Page 8

Thirteen Months Since Megan’s Escape

T he dorm was a three-story red brick building with a security door and card-key entry.

Livia waited outside until she saw Jessica Tanner walk through the lobby.

Livia pushed open the door after Jessica unlocked it and they ducked into an empty study room.

Close to midnight, about an hour after Livia had received Jessica’s phone call, the dormitory lobby was dark and quiet.

“How’s medical school?” Jessica asked.

“It was good. I graduated a few years ago.”

“Oh, that’s right. Aren’t you a pediatrician?”

“Pathologist.”

“That’s what I meant,” Jessica said. “I remember Nicole telling me about it. Don’t you, like, examine bodies and stuff?”

“Something like that. Can I see the picture?”

Jessica produced a photo from her pocket.

Livia took the picture and felt her heart ache when she saw Nicole, black hair weeping from her scalp and dark eyeliner painted thick and heavy onto her lids, transforming her eyes into ovals of coal with sapphire hidden inside.

Standing next to her in the photo was a guy who draped his arm over Nicole’s shoulder.

It took only a few seconds for Livia to match this man’s face to the photo of Casey Delevan from her case file, a bit longer to imagine that the decomposed body from a month earlier was the same man posing with Nicole.

Dr. Colt encouraged all the fellows to work on the flaw of seeing their cases only from the side of death.

Counseling the deceased’s family was an important part of their occupation, and visualizing vibrant souls instead of lifeless cadavers would help the fellows deliver news with compassion.

Despite her efforts, all Livia saw when she looked at Casey Delevan was the putrefied body with the leg fracture and the strange piercings in the skull.

“I didn’t think Nicole was dating anyone,” Livia finally said.

“She was really secretive about it. I never even met the guy. Nicole showed me that picture to sort of, I don’t know, prove she had a boyfriend.

I was giving her shit about it because no one ever met him.

I don’t know why I kept the picture. Nic just never asked for it back.

Then, when my mom told me about the guy floating in the bay and I saw him on the news . . . it’s the same guy.”

“Did you know him at all ?” Livia asked.

“No. Nicole was very private about him. We used to tell each other everything.” Jessica shrugged. “I don’t know. That was a weird summer for us.”

“When was this taken? ”

“Last summer, I guess. I mean, after senior year. That’s when she started dating him. Our friendship drifted that summer. I always thought it was because of this guy, but I sort of think she was going through some other stuff.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Rachel and I had a hard time reading her. She was really rebellious and started doing things I’ve never seen her do before.”

“What kinds of things?”

“Like, I don’t know, she was really mean to some girls at school. Especially to . . . Megan.”

“Megan McDonald?”

Jessica nodded.

“How so?”

“She hated all the attention Megan was getting for the summer retreat program and her scholarship to Duke. Nicole tried get with Megan’s boyfriend, and that caused a big problem.”

Livia held up the photo. “I thought she was dating this guy. Casey?”

“She was. The thing with Matt was just to piss Megan off and, I don’t know, prove that she could get anything she wanted. I know she hooked up with him that summer.”

“With Megan’s boyfriend?”

“Yeah. Lots of drama.”

“What was this guy’s name?”

“Matt Wellington.”

“And when you say ‘hooked up’ what are we talking about?”

“What do you think?” She took a deep breath.

“Listen, Nic was my best friend. But she was different after senior year. Really promiscuous. Skinny-dipping. I mean, we all did it but Nicole was blatant about it. Making sure everyone saw her naked.” Jessica shrugged.

“Something was off, you know? With all the black makeup and clothing, whatever that was about.”

Livia remembered a trip home during the summer of 2016, and Nicole’s startling jet-black hair and the heavy black eyeliner and black clothes.

Livia had ignored it. Made a point of saying nothing about it, and was almost obnoxious with her feigned ignorance to her sister’s physical change.

Tonight wasn’t the first time Livia wished she could go back and offer the help Nicole was so clearly begging for.

Livia held up Casey Delevan’s picture again. “Nicole ever say this guy would hurt her or anything like that?”

Jessica shook her head. “No. She barely talked about him at all.”

“You ever tell the police about him?”

“Yeah,” Jessica said. “When they interviewed me, I told them she was dating someone. But I never knew his name and I forgot about the picture until I went through some of my stuff this past summer and found it. Why? You think he had something to do with Nic disappearing?”

“I don’t know.” Livia stared at the photo, held it up. “Can I keep this?”

“I guess.” Jessica lifted her chin. “Do you know what happened to him?”

“Casey? Yeah. He jumped off Points Bridge and was found floating in the bay.”