“I don’t have the fucking app,” JT snaps, grabbing his phone.
I pull mine out of my pocket and scroll to the app.
What. The. Fuck?
“Tricks, you seeing this?” JT asks.
“Yeah, I’m seeing it, but something isn’t right. Savvy’s last name is Sutton.” I try to enlarge the picture, but it gets really blurry.
There’s no way in fuck they have that shit right. Savvy is with Chloe, and her name’s not listed.
I sit back and watch my phone, knowing she or Chloe would call or message if shit went south.
Justice is a fucking mess. He’s the new number one guy in the hierarchy, and the old number one is here, too, so the panic for them is real.
In less than an hour, my phone rings. I don’t know the number, but it’s our area code, so I stand up and leave the noisy room to answer the call.
“Hi, Patrick, you don’t know me that well, but my name is Millie.”
“Hey, Millie, this have anything to do with what’s going on at home?”
“Savvy’s in trouble.”
“She hurt?”
“No, but she’s gonna need help getting out of this one. That’s what Heather said. I don’t know the details, but—”
“Can you call me as the details come in, Millie? In the meantime, I’m gonna see about getting home.”
“Yes, of course, I will.”
As soon as I hang up, I hear them already planning on heading back. “I’m going, too.”
“Patrick, they got this,” Dad says from across the room.
“Millie just called and said Savvy is going to be in deep shit. None of them have shit, all scholarship, and if—”
Dad stands up. “Savvy Sutton isn’t her name, Patrick.”
“The hell it’s not.”
“Maybe an actual news article has it wrong and that high school app ran by a bunch of little assholes is right, but I’m gonna guess Savvy Sutton is the same girl as Savvy Sawiris, daughter of billionaire, Alwaleed Sawiris, from Saudi Arabia.”
“No, she’s a little hippie freakshow who hates corporate anything. And like I said, she needs—”
“I’ll check on her,” Justice interrupts.
“I’m not thinking any of you are hearing me. I’m fucking going. End of.”
The room falls silent, and all eyes are on me.
“Let’s fucking go.”
* * *
As soon as I pull onto campus, Chloe comes running toward me, sobbing and hugging me.
“She didn’t do it. She didn’t, and we have to get her out!”
“Grab your bags. You’re gonna come stay at my place. I’m hoping to have her out in the next couple hours. Dad’s working on it.”
“I don’t want to go back in there alone.” She grabs my hand and pulls me behind her. “I packed all her stuff. Most of it is in her van. Where is her van?”
“Getting towed to my house.”
Chloe drops my hand and pushes the front doors to MacArthur Hall open. “Bitch, you better fucking hide!”
“Chloe, chill the fuck out. That shit’s not going to help her.”
“She did this to Savvy, Patrick. She—”
“I’m doing all I can to hold this together, so I’m going to tell you one more time. Let’s get yours and Savvy’s stuff and get out.”
Within half an hour, all Savvy’s belongings are shoved into two garbage bags. The suitcase she has was taken by the police to be used as evidence.
Chloe has five bags and two suitcases.
Apparently, two weeks ago, Chloe and Savvy sat in their dorm room, talking about Liberty Smith and how she wanted to find her, how she knew she needed help, and how Savvy wanted to help her. I was told they searched the internet for her name. They looked through every page that contained the name and, when they found nothing, they moved on to social media.
Chloe said that Savvy decided to give up on the idea when they left for Chloe’s house.
A few days ago, Heather called Chloe and told her that a woman fitting Liberty’s description showed up on campus, looking for Savvy. Apparently, they drove straight back to Seashore, and Savvy was excited to see her again.
When they arrived, Heather told them that she said she’d be back by five.
Savvy being Savvy picked up on Heather acting far too nice and her eyes seemed crazier than ever. It made her nervous. So, they left and went to Crystal Lake to hang out, and Millie, the girl who contacted me, said she would call them if Liberty showed up.
She never showed up, but the local police and the FBI did.
Millie contacted Savvy and Chloe and told them to stay there, that she would try to find out more information.
By that time, the State boys were already tipped off and at Crystal lake, where Savvy was taken in for questioning about a twelve-year-old murder of a man named Denny Townley.
Through the crumpled-up paper left in the garbage, in which Heather gave to the police a few days prior, they had found Sandra Townley, the estranged wife of Denny or, as Savvy and her mother knew her as, Liberty Smith, who had an outstanding warrant for her arrest.
Savvy is being released today. They could only hold her for twenty-four hours. My parents hired a lawyer, who found out that, apparently, there’s a note that Sandra says was written by Savvy’s mother that states that Savvy was the one who hit him, which caused his death. That it was self-defense, because he was trying to rape her, resulting in his death.
She told me about this. She didn’t know he had died, and she never mentioned being sexually abused. I think she would have mentioned it, and I think she would have trusted me enough to tell me. I’m sure she would have.
No one believes anything the note says, but of course this shit takes time.
I haven’t been able to see her, Chloe hasn’t been able to see her, and the name in the paper was only sort of wrong. It shouldn’t have been printed either way, since she’s a minor, so that is also being addressed by the lawyer.
I haven’t slept since
