WEBVTT - The Girlfriends S5/E2: The Busted Nut 0:00:02.360 --> 0:00:12.560 Novel Last time on the Girlfriends Trust me babe. 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:16.160 Hi, Wendy. You don't know me, but my name's Cindy 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:17.520 and we both dated Derek. 0:00:18.600 --> 0:00:21.759 Wendy gets a surprise phone call and I was like, 0:00:23.840 --> 0:00:27.560 I was so excited to talk to her. After weeks 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:32.159 of DIY investigations, Wendy had finally given up on finding 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:35.880 out the truth about who Derek alread slash all Dread 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:40.800 really was. But now standing on the busy shopping strip 0:00:40.920 --> 0:00:45.400 of Front Street Leahina, the Pacific Ocean stretching out by 0:00:45.440 --> 0:00:49.239 her side, she might finally be on the cusp of 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:51.000 real answers. 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:54.440 I remember ducking around kind of an alleyway so I 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:57.200 could try to hear her a little better. I'm passing 0:00:57.240 --> 0:01:00.080 all these people. I'm sure I looked a little crazy. 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:03.160 The woman on the other end of the line introduces 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:04.720 herself as Cindy. 0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:09.679 She was a little bit frantic. 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:12.840 She was in the middle of finding out how much 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:14.440 money he had stolen from her. 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:18.840 Derek really was a con artist. 0:01:19.319 --> 0:01:22.880 He took her computer and looked up all of her finances, 0:01:23.480 --> 0:01:27.800 changed the passwords, ordered credit cards in his name. So 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:29.920 he's taking her out to dinner and paying for it, 0:01:30.319 --> 0:01:31.280 and she had no idea it. 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:34.240 Was actually on her account. He stole a lot of money. 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:42.400 Unlike Derek, Cindy has an actual successful career. When they 0:01:42.440 --> 0:01:46.640 meet in twenty thirteen, she's working in tech in San Francisco, 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:50.240 but he spins her a good yarn too. He tells 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:54.040 her he's a luxury hotel developer, and over the course 0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:57.200 of about a month not quite two, she alleges that 0:01:57.280 --> 0:02:02.320 he stole one hundred and seventy eight dollars, spent twenty 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:05.640 six thousand on her credit card, and stole six hundred 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:09.480 and sixty thousand airline miles. When Cindy goes through her 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:14.119 finances in more detail, she finds some interesting charges. 0:02:18.160 --> 0:02:23.440 The flowers Sherry's berries and the candy and the giant Teddy. 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:30.440 Bear dinners drinks, four thousand dollar earrings, prescription glasses, all 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:32.919 the stuff Derek had been buying for Wendy. 0:02:33.560 --> 0:02:35.560 I saw all the evidence that he was using her 0:02:35.600 --> 0:02:36.520 credit card to do that. 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:40.400 And that's not all. Remember the video Derek sent to 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:41.960 Wendy to prove where he lived. 0:02:42.919 --> 0:02:44.279 He was in her house. 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:49.640 And Maxwell, Derek's beloved dog sadly taken from this world 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:50.640 too soon. 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:55.400 The dog was not his. He took a picture of 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:57.960 her dog and took a picture of that dog's bed, 0:02:58.840 --> 0:02:59.960 and that dog had not died. 0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:05.680 Once she discovers the truth, Cindy goes straight to the police. 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:08.760 They just wanted to brush it off, like, oh, it's 0:03:08.880 --> 0:03:10.840 just a domestic squabble. 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:15.799 Wendy believes the police didn't investigate the claim seriously because 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:19.519 Cindy couldn't prove that she didn't authorize the card herself. 0:03:20.080 --> 0:03:24.440 She's finding out this guy is a serious common artist, 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:26.600 and nobody is listening to me. 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:33.120 The police don't seem to be prioritizing Cindy's case, so 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:34.800 she's hoping Wendy can help. 0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:40.120 I had a file, Derek Aldred. 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:45.040 Wendy was writing a book. Of course, she's kept her research. 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:49.320 I had printed out some of the emails that were crazy, 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:53.880 all in this filefolder. I was so happy I had 0:03:53.960 --> 0:03:57.600 kept so much of this information. She asked if I 0:03:57.600 --> 0:04:03.080 would please call this Fan Francisco detective that was assigned 0:04:03.120 --> 0:04:05.080 to her case, and I did. 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:06.520 I called multiple times. 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:10.160 As far as we can tell, Cindy's hopes that the 0:04:10.200 --> 0:04:14.560 San Francisco police would do their job would ultimately go nowhere. 0:04:15.320 --> 0:04:17.560 Even with Wendy in her corner. 0:04:18.000 --> 0:04:20.919 It was very apparent they were not taking any of 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:21.520 it seriously. 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:24.680 She felt very alone, and. 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:28.640 While the San Francisco police are twiddling their thumbs, Derek 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:36.040 just disappears. But Cindy doesn't plan to fade quietly into submission. 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:44.960 She was relentless. He is not going to get away 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:45.240 with this. 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:51.440 I Am going to find him and bring him to justice. 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:56.839 And before long, Cindy will learn that it wasn't just 0:04:57.000 --> 0:05:01.360 her or Wendy that Derek fucked over, because it turns 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:06.120 out who's been wrecking women's lives all over the United States. 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:11.279 And soon he'll be thousands of miles away in the 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:17.800 land of ten thousand Blakes, Minnesota, reeling in his latest target. 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:25.840 Something's off a but this whole thing, something's fishy. 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:34.080 I'm Anna Sinfield and from the teams at Novel and 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:38.840 iHeart Podcasts. You're listening to the Girlfriends Trust Me. 0:05:38.839 --> 0:06:08.040 Babe, episode two, The Busted Nut. 0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:19.320 You in a huge stadium in downtown Saint Paul. The 0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:23.040 Minnesota Wild hockey team are gliding into an ice rink 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:25.239 lit up by neon lights. 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:26.920 I believe we're playing Chicago. 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:32.000 It's October twenty fifteen. The energy is high in the stadium. 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:34.680 I can't be certain, but I just like know in 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:37.200 my bones that let's get it started. By the Black 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:42.160 Eyed Peas was playing, Commentators crooning are we ready? As 0:06:42.200 --> 0:06:46.360 the two teams squeak their skates onto the rink, the lights, 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:51.160 the sounds. They're loud and rowdy, and so are the fans. 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:55.840 Among them, sitting in the upper levels is Lisa. 0:06:56.360 --> 0:06:58.040 You know it's dangerous to be around me when we're 0:06:58.040 --> 0:06:58.400 a plane. 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:03.960 Lisa a die hard Minnesota Wild fan. She's a divorced 0:07:04.000 --> 0:07:06.960 mum of two and a nurse at a children's hospital. 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:10.840 Sitting next to Lisa at the hockey game are two 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:15.440 of her closest friends, Tammy and Michelle. We just speak 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:19.560 girls that love hockey, yelling, having fun. But all through 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:24.680 the game, Lisa's phone is buzzing texts from her boyfriend. 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:30.280 They've only been dating for a short time and they've 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:35.080 really clicked except tonight. Lisa's trying to enjoy watching an 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:39.960 ice hockey game with her girls, only her suddenly whiny 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:42.440 boyfriend is not reading the room. 0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:45.440 You don't have time for me, you know, why are 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:46.480 you with them? 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:52.240 This evening? He's being a little controlling, but Lisa's having 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:52.640 none of it. 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:55.920 I love hockey and I wanted to be with my friends. 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:04.200 Game finishes, Minnesota beat Chicago five to four, but the 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:05.520 girls aren't done. 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:11.640 Let's go to McGovern's. We'd get popcorn and wind down 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:12.040 the night. 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:16.240 That's Michelle Lisa's besty. They're talking about a local bar 0:08:16.320 --> 0:08:17.200 they sometimes go to. 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:22.600 Mcgoverns is more of an older, deep rich wood bar 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:27.040 with great home cooking food, big outdoor patio in the back. 0:08:27.880 --> 0:08:30.560 As Lisa moves through the crowd to grab a drink, 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:32.880 she stops in her tracks. 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:35.240 I'll say, look at the bar, and he's sitting at 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:40.360 the bar, and I was like, WHOA. 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:44.360 Lisa's boyfriend has made a surprise appearance. 0:08:45.440 --> 0:08:48.760 One friend goes, oh, that's kind of creepy. So I 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:50.240 kind of go up to me. He's like, oh, babe, 0:08:50.240 --> 0:08:51.520 I just wanted to surprise you. 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:56.640 Lisa's friends have heard a lot about her boyfriend. His 0:08:56.840 --> 0:09:03.559 name is Steele Aldridge. He's kind outdoorsy, very family orientated. 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:07.040 He told Lisa about his sister who's married to a pilot, 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:09.960 and also about his twin brother who's a bit wayward. 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:13.360 He's got his own business, running a surf shop, Steel 0:09:13.400 --> 0:09:17.839 Finn's in Hawaii. He's studying at the local university. He 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:20.320 even volunteers at a homeless shelter. 0:09:20.920 --> 0:09:22.880 Knowing that someone's taking turn out to do that just 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:25.120 really made me feel, you know, just like God, this 0:09:25.160 --> 0:09:25.559 guy is. 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:30.120 Great despite his behavior during the game. Steele and Lisa 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:33.880 have been getting on great, but now he's turned up 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:35.760 at the bar out for Blue. 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:41.360 He was kind of a thinner, smaller guy than I pictured. 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:46.080 It surprised me that that's what he looked like. Lisa's bestI, 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:49.720 Michelle watches from afar. This is the first time she's 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:50.880 Matt Steele in person. 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:56.160 He was carrying up backpack, a pretty full backpack, and 0:09:56.559 --> 0:09:58.079 I just thought that was so. 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:02.640 Weird, as I wouldn't be caught dead in a pub 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:06.560 without a well packed, ready to hike backpack. But that's 0:10:06.600 --> 0:10:07.120 by the bye. 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:09.320 He just looked dishoveled. 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:14.840 As far as first impressions go, it's not a great start. 0:10:15.520 --> 0:10:23.599 I got a bad vibe about him. I don't like him. 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:26.760 Michelle and Tammy approach the bar where Steele and Lisa 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:31.520 are talking, and so commences that best friend write of 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:35.280 passage the classic first meet interrogation. 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:39.120 He was kind of like, well, what do you want 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:45.600 to know? Tammy started right in right away, so what 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:48.160 do you do for work? Where do you live? Kind 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:48.720 of thing. 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:50.480 She was starting to grill him. 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:54.760 Lisa is standing a few paces away, watching her friends 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:56.559 and her boyfriend go head to. 0:10:56.559 --> 0:10:59.360 Head questions I want to see your ladies, I want 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:00.800 to see this, and then he's like, why would I 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:02.920 have to show you it? Like, being very defensive with her. 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:07.640 Everything that Lisa told us, he told us almost forward. 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:11.439 It was almost like a rehearsed line. I'm going to 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:15.000 use the word weasily. He just seemed weasley to me. 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:20.000 There was just something bad about him, just being around 0:11:20.000 --> 0:11:23.920 the guy and looking at his manurisms. I couldn't even 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:28.760 stand even talking to him. I had to walk away. 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:33.360 Michelle retreats to a table, keeping an eye on things. 0:11:34.320 --> 0:11:37.400 She's known Lisa since they were teens, and she's very 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:41.120 protective of her best friend. Michelle can see Lisa and 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:43.840 Steele are having a tense conversation. 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:47.800 He was drinking and he was just getting kind of 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:50.360 really weird. He came up to me and says, I'm 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:51.080 going to go home with you. 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:57.080 Stele is annoyed about being grilled and he wants to leave. 0:11:58.160 --> 0:11:59.840 It's the first time I ever can say I got 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:03.120 scared of him. He just had this look in his eyes. 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:05.679 His demeanor was creepy. 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:10.240 Lisa doesn't want to go home with Steel, so he 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:18.320 stalks off alone. Soon after they all call it a night. 0:12:20.040 --> 0:12:21.959 I get to my car, you know, it's raining out, 0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:24.120 and I'm driving away and my friends you know, following 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:26.760 me out, and we pull the parking lot and he's 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:29.600 across the street and the point rain, just staring at me, like, 0:12:29.840 --> 0:12:33.040 oh my god, Like this is just not good. 0:12:37.080 --> 0:12:41.480 Arriving home from that night, Lisa's phone is blowing up again. 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:45.520 It's him texting me. Then his sister's texting me, you know, 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:49.040 then his friend's texting. They're saying, oh no, please forgive him. 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:51.920 He has an excuse for the poor form. 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:54.680 He claimed he took a pain pill and that he 0:12:54.760 --> 0:12:56.840 was drinking too much with a pain pill and he 0:12:56.960 --> 0:12:58.480 was just not him and to forgive him. 0:12:59.160 --> 0:13:02.600 She doesn't know what to think. Lisa was really falling 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:06.000 for Steele. Their first day had been magical. 0:13:06.880 --> 0:13:09.640 I just felt at peace when I said, and. 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:14.880 Their relationship had progressed quickly. Lisa was recently divorced, she 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:17.920 had two kids, she was a busy nurse. She wasn't 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:21.280 really looking to get married again, but she did want 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:22.400 real companionship. 0:13:23.040 --> 0:13:24.800 He made you feel so at ease, He made you 0:13:24.840 --> 0:13:26.400 feel so comfortable. 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:28.959 And in a few weeks they had been dating that 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:30.920 even developed a routine together. 0:13:31.480 --> 0:13:33.800 He would come over to my townehouse, we'd make dinner. 0:13:33.880 --> 0:13:35.360 I'd sit down and love see if he'd sit down 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:38.320 the chair. Periodically, his formwd ringer would be his sister 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:41.960 or his daughter, and I'd listen to him talk to them. 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:50.160 But it's not all being perfect. Steele's got a habit 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:54.839 of going a wall, and when Lisa asked him, panicked, 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:59.600 where he is if he's okay, his reactions escalate fast. 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:02.560 He would text me like, Lisa, you need to calm down, 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:04.760 or I'm going to get my lawyers after you for harassing. 0:14:04.800 --> 0:14:06.760 You know, I'd be like, what the hell. 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:12.080 Lawyers is crazy? And the ridiculousness of it all was 0:14:12.120 --> 0:14:15.920 so confusing, so up and down. Then instead of making 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:19.240 Lisa run, she starts to feel like maybe she's the 0:14:19.240 --> 0:14:24.320 one losing it. And besides, he always has an excuse. 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:27.360 He would apologize like, I'm sorry. You know, I shouldn't 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:30.760 have done that. You know, was stressed at school, stressed 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:33.640 about the business. He always made me feel bad. I, 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:36.160 you know, misunderstood things or I took things out of context. 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:39.240 He would always bring me something that anyway. I loved 0:14:39.280 --> 0:14:41.560 purple roses, he'd bring me a purple roses. He'd bring 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:42.680 me back to chocolates. 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:46.880 After that night at the bar meeting Lisa's friends, it's 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:52.280 just the same. She's angry about Steele's creepy behavior. I 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:57.960 didn't talk to him for a day or two, but 0:14:58.040 --> 0:15:03.160 then sympathy begins to creep its way in. She feels bad. 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:07.160 I guess the sad thing about me, or I think, 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:09.640 like healthcare people in general. Sometimes you have such a 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:11.960 big heart that you believe people, and you're very forgiving 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:14.280 and very caring. I would listen to my gut. I 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:16.720 listened to my heart. So you forgive them. 0:15:17.760 --> 0:15:23.200 Lisa's friends, though they aren't convinced, in the couple of 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:28.280 weeks that pass after that disastrous performance at McGovern's, Steele 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:31.000 is making every effort to prove that he is someone 0:15:31.080 --> 0:15:35.320 Lisa can rely on. One evening, they're sitting in Lisa's 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:39.480 townhouse straight back in the same cozy routine they had 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:44.280 before the McGovern's incident. When Steele reveals a secret he's 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:44.920 been keeping. 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:48.080 He says, well, I don't like telling women i'm dating 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:50.320 or scene that I have a lot of money, because 0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:51.960 I want them to like me for who I am. 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:55.240 He said he had won a lottery and he'd invested 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:58.600 really well, it was like two million dollars. I think 0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:02.640 at least it was like a stock page. This guy's 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:05.160 got this kind of money. He's down to earth, he's sweet, 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:06.240 he's got a stuff together. 0:16:07.200 --> 0:16:09.880 And not only that, he wants to show her in 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:13.680 a real way that he has committed to her. He 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:17.480 tells Lisa he wants to spend his astronomical wealth on 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:21.480 setting up a home in Saint Paul, somewhere they can 0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:25.360 one day live together, somewhere their families can become one. 0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:27.800 It was going to be ours, but he was going 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:28.560 to pay for it. 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:33.080 She even attends some of the viewings and then they 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:37.560 find the perfect one. 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:42.280 It was three levels. It was just beautiful. He walked in. 0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:45.680 In The kitchen was just of steel, appliances, cherrywood inside 0:16:45.760 --> 0:16:48.680 for other cabinets, It had a two car garage. You know, 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:50.760 this could be your son's room, this could be your 0:16:50.800 --> 0:16:52.440 daughter's room, this could be our room. 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:52.640 You know. 0:16:52.640 --> 0:16:54.480 He's like, oh, I could put my books here for school. 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:57.200 It was beautiful. I mean it was just that colors 0:16:57.200 --> 0:17:00.240 are gorgeous. It was very elegant. I remember they had 0:17:00.280 --> 0:17:01.480 a candle in there. I think it was like a 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:04.159 vanilla flavor. It was just beautifully staged. 0:17:05.040 --> 0:17:08.440 Walking around the property, the realtor makes him a sigh 0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:09.480 to Lisa. 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:12.040 Oh, your husband's, you know, really less, and like, no, 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:14.720 he's my boyfriend. He's looking at bit for us. It's 0:17:14.880 --> 0:17:15.920 not me, it's just him. 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:20.479 Steele starts filling out the paperwork there and then he 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:22.359 couldn't be more ready to commit. 0:17:24.040 --> 0:17:25.960 I really at that point felt like I was fine 0:17:25.960 --> 0:17:29.280 for him, and I just thought, wow, I really hit 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:30.440 the checkpat down this guy. 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:36.160 Because Steele had another surprise in store for Lisa. Once 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:56.159 she can't wait to tell her friends about. Less than 0:17:56.200 --> 0:17:59.960 two weeks after the McGovern's disaster, the girls are back. 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:01.840 No hockey this time. 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:05.960 We are eating at a little police in Hastings called 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:07.400 the Busted Nut. 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:10.720 That's Michelle. Lisa is there too, and so's Tammy. 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:15.760 It is a little bar in a little old fashioned town. 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:18.720 Old pictures, tin ceilings. 0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:22.760 There are photos on the wall from that era. Horses 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:26.600 carriages hooked up to posts outside old brick buildings. 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:31.680 They have a barrel full of nuts, these roasted peanuts 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:34.119 that you can scoop out and bring them back to 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:36.639 your table, and you just crack them and drop them 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:37.280 on the floor. 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:39.160 We're having a good. 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:44.280 Time, eventually bolstered by a few handfuls of pre COVID 0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:48.679 communal barrel peanuts. Lisa says she has some news. 0:18:49.640 --> 0:18:51.960 She was back dating Steel. 0:18:53.240 --> 0:18:57.960 After that disastrous first meeting. Lisa had stopped mentioning Steel 0:18:58.040 --> 0:18:59.280 to her friends. 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:02.840 Because wasn't talking about him. We thought that she wasn't 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:05.159 seeing him anymore, but she was. 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:10.480 And Steele's made a big romantic gesture that Lisa wants 0:19:10.520 --> 0:19:15.440 to tell her friends about, not the house, something else. 0:19:19.080 --> 0:19:21.280 He wanted to take me on a trip to Hawaii. 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:22.720 What do you guys think about that? 0:19:24.200 --> 0:19:26.320 It turns out Steele needs to go check in on 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:30.199 his surf business, and he knows Lisa's always wanted to 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:32.960 go to Hawaii, so he's brought the two of them 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:36.320 flights on him for a romantic holiday. 0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:39.840 She's like, peck your bags, babe, We're going. I am 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:41.440 so excited, but she. 0:19:41.480 --> 0:19:44.400 Knows she can't fly so far without asking the advice 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:45.320 of her friends. 0:19:47.040 --> 0:19:49.479 We said, Lisa, what are you doing. 0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:53.320 They're still reeling from the news that Lisa and Steele 0:19:53.400 --> 0:19:57.200 are even together, and now they're going on holiday. 0:19:58.400 --> 0:20:02.399 The group said no, oh, and she looked at me 0:20:02.480 --> 0:20:05.840 and I thought, oh, my gosh. But I thought, you know, 0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:10.840 maybe there's something about him that I don't know that 0:20:10.880 --> 0:20:14.840 she knows that she really likes about him. 0:20:15.480 --> 0:20:19.040 It's hard when you're outside the bubble of someone's relationship 0:20:19.440 --> 0:20:23.040 looking in to ever really see what they see. 0:20:23.720 --> 0:20:28.080 You know, give it a shot. It's a vacation. You know, 0:20:28.160 --> 0:20:31.800 it's Hawaii. She was, I think going through a lot 0:20:31.840 --> 0:20:35.119 of stress and she kind of did need a break, 0:20:35.560 --> 0:20:38.919 and I thought, you know, just go, let. 0:20:38.840 --> 0:20:39.760 Us know how it goes. 0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:43.320 Check out this business that he says he has over 0:20:43.400 --> 0:20:44.000 in Hawaii. 0:20:49.320 --> 0:20:52.280 Lisa's friends weren't going to wave her off without first 0:20:52.280 --> 0:20:54.600 putting in place some safety checks. 0:20:55.240 --> 0:20:58.640 You need to let your friends know where you're staying, 0:20:59.040 --> 0:21:01.199 what kind of car you do. We asked her to 0:21:01.240 --> 0:21:04.320 take a picture of the car, the license plate, just 0:21:04.359 --> 0:21:06.960 to make sure everything was on the up and up. 0:21:08.320 --> 0:21:13.280 With her friend's cautious blessing, Lisa touches down in Hawaii 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:16.399 and it's just like she imagined. 0:21:19.760 --> 0:21:21.960 We drove around the island a little bit. You can 0:21:21.960 --> 0:21:25.320 see the ocean. I was in awe, like, oh my god, 0:21:25.359 --> 0:21:28.240 I can see why he loves this place. It's beautiful, 0:21:28.560 --> 0:21:30.080 and I'm like, I can see why he loves to 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:31.840 come out here now multiple times a year. 0:21:32.480 --> 0:21:35.520 They hire a jeep which Lisa drives through the streets 0:21:35.520 --> 0:21:36.920 of Maui to their hotel. 0:21:37.600 --> 0:21:40.400 The pool was gorgeous, palm cheese and just the beautiful, 0:21:40.440 --> 0:21:43.680 you know, Hawaiian flowers. I remember taking pictures of us. 0:21:43.920 --> 0:21:45.520 I send in her to my friends and they're like, 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:47.720 oh my god, I'm so jealous. 0:21:49.240 --> 0:21:52.639 Un beknows to Lisa. Back home, her friends are actually 0:21:52.640 --> 0:21:55.840 feeling a little concerned, especially Michelle. 0:21:56.440 --> 0:21:58.800 He was getting a little angry about like why does 0:21:58.880 --> 0:22:01.119 she keep calling you? Like why does she keep bothering us? 0:22:01.160 --> 0:22:03.760 And doesn't she know your vacation, and like she's just 0:22:03.880 --> 0:22:05.800 checking in and she's not asking if I'm having fun. 0:22:06.520 --> 0:22:10.240 While Lisa is blissfully gallivanting around Maui and a jeep. 0:22:10.680 --> 0:22:14.320 Another friend, Steph, is on shift at the children's hospital 0:22:14.560 --> 0:22:18.520 back in Saint Paul. Stephan Lisa work together. They car 0:22:18.640 --> 0:22:19.240 pool together. 0:22:19.640 --> 0:22:21.720 We leave for work every day at six point twenty. 0:22:22.080 --> 0:22:24.960 They're good colleagues, but even better friends. 0:22:25.840 --> 0:22:30.840 Dinner, winery tours, girls' trips. We have had some really 0:22:30.960 --> 0:22:33.520 fun times on some of these girls trips. 0:22:34.960 --> 0:22:37.359 Sometimes Steele is in the back of Lisa's car in 0:22:37.400 --> 0:22:40.000 the morning, getting a lift to the homeless shelter he 0:22:40.080 --> 0:22:44.080 volunteers at. So Steph's met him a few times, and 0:22:44.200 --> 0:22:50.239 just like Michelle, she's got a bad vibe about him. 0:22:50.359 --> 0:22:54.320 She's been searching his name online, but it's showing up 0:22:54.400 --> 0:22:59.440 nothing and it's starting to gnaw at her. Looking around 0:22:59.520 --> 0:23:02.480 at her now sing colleagues propping up the nurses station, 0:23:03.600 --> 0:23:04.800 Steph pipes up. 0:23:05.280 --> 0:23:08.879 You guys, I'm worried about Lisa. She's in Hawaii with 0:23:08.960 --> 0:23:11.439 this guy who I don't even know who he is. 0:23:12.200 --> 0:23:15.320 And then one of her colleagues interjects, Oh. 0:23:15.160 --> 0:23:18.080 My god, the same thing happened to my friend. It 0:23:18.240 --> 0:23:22.160 sounds so familiar. She kept saying she had a friend 0:23:22.200 --> 0:23:26.280 that she met online. He took her to Hawaii too, 0:23:26.600 --> 0:23:28.000 and he was scamming her. 0:23:30.800 --> 0:23:34.080 This friend had met a man who sounded exactly like 0:23:34.160 --> 0:23:37.280 Lisa's current boyfriend, and he it turned out to be 0:23:37.440 --> 0:23:38.800 a total con man. 0:23:39.359 --> 0:23:41.560 And I said, can you text her and see if 0:23:41.640 --> 0:23:42.880 you can get a picture of him? 0:23:43.320 --> 0:23:44.040 And she did. 0:23:45.080 --> 0:23:46.960 She texted her friend right away. 0:23:47.640 --> 0:23:50.120 An answer comes back before the shift is done. 0:23:50.720 --> 0:23:52.800 She brought her phone over to me and showed me 0:23:52.920 --> 0:23:57.200 the picture of the person, and I remember vividly his image. 0:23:58.000 --> 0:24:02.200 My heart sunk. Oh my god, this is the same man. 0:24:07.520 --> 0:24:10.400 I remember saying, I knew it. I knew it. That's him. 0:24:10.640 --> 0:24:11.239 I knew it. 0:24:14.280 --> 0:24:18.280 All steps fruitless googling makes sense now. The reason she 0:24:18.359 --> 0:24:21.679 can't find anything about Steel Aldridge is because that's not 0:24:21.720 --> 0:24:26.119 his real name. His real name was Derek Aldred. 0:24:27.000 --> 0:24:30.000 He was on probation for this scam of the Saint 0:24:30.040 --> 0:24:30.760 Paul Hotel. 0:24:33.040 --> 0:24:35.560