Child of Mine: a psychological thriller

by Chambers, V. J.

  So, she opened up her laptop and logged onto the site as Simon again.

  She hunted around a little bit on his wall, looking to see if there was any activity there. But no one was communicating with him much. Most of his interactions were status updates from him, and he liked to post memes too, especially ones that involved Star Wars. He was recently on a bit of a Star Wars kick.

  She clicked up on his notifications.

  Oh, that was weird.

  He had a new message from someone named Tiffany Ripley.

  She clicked on the message. It was a whole conversation between Simon and this Tiffany person. It seemed to have happened sometime this afternoon.

  Hey, are you the guy who takes pictures? Tiffany asked.

  Why do you ask? Simon replied.

  Well, I need some pictures taken. I’m auditioning for this movie thing and I need something called a headshot. And my friend Ashley said that you could take pictures. So, I was wondering if you could take pictures of me. I can pay you.

  Oh, said Simon. I don’t know. I’m sort of grounded.

  Seriously? I really need these. Please?

  Let me get back to you.

  That was the end of the conversation. Was this the thing that Simon wanted to do tomorrow night? Taking headshots of this girl?

  If so, maybe it was a perfect chance to follow Simon and observe. Maybe she could see this friend of his that he took the pictures with. And maybe, then she could follow the guy. If he tried anything with this Tiffany person, Lorelei could call the police. This whole mess could be over.

  “Simon,” she called. “I’ve decided you’re ungrounded.”

  The noise of him trotting back from the living room. He stood in the doorway. “Really?”

  “Really,” she said.

  “Thanks, Mom,” he said. “That’s great. So, can I go to the library right now, then?”

  “What’s in the library?”

  “I don’t know. I just want to go.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Fine.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Lorelei half-expected Simon to go somewhere besides the library. Maybe he’d meet up with this mysterious accomplice of his. Why didn’t she know anything about this guy? She had always prided herself on knowing all of Simon’s friends.

  She followed her son when he left the apartment. He took his bike, and she followed in her car. She had to stay very, very far back so that he wouldn’t see her, and she ended up waving cars around her on the road the whole way.

  He did go to the library, though.

  Lorelei parked the car and went in after him. By the time she got inside, he was nowhere in sight. She didn’t want him to see her accidentally, so she kept to the periphery, hiding behind stacks of books when she could.

  Finally, she spotted him upstairs. He was with Jordan. The two were sitting together at a table, talking in low voices.

  Lorelei went into the computer lab again.

  The same guy from before was working. He was reading a book again, but this time it wasn’t about Ted Bundy, it was about Jeffrey Dahmer. What was that bastard’s obsession with serial killers?

  She went over to a computer and sat down. As long as she was here, she’d just log in to Facebook and see if she could see if Simon had confirmed with Tiffany or set up a time and place to meet.

  But when she tried to pull up Facebook, the page wouldn’t load.

  She tried three or four times. No dice.

  She looked up at Simon and Jordan. They had their heads together at their table. Then she turned back to the guy at the desk in the computer lab. She really didn’t want to ask for his help. But she decided she needed to suck it up. So, she got up and went over to his desk.

  He was still reading. He didn’t look up.

  She cleared her throat.

  Nothing from the guy.

  God, he was a dick. He had to see her. “Excuse me,” she said.

  The guy looked up at her. He looked back at his book. He put a bookmark in to mark his spot and shut the book. “Yes? Can I help you?”

  “I’m having trouble with the Internet. Pages aren’t loading.”

  “All the pages or one in particular.”

  “Well, I only tried the one.”

  “Was it a social media page?”

  “Actually, yes. I’m trying to log on to Facebook.”

  “We’ve blocked social media at the library. Our computers are here for research purposes only,” he said.

  She felt scolded, and that made her annoyed. “It’s possible to be using Facebook for research. Maybe someone’s writing a dissertation on social media or something for college.”

  “Are you writing a dissertation?”

  “Well, no,” she said.

  “Most people writing dissertations probably have computers at home, don’t you think?” he said.

  She huffed.

  “Is there anything else?”

  She really hated this guy. “No, that’s all.”

  “Have a nice day, then.” He went back to his book.

  * * *

  “I need another day off,” said Lorelei into the phone.

  “It was that bad?” said Mia. “What did he say to you?”

  “No, it’s not about Barker,” said Lorelei. She was in her bedroom at home, and it was the following day. She’d just logged into Simon’s Facebook and found out that he had scheduled a meeting with Tiffany for that evening. They were going to take the pictures at some abandoned house in Woodbury, even though Tiffany had said it would be fine to take headshots in her bedroom. Simon had convinced her that the lighting would be better through the windows in this place and Tiffany was going along with it.

  So, now, her son was going to go off someplace secluded with a girl and take pictures of her. It made a chill go down her spine. She had to be there.

  “You’re calling him Barker now?” said Mia, her voice bringing her back to the here and now.

  “What? Oh, yeah. I usually call killers by their last name. He’s not special. I shouldn’t treat him that way.”

  “Good,” said Mia. “That’s good. So, it sounds like you, um, turned a corner or something.”

  “I did,” said Lorelei. “I was talking to him, and I realized that it just doesn’t matter why he did what he did. Because that doesn’t really have a bearing on Simon.”

  “Simon didn’t hurt anyone.”

  Lorelei was quiet. She wasn’t sure anymore. She wondered if there had been similar Facebook conversations between Simon and Brittany, or between Simon and Darla. But maybe Simon had deleted them, covering his tracks.

  “Lorelei, come on. You don’t think Simon really hurt anybody?”

  “I don’t know,” said Lorelei.

  “You do know,” said Mia. “Don’t be ridiculous. Anyway, why do you need the night off?”

  “Well, I…” She hesitated. If she told Mia that she was going to be chasing Simon down, would Mia look down on her for not having faith in her own son?

  “It’s fine, by the way,” said Mia. “I can get someone to cover for you, no problem.”

  Lorelei let out a breath. “Thanks.”

  “But what’s going on, if it’s not about, uh, Barker?”

  “I guess it’s everything else,” said Lorelei, making a sudden decision to keep her spying activities to herself. “I just feel overwhelmed.”

  “Of course you do,” said Mia. “I totally get that. Do you want me to come over later? We could make a night of it?”

  “No, that’s okay. I need to decompress alone,” said Lorelei, sighing.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Tiffany Ripley had arrived at the address that Simon guy had given her five minutes ago, but she stayed in the car and didn’t get out. The old house was down a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, and it looked like it had been standing empty for some time.

  She wasn’t sure this was the look that she wanted for her headshots. The house had obviously been burned down. The roo
f was half-missing, and a big portion of the house was open to the elements. However, she did notice that the late afternoon sunlight poured down into the place where the roof was gone, and maybe that was what that Simon guy meant about the light being good. He’d said that they had to hit it just right, or they’d lose the light, so she knew she should get out of her car.

  She could see that Simon was already there. Another car was parked next to hers, and she even saw someone moving inside the house, going back and forth in front of one of the busted-out windows up front.

  But she couldn’t make her legs move. She couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a bad idea. It was something about that Simon guy. She got a weird vibe from him, even though she’d never even met him in person. Something about the way he’d talked to her over Facebook, though. He seemed a little… off.

  She didn’t know him or anything. He supposedly went to school at Pineville, and she went to Woodbury. She had heard of him through her friend Faith, who was in the chess club with Simon. Faith said he was a great guy, and that she shouldn’t worry about anything with him. I think he and his friend are like gay for each other, Faith had said. I mean, he’s not flaming or anything, but he never looks at girls like that, anyway. The friend wasn’t in the chess club, though. Faith had only met the friend once. Supposedly, he was going to be there too. Simon had said it would be him and his friend.

  Suddenly, a car went by behind her, going slow, as if looking for something. But once it passed the house, it sped up.

  The car reassured her somehow. Now, the place didn’t seem so secluded. If other cars traveled this road, then maybe there was no reason to feel freaked out. If anything bad happened, she’d scream.

  She checked herself out in the rearview mirror, looking at the makeup she’d painstakingly applied. She hoped she’d look good in these head shots. But if she wanted to get them done, she needed to stop being a big baby and move.

  She opened the door to the car and got out.

  Outside, the wind was starting to pick up. She could hear it whistling through the trees. It blew her hair against her face.

  Her hair stuck to her lipstick. Damn it. She shoved her hair aside. She hoped she hadn’t messed up her makeup too much. She bent down to look in the side mirror. No, she looked fine.

  She straightened.

  The wind stopped.

  Squaring her shoulders, she headed straight for the house. The walkway up to the door was surrounded by overgrown weeds and vines. She had to step gingerly to get through it, because the greenery was overtaking the stone pathway.

  She climbed the steps and wasn’t sure if she should knock on the door or what.

  But the door opened.

  “Hey,” said the guy at the door. He smiled at her, and it was a welcoming smile.

  She felt all her worry fade away. “Hey,” she said.

  He offered her his hand. “I’m Simon. Nice to meet you.”

  She shook with him.

  He gestured, moving into the house. “I’ve got us all set up over here.”

  They moved through a ruined room into the side of the house that didn’t have a roof. Here, it was all brilliant light.

  “I thought we could use that wall for the backdrop.” Simon gestured at a brick wall which was weathered and had some ivy growing over it.

  Tiffany had to admit she liked the way it looked. “That should be great. Real classic.”

  “Yeah, exactly.” Simon bobbed his head. “Look, I honestly usually do sort of, um, like artsy stuff.” He laughed self-deprecatingly. “I don’t know what else to call it.”

  “Oh, yeah, I know,” said Tiffany. “I mean, that’s what Faith said.”

  “Oh, you know Faith?”

  “Sure,” said Tiffany. “We’re in the same homeroom.”

  “Cool,” said Simon. “Faith’s cool. I like Faith. Anyway, uh, I’ve never really done head shots before, but I looked at a bunch online, and I think I can do it justice.”

  “I’m sure it’ll be great,” said Tiffany. “And I did bring money if you want it now?”

  “Nah, we’ll get to that,” said Simon.

  A figure faded out of the shadows. He moved slowly, but Tiffany still felt startled. She jumped a little.

  “Oh, shit, sorry,” said Simon.

  “Did I scare you?” said the figure, moving into the light. He was a tall guy. He had long hair bound into a ponytail at the back of his neck, but he was slender, with small wrists and a delicate chin. He looked younger than Simon.

  “This is, um, my friend,” said Simon. “Jordan.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  At first, when Lorelei had started to follow Simon, she’d felt really let down, because he went directly to Jordan’s house, and they got in the car together, and Jordan drove them off.

  Lorelei didn’t know what to make of that, because she figured that Simon wouldn’t be doing anything untoward with Jordan along for the ride.

  But then something weird happened. Simon stopped the car at a gas station, and Jordan went inside. She never came back out. Instead, some other skinny guy came out and got in the front seat of the car. Simon then took over driving, leaving Jordan behind.

  Lorelei debated staying to see where Jordan went, but she’d have to figure that out later, because this guy was obviously the accomplice, the friend that Simon had talked about and then later claimed didn’t exist. She had to follow Simon, follow this other guy.

  The guy was so skinny, though. She hadn’t gotten a good look at him, but she had a hard time imagining him overpowering victims and killing them. She wished the police had released more information about the bodies of the dead. Maybe this guy drugged his victims to make them easier to deal with.

  She stayed four or five cars back and followed Jordan’s car.

  But then she got stuck at a light and they zoomed off, leaving her behind.

  It didn’t matter. She had the address from Facebook. But she hadn’t bothered to put it in her GPS, so she had to pull over and dig up the address and then put it in, and then she got going again.

  When she reached the address, two cars were parked in front. One was Jordan’s. The other must belong to Tiffany.

  Lorelei slowed for a minute, and then sped up, realizing that going slowly past the house would be suspicious. She drove up a ways until she found a place she could park her car, and then she went back to the house on foot.

  One side of the house was open to the elements, since the roof was missing, so she couldn’t come in that way. She’d be exposed. Instead, she crept up on the back of the house, and she peered through the windows.

  She could hear Simon’s voice, and the voice of Tiffany, but she couldn’t make out anything they were saying.

  There was another window a few feet down. If she got to that one, she might be close enough.

  So, carefully, she tiptoed to the other window. It wasn’t easy. The forest was encroaching on the back of the house, and the ground was covered in dead leaves. It was all she could do not to make a crunch with every step she made.

  Finally, she made it to the other window.

  Now, she’d get a good look at that other guy. He had his back to her now. He had a ponytail and a slight frame. He looked even skinnier than she’d thought, although she had to admit he had sturdy shoulders.

  “I think the light will be good over here,” he was saying, pointing. And then he turned.

  Lorelei put her fingers to her mouth.

  The guy was Jordan. Jordan dressed in boy’s clothes with her face scrubbed clean of makeup and none of the jewelry she usually wore present. She looked just like a boy, considering that Jordan didn’t have breasts or hips to speak of. Mia always said this was normal in her family, that she didn’t go through puberty and get her first period until she was nearly seventeen.

  Lorelei gaped, unsure of what to do with this information. She didn’t think that Jordan was the person killing the girls. But why was Jordan in drag?

  Sh
e hung back, waiting and watching. She watched the entire photo shoot, which didn’t go on too long, because they had “lost the light” as Simon said. He took pictures using an old camera of Lorelei’s. She hadn’t even realized he’d taken it.

  Then Tiffany got back in her car, and Simon and Jordan got in the other car. Everyone drove away.

  Lorelei wasn’t sure what to make of all of it. She tailed Tiffany, just to make sure that the girl was safe. If some killer was going to come after the girl, Lorelei wanted to be there to call the police and end it all.

  But Tiffany went home, and she went into her house, and an hour passed.

  Lorelei finally decided to go home too.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  “I thought you were working.” Simon was taking a pizza pocket out of the microwave.

  Lorelei had just come in. She hung up her keys. “No, I wasn’t working.”

  Simon shrugged. He took his pizza pocket to the living room to eat it. Apparently, he wasn’t interested in where she had been. “Thanks for letting me go out with Jordan.”

  She stood in the doorway to the living room, clutching the door frame, and the words burst out of her. “How long has Jordan been dressing up like a boy?”

  Simon turned to her, mouth gaping.

  “I might have… followed you tonight.” There was no point in keeping secrets. All her secrets had unraveled. Everyone knew everything about her now, and she wanted to know all of Simon’s secrets. Jordan’s secrets.

  Simon set down his pizza pocket on his plate. “You followed me? You don’t trust me?”

  “I thought that if I followed you, it would help me trust you.”

  He got up, facing her over the back of the couch. “How? How would that help? If you saw me do something, it would prove I was a killer. But if you didn’t see me do anything, then it wouldn’t prove anything.”