“So? What do you think?”
“Things like these are an easy forgery. Do you have any suspicions?”
“It’s a woman I’ve been involved with and has direct contact with me, but this seems to have slipped her mind to let me know.”
“Is this a girlfriend?” he asked. I felt myself getting uncomfortable.
“No. She’s a friend of a friend’s wife.” Calvin was silent for a second. The two of us were not friends but I trusted the quality of his work. In addition to that as an investigator who handled personal cases sometimes, he kind of felt like a doctor. The kind of person you could reveal embarrassing information to without any fear of being judged.
“Does this woman have any reason to wish harm on you?”
Honestly, I could think of a few. I was not proud of the way that I had conducted myself with Maggie. It sounded like a weak excuse, but I usually wasn’t like this.
“We ended on bad terms. Maybe she wants to blackmail me, get some money out of me, that’s my fear with this” I said vaguely.
“It’s not really any of my business, but I feel like it is my job say; you are a guy with money and power and you should have fun with that, but those two things make you a target, remember that,” he said. I rolled my eyes because I did not appreciate the lecture even though he was right on the money. I always used condoms with women and when condoms weren’t available, I made sure I did not come inside them. Usually. The last time with Maggie had been in the heat of passion, I usually wasn’t that sloppy and with Maggie, usually wasn’t myself either.
Getting pregnant by a wealthy man was an almost cliché method to secure a livelihood for the women who couldn’t do it the hard way. I knew the risks associated with the lifestyle I led but I hadn’t been careful. Not enough and not with her. Maggie wasn’t like that, was she? No monetary cost was too high, but I didn’t like the thought of being taken advantage of.
I had to stop being so sentimental about her, I didn’t know the woman. I thanked Calvin for his advice.
“I know. I guess I haven’t been as careful as I should have been and now, I need you to trail her.”
“Not a problem. I can look into her background and watch her movements and have something for you.” I thanked him again. I didn’t like that it had come to this, but I felt like Maggie had forced my hand. Talking to her might have worked, but at the same time, I didn’t think so. We weren’t on good terms so why wouldn’t she lie, deflect, or just tell me what I wanted to hear instead of letting me know the truth? This was probably the only way.
I stared at my phone once I ended the call with Calvin.
How was this different from stalking?
Sometimes women lost it after I told them the terms of the relationships I wanted. After a few lays, they wanted to go on vacation or start calling me their boyfriend; asking me not to see other women and stuff. That was always off the table and I agreed to those terms with Maggie too but here we were. I wasn’t the kind of man that was easy to trick but finally, the tables had turned.
I wasn’t going to be the one physically doing it, but I wanted it done for the same reasons that a stalker would. I was so sure that calling her would be fruitless, but I hadn’t actually tried it. I knew enough to know
that she wouldn’t be happy to see me, but I didn’t need to see her, I just needed a conversation.
I slowed down because I was going too fast. I felt like I couldn’t trust myself and it was true, I couldn’t. I didn’t feel like myself when it came to Maggie. Everything moved too fast and nothing made sense. Whenever I felt like I had a handle on the situation, I would mess up again. Every time I told myself that was the end, it turned out to be another lie.
I picked up the phone and called her.
The phone rang a couple of times, but then she picked up. I was so shocked I almost didn’t say anything.
“Hello? Maggie?”
She was silent.
“Hello? Maggie? Can you hear me? It’s me. I wanted to…” I heard a click and then the line went dead.
What the hell? She picked up. I heard her pick up. Had she just hung up on me? She didn’t owe me shit, but something felt off. Even if she didn’t want to talk to me, I felt like she would tell me before hanging up. At least tell me to leave her alone or curse me out even.
No. After this weird letter showed up at my work, I had reason to be suspicious. Something strange was going on. I knew it, and I was going to find out what it was.
26
Maggie
“I’m gonna head out, is that okay?” I said.
“Of course, go ahead,” Missy said to me. “Wait, hold on a second.” I froze, putting my purse over my shoulder.