Listen for the Lie (30 page)

Matt is waiting for me outside the hospital.

I look like absolute shit—a black eye, three stitches in my eyebrow, a bruise starting to form on my chin. Luckily my nose isn't broken, but my entire face is vibrating in pain.

“Oh my god.” Matt rushes over to me. I see my parents, not far behind him. Ben left a while ago, because I was tired of his hovering. I told him I didn't need him to call anyone for me, but I can see that my request was ignored.

“I'm going to kill Emmett,” Matt says.

My parents stop not far behind him. Dad's chest is rising and falling too quickly. Mom's eyes are red, and she won't look at me.

“You saw him that night,” I say. Matt has the decency to look embarrassed.

“After you,” he says. “You ran away, and then Emmett appeared a second later, crying and saying he'd seen you kill her.”

“And you just believed him.”

“You said—you said…” He clenches both fists in frustration, and I instinctively take a step back. “You were covered in blood, mumbling something about killing! And you said she deserved it, and ‘Savvy tried to.' What was I supposed to think?”

“She tried to save me,” I say. “That was the end of that sentence. Savvy tried to
save me
, and he killed her.”

“Oh, Lucy,” Mom says, and moves like she's going to hug me. I step back, shaking my head.

“The cops want to talk to you,” I say.

Dad gapes at me. I thought that I was too exhausted to feel even more annoyed, but apparently I'm not. I don't know where he finds the nerve to look surprised.

“You lied to them. Hid evidence. Good luck with that.”

Mom's mouth drops open.

“We were protecting you,” Matt says. “You have to understand. Me, your parents—we thought we were protecting you.”

“No, you didn't,” I snap. “You protected
yourself
, Matt. You knew what would happen if I started telling people the truth. You knew what would come out.”

Matt's face reddens. Both my parents are statues, tears streaming down Mom's face.

I step away from them. “The only person who ever protected me was Savvy.”

Listen for the Lie Podcast with Ben Owens

FINAL EPISODE

Police have charged Emmett Chapman with Savannah Harper's murder. Matt, Kathleen, and Don have been charged with withholding evidence.

I spoke with some of the people of Plumpton a few days after the news broke. First, let's hear from Beverly, Lucy's grandma.

Beverly:
         Well, it's a lot to deal with, if you want to know the truth. I always knew she didn't do it. I knew it when Lucy didn't know it. I just wish that other people would have had more faith in her.

Ben:
               Kathleen and Don never shared with you what Matt told them? That he saw Lucy the night Savannah died?

Beverly:
         They sure didn't. If they had, I would have screamed it to the whole town. How do you believe that man over your child? How did Matt believe Emmett over his own wife?

Ben:
               It does seem strange.

Beverly:
         Well, not strange, exactly. Typical. Men always believe each other.

I also talked to Ivy, Savannah's mother.

Ivy:
                We're still processing it all. There are still questions to be answered.

Ben:
               What kind of questions?

Ivy:
                Just … we don't want to rush to judgment.

Ben:
               Because that's what happened with Lucy?

Ivy:
                We're done talking about this.

And I talked to Joanna.

Joanna:
         Emmett's saying he didn't do it. He says that Lucy created a new memory. He says it's not even her fault. He's being really nice about it.

Ben:
               You don't believe Lucy, then?

Joanna:
         Hon, I'm just confused. She's created memories before, right? She admitted it. And now suddenly, five years later, she remembers everything and can very conveniently pin it on someone? It's suspicious.

Ben:
               What do you make of Matt and the Chases withholding important information about the case?

Joanna:
         Obviously they shouldn't have done that. But they were covering for Lucy. You can't blame the Chases for protecting their daughter.

Ben:
               Did you know I was there when Emmett tried to kill Lucy again? I heard him yelling about killing Savvy.

Joanna:
         Wait, you did?

Ben:
               Sure did.

Joanna:
         I … I didn't know that. Well …

Lucy was generous enough to talk to me one last time to answer a few lingering questions.

Ben:
               Do you regret not going back to Plumpton sooner?

Lucy:
             Yes. I regret a lot of things. I wish I hadn't let my parents and Matt get into my head. I think that if they hadn't immediately acted like I did it, I would have been better equipped to deal with everything. I could have pieced it all together sooner.

Ben:
               Speaking of piecing it all together, I do have a few lingering questions. First of all, did you ever get your memory back of the time after Savannah's death? The hours you were wandering?

Lucy:
             No. The head injury erased most of that for good, I think.

Ben:
               You don't know why you left her body? Or why you had that bloody tree branch when Matt saw you?

Lucy:
             No. My guess is, some part of my brain was thinking I needed it for self-defense.

Ben:
               Emmett is claiming he's innocent, and a lot of people still don't believe you. They say you're still hiding something.

Lucy:
             I could explain all day and these people will never believe me. Most of us don't change our minds once we've settled on a version of events. Everyone has made their mind up about me, and it's not changing, no matter what.

Ben:
               Does that bother you?

Lucy:
             Sort of. I don't think it's too much to ask, that everyone not think the absolute worst of me all the time. But I'm not all that concerned about it anymore. I am not responsible for the fake version of me you created in your head.

Ben:
               One of the biggest questions I've been getting is this—Why would your husband believe Emmett over you? Matt very quickly put the blame on you. Why was that?

Lucy:
             Well, Matt saw me that night, and it admittedly didn't look great. I think the only way I can explain it is to say that Matt never gave me the benefit of the doubt about anything. Just like most of the people listening to this podcast, he thought the worst of me. And to be fair, he
saw
the worst of me. We had a very bad marriage—which I'm not going to go into here—and when you already hate your spouse as much as he hated me at the time, thinking I murdered my best friend isn't a huge leap.

Ben:
               Still, it's weird, isn't it? Shouldn't Matt have questioned Emmett's version more, given how injured you were?

Lucy:
             Sure, he should have. But Emmett actually had a whole plausible story and I had nothing. Matt, like most men I've known, is always more inclined to believe the guy's version of events.

Ben:
               And your parents? They were convinced you murdered Savannah, because of what Matt told them. Why do you think
they
were willing to make that leap?

Lucy:
             Matt didn't tell them about Emmett being there. I'd like to think that they would have been more skeptical if he had.

Ben:
               That's a generous way of looking at things. You don't feel angry that they also didn't give you the benefit of the doubt?

Lucy:
             Sure, I do. I'm not all that surprised, though.

Ben:
               What do you think Savannah would say, if she were here?

Lucy:
             I think she'd be happy I was okay. She died trying to protect me. She saved me. We were a team, me and Savvy, right up until the end.

Grandma is leaning against her doorframe as I pull up to the tiny house, still looking smug as hell.

“You headed to the airport?” she asks as I climb out of the car and walk to her.

“Yes. Finally.” I can't believe I just spent over three weeks in my hometown. I deserve a medal. “You're coming to visit me next time. This town doesn't get the pleasure of my company ever again.”

She snorts. “That's fair.” She steps back, letting me step into the air-conditioning. I flop down on her couch.

Grandma goes into the kitchen to make a drink and then slides into a chair at the table with her drink.

“It isn't everything,” I say quietly.

“What isn't?”

“The story Ben told on the podcast. It isn't the whole truth.” I meet her gaze. “I know you know that.”

“I do,” she says softly.

“I'd tell you, but it's the only thing left I can do for her.” I lean forward, resting my elbows on my thighs. “Keeping the secrets. It's all I can do.”

“Oh, hon, I understand.” She reaches forward, taking one of my hands in hers. “You don't owe anyone your whole story. Or Savvy's.”

I nod, swallowing hard.

“Let Ben think he found the truth. He did what we needed him to do. You're right that some people will never believe you, no matter how hard you explain yourself. Trust me, there's no pleasing people. If they're determined to think the worst of you, they will.”

“They think the best of Savvy, so I guess that's really all I can ask for.”

“Absolutely. Who she actually was, and the secrets you two shared, that's just for you.”

I scoot forward, wrapping my arms around her. “Thank you for badgering me into coming back and doing this.”

“You're very welcome. I am happy to badger you into doing the right thing anytime.”

My phone dings, followed up immediately by a second ding. I suppress a sigh as I sit back and glance at the screen. I've been getting a strange mix of messages these days—some from people I know, saying they knew I was innocent all along (
I never really doubted you
, Nathan sent this morning, a text too absurd to warrant a response), and
many
comments on my Eva Knightley social media accounts, ripping into me for all sorts of things. A substantial portion of the internet hates me more than ever. Some of them acknowledge that I didn't kill Savvy but
still
hate me.

It's an email from a journalist, asking for comment on an article he's writing about me. Linked is a video that is apparently making the rounds on social media. It's titled,
Lucy Chase: How a Manipulative Psychopath Framed Emmett Chapman.

I shake my head in amusement and delete the email. As usual, Grandma is right.

There really is no pleasing people.

“Did you see Ben before he left yesterday?” she asks.

I nod.

I have a text from Ben on my phone, sitting there unanswered since last night. I still can't decide if he's the best or worst idea I ever had.

Can I take you out when you get back to LA? I promise to ask fewer intrusive questions this time.

“Are you two going to see each other when you get back to Los Angeles?”

Savvy appears behind Grandma, casually leaning against the door. The dress from the wedding gone, replaced by jeans and the white tank top I used to see her in so often. A red bra strap peeks out at the shoulder. She grins at me.

“
Fuck yeah you are
,” she says. I can't help but laugh, grin back at her, even as Grandma gives me a puzzled look.

I pull out my phone and type a reply to Ben.