Charlie

 

Amanda was pacing around her living room when Charlie walked in. He wished that he could say he’d never seen her quite so stressed, but that wasn’t true. Right now what he wished even more was that he hadn’t seen her just as unhinged about the exact same thing.

“Still think I’m the one pranking you, Carly?” she said, her voice as wild as her eyes.

“I don’t know what I think anymore,” he said. “Let me see the email on your computer. I couldn’t read it all in the picture you sent.”

Amanda grabbed her laptop off the coffee table and shoved it in Charlie’s hands. The email was open on her desktop.

 

Hi, Amanda,

 

We received your email in response to our original offer for the Spring Fashion campaign shoot and are disappointed to hear that our original creative vision won’t work for you and Charlie Sanders.

 

Charlie stopped there.

“Wait,” he said. “Original offer? Is this the second email from this person?”

“Yes,” Amanda said, that quintessential, defensive tone in her voice.

“And why didn’t you tell me about the first one?”

“Well, first of all, I didn’t think anything of it. And second of all, you had recently accused me of sending you vicious pranks on VidBit. I wasn’t exactly in the mood to do a romantic photo shoot with you.”

“But the first email mentioned the bridge, too?” Charlie asked.

“Yes,” Amanda said. “But not like this one does. Keep reading.”

 

We would be willing to consider focusing the shoot on you and not Mr. Sanders, but we are unfortunately set on the location of the Navesink River Bridge. Can you explain why that location is an issue for you? If it’s heights, we have tricks to ensure our models are comfortable with the elevation. If it’s the outdoor nature of the shoot, then that is not a problem. We use heating lamps and can protect you with a warm trailer while you change. Or is there something else about that location? Maybe something you’d rather not say over email? If so we’d be happy to meet you in person to discuss…

 

“I don’t know,” Charlie said as he placed the computer back down on the table. “What if it’s just a harmless comment?”

“’Something you’d rather not say over email?’” Amanda yelled. “Could that be any clearer?! Someone knows.”

“I’m not sure,” Charlie said. “What if they’re just being overly sensitive to you? Maybe you got dumped on the bridge, or your dad used to take you there and he died, or you have anxiety about all bridges. I just think these people are offering you the chance to explain yourself and that you’re maybe reading into the way they said it.”

“And what if you’re wrong?”

Charlie sat down on the couch for a second, thinking. Amanda was right: there was no room for error in this situation.

“You can’t go through with this. We’ll come up with an excuse for you and email it back, and then you’ll never talk to these people again. But the bottom line is that I don’t think we need to be paranoid.”

“Really? Because I think this message and those Vids are from the same people.”

“I think that’s an assumption,” Charlie said. “Mine were from this ‘C-O’ name and this is from some person named Sasha from a real company with a real email address. I know it’s scary—I’m freaked, too—but we have to stay calm and look at the facts.”

Amanda cuddled in next to Charlie and put her head in her hands. It was a move Charlie hadn’t seen from her in a very long time.

“I wish so, so much that I didn’t…but I think you’re wrong, Charlie,” she said through the fingers covering her face. When she looked up, Charlie saw tears in her eyes. “I just don’t think it’s a coincidence.”

“But it’s been almost two years. Why would someone do this now? The case is closed.”

“It may be closed legally, but it’s open again in everyone’s minds,” Amanda said, “and we have one person to thank for that.”

“You think Laura has something to do with this?” Charlie asked. “She lived three thousand miles away when this all happened.”

“No. I think that someone decided just how much they care about Sarah Castro-Tanner now that Laura is here to remind them. She’s like the trigger. And whoever it is thinks we know something.”

Charlie didn’t have an argument for that theory. He didn’t entirely believe it, but he didn’t have a comeback.

“Well, we do know something,” he finally said. “But why would they think that?”

“That’s what we need to figure out.”