Page 8 of I Still Love You (Citation Needed)

Jorge’s eyes got wide, and he dropped his lanyard on the table. “Lizbeth, what are you doing here?”

“No!” she said, her face red with anger. “You’re supposed to be in prison. There’s no reason you should be here.”

Jorge backed away from the table with his hands up. “I’m out on probation and living with my grandmother. I have a job! I’m trying to make things right,” he said, and his hands shook.

I was fascinated at how quickly the man had gone from suave and flirty to utter panic. Lizbeth seemed to be on fire with rage. I moved backwards and out of the way.

“You will leave now. I’m not giving you a chance to scam any of these people out of their hard-earned money!” Lizbeth said, her hands closing into fists.

Lisa, Mason, and Cooper were at the table before I could react.

“I think it’s best if you don’t stay, Jorge,” Mason said, putting a hand on Jorge’s shoulder and attempting to turn him around.

Lisa’s eyes were wide as her head swung between Lizbeth and Jorge. “I’ll talk to Andrea about this another day.”

Jorge broke away from Lizbeth’s gaze and let Mason escort him to the elevator.

“Don’t let him back in to any of the events,” Lizbeth told everyone, her face flush with anger. “He scammed countless women of all ages out of their money, and I’m not going to let him do it to anyone else.

I sat there stupefied by the surge of activity. Lizbeth stormed off, cell phone in hand, and the tension broke at the registration table.

“Are you okay?” Mason asked as he walked back toward me.

I nodded, my eyes wide and heart racing. “Do you know him?”

“He was recently hired by a local financial advisor as part of a prison release program,” Mason said, watching the elevator.

“Andrea contacted me this morning to see if he could attend,” Lisa said, her voice breathy as she recovered from the shock. “I didn’t realize that Lizbeth had history with him. I’ll check on her and apologize.”

Lisa hurried off to find Lizbeth, but I knew it was futile. Lizbeth needed to be alone and was probably contacting whomever was affected by Jorge’s presence. I would check in on her later when things had calmed down and she felt like she had sounded the warning bells. Lizbeth had shared some of what had brought her and Wil together their senior year of college. Jorge had, according to her, been convicted on various counts of fraud and theft. To see him out of jail and in Lacock, a city she had connections to, was suspicious.

“That was the most exciting thing that’s ever happened at a conference,” I said, rapidly blinking.

Mason raised an eyebrow and smirked as he scoffed. “Citation needed, Penny.”

I watched him walk away as if it was just another conversation and his words meant nothing. Had he been flirting with me?

Chapter Seven

Grace’s eyes were wide while I told her the story about Jorge’s appearance at the edit-a-thon.

“I’m sad I missed that!” my friend said from the other side of the dinner table. “I think you’re right about that being the most exciting thing that’s ever happened at a conference.”

We had decided to have dinner at the restaurant next to my hotel. Like many of the other places I had visited this weekend, the restaurant was a new addition to Lacock and surprisingly accessible. It was easy to navigate to our table by the windows that allowed us to people watch as we ate.

Grace and I collaborated before I started at Lacock State and continued after I left, but EncycloWiki wasn’t her passion. Even though she wasn’t attending the conference, there was no way I would miss a chance to see her. She knew I would need support after seeing Mason again. He had made me feel like I was under a microscope all day, so I was glad to have dinner with her to talk to someone about what I was feeling.

“Lizbeth has told me a little about Jorge in the past, but I felt blindsided,” I said, letting out a deep sigh. “I know he stole money from her sorority, stole money from Ginny, and may have abandoned someone in Mexico after racking up thousands of dollars in gambling losses.”

My friend’s jaw dropped. “I think I know the young woman who had that happen in Mexico. She eventually transferred here. It’s very suspicious, isn’t it?”

I leaned into the table. “How so?”

“You said Lizbeth is here all the time because her grandparents live in Gardner, as does Wil’s aunt, correct?”

I nodded. “That’s right. There’s a lot of people connected to him in the region. Maybe he has family here too.”

Grace smiled. “Maybe, but I bet you want to make things better for Lizbeth. Supporting her is the best thing you can do.”