“I’m sorry you feel that way, sir,” Courtney replied, putting on a deep, serious voice for reasons unknown. “Our priority these last couple weeks has been to find, notify, and release Ms. Kim’s body to her immediate family, so that she may be given the peaceful goodbye she deserves. I’m sure you understand that we could not release any information toanyother party before those priorities were taken care of.”
Daniel quieted enough that I didn’t hear his response.
“You’re Ms. Kim’s fiancé?” Courtney glanced at me and got bug-eyed shock in return. “Then, I apologize. Her mother did not inform us of a fiancé. And what might your name be?
“Daniel Mills,” she repeated, voice changing. “Would that be the same Daniel Mills found to be the subject of a number of recordings recovered from Ms. Kim’s cellphone?” Grinning at me, she shot around the table—sitting down and pressing the phone to my ear so I could hear too.
“—that’s not—those recordings aren’t what you think,” Dan sputtered. “They—”
“Is that so? Because what I believe they are is evidence that Ms. Kim tried multiple times to convey to you that your romantic relationship was over, and to prevent this, you threatened and blackmailed her with the release of her private videos.”
“Hold on, I—”
“Mr. Mills, are you aware that soliciting sex under threat or coercion meets the legal standard of rape?”
“Rape?!” he screeched. “What the fuck are you talking about rape!? I didn’t rape Sarah! She was my girlfriend!”
“She was not your girlfriend,” Courtney said—voice hard. “She made that very clear to you in language I, and a jury, can understand. And that same jury will have serious doubts that you couldn’t.”
“Jury?! No, wait, stop.” The man was hyperventilating into the speakers. “You have this all wrong. Those recordings were just a joke between Sarah and I. A kinky—kink-play—thing!” he burst out. “It wasn’t serious, and Ineverforced her.”
“Hmm. I’m afraid it’s not up to me to decide if you’re telling the truth. I’m going to have to refer this case to your local law enforcement authority and let them handle it,” she said over his frantic blathering. “Please, confirm your address and the full spelling of your name—”
“No, please, it’s not—!”
“And by no means, under any circumstances, are you to delete the sexual video content you’re keeping of Ms. Kim. It is now key evidence in a rape investigation and—”
Click.
Daniel hung up.
Courtney beamed at my slack-jawed expression. “Done,” she chirped, slapping the phone on my palm. “Not only are you never going to hear from that asshole again, but as we speak, he’s deleting all traces that he ever knew you from his phone, his laptop, and his life.
“You are finally free of Daniel Satan Mills.”
“Oh... my... gosh,” I whispered. “It’s you. You’re my guardian angel sent from heaven. The whole time, it was you.” I cupped her cheeks. “What is your true name, sweet angel?”
Courtney tickled my sides, sending me squealing and squirming away. She hopped up laughing. “Angel sounds right, but I would’ve done that if I was your guardian demon. That fucker’ll be lucky if I don’t track him down and throw him off a cliff.”
I bit mylip, seriously so happy and relieved I really was going to cry. Courtney was right. This is what I’ve been missing for so long—
Family.
“Thank you, Court. Just... thank you.”
She winked, but then her smile turned down—fading away.
“What’s wrong?”
“Huh? Oh, no, it’s...” She sighed. “All this talk of evil brutes and the things they do to women just reminded me of the news this morning,” Court said. “Do you remember that lady who came to the shop, asking us if we’d seen her missing daughter?”
I nodded.
“Well, tragically, she’s not missing anymore. The cops found the body of Tracy Williams on Bonsai Beach this morning,” she explained over my gasp. “She was murdered.”
“Oh no, that’s terrible. That poor woman. Not to mention her mom.” I clutched my chest, my heart breaking in two. “Who would do something like this?”
Courtney resumed setting out the food, her lips pressed tight. “I don’t know, but if I was a supernatural creature, I’d swoop down on the evil shitstain that killed some poor, sweet girl from the post office and left her in the sand like driftwood—and I’d split his skull open.”
