Influence

Chapter 15

She kept a running tally in her head of those who believed in her guilt. The police. GoldieGirl01. The majority of Goldie's fans. Internet randos. Who else?

Did Goldie's parents think she'd pushed their daughter off her balcony? Did Jasper? He hated her already. It wouldn't be a bridge too far to put him in the same camp as Goldie's fans.

She called Paul. If she could plead her case to him, maybe there was hope for her. Paul was Goldie's manager. He had business sense, which hopefully transferred over to common sense. He had to see reason.

His phone went to voicemail. Tam's throat constricted at the beep and she gave a sharp cough before speaking. "Um, hi Paul. I'm so sorry I didn't have a chance to talk to you and Mrs. DeAngelis last night. It's... I wanted you to know I didn't... I would never... do what her fans are saying I did. Maybe you haven't seen but, anyways. I'm sure the police will find out the truth and then..." There was no and then. She couldn't ponder anything beyond her innocence being proven. Likely she'd return to her wretched old life and a series of miserable jobs and never see Paul or the rest of the DeAngelis family again. "Anyways, I'm really sorry for your loss and... this is Tam Martin by the way. I'll talk to you soon, bye."

She ended the call and chewed on her lower lip. Poor Paul, having to make sense of her sleep-deprived word salad amid his grief. What a stupid decision she'd made to leave that message. A lawyer, if she'd had one, might have advised her against any contact with Goldie's family.

Too late to take it back.

Tam crossed the short distance between her door and the window next to her bed, drawing closed the blinds. She imagined tabloid reporters and Goldie Girls staked out in the buildings near hers, hoping to catch a glimpse of her in her modest Canoga Park studio apartment, waiting to get a shot of her.

Or shoot at her.

Her heart sped when the doorbell buzzed. This was it, then. A Goldie Girl would be waiting on the other side of it to deliver the swift justice Goldie's murderer deserved. Tam forced her body to stay in one place. She kept the cacophony of her troubled thoughts trapped inside her, reverberating like buckshot until her brain screamed at her for release. The room outside her mind felt stagnant, hot, silent. Until it wasn't anymore.

Goldie's wannabe avenger pounded on the door. "Tam?"

She whipped her head in its direction. That voice. This couldn't be good.

The moment of reckoning was upon her. Hide or be seen. Cower or walk out into the light like the innocent person she was.

She stepped towards the door. "What do you want, Jasper?"

"I need to talk to you. About what happened."

Another step forward. "Have you read what the Goldie Girls are saying about me? Do you know what they think?"

"I try my best to ignore anything Goldie Girls think. This isn't about them."

She reached the door, her fingers fiddling loosely with the bolt. "What do you think?"

"That's why I'm here. I'm trying to make sense of it all."

She turned the bolt, cracked the door open and tilted her head up to meet his gaze. "I can't help you make sense of something I can't make sense of myself. All I know is that what people are so convinced happened isn't what happened at all."

"Then you know something, at least." Jasper leaned his weight against the door. It slid open several more inches. "Can I come in?"

She moved aside. "Yes, but only because you were on a date on the other side of town when... when it happened."