Influence

Chapter 23

A plume of pungent body odor rose off the woman, causing Shay's throat to constrict. "It's past the Primate exhibit," She coughed.

"Well, how long is it going to take to get there?"

"Probably a few minutes."

"A few minutes?" She pulled her little boy with her as she walked away. "You would think they'd have more bathrooms. It is a zoo."

Shay smiled. "You could always dump him in with the Orangutans. He can poop wherever he wants there." She made sure to say this under her breath. If anyone heard her, she'd get fired. Shay couldn't afford to lose yet another job, not until her internet presence began to yield bigger gains.

She answered a few more questions about the time of the raptor show and where the restaurants were located before experiencing a lull in the clueless masses. She took out her phone.

Nothing. No arrest, no reports of another murder. As far as she could tell, Tam Martin was still a free woman who hadn't been murdered by Goldie's brother, seeking revenge for her death.

Disappointed, she scrolled through her mentions, hoping they'd help keep up her morale. She'd expected results by now. Jasper received her package over a day ago. That gave him plenty of time to use the clues it provided to lead him to assume Tam's guilt.

She frowned as doubt crept in. He was ungrateful, hadn't even wanted her care package. Maybe he'd chucked it in the garbage.

No. No one could be that uncurious. He'd opened it. He'd taken it and shared that discovery with the police, and they were gathering the final data they needed to make the arrest. Or maybe Jasper had killed her already, but her body had yet to be found. She strained her eyes, looking down the walkway leading to the zoo's entrance. That's the way Jasper would come. He'd look this way and that, afraid he might not find her, but then, there she'd be, calmly waiting for him in the information booth. He'd rush up to her, thanking her profusely for helping him see the truth, taking her hands in his before gazing into her eyes to say, "You've given Goldie the justice she deserves. How can I ever repay you?"

Her pulse quickened. She gave a zoogoer information on becoming a zoo member, then imagined how Jasper would have murdered Tam. It was bad to think this way, but it gave her such satisfaction. Tam Martin was a problem that needed to be solved. It was either her or Shay, just as the mystery text had warned.

A lot of Shay's mentions today had been from sad people who were concerned that she was as sad as them, if not more so. It exhilarated her to read their attempts at cheering her up. She was on the right path. Her Goldie Girls and Guys needed her. The needed her to be strong, to be a leader. "I'm crying right now but then I imagine how awful you must feel. We have your back, GoldieGirl01!"

This sort of comment made her smile. Not that she wasn't devastated by all that had happened, but sometimes, you had to see the good through the bad.

She came to a recent mention, posted only five minutes ago from someone who went by the name GoldiesWarriorChick "GoldieGirl01 what do you think? My friend says her cousin was at a café when a woman was attacked. Her cousin swears it was Tam Martin!"

Again, her pulse sped. Maybe this was it, the moment Jasper came to his senses and realized what needed to be done and then did it. She would have found a more subtle approach. Preferably not in broad daylight with an audience, but to each their own. She opened up a chat with GoldiesWarriorChick. "This is the first I've heard. What happened???"

She waited, fingers twitching, hoping WarriorChick was online. It didn't take long.

"IDK but the guy who did it got away and Goldie's brother SAVED her!"

"What? Are you sure?" Shay's hands trembled so much, she had to keep her phone on the counter so she wouldn't drop it. This wasn't what happened. WarriorChick's cousin was wrong. Or she was fucking with Shay.

"Totally sure. He helped her into his car and they left. OMG He actually loves her! Maybe she didn't kill Goldie bc no way would he be with her if she did."

Shay didn't know how to respond. Her insides felt like they were trying to rearrange themselves. Either Tam Martin killed her, or you did.

"Listen to me," she typed. "Tam probably orchestrated the attack to play on Jasper's sympathies. She's playing with his mind at a time when he's so vulnerable! We can't let her get away with that!"

She tapped off her phone before a response from WarriorChick came. Jasper needed to take the contents of his care package more seriously. But if he refused, she had a whole army of WarriorChicks to call upon.

It took most of the rest of her shift to put together a flier with Tam's face on it. One word in metallic gold: Murderer.

She posted it on all social channels. "Repost this, put her on blast. Find a printer, make copies, put them up EVERYWHERE!"

Whoever had attacked Tam—he was an amateur. She'd walked away from that incident, but how many of Goldie's fans would make sure the job was finished? She was betting on it being quite a few. Enough.

She forwarded the flier she'd made to the unknown number.

It's happening soon, she texted along with the image. She put her phone away, gave a little girl an honorary zookeeper sticker, and dreamt again about the moment Jasper would thank her for taking care of the biggest obstacle to his happiness.

_______

Shay, Shay, Shay... she certainly has a unique way at looking at "reality." What is going to happen to Tam now that Shay's made her an even bigger target? 

Sorry for the late post. I didn't have time to upload before work today. See you back here this weekend!