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While she’s rattling off their social media and websites, I remove the microphone they’ve attached to me. The second the cameras are off, I’m out of my chair and on my way out of the building.
I have to get out of here. I should’ve known better. No matter how outrageous the story, they had to try to make things worse. All I can think about during the drive home is how the hell she knew. No one but Milo even knew I was going on the show today. Even if I couldn’t trust Tori and Paul, she wouldn’t have known to contact them with that tip.
The secret is out now. If people hated me before for thinking I either wanted Alden dead to be with his brother or hooked up with his brother right after he died, they aren’t going to like that I’m having his baby. All I can do is hope my explanation changes the narrative. What really pisses me off is that Alden is likely to find out I’m pregnant before I can tell him.
The cops have started to come and go instead of having a constant presence on my street. Maybe they’ve realized it’s a waste of time and he won’t come striding up the street waving to them. There are no cops parked nearby but an unfamiliar truck sits in my driveway.
My hackles are up and I’m ready to tell whoever it is to leave me the fuck alone when Milo gets out of the passenger side.
“Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” I ask, getting out of my car.
“Sorry, this is my friend, Gary.” The driver, a skinny guy with a shaved head and some horrifically amateur tattoos on his neck, nods at me. What’s going on now? “He’s here to scan for bugs in your house.”
My shoulders droop with exhaustion. It’s been a long day and it’s not halfway over. “Milo, thank you, but honestly, I’m tired and if they’re listening, I don’t give a fuck.”
“Alden asked me to. He’s already cleared the shop. It’ll only take an hour or so.”
In my current mood, I feel a pang of hurt and annoyance that Milo gets to hear from him when I don’t. I know Alden is trying to keep me out of things, but it’s impossible. I’m about as involved as one can get. “Alright, come on in.”
They follow me inside where Gary pulls a long black wand out of the backpack slung over his shoulder. “Is it okay if I start on your second floor and work my way down?” he asks, donning a pair of headphones.
At my nod, he jogs upstairs, and I turn to Milo. “Do you know this guy well or should I be following him around my house?”
“He’s trustworthy.”
“If you say so.” Milo accompanies me into the kitchen, and we sit at the counter to wait for Gary to do his work. “Did you watch the morning show?”
He runs his hand over his thick beard. “I saw it. You did a good job keeping your cool. Especially at the end.”
When I don’t reply, he tilts his head at me, and I nod in response to his silent question. “It’s true. I have no idea how she knew, though.”
“You didn’t stay to watch the segment after the interview?”
This can’t be good. “No, I left so I wouldn’t knock her fake ass smile off.”
“Good call.” Milo takes out his phone and taps it a few times, then shows me the screen. On it is a perfectly clear video of me. It was obviously taken from the drugstore’s security camera. It doesn’t show me committing a crime, but whoever posted it has zoomed in to show the bottle of prenatal vitamins in my hand.
Sighing, I rest my head in my hands. “I hate everyone.”
“It was a shitty move, for sure. On the following segment, they showed the video and were taking calls from people to get their opinions on the situation.”
“Great. Glad we could entertain them. Do you think Alden saw it?”
“I don’t know.”
We’re quiet for a few minutes, listening to Gary’s slow footsteps make their way through each room above us. He gives us a thumbs up when he comes downstairs to show it was all good, then starts scanning the other rooms.
“Do you think I made a mistake?” I ask Milo. “Doing that interview?”
He gets up and puts his empty coffee cup in the sink. “No, you’ve been silent from the beginning and the public seems to take that as a sign of guilt. I don’t know whether it’ll help Stokes Brothers in the way you’re hoping it will, but it did sow some doubt among the mob. At least half of the calls they were taking afterward were from callers who believed you.”
“I guess we’ll see.”
Once Gary has finished and pronounced the place clean, they leave. The rest of my evening is spent watching the viral shitstorm my interview has caused. Milo doesn’t think it’s a mistake, but I’m not sure. The top subject trending for my state on every social media site is the interview. Every post contains the clip of the interview where I asked that the public leave us alone, along with the shot of me buying the vitamins.
The comments seem to be evenly split between supportive and ridiculing.
