Chapter 5 - Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars
Taylor did not come to confess.
Grace understood that immediately.
Taylor came because she was losing control of the story.
“There was no kidnapping,” Taylor said.
Grace stared.
“I didn’t say there was.”
“Everyone online is acting like Naomi vanished.”
“She did.”
“She transferred.”
“Her mother says she didn’t request it.”
Taylor crossed her arms.
“Her mother signed an agreement.”
Eli quietly started recording audio.
Taylor noticed.
“Turn that off.”
Grace said:
“No.”
Taylor looked at her.
“You think you’re powerful now because everybody feels sorry for you?”
There she was.
The old Taylor.
Grace’s stomach tightened.
“Go ahead.”
Taylor blinked.
“Say whatever you came to say.”
Taylor looked toward Eli’s phone.
Then something shifted.
She sat.
“My mother paid Andrea Bell.”
“How much?”
“Twenty-five thousand.”
“Why?”
“To move Naomi.”
Grace felt anger rise.
“She paid them to leave?”
“It wasn’t called that.”
“What was it called?”
“Transition assistance.”
“Convenient.”
Taylor flinched.
“My mom said Naomi’s mental health was suffering.”
Grace laughed.
“You were bullying her.”
“I know.”
“You helped cause the suffering, then your mother paid her to disappear?”
Taylor’s eyes flashed.
“I said I know.”
Grace stopped.
Taylor’s voice was trembling.
“I know what I did.”
That was new.
Eli asked:
“Did your mother ask you to bully Naomi?”
“No.”
“Did she know?”
“Yes.”
“Did she tell you to stop?”
Taylor looked down.
“No.”
“Why?”
Silence.
Then:
“She said Naomi liked attention.”
Grace closed her eyes.
Taylor continued.
“When Naomi started asking about the grant, Mom said she was trying to embarrass our family.”
“So you made it worse.”
“Yes.”
“And searched her locker.”
“Yes.”
“Why are you telling us?”
Taylor looked toward Grace.
“Because my mother told her attorney I acted alone.”
Grace stared.
Taylor’s laugh was bitter.
“She says I became obsessed with Naomi because of personal jealousy.”
“Were you jealous?”
Taylor’s mouth tightened.
“Maybe.”
“Of what?”
“She didn’t care who my mother was.”
Grace almost smiled.
“That must have been difficult.”
Taylor actually accepted the insult.
“She looked at me like I was ridiculous.”
“Maybe you were.”
“I was.”
Silence.
Eli leaned forward.
“What did Andrea sign?”
“A confidentiality agreement.”
“Do you have it?”
“No.”
“Who does?”
“My mom. Hale. Probably foundation attorneys.”
Grace asked:
“What did the agreement say?”
“That Naomi would enroll elsewhere and the family wouldn’t make public allegations about harassment or grant administration.”
That was the connection.
Bullying and money in one contract.
“Did Naomi agree?”
Taylor shook her head.
“Her mother signed.”
“Naomi was sixteen.”
“Exactly.”
Grace studied her.
“What happened after?”
“They left.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why did your mother say Naomi was handled?”
Taylor winced.
“Because that’s how she talks.”
Grace thought of the restroom.
We stopped pretending you deserve kindness.
Maybe Taylor had learned more than vocabulary from Vanessa.
She had learned that people were problems to be managed.
“What does your mother want now?”
“For me to stop speaking.”
Taylor pulled out her phone.
A text from Vanessa:
Do not discuss Bell with anyone. Your attorney will explain that you acted independently.
Grace stared.
Taylor continued.
“She says if I cooperate with Mercer, she’ll stop paying my college applications and lawyer.”
“That’s not the worst threat in history.”
Taylor looked at her.
“No.”
Then quietly:
“But she also said she’ll send me to my father.”
Grace had never heard about Taylor’s father.
“Why is that bad?”
Taylor didn’t answer.
Grace realized it was private.
She didn’t push.
Eli asked:
“Will you give Mercer that message?”
Taylor hesitated.
“If I do, my mother destroys me.”
Grace looked at her.
“You dumped trash over me twice.”
Taylor flinched.
“You destroyed Naomi’s art.”
Another flinch.
“You used people’s families and money to make them feel worthless because you knew you were protected.”
“I know.”
“Now you’re finding out protection had conditions.”
Taylor’s eyes filled.
Grace continued.
“That doesn’t make you innocent.”
“I know.”
“But you still get to choose what you do next.”
Taylor wiped one eye angrily.
“Why are you helping me?”
“I’m not.”
Grace looked at her phone.
“I’m helping the truth.”
Taylor stared.
Then sent the screenshots to Daniel Mercer.
One minute later, her phone rang.
MOM
Taylor declined it.
It rang again.
She declined.
Again.
Finally Taylor turned the phone facedown.
Eli exhaled.
“That seemed healthy.”
Taylor almost laughed.
Then Grace’s phone rang.
Daniel Mercer.
“I need all three of you in the district office.”
“Why?”
“We located Andrea Bell.”
Grace stood.
“And Naomi?”
A pause.
“No.”
Hope collapsed.
Mercer continued.
“But Andrea confirmed the settlement.”
“Did she say where Naomi is?”
“She says Naomi left their new apartment two weeks after they moved.”
Grace went cold.
“What?”
“Naomi discovered the confidentiality agreement. She believed her mother had sold her silence.”
Taylor covered her mouth.
Mercer continued.
“They argued. Naomi left.”
“And nobody reported her missing?”
“Andrea did.”
Grace frowned.
“Then why didn’t we hear?”
“Because she reported it in another district under Naomi’s new legal address.”
Grace’s heart pounded.
“Is Naomi missing now?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Thirty-one days.”
Taylor sank into a chair.
The room became silent.
The school had told everyone Naomi transferred.
Her mother had told everyone Naomi was safe.
Meanwhile Naomi Bell had been missing for a month.
May you like
And now the bullying investigation was also a missing-person case.
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