The Photograph-Pt 3
part 3
Part 3 of The Photograph, a four part series originally shared on my podcast, the Bookcast by DL White.
“Robin, I need to ask you something, and I need you to be honest with me,” I said, looking her straight in the eye. “What really happened to Damon?”
I knew I had to confront Robin, but I couldn’t just barge into her office and demand answers. Considering that someone found my phone number and sent me a menacing note, the possibility that our offices and her home might be bugged was high. We needed to be careful. I suggested we meet at a quiet, out-of-the-way park where we could talk freely without fear of being overheard. Robin agreed, and we found ourselves sitting on a secluded bench far from prying eyes or ears.
“Robin, I need to ask you something, and I need you to be honest with me,” I said, looking her straight in the eye. “What really happened to Damon?”
She stiffened, her fingers clenching in her lap. “I told you he’s not part of our lives anymore. Why are you so interested in him all of a sudden?”
“Because I found something, and I started asking questions.” I pulled up my phone, showing her the photo that had been haunting my dreams, followed by a screenshot of the threatening text message. “Someone doesn’t want me looking into Damon’s disappearance. I know you know why.”
Robin’s eyes widened as she read the message, and for a moment, I thought she might bolt. But then she sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat.
“There’s a lot that I haven’t told you, Jada. There’s so much. I haven’t been going on dates.”
I furrowed my brow, confused. “What do you mean you haven’t been going on dates?”
“I’ve been meeting with someone who claims to have information about Damon,” she admitted, “about what happened to him, his disappearance, and who might be responsible.”
My heart began to race. “Who is this person?”
“I don’t know him. His name is Liam. He used to work with Damon back when he was involved in some less-than-legal activities. Drugs mostly,” Robin explained, her voice trembling slightly. “It was all stuff he was involved in before we met. He tried to leave, to go straight, live a normal life, but you know you can never really leave that life, especially if they have something on you.
“Liam reached out to me about a year ago, telling me he had important information about Damon, but it’s taken this long to get him to meet me and relay anything I could work with.”
I leaned forward, my mind reeling. “So what has he told you?”
Robin took a deep breath. “He said years ago, Damon was involved with a man named Donovan, a drug dealer, of course. Liam said that Damon had crossed Donovan somehow and that Damon’s disappearance was likely due to him. He had an inside track, and he was sending me information as he could get it.”
“Isn’t that enough to go to the police? Your husband has been missing, Robin.”
“I did,” Robin said, her eyes filling with tears. “I did go to them, but they weren’t interested. They know that name from back in the day. They’re probably happy to not have to deal with a low-level drug dealer. They told me that it wasn’t illegal for him to leave his family. They even suggested that photo of him being tortured might be a deep fake meant to throw me off so he could start a new life somewhere else.”
I reached out and took her hand, squeezing it gently. “But you don’t believe that, do you?”
“No,” Robin whispered, shaking her head. “I think someone killed him, and I think they’re still out there watching me, making sure I don’t talk.”
I felt a chill run down my spine. “Robin, this is serious. If what Liam is saying is true, then you could be in real danger. And what about your kids? Why are you even still here?”
Robin’s face crumpled, and she let out a sob. “I know. I’ve been so afraid to tell anyone. I can barely keep us above water. I don’t have money to move them where Donovan can’t watch us. I can’t let anything happen to them, Jada. They’re all I have left of Damon.”
I pulled her into a hug, feeling the weight of her pain and fear. “We’ll figure this out, Robin, together.”
She pulled back, wiping her eyes. “How? Where do we even start?”
I thought for a moment, my mind racing. “We’ll start with Donovan. If he’s as dangerous as Liam says, then he’s our best lead. I’ll see what I can find out about him. Maybe I can track him down. In the age of the Internet, it’s really hard to hide.”
Robin nodded, a flicker of hope in her eyes. “And I’ll keep meeting with Liam to see if he has any information that can help us.”
“We have to be careful,” I warned her. “Someone knows I’ve been snooping. There’s no telling what Donovan might do or have done.”
“I know,” Robin said, her jaw tight. “I can’t go one more day not knowing the truth. I need to know, and I need justice for Damon, for my kids. I cannot let his killers go free.”
I nodded, feeling a surge of admiration for her strength and courage. “We’ll get them, Robin. We need to make sure they pay for what they did to Damon. We just have to get enough information that the case looks good to the police.”
We left the park separately, going in opposite directions. I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being watched. Every car that passed me on the street, every set of headlights in my rearview mirror seemed to hold some hidden threat.
I pushed down that fear and focused on the task at hand. I had inserted myself into something way bigger than I thought it would be, and I had now tethered myself to Robin, to her kids. I was in just as much danger as she was, and the only way out was to find the truth about what happened to Damon. I wouldn’t rest until we found a way to bring his killers to justice, no matter the cost.