Confidential

by Jack Parker

  "I know." Tom sighed, "Its just a lot to take in. I'm happy though." He smiled.

  "That's good." I yawned. "I hope you don't mind, but I'll be going to bed now."

  Tom frowned, "With Camdon?"

  I raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. Tom fixed me with a look, but came up and wrapped me in a hug, "Be safe, and thank you. I'll be seeing you around."

  "Alright." I gave him a sleepy smile and locked the door behind him. I trudged my way back to my bed, sleep fighting to overtake me. I drowsily cuddled next to Camdon, who lay on his back, staring at the ceiling.

  I hugged his middle and sighed in contentment, lightly starting to drift off to sleep, as Camdon rubbed circles into my back.

  I woke up that morning feeling like I was in a dream; I was warm, wrapped in fuzzy blankets, and soft lips were kissing my neck. I couldn't be sure how long Camdon was trying to wake me up, but I could pretend to sleep for a little while longer, if this was the sort of treatment I would receive.

  His lips traveled up my neck to my ear, his tongue lightly tracing the outline of it, moving down to graze over my earlobe gently, whispering "Good morning, beautiful." His warm breath hitting my ear sent shivers of pleasure down my spine, and I pulled his face towards mine.

  He grabbed my leg and wrapped it around his hips, both of us now laying on our sides, facing each other. His fingers hypnotically moved up and down my thigh, making me moan. I felt him in between my legs respond almost immediately to the sound, and I let out another small moan, this time against his lips, as they pressed more forcefully against mine, and he grew a little harder. I unintentionally squeezed us closer together, my body already responding. "What do you want to do now?" I asked him, "Since, you didn't want to go any further last time, I'm assuming you'll want me to stop again. Right?"

  Camdon wasn't even trying to play my game, he grabbed me and pulled me back to him, kissing me to a point of oblivion.

  * * *

  I bit into my sandwich, careful not to get sand anywhere in it. Tom took the day off of work and was taking Camdon out to lunch, so Marcus and Dylan and I were lounging around the beach, and I was soaking up some much needed sun.

  Marcus was, as usual, discussing Clarissa. I had been tuning him out, but I went back to listening to his rant, smirking and rolling my eyes to show Dylan how ridiculous he was.

  "Clarissa's really into birds." Marcus commented as we watched a seagull flying over head.

  I laughed, a little shocked at his blunt, and very odd, statement. "What?"

  "Yeah." Marcus nodded, matter-of-factly, "She knows the different bird calls and stuff for them. Her grandparents have a summer house on a lake somewhere, and she knows all these different kinds." I was about to say something snarky when Dylan pinched me and shook his head. I contained myself. "She'll be excited to know there's a bunch around here."

  "Seagulls are kind of like rats. They are everywhere, always feeding on things." Dylan sighed dramatically at my comment. "But that's cool, about Clarissa- didn't know she had… interests."

  "She's actually pretty cool. Not as mean as you'd think, only a little out of place. She wants to go to L.A for college."

  "We should all go to college together." Dylan said.

  "Definitely." I nodded, "It would be awesome, we could have so much fun!" I clapped my hands together, "I'm so ready for high school to be over."

  "One more year," Marcus said, "And then we are outta there."

  We all silently nodded in agreement. My phone was getting a lot of action this weekend, as it started vibrating from inside my purse somewhere. I practically had to go fishing for it, pulling out a million different things before finding it.

  I checked the caller ID, seeing it was from Anna, and answered it. "Hey there," I greeted my peppy friend. She and Detective O'Connor were doing well, Patrick proved to be quite the charmer, and as I knew, a hopeless romantic for anything Anna.

  "Heidi," I could here her wary voice on the line. "When do you come home again?"

  I instantly frowned, noticing the strain in her voice, devoid of its usual cheeriness. "Tomorrow," I looked at my friends, lazily napping, spread out across the sand, "Why? Is everything okay?" Dylan's eyes popped open at this and I shrugged my shoulders at him.

  "I have some news," She spoke, ignoring my question. "Do you remember me telling you we were trying to make a deal with Mickey?"

  "Yeah…."

  "Well, she agreed to a sentence of 30 years in a high security prison. She's even giving us the names of some of her associates. She actually asked for the high security, I think she's a little afraid that someone's going to come after her, since she's been ratting them out."

  "That's great," I said, relief flooding my voice.

  "She'll be helping out the FBI a little bit, and probably get a shorted sentence, but at least we got her." Anna sounded a little relieved as well.

  "I'm so happy for you guys." I couldn't help but smile, "You and dear Patrick should take a vacation. That would probably do you guys some good. You were getting pretty stressed there towards the end."

  "Yes," She sighed, a little sadly, "The reason I'm calling is that part of her negotiation is that she wanted to speak with you, before she officially agrees."

  I was silent. Anna continued, "I know, you've helped out the investigation so much, and the court process, and it is a lot to ask, but you would be perfectly safe, there is no way anything could happen to you. She simply wants to speak to you, I think she's a bit curious." I could only imagine Anna nervously waiting for my response, but honestly, my mind was pretty blank.

  "I'm trying to get past everything, to put it behind me." I began, "But I wouldn't go through everything this past year, and have everyone else do so much, to back out on you guys now. I want her gone just as much as the rest of you, and as long as I'm not in a room full of knives with her by myself." I bit my lip nervously, "Just make sure everything is safe."

  "Of course! Of course, you don't have to worry about any of that." Anna was exuberant, "I'll let everyone know. I miss you, by the way. We need to get pedicures when you get back. We haven't had a girl day in a while."

  I smiled, "I miss you too, I'm glad everything is going to be finished." I closed my eyes, feeling the sun, "That's all I want."

  "I know sweetie," Anna's soothing voice said, "You've been so great through this. I know it's been hard, but I'm serious when I say you helped a lot of people."

  I shifted uncomfortably, "Thanks Anna." Dylan sat up next to me curiously, as Marcus started snoring lightly. "I'm gonna head out, but I'll talk to you later. Let me know when and where, and all of that." I said my goodbyes, and hung up the phone.

  "Everything good?" Dylan asked

  "Mickey made a deal with the police," I told him, "But she wants to speak to me first."

  Dylan was quiet for a little bit, "Are you scared?"

  "No." I told him honestly. "She can't hurt me." I laid back down, "I'm not really sure how I feel about it. I don't know if I should want to yell at her, or ignore her, or feel excited or nervous." I frowned, "I just don't know."

  "Whatever happens, you came out okay. So I wouldn't stress too much about it."

  I smiled up at my best friend, comforted by his words. "I'm honestly more emotional about not seeing you guys for the next couple weeks."

  "Only until you come stay with me!" Dylan hugged me.

  I laughed, "Of course! I wouldn't want to stay in that Arizona heat. Or with the people from my school, ugh. They are annoying. And I'd miss you guys way too much to stay away for long."

  "I'm glad." Dylan said, "This vacation has been awesome. I feel like I'm in a different world, I don't want to leave."

  I sighed, "Me either, I wish I could stay here forever."

  But we couldn't, and before I knew it, all four of us were off to the airport. Camdon held my hand, stroking it with his thumb. I leaned against him, and couldn't help but be sad. I didn't want to leave him. I knew he was still confused, and
frustrated over meeting Tom, and I couldn't be there for him if I was in a different state.

  In turn, Camdon was nervous about me, and wanted to stay with me until I finished talking to Mickey. But I knew he had way too much to go over with his mom, it was much more important than this one conversation. With my friends leaving, I felt alone, and it made my heart ache a little. The closer and closer I got to knowing I wouldn't see Camdon for a couple weeks, I got teary eyed, and knowing that Dylan and Marcus would be in Iowa, getting one of Dylan's sisters rooms ready for me made start crying. But I knew I was going to be able to spend the summer with them, and that, at least, made me so grateful.

  "Here you go." The cab driver announced, dropping us off outside the airport. I handed him some cash, before sliding out after my friends.

  "I love California." Marcus said. "It's got perfect weather, the ocean, and hot girls."

  "I bet your girlfriend is really excited to know how much you appreciate it." I told him sarcastically.

  Throwing an arm around me, he said, "I'm simply stating what I have observed."

  "Uh huh." I laughed, "Sure you are." For several moments we stood outside the airport, all of us looking back on the nice couple days we had. It was pretty perfect, and I couldn't help but feel like we sort of worked, the four of us.

  I begrudgingly looked down at my boarding pass. "My flight leaves in an hour." I tried not to get choked up. "I should probably start heading that way." I was on a different terminal than them, and didn't want to get stuck in the security lines, which were always unnecessarily long.

  At my words, Camdon picked me up and twirled me around, before pulling me close to him. "I'm going to miss you so, so much." He whispered into my hair, holding me close.

  I practically melted into his arms. "I'm going to miss you more." I said, clutching him tight.

  "I love you." He kissed me, before pulling away, "And I'll call you as soon as I land." I had a goofy grin on my face, because I was pretty sure that knowing that would make anything bearable. He kissed me again, "I'll miss you every second of every day, until I get to see you again."

  Dylan and Marcus said their goodbyes next, and Camdon held onto me until I really had to go, or else I would miss my flight. I couldn't help but feel waves of emotion wash through me, as I missed my friends and Camdon already.

  Chapter 22

  I waited for Anna to pick me up, because I wasn't too keen on driving to a prison. It was kind of far away, and I was not going to try concentrating on the road. My mind was surprisingly clear. If I was told that I would have to meet Mickey a couple days after I found her in my house, I would have been beyond frightened. It would be tortuous and I most likely would have been really afraid. A couple weeks after, I would have been angry, bitter about having to leave, and would have most likely wanted to get into a shouting match. But now its been several months, and I knew I was no longer terrified of the idea of her, I knew I was still angry, but it wasn't a rage; I felt much more at ease, and happy that I got away as good as I did. I know from the trial how truly awful she could be, and I was happy that I was unharmed and safe.

  Anna, however, did not seem to understand the emotional progress I had made, and walked on eggshells around me, constantly asking how I felt about it, as if it would have changed from seconds earlier- the last time she asked how I was doing.

  "Are you sure your okay?" Anna asked me nervously.

  "No." I said, sarcastically, "You should probably keep asking me every two minutes, just in case I change my mind."

  She gave me that look, that one that made me shrink a little, and I grumbled an apology, before wondering about Camdon and how his mom was adjusting to the news. He was supposed to talk to her about it today.

  "Alrighty. We're here!" Anna smiled, if I wasn't in the desert, near the female prison, I could have mistaken our destination as Disneyland, with the constant peppiness that seemed to ooze out of Anna's pores.

  It was more than surreal, seeing how much my life had changed around in the past year. Just being at a prison was proof of that. I walked up numbly through the gates, and got checked by the guards- it felt like a more intense dose of airport security. After being padded down and searched, we were walked through several rooms that were heavily locked down. The walls around us were stone, and the doors were a thick metal. I couldn't even imagine escaping a prison. How do you get through steal, cameras, and guards? It seemed impossible. And I thought that in prison, you had nothing to do, but there was a library and a game room, a TV room, a medical center, and an outside area. It seemed like a sweet deal to me, except you know, spending your whole life here.

  The guards took us to the visitor's room, which was literally an empty room. They held it open for me to enter, and I panicked, slightly, seeing as I would be going in alone, but I kept my breath calm as my heart pounded in my chest. The room was once white, but now had a grimy layer of gray permanently fixtured on the walls. It was small, and extremely cold; there was simply a table and two chairs placed in the center of the room. I walked in and frowned, seeing it empty. I jumped when the guard shut the door, realizing just how alone I was, and hesitantly sat down in one of the cheap, tin-like chairs.

  The door opened several long moments later, and Mickey walked in, wearing a jumpsuit, her feet and hands handcuffed. Her red hair was unkept, and she wore no makeup, making her face look much older and haggard than its normally done up form. The prison guard roughly pushed her forward, and she unmistakably scoffed, a prideful look of stone coming across her face as her gaze fell on the guard. He stood next to the doorway, as an observant, or protector, I'm not really sure. Mickey sat in the chair across from me, and smiled coyly.

  "You know, I don't believe we ever truly got the chance to meet." Her eyes were a hazel color, and had a certain humored gleam to them. She watched me for a moment, slowly looking me up and down. "I'm Mickey, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." She laughed a little at the end.

  She was coming off a bit weird. She behaved so normally, that it wasn't normal. It was out of place. I didn't know what to expect, but she seemed at ease, lounging in her chair as if it were the seat of a queen, as if she wasn't forced to be here, but choose to be here.

  "It's rude to stare you know." Mickey cocked her head to the side slightly, leaning back in her chair, her arms resting lazily to the side.

  "There's nothing else to look at." I commented. Not really sure what to say. "These rooms are kind of…bleak."

  Mickey scoffed once again. "Understatement. I find this place very unbefitting, and," She turned her head towards the guard, her words dripping sourly off of her tongue, "Very, very unwelcoming."

  I didn't say anything in response. I didn't want to drive all the way out here to chat. She obviously wanted something.

  Sighing, Mickey continued, "I see your no fun. I haven't had one interesting person to talk to since I've been here. It's driving me crazy." She leaned forward a little bit, "So, tell me about yourself." I frowned, and crossed my arms in front of myself. Her eyes literally squinted a bit, and she sat up straight. I was instantly reminded of the command she had over her men. Her body gave off a sense of power, her posture somehow showed her authority. She was one of those people that by simply being near her, she made you feel like you were in the presence of something great, someone who wasn't just a normal individual.

  "My name is Heidi Van Dauson," I began, "I'm seventeen."

  "Why did you tell the police about me?" She asked, looking like the little things such as name and age weren't the aspects of me she wanted to hear about.

  "Because you hurt me." I replied simply.

  She laughed at my words, "I saved you." She spat, "And how do you repay me? By getting me into jail." Mickey shook her head; "Of all the things I've done, and covered up so well, a seventeen year old sends me to jail. I knew I should have just killed you."

  Hearing someone talk about the end of my life so easily made me shudder. "But I suppose," Mickey went on, "I did
ruin your life." She smiled a satisfied smile.

  "Not really." I said, offhand.

  "Not really?" She raised her eyebrow. "Because if I remember correctly, you're the one with the sob story, about how your life was torn apart, when the police hid you from me."

  I paused, before staring her directly in the eye. "That's true, I suppose. But it's not all like that. My life was torn apart, for sure." My mind wandered to the past year, "But I know how lucky I am, I know how fortunate I was. The hard part was going back to my life before."

  She watched me speak, curiosity showing on her face, but I continued to speak, attempting to explain, somehow needing to explain. "All my friends go on and talk about this trivial drama that used to be so important in my little world. And I would sit there, the first couple weeks I came back, and listen to them speak and just think to myself, 'What am I doing here?' I mean, there are people who are battling for their lives, or working themselves to the bone to make sure that people like you stop hurting others, and there I was-listening to my friends freak out about something their parents wouldn't buy for them, or some guy that rejected a date from this girl."