“I’m here to speak with Detective George.”
“Right. Hold on.” She picked up a phone, said a few words to whomever was on the other end, and hung up. “He’ll be here in a moment.”
“Thank you, great.” I stood back and took a deep breath, trying to figure out what the other item was. At this point, nothing she did would’ve surprised me, so it could’ve been any of my clothes, teaching supplies…I hoped it wasn’t anything broken. A piece of technology? Something she took when she borrowed my car? A picture? It could be anything knowing her.
Office George appeared. “Gilly, please, come to my office with me.” He ushered me through another set of doors and took us down a long hallway filled with offices.
The place smelled like stale coffee and dust, and I scratched my itchy nose as he went farther into the building. His was the farthest on the left side, and when he walked in, I saw the item right away. It was glass, had my name on it, and sat in the middle of his desk.
Of course.
That’s what she would take.I knew I didn’t misplace it.
“My Teacher of the Year award,” I said, a rush of warmth going through my body. While it wasn’t an expensive item, it was invaluable to me. One of my proudest achievements. Seeing it in the office made my anger return, ten times worse. How dare she take my award? How dare she take the one thing she knew I was proud of? She’d heard me talk about how much this meant to me back when I thought we were friends, when I thought we would be sisters-in-law someday. She used that information to hurt me, and I clenched my fist at my side. This woman was the absolute worst. “She had this in the back of her car?”
“Yes. Any reason she would’ve taken it?”
I made a raspberry with my lips and sat down in the chair and faced him. His large frame made his desk chair squeak, and I crossed one leg over the other. “Shehatedother people’s happiness. It was her whole mission to ruin other’s joy because she always wanted what she couldn’t have.” I stared at the glass award and shook my head. “For whatever reason, she targeted my brother and me. It was about our money at first, but I think it turned personal. She volunteered at my school to mess with me and fooled everyone into thinking she was a decent human being.”
“When we brought her in, she didn’t seem even remotely remorseful.”
“She won’t. She’ll blame us, me, somehow.” I cracked my neck from side to side, hoping that would relieve some of the tension in my body.
“I’m glad we found her then.” He moved around and pulled out a plastic bag with a bright-green checkbook in it. He set it on the top of the desk and asked, “Is this yours?”
“Yes. It’s the one I kept in my desk drawer.” I chewed my bottom lip, remembering how I saw her leaving my classroom that one time. I couldn’t find a single thing out of place, but did she take it then? Or plan to? It didn’t matter at this point. “That’s what you found in her possession? It almost seems too good to be true.”
He nodded. “In her car. Great. That’s all I needed.”
“What happens now?” I asked, grateful it wasalmostover.
“She’s been arrested, and now that we’ve verified it was your checkbook and award, we’ll have a rock-solid case. We’ll charge her for all the money, but there’s no guarantee she’ll pay it back. If she got it in cash, there’s no way to trace it.”
“I figured as much.” I swallowed and held out my hand. “Thank you.”
He took it, shook it with a firm grip, and nodded. “You’re welcome. Glad we’re able to figure this out, and fingers crossed she’ll pay the missing funds.”
I nodded and left the station, already knowing that she wouldn’t have the money to pay Kayla back. I was glad I already reached out to my advisor to pay the missing amount so Kayla wouldn’t suffer.
I called APD and took the rest of the day off. I let Grace and Fritz know I was at home and shutting off my phone, and I took a bath, read a book, and tuned out the world. Christopher knew the truth, Samantha was going to jail, and I could give Kayla the funds back that were taken because of me. Once that was done, I could focus on getting over Christopher Callahan and finding a way to get my heart back.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
I tooktwo more personal days and spent all Thursday making sure someone was in the room with me. Larissa before and after school, and I beelined it to the teacher’s workroom for lunch—all to avoid talking to Christopher because I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear from him. We’d said our pieces, and we needed to move on. He called me four times between Monday and last night, and a part of me knew he at least deserved to hear what happened with Samantha and the money. It was about his sister after all, and by having the conversation before the weekend started, I could get it out of the way and close the book on this drama.
I walked into the building like I’d done countless times and was met with whispers and looks. Fragments ofSamanthaandmoneyandarrestedcarried my way, and I snorted. Gossip moved at a million miles an hour here, and I had no doubt word had spread about her arrest, how I was involved, and maybe even about my inheritance. Detective George talking to other teachers didn’t help the gossip, but everyone knew her act was up. I didn’t care if people knew about me anymore though. If people knew, they did. I had my circle I trusted, and that was enough for me.
My anxiety eased a bit knowing that Christopher had to feel awful that he got it all wrong. That was a shitty feeling, but it served him right. Two wrongs didn’t make a right, but it helped to know we were both suffering.
I barely got into my room Friday morning before he was at the door, looking rougher than the previous day. His hair was messy and he hadn’t shaved in a while, but the dark bags under his eyes made my breath catch in my throat. Rough was too kind of a word. Disheveled. Awful. Upset.
“Are you—how are things?” he asked, his voice gravelly like he hadn't had a drink of water in weeks. “Is Samantha…” He paused, took a breath, and met my gaze. “Has she been arrested? Is it true?”
“Yes. They found my checkbook and my teaching award in the back of her car after she ran a red light.” I snorted, but I wasn’t really amused. “They’re going to do their best to make sure she pays the funds back to your sister,” I said, keeping my voice robotic. “And if not, I will because even though I didn’t steal a dime, she did it because of me.”
“Gilly.”
No.I squeezed my eyes shut at the raw emotion in his voice, and I held up a hand. “No. No. I can’t do this. We already talked. I…” I trailed off, unsure what to say. It did no good to talk in circles, to repeat all the emotions I felt.
