CHAPTER 90 - EXPOSING JASON

Lace.

Hearing Dean talk about Dana in such graphic detail hurts me to my core. I wish he was talking about how much he loved and missed me. I wish he loved me as much as he loved Dana. I wish I hadn't witnessed the way his face lit up when he spoke about Dana.

I take a deep breath while Archie and Howard read through Dr. Jordan’s report. I cannot believe I am jealous of a dead girl but I am. I just wish that it was me Dean was talking about that way.

“Thank you,” Dean whispers in my ear jostling me back to the present moment.

I blush and smile and all thoughts of Dana fly out of my head. What does it matter when Dean is besotted with me now? I love him with all my heart. I shouldn’t even be jealous of Dana. If she were still around I wouldn’t have met Dean.

Crap. There I go again. I don’t mean to be so morbid but that’s just human nature, I guess.

I try my best to pay attention to what’s going on with the detectives now.

“Who is the friend I mentioned?” Dean asks the detectives.

He squeezes my hand and takes slow labored breaths like he is forcing himself to remain calm.

“It’s going to be okay,” I assure him and pray to God that it will be.

“Lance Garner,” Howard replies.

Dean’s father lets out a long, relieved sigh.

Dean lets go of my hand and covers his eyes. “Lance used to be one of my closest friends,” he says.

“Did you talk to him or hang out with him after the accident?” Howards asks.

Dean shakes his head. “No. He never even visited me while I was in hospital.”

My chest tightens a little. I can’t imagine what Dean must be feeling right now. Would Alison ever turn her back on me? From what Dean revealed, he used to have a pretty solid, large circle of friends. And after the accident he had only one friend, Jason. What if Jason knew all along that Dean wasn’t responsible for the accident? What if Jason knew who was?

“Can you try calling Jason?” Archie asks Dean.

Dean nods and calls Jason immediately. “There’s no answer.”

“Don’t try calling him again,” Archie says, “we don’t want him to know that we are onto him. We are going to try and track down Lance Garner.”

“Thank you,” Dean says.

“I’ll also use my resources to see if I can track Lance Garner,” Dan, the private investigator says.

“Thank you,” Archie replies with a smile. “We will let you know as soon as we learn anything new.”

“Can we go now?” Dean asks.

The detectives nod. I wait for Mr. St. James and Dan to leave first before walking beside Dean to his car.

“It’s going to be okay,” I tell Dean again even though I have no idea if this investigation will make his life, no our lives, easier or much more difficult. What if Lance and Jason tell the detectives a different story? What if they lie to cover up their tracks? What if one of them caused the accident and destroyed all evidence linking them to it? Dan did manage to find the camera footage of Dean in the backseat with Dana but Lance and Jason could say they stopped somewhere and switched drivers. I just hope that they don’t end up doing that.

“I understand if you want to spend the rest of the afternoon with your family,” Dean tells me as he drives to the restaurant where I parked my car.

“I’ll stay with you as long as you want me to,” I tell him.

He smiles at me and I realize just how drained he is. He has deep shadows under his eyes and he looks like he has lost some weight. I feel a little guilty for leaving him and moving to my parent’s home but I have no regrets. I hold his hand while he drives. My phone signals a message just before we near the restaurant.

YOU MUST BE PROUD OF YOURSELF SUPPORTING A MURDERER!

I gasp.

“What’s wrong?” Dean asks.

“I…” I wonder if he will be able to handle what I am about to tell me,

“Lace, tell me.” He pulls into the vacant parking bay next to my car.

“I think your stalker just messaged me.” I hold up my phone for him to read the message.

Dean shakes his head after reading the message. “I am so sorry for dragging you into this mess, Lace,” he apologizes.

“You didn’t drag me into anything,” I tell him, “I chose to stand by your side.”

“Thank you.” For a moment, I think he is going to cry but he takes a few deep breaths and stops himself.

“Should I tell the detectives?” I ask him.

“I will tell my father to inform his team as soon as I reach home. They may want your phone to see if they can try and trace the SMS.” He pulls me into his arms. “I really hope this is over soon.”

“It will be,” I tell him with more conviction than I feel.

We kiss each other goodbye and I drive straight home. Alison and my mother are chatting animatedly in the kitchen. Each one of them is busy mixing cookie dough by hand. They stop when they notice me. Each one of them looks into my eyes. I burst into tears.

My mother runs to me first. Alison is a few seconds late but she sits close to me and hugs me.

“What happened?” she asks.

“I met Dean. I went with him to the police station.” My mother gives me a box of tissues. I take a bunch of tissues and blow my nose hard. “Mom, Alison, he loved Dana so much.”

My mother kisses my head. “Dana is dead.”

“I know but I cannot get over how much he loved her. He didn’t have anything to do with her accident.” I don’t why it hurts me so much but knowing how much Dean loved his dead girlfriend hurts me.

“You are a part of his life now,” Alison assures me.

“I am,” I whisper.

“So what else is bothering you?” my mother asks me.

“This case isn’t looking good from where I’m standing,” I say, “his best friend isn’t picking up his calls. And Dean remembered that someone else was with him on the night of the accident. The detectives are trying to find this guy.” I stop crying.

“So you’re scared of losing Dean,” Alison says.

“Yes,” I whisper, “I cannot bear the thought of losing him.

“Then fight to prove his innocence,” my mother says, “do whatever you need to so that he never has to go to prison.”

“Did Dean tell you anything at all about his friends? Do you know their names at least?” Alison asks me.

“His best friend is Jason. And the other friend who rode with them that night is Lance Garner,” I tell her.

Alison types furiously on her cell phone. “Lance Garner knows Dean is onto him,” she says, “there’s no trace of him on social media.”

“That means he knows something, right?” I say more to myself than my mother and Alison.

“Let’s see if I can find this Jason guy without a surname.” Alison resumes typing furiously on her phone. “Oh my freaking Lord!” she exclaims.

My first thought is Alison’s water broke. “What?” my mother and I ask in unison.

“Jason is the same guy who pretended to be Louis. Oh my word, Lace, this guy is sick. He pretended to be my friend just so that he could get to you to get to Dean,” she says, speaking in a high-pitched voice that she uses only when she is stressed.

“I have to tell Dean,” I tell her.

“Call him now,” my mother says, “put him on speaker. But if those detectives want to question Lace they are going to have to come here. I am not letting her travel in her condition.”

Alison laughs despite her shock. My mother pours us both extra sweet fruit smoothies. Alison sips her slowly for a few moments before speaking. “How sick does someone have to be to do something like this?” she asks.

“Major league sick,” I reply and giggle hysterically.

“Call Dean,” my mother says sternly.

I compose myself and call him. “He’s coming over with his father, and Dan,” I tell them after I end the call.

“I better make myself pretty,” Alison jokes.

Dean arrives a few minutes later. He hugs me long and hard. “Is Alison okay?”

I nod. “She is trying her best to be.”

“Hey, Dean,” Alison greets him. She walks slowly and carefully into the living room.

Dean hugs her carefully then helps her sit in the closest chair. “Are you sure your friend, Louis, is my friend, Jason?” he asks her.

“I never forget a face,” Alison says, “Jason was pretending to be someone else.”

Dan and Mr. St James listen carefully while she speaks.

“Alison, are you willing to call Louis so that we can hear his voice?” Dan asks.

She nods. “Sure.” She calls Louis aka Jason and puts the call on speaker. “Hi, Louis.”

“Hi, Alison."

Dean’s face says it all. The guy talking to Alison is his friend Jason. I sit down in the closest chair because this is too much for me to deal with right now. How can someone hate their best friend so much that they will do anything to ruin their life? How can anyone stalk their best friend? I would bet everything I own that Jason sent me that message this morning.