“Can I help you?” he asked.
Juliette bit her lip and pondered the question before answering. “I’m not sure,” she said finally. “I’ve been trying to get a signal here, for my cell phone, but I’m not having any luck.”
He nodded. “I’m afraid the coverage is spotty around these parts. Of course I don’t trust the damn things anyway. They give you cancer, you know…”
Right. Cancer.
“You wouldn’t happen to have a landline I could borrow? My car got stuck about a mile back. The roads out there are horrible. All that flooding. Does it flood like that a lot?”
He set the newspaper down and turned to face her in full. “We do get a lot of rain, but not like this. That sure was something, though. Those skies just opened up and wham, Noah’s Ark might not have survived that one.”
Juliette nodded in agreement. “I know. I wouldn’t have come out in this weather at all, except my mother’s vacationing with me and she forgot her medicine. We’ve been trying to get to the pharmacy so that we can refill the prescription.”
The man’s face collapsed with concern. “I hope she’s okay. I’ve got the diabetes, and it’s no fun.”
Juliette nodded. She had spotted the medical alert tag on his wrist. That, combined with the open bag of sugar-free jelly beans seated behind him, tipped her off.
“If I could just use your phone real quick, I think I might be able to call my friend to come and help us?”
“There are phones in the rooms,” the man said, suddenly remembering his job.
I gave myself a mental snap in the head.
Of course there were phones in the rooms. But her room was one without power. She had just assumed that with no power the phones would be down as well. Clearly that was not the case.
Think fast, Juliette. You need a good reason to explain why you are such a moron. When in trouble, go back to the truth. It’s less difficult to screw up.
“Oh I’m sorry. I didn’t stay here. I just was passing by and this was the first shelter I came to. I figured you might be used to weary travelers in need of assistance.” She tilted her head slightly and gave the most pleading look she could with her brown eyes.
His eyes met hers for a few seconds. She wasn’t certain if he was searching for truth or the courage to tell her no. So she played her trump card.
“I’m sorry. Never mind. This was too much of an imposition. I’ll keep searching for a signal.”
He jumped from the chair and moved around the counter.
“No. No,” he said. “A young girl like you shouldn’t be wandering around alone.” He grabbed the heavy rotary phone and placed it on the counter in front of her.
“Wow. I haven’t seen one of these in…” She thought about it. “Ever?”
“I’d expect not. Do you know how to use it?”
“I don’t have a college degree in engineering, but I think I can figure it out,” she paused. “You know what would be helpful though? A fresh cup of coffee.”
She nodded to the mug on the counter and gave her best smile. The old man hesitated at first but then gave in. “I think that can be arranged.” He trudged off into the back room.
Juliette waited until she was certain he was out of earshot and then pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. She dialed the number, already nervous about what she was going to say. She didn’t want to call Courtney, but she didn’t have Winston’s number in her phone. She could have waited for Ty, but the less she had to interact with him the better.
“Hello,” Courtney’s high voice rang through the receiver.
“Hey, Courtney. Are you busy?”
“Jules? What’s up? How’s the media blitz going?”
“Not so well it seems. We got lost during some pretty bad storms yesterday and now we’re stranded outside of Buckingham or Cumberland. I’m not sure which.”
“Oh my God, that’s awful.”
“I was just hoping maybe you could send someone from the local field office out to meet me.”
“I guess.”
Juliette could hear the suspicion in her voice.
“Look, I know Tyler’s your boyfriend, but he just…he’s kind of intimidating, you know. I’m nervous enough as it is. I don’t want to look like a complete idiot in front of him.”
This time she gave a slight laugh. “Yeah. I get what you mean. There’s definitely an intensity about Tyler Chase.”
Honey, you have no idea.
“I’ll call Melissa. She’s working in the Richmond office today. She will come get you, no questions asked. Just give me the address and I’ll send her a text.”
“There’s no cell service here. Well, at least not with my carrier.”
She paused. “Hang tight. I’ll see what I can do and call you back at this number in ten minutes.”
They said goodbye and Juliette glanced up at the hotel manager who was back to doing his crossword. A not so fresh mug of luke-warm coffee sat on the counter.
“She’s going to find someone to pick me up,” Juliette said. “Then we can hopefully get my car unstuck.”
He nodded but was too caught up in his puzzle to pay her any real attention. She wandered over to the vending machine to check out the goods. It was your typical salty and sweet fare. Only it didn’t exactly look as if it got refreshed that often. There was a bag of chips on the third row that still had the Super Bowl logo on the corner. Win tickets, it said. Hmm. Pretty sure that game had come and gone nine months ago. On second thought, maybe she’d better pass on the food.
The door chimed and Tyler walked in. Thank God he was fully clothed.
Chapter 14: A Cry for Help
In the glass of the vending machine Juliette could see Tyler staring at her. Confused.
“Jules,” he said, and she fought the urge to turn around. He was going to ruin everything.
“Hey,” he moved farther into the lobby.
“I’m sorry,” she turned around and his face relaxed. “Do I know you?”
The frown lines returned. “Huh?”
“You look familiar, but I can’t place it.” Juliette turned to her new friend behind the counter. “Doesn’t he look familiar?”
The old man studied Tyler closely before nodding in agreement. “Yeah. He sure does. What do you do, son? You someone famous or something?”
Or something was right.
“Not famous, just a politician.”
“That’s right. The great senator. Replaced that guy Reis, God rest his soul. He was a good man.”
At that neither Ty nor Juliette knew what to say. So they stood in silence. Ty searching desperately for some clue of what was going on and Juliette trying to remain distant. It was harder than she would have guessed.
“So, what’s your platform?” she said. Continuing with the charade that she had never met him before. A little improv storytelling was always good practice.
Ty took the bait.
“Well, I’d like to think I’m continuing the legacy that Senator Reis left. We share a lot of the same views on family values and hard work.”
The old man nodded. “Hard work. That’s one thing I have to wonder if any of you young folks know something about. It seems everyone wants to take the easy way out. Like having a Senate seat handed to them on a gold platter by the governor of Virginia instead of paying your dues.”
Uh-oh. This wasn’t going to go well.
“I take it your a Robertson supporter?”
He grunted. “Nope. I only throw my support behind men who actually stand for something. You politicians nowadays, you dress up in spiffy suits and act like you’re king of the world but you don’t do squat to make a difference. I’m not willing to hand over my vote to just any who-ha that smiles my way.”
Tyler chewed on this for a moment but he didn’t seem particularly unraveled.
“Tell me more.” He stepped closer to the counter and leaned down as if to get settled in for a long conversation.
Just then the phone ran
g.
“Dillwyn Motel,” he said before handing Juliette the phone.
She grabbed the receiver and backed away from the two men. Thankfully the hotel manager seemed eager to continue their conversation and they paid Juliette little attention.
“Okay. So here’s the plan,” Courtney started and she began to relay the details of Juliette’s rescue. She jotted everything down on the back of a pamphlet. She noticed the table hadn’t been put back together and felt little guilty about it. She made a mental note to slip them a twenty before leaving. They did after all provide room and board, even if they didn’t know it.
Juliette hung up the phone and headed for the door.
“You got everything all figured out?” the old man called after her.
“Yes, thanks. Someone is on the way. I’m just going to stand outside so that they can see me.”
Juliette made her way to the door without a second glance at Ty or the old man. She didn’t want either of them to convince her to stay. In fact, part of her was hoping that the hotel manager would keep Ty occupied in deep conversation until her ride appeared. It sounded as if they were only fifteen minutes away by car, maybe less.
But then she heard those damn chimes and turned around to see Ty following her.
“What?” she snapped before he could say anything.
“Did I do something wrong?” he asked. “Because you seem to be avoiding me today.”
Juliette stared at him. Did he do something wrong? Of course he did. They both did. “I don’t want to talk to you, Ty. I thought I made that clear last night.”
“First you tell me to behave, keep my distance. Then I wake up and you’re practically dry humping my leg.”
Juliette’s face burned red and she swatted him on the arm. “Will you not say that so loud? People can hear you.”
“Hey, I’m not complaining. To tell you the truth, I rather enjoyed it.”
“Of course you did. But there’s not going to be a repeat performance. I had a serious lapse of judgment. And now I am going to do everything I can to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
“Oh come on Jules. Don’t do this. I told you I would break up with Courtney. It’s not going to short-circuit my campaign. I like you. What more do you want from me?”
“I don’t want anything from you!” Juliette cried and then realized how loud she was yelling. She needed to get away from him, not just because they were starting to cause a scene, but because he was talking her into something she knew she shouldn’t do.
“Jules.” He jogged after her and she batted him away. She would walk all the way to the car if she had to. She just couldn’t stand to be near him. But he grabbed her shoulders and forced her to stop. When he turned her around his face shifted from anger to sadness. “Are you crying?”
“No.” But that was a lie. Her cheeks were wet and she hadn’t even noticed. She wiped one trail of tears away with the back of her hand. “It’s nothing. I’m fine.”
He ignored her completely and pulled her into his arms. This time she didn’t fight him. She just rested her head against his chest and tried to tell herself that everything would be all right. But at that moment she wasn’t so sure. Because in Ty’s arms she felt safe and she felt loved and nothing else seemed to matter&emdash;not at that precise moment on the edge of the parking lot of the Dillwyn Motel.
“We can’t do this.” She pulled away from him.
He opened his mouth to speak, but she held up a finger to his lips.
“Don’t say it. I don’t want to live with the memory of you professing what I think you want to profess. I know you don’t get it, but if you really do care about me, you will give me some space. Just let me go, for now. Please let me go.”
At that moment a car horn honked and they both jumped backward. They weren’t doing anything, right? So why did they look so damn guilty?
“Is that Melissa?” Ty asked.
Juliette smiled. “She’s our ride.” The spunky girl with the pixie cut rolled down the passenger side window. “What the hell happened to you guys?”
“Trust me,” Ty said. “You don’t want to know.”
Only, as Juliette climbed into the backseat, Melissa gave her peculiar look. It seemed to her that Melissa wanted to know very, very badly.
Chapter 15: News Break
Back in her Georgetown apartment Juliette was able to reassure herself that she had done the right thing, despite the fact that Tyler appeared to be following the plan. The day after their disastrous trip through Virginia, Courtney cornered her in the lobby of the GWU student union. Juliette had been certain she was in for a beat down. But Courtney gave her a big hug, took her by the hand, and dragged her into the Java Joint.
They spent an hour talking about the campaign and other than a comment about how happy she was that Juliette was safe, Courtney made not one comment about her being stranded in the hills of Virginia.
Now, a week later, she was sitting at Courtney’s apartment, watching CNN and stuffing envelopes for a mailer due to go out over the next two days.
“Do you want iced tea or lemonade?” Courtney called from the kitchen, where she was making popcorn and fixing drinks.
“Tea.”
Courtney glided across the floor, balancing two glasses of ice in one hand and a pitcher of iced tea in the other. She set each one down on a coaster. Her eyes widened as she glanced up at the muted television set.
“Hey, are they talking about Tyler?”
They were talking about him, or at least that’s what it looked like with the sound off. Courtney reached for the remote and clicked the volume on. But all they managed to catch was, “We will have more on this story and what CNN learned about Senator Chase and his new mystery woman in a moment.”
Courtney sank down slowly into the couch like a deflated toy. “What did she just say?”
Juliette couldn’t speak. Even if she could find her voice, what would she say? It was insulting to deny the truth, especially if the news outlets were already broadcasting details of their relationship. It was probably all over every Twitter and Facebook account in America, certainly D.C.
This can’t be happening. We were careful. We broke it off.
But they weren’t careful. Not really. Any yahoo with a phone could have overheard their conversations or snapped a picture of the two of them together. In the car, at the TV studios. Or the motel…
“It’s probably nothing to worry about,” Juliette managed. But she was far from convincing.
A flashy musical beat accompanied Tyler’s picture on the TV screen. The blonde anchor was practically grinning as she reported the breaking news.
“CNN recently learned from an exclusive source that Senator Tyler Chase is not the faithful man he claims to be. The senator was caught embracing an unknown woman in the parking lot of the Dillwyn Motel. Our sources say Chase was passing through the small town of Dillwyn on a media tour to major news networks throughout the state of Virginia. This morning the following photo was sent to CNN from an anonymous source.”
A photo appeared in the middle of the screen. Juliette held her breath as she stared at her and Ty in the parking lot. It had to have been taken by Melissa. No one else knew where they were. She had hoped Courtney’s friend hadn’t spotted them together. But clearly she was wrong.
She waited for Courtney to say something but there was only silence. When she looked over at Courtney the expression on her face said it all. She was pissed. Beyond pissed.
“It’s not what you think,” Juliette said. Her instinct was simply to keep Courtney from strangling her. “That photo was taken out of context.”
“That’s you and Tyler, right?”
“Yes, but please believe me. Nothing happened.” Juliette didn’t know why she said it. It was just that every instinct in her was telling her to lie. Deny, deny, deny.
“You didn’t say Senator Chase was at the motel with you.”
Uh-oh. She was using Tyler’s full title. Tha
t was a bad sign. And what did she say? The truth was awful.
“Yes. Tyler was there. But it is not what you think.”
“Then tell me what I should think, because that picture raises a shit load of questions.”
Juliette couldn’t meet her eyes. They were fiery and dangerous as if they could rip her apart with one cold glare. She was prepared for this. She practiced the story a million times in her head. But now she struggled to get the words out. She wasn’t stupid enough to believe that the conversation would never come up, but she hadn’t expected a photo to make its way into the evidence piled against her.
“I have diabetes,” Juliette spat out. Please, God, let this work.
“What does that have to do with anything?” Courtney’s eyes scanned Juliette up and down, as if looking for a diabetes label branded on her skin.
“I’ve had it since I was a little girl. I take insulin shots twice a day.”
“I’ve never seen you take a shot.”
“That’s because I prefer to keep it quiet. People get uncomfortable when you pull out a needle and shoot up in front of them, even if it is for a completely legitimate reason.”
Juliette raised the corner of her shirt to reveal the tiny scar marks on her stomach. The marks were real, but they weren’t from insulin. Juliette used a sterile needle, saline solution, and makeup to create the effect of old marks on her skin. At the time she had been convinced she was just being overly paranoid. But now she was grateful she took the extra steps. The needle marks sold the idea of Juliette as a diabetic.
“So what does your diabetes have to do with the photo?”
“We got lost during the storm. The SUV was stuck in the mud and we abandoned the vehicle near the flooded-out road. It was a stupid mistake. Carrying insulin with you at all times is like the first thing they teach you when you’re diagnosed. But I left it in the cubby on the side of the passenger door.”
Courtney’s face softened, but only slightly.
“Tyler and I hiked to the motel, but it took hours. And with no food my blood sugar dropped. I got sick and was incredibly embarrassed. Ty was amazing. He got me a room and some hot food. He stayed by my side to make sure I was okay. He’s such a good guy, Courtney. He even promised to keep my secret.
Dirty Little Liars Page 5
