X
X
X
X
Mary slowly came down the stairs that Saturday morning and went into the kitchen. It had been exactly two weeks since Mary had found Wilson and Billy in their house. Those two weeks had been some of the worst in her life, but it was finally starting to get better. Mary turned the corner and saw Annie in the kitchen. Mary smiled weakly at her mother and finished her descent down the stairs. Annie smiled back.
"Hi sweetie."
"Hi."
"Sleep well?" Mary nodded her head, forlorn. "Are you all right?" Again, she nodded. "Well, uh." Annie flashed a smile. "Breakfast?"
"No thanks."
"OK." Annie had failed in her attempt to reach out to her daughter. "Your father is in his office. He said he'd want to talk to you when you got up."
Mary raised her head from its downward position. "What if I don't want to talk?"
"Please?"
"Fine," she spat back and moved away from the counter. Mary walked heatedly onto the hall and went to her father's office. She knocked timidly and entered. Without a word, she sat in the chair before his desk and looked at him with a blank expression.
"Your mom send you in?" She nodded. "Good, good. I just, I just wanted to know how you were doing."
"How exactly does one answer than question?"
Eric looked at her, confused. "You answer from your heart."
"But, but am I supposed to say that I feel like I can't breath? That I'm lucky if I can go three seconds without thinking about him? That that image is burned into my brain?" Mary broke down and started to cry hysterically. "That I can't stand crying like this?" Her voice was barely audible through her sobs. "I hate this whole thing, and I don't want to talk about it."
"Mare-"
"No." Mary glared at him. "You don't- you can't- you don't get to help me, or try to."
"I won't do anything you don't want me to. But, you might want to talk to someone."
Now she stood. "Why bother? It's not going bring him back to me."
Eric went to follow her out the door. "I don't understand why you always push us away!" he screamed as she left. "We're just trying to help you get through this."
Mary stopped at the top of the stairs and looked down at him. "This isn't something to 'get through' or 'get over'." The phone rang and they started at each other. Annie yelled out to Mary; the phone was for her. Mary walked away from her father and into the upstairs hallway. She was going to answer the phone where she had more privacy.
"Hello?"
"Miss Camden?"
"Yes."
"This is Detective Shapiro. I would like to talk to you at your earliest convenience. Are you free today?"
"Yeah. I don't have any plans." Mary sighed. "It's not good news, is it?"
"Not really, no."
"Great," she mumbled, "just great. What time would you want me there?"
"Now is fine."
That was sure quick. Mary looked down; she wasn't dressed yet. "Twenty minutes?"
X
"I wanted to talk to you about your ex-husband."
Mary seemed confused. "Why?"
"Because I called him."
Mary laughed at the prospect of Carlos getting involved with this. "He doesn't know anything."
"That's what he said. So then I called that Conway lady and I don't even know if she knew he was dead."
Mary winced. The words stung. "It was on the news. And there was an article in the paper right after it happened," Mary said, referring to the media coverage that emerged two Sundays ago that hardly did the tragedy justice.
"I know." Detective Shapiro grew quiet.
"What?" Mary knew something was up. "Is there something you're not telling me?"
He sighed heavily and ruffled through some papers. "Well, I was starting to lose hope, thought maybe we'd run out of leads, but then…"
"Then what?" Mary was getting nervous.
"Were you and Wilson a-active?"
"What do you mean 'active'?"
"Did you two have a sexual relationship?" He saw the look on her face. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be crass, but-"
She sighed. "Yes, we were. We did. But I don't see how that would-"
"Did you ever make a tape?"
Mary's eyes widened. "Of- no. No. Never."
Detective Shapiro's eyes turned sympathetic. "I hate to ask, but was Wilson the type to do that behind your back, without you knowing? Guys have been known to-"
"No." She shook her head adamantly. "No. He wouldn't."
"OK." He looked down at his hands and then back up at her. "We have a tape that was left at the police station a few days after the article came out and the news broke on TV. That's usually when we get action on case, after the media gets wind of it. Anyway, it took a while for the tape to make its rounds, but it ended up in my hands and I think it is of you and Wilson having sex."
"Oh boy." She took a few deep breaths. "How?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out. Did anyone else have access to Wilson's house?"
"Besides me? I don't think so. Maybe his parents." Tears welled in her eyes and she blinked them away. "Are you sure?"
"Pretty sure. I've one seen Wilson from pictures but I've met you and I'm sure you're the woman,"
"Then it's either Wilson or Carlos." Mary bit her tongue. That was really none of his business. "Can I see it?"
He nodded. "If you want." Detective Shapiro took Mary into another room, darker than the one they were in, and opened a drawer. He took the tape out, put it into the VCR, and hit play.
It was hard for Mary to watch, but at the same time she was entranced. There he was. Wilson. There was no doubt at all. Mary turned away and Detective Shapiro turned it off. "That's him. And me." She stared into the blackness and thought for a while. "Could I have a copy of that? I could, you know, watch it and look for clues. I could probably figure out when it was from."
"The date would be useful." He still looked leery.
"It's a tape of me. I'm not going to exploit it. I think it's disgusting."
Detective Shapiro finally agreed and he made a copy for her.
"Is this all you wanted?"
"Yes, just to tell you that. And that this might be the key. We just have to figure out where that came from."
Mary went to walk out, but then came back. "When you say 'made the rounds', where exactly did this go? Who has seen it?"
"Probably most of the force. I know the entire murder unit saw it."
Fabulous, Mary through, and walked away shaking her head. She figured that she should go find Kevin. She would be mortified if he saw that. It was probably too late anyway, but it was worth a shot.
Mary walked through the station, and everyone kept staring at her. She was definitely turning heads. Finally, she found Kevin at his desk amidst the chaos she was creating. "Kevin," she said quietly, "can we talk for a second?"
He nodded and they walked into the hall. "What are you doing here?"
"Detective Shapiro wanted to see me." She sighed. "Look, there's this tape going around of me and-"
"That's a tape of you?" He was shocked. "Oh Mary."
"Have you seen it?" Kevin shook his head and Mary sighed, relieved. "Good. Could you not watch it? Please? I'd be so embarrassed." He nodded profusely. "And, please please don't tell Lucy about it."
"OK, but-"
"But what?" She knew this was too easy.
"Did you make it?"
"No, of course not."
"Then did he just make it?"
"No. Why does everyone think that? He was such a gentleman. Wilson would have never stood for something like that. Especially to go behind my back and do that. No."
"OK, OK," Kevin said. "Calm down. I believe you."
X
X
X
X
A/N: SEX TAPE! Hahahaha. This is how I make my stories awful. I dream up there ridiculous ideas and don't edit them. I guess I am kind of conceptual in that way. I'd rather see how something would pan out than have something relevant to the story.
But, anyhoo, in regards to the lack of updates, I really and truly forgot I was supposed to be working in this story until yesterday afternoon. Sorry about that. I have four or five chapters written after this but I have no motivation to finish. This is going to be one of those stories that just fizzles out at the end, I can feel it.
X
X
X
Review to be entered to win a copy of the tape.
X
X
X