaceful streets. I can feel my skin burning from the harsh, cold breeze as I jog down the sidewalk. I try not to slip on the snow and ice when I sprint around the corner to his house.
Andrew is surrounded by the police. His head hangs down as if he's still peering at his phone, waiting for me to call back. He doesn't look up at any of the police or answer any of their questions.
“Andy!” I try to yell loud enough so that my voice carries over the commotion. “Andy!” I shout again, this time getting his attention.
“Candi?” He raises his head as he searches for me in the small crowd. “Baby…?!” I move my numb legs as quickly as my feet will let me, trying to stay stable on the slick ground, only to be forced to stop at the Torrence’s driveway.
“I'm sorry, miss; you can't go any further.” A police officer stands behind a long line of caution tape barricading the yard.
“I-I have to get back there. I have to know if he's okay…”
“Miss, unless you're family, I can't let you through.” The officer holds out his long arm, blocking my entrance the best he can.
“Candi!” Andrew shouts, moving past the ring of officials around him. “I did it, I did it for us!” He repeats the phrase until I see his full view.
The obsidian leather is covered in smeared blood; his hands look bright red… like they’re freezing. I want to go to him. To tell him everything is going to be okay, but we both know it isn't.He killed Zane. There is no going back from this.
“Damn, you always look so beautiful…” His voice begins to crack as he walks closer. He moves by the single tree in the yard with a huge grin, completely unfazed by the metal handcuffs being clasped around his large wrists.
“Andy, what happened? Why did you kill him?” I want to stop the tears from streaming down my face, to wipe them away, but I'm frozen while I wait for his explanation.
“He was going to take you away from me…” Andrew doesn't hold back his cries and tries to move even closer when the officers do their best attempt at detaining the almost seven-foot-tall young man covered in blood. “I couldn't let him do that. I need you, Candi.”
“Don't hurt him! He just wants to talk to me!” The cry bursts out as I run around to the other side of the flimsy barrier, anything I can do to be near him, but I'm too late.
A policeman with a stocky build escorts him to a car parked near the edge of the curb in front of the scene. Andy's eyes hold mine as they try to lower him into the back seat. “I love you, Andrew Miller!” I scream through what feels like a heavy waterfall flowing out of my glazed-over orbs.
“I love you, Candi… wait for me!” His shouts begin to muffle when he's pushed further into the row of uncomfortable seats. “I can't make it without you!” I give him a single nod and stare as the officer shuts the back door.
Andrew doesn't leave my sight when he glares at me through the fogged window. The ten minutes that it takes for the officer to drive off seem like hours yet seconds all at once.He can't leave, I'm not ready to say goodbye.
As the car drives off, my soaked feet carry me as far as I can when I follow him near the exit of the neighborhood.Once they turn the corner, they'll be close to the highway.“Andy!” I don't know why I call out to him; he can't hear me, but I swear he turns around at the same time and looks at me through the rear window, one last time.
Twenty Years Later
“You've got one hour.” The prison guard warms.I know. I've been doing this once a month for twenty years.I answer with a single nod, and I begin making my way to our designated visitation room.
Twenty years. It seems so strange to say out loud. Twenty years ago, Andrew Miller, my Andy, was sentenced to life in prison for premeditated homicide. Twenty years ago, I had to watch the love of my life be taken away in handcuffs out of the courtroom as I sat and cried in the audience.
You may have heard about his trial; it was all over the national news. People from across the country came to sit in the courtroom to see the fate of the “Valentine's Day Strangler.”
