Partners: Beyond The Shadows

by Kira Chase

  Frankie silently groaned. Her mother was going off topic. “This could go on for hours once she starts talking about Church,” Frankie whispered close to Johanna's ear.

  Johanna grinned. “I'll rescue the day,” she whispered back. “So Ellie didn't see Carson at all during her pregnancy?” Johanna asked when Selma paused to take a breath.

  “She lied to her parents. She'd been sneaking around behind their backs all this time with Carson. She broke their hearts after all they'd given up for her and all the promises she'd made to everyone. It came as no surprise to any of us that Ellie's pregnancy hadn't changed Carson one bit. He'd lied to Ellie when he'd told her that everything would be different now that she was pregnant. Oh, it was different all right. It got worse. He beat her so severely that we feared she'd lose the baby. He was arrested, but it was the same old pattern. Unless she filed charges, they couldn't hold him. Doug and Effie tried every way they knew to protect her from that creep. They'd tried until they were blue in the face to get her to press charges against him for his physical abuse, and she'd agree, but at the last minute refuse.”

  “It's a wonder she didn't lose the baby,” Johanna exclaimed. “I can't believe she wouldn't have wanted him as far away from her as he could get.”

  “No one could talk any sense into her at that time. Believe me, we all tried, but it was like he had some hold over her. To this day I'll never figure out what it was. I don't even think she knew.”

  “Maybe it was fear,” George stated. “I've seen too many cases where the women are simply afraid that if they press charges the consequences will only be worse for them in the end.” He took a large gulp of coffee.

  Chapter 4

  Frankie rubbed her temples trying to make some sense out of everything her mother was saying. Her head was throbbing. Selma shifted back and forth from during Ellie's pregnancy to after the baby was born and back again. It made her head spin. She glanced at George who seemed surprisingly intrigued with Selma's memories. He had set the folder aside and was now leaning back in his chair listening intently. If he had any problem following her recollections, he didn't show it.

  “Did Ellie ever end things with Fellows?” Frankie finally asked hoping to get to the crux of the situation. “Or was this the pattern right up until the day she died?”

  Selma inhaled deeply. “Doug and Effie were convinced that she'd finally stopped all communication with him after the last time he'd beaten her and she hadn't pressed charges. I think they'd only tried to convince themselves. It was easier than facing the truth that she continued to lie repeatedly to them. They finally came to the end of their rope. They had a horrible row. Never before had I ever heard them raise their voices to one of their daughters, but enough was enough. They lost trust in her, but never the love they had for her. They would have laid down their own lives for either of their daughters…and for their granddaughter when she was born.”

  “What happened after the baby was born?” Frankie asked hoping to move on and put the pieces of her mother's memories in the proper order before her head exploded. She looked at Johanna, but now she, too, seemed as fascinated as George did with Selma's recollections. Great, this could go on for another hour. Her back was already stiff from sitting so long. She wanted to get to the office and then deliver the summonses. This was putting a big crimp in her plans for the day. She shifted in her seat.

  “When Alice came along, Doug and Effie were elated. Things seemed to settle down and Carson's name never came up. So all of us assumed that finally he was out of the picture permanently. They cherished their granddaughter, but they made it clear that the baby was Ellie's responsibility. They'd help out as much as they could, but she'd have to eventually stand on her own two feet. Of course, they'd always be there for her and Alice. They hoped that Ellie would take the responsibility of motherhood seriously and strive to be the best parent she could for her child.”

  “Did she?” George asked.

  “Yes. Ellie got a job, worked hard, and saved every spare dime. She doted on Alice and enjoyed taking care of her when she wasn't working.”

  “Did she ever try to get any type of child support from Carson?” Johanna inquired.

  “No. Even when Ellie had been sneaking around seeing him before she gave birth, Carson had never offered her one thin dime to help with any of the expenses. Ellie had made the decision not to ask for support. She finally seemed determined to keep him out of Alice's and her lives. And as far as Doug and Effie were concerned, it was just as well because if he paid support, he'd once again be in their lives. They settled into a comfortable pattern and it was as though Carson never existed. Life went on peacefully for quite a while.” Selma sighed. “Then all hell broke loose. A few months after Alice was born Doug and Effie found out that Ellie had named Carson as the father on the hospital certificate. They'd wanted her to put unknown.”

  Johanna cleared her throat. “I can understand Ellie's reasons for doing so. It's not like it is today. Half these young girls don't know who their baby's fathers are. I'm sure back then it would have caused even more of a scandal than her pregnancy did to have the father listed as unknown. Maybe she did it to spare Alice the shame.”

  “I'm sure that's what Ellie was thinking, but Effie would have rather had her suffer that disgrace than to admit that Carson Fellows was the father of that beautiful baby.” She paused. “It's not like it was a secret to anyone in town that Ellie was carrying his child or the abuse she'd suffered at his hands. Just the same, it was difficult for Effie to wrap her mind around the fact that a man like Carson could father such a beautiful child. She wanted to keep Carson Fellows as far away from Alice as possible. And she was determined to do just that.”

  “It makes sense. I don't blame her for wanting to keep her granddaughter away from Fellows,” Johanna agreed. She looked at Frankie. “He'd probably end up harming the baby.”

  Frankie nodded. They'd faced that scenario too many times on the Philadelphia Police Force. The bastard would sweet talk his way back into his ex's life and once there, the stresses only escalated with the addition of a baby. Most of the cases didn't fare well for the innocent defenseless baby when the abuser lost control. She'd been around the block enough times to know that most of them used the children to get the women to submit totally to them. It was sick. She felt sorry for the women, at first putting the blame equally on them, but in time came to realize they were trapped; trapped because of the fear of harm to their children if they left, but also fear of harm to their children if they stayed.

  Frankie stood, stretching. She studied George. He was worried. His face was drawn and he looked like he hadn't had a good night's sleep in weeks. There was more going on than he was telling. She was determined to get it out of him. He was holding something back. She'd have to wait until they finished the conversation with Selma. She refilled her coffee cup then sat back down.

  “You're absolutely right, Johanna,” Selma agreed. “Ellie told me once that looking at Alice's beautiful innocent face had to change even the most evil heart. A part of her still yearned to have a loving normal relationship with the father of her baby. I was afraid that she might be planning to contact Carson. I tried to convince her that the baby wasn't going to change what Carson was on the inside no matter how much she prayed it would. He was an evil, conniving, and manipulative man. Even the baby couldn't penetrate his black heart. As far as I know, Ellie never contacted him. I believed that Carson was truly out of her life for good. I certainly had no reason to doubt her.” She paused again. “Alice was such a beautiful child, a sweet tempered little girl and Doug, and Effie doted on her. We all believed Ellie had finally gotten Carson out of her system. She seemed happy and was moving on with her life. She got her GED, took some secretarial courses at the local college, and eventually found a very good job in Kraton. You know where Kraton is, Frankie.”

  “Yes. It was a nice quiet little town. A very close-knit community, if I remember.” Frankie ran her fingertips over the
edge of the desk. Johanna glanced at her, frowning.

  “It still is. Anyway, Ellie never, in all that time, as far as any of us knew, heard from Carson. It was as though he'd disappeared off the face of the earth. We were all relieved and life went on. Of course, though, rumors floated around that he'd found a new girlfriend and was planning to get married. Thankfully, Ellie didn't seem disturbed by it. If it bothered her, she never let on. I'd talked to her frequently and not once did she even mention his name. She was happy and had her life going in the right direction. Alice was the most important thing in her life and she was determined to give her a good life. As far as everyone was concerned, Carson Fellows didn't exist. Effie prayed that in time Ellie would meet a man who would love her and Alice the way they deserved to be loved. That's all any of us wanted.”

  “Selma, were there any reports or rumors around town that Fellows had molested any children during this time?”

  “No. At least nothing I'd ever heard.”

  “They probably were threatened not to tell,” Johanna added.

  “How did Fellows come back into her life?” George asked.

  Frankie glanced at George. He scribbled notes onto a note pad. Over the years, George had developed a fondness for both of the investigators' mothers. That endeared the older man even more closely to her heart. She was surprised that he sat patiently, intrigued by Selma's recollections. She wondered why any of this was important now. Fellows was wandering around threatening those that had put him behind bars. That's all Frankie's mind wanted to center on. The rest she could sift through later.

  “I'll never forget that day. It was horrible. Out of the blue Ellie was served with court papers. It came as a total shock. Carson insisted he'd been denied his parental rights and wanted to see his daughter and have an active part in her life.” She grunted. “Ellie hired a lawyer, but there was nothing much she could do. As the father, he had rights to spend time with his daughter. Doug and Effie were furious. I don't know who they were angrier with—the judge who'd granted visitation rights or Ellie for never pressing charges years before. The judge might have seen visitation for Carson differently if only Ellie had told him about her violent past with Carson. She'd never mentioned any of it to the judge nor would she allow her lawyer to. I truly believe that since Carson had filed for his rights it was a sign that he wanted Alice in his life after all. I suppose she thought he'd straighten out for good once he developed a relationship with Alice. When he didn't, that's when she decided to take the job in Kraton. At least she could put some distance between them. She figured after a while he'd get sick of making the trip to Kraton twice a month to pick up Alice.” She paused. “But he didn't.”

  “Let me see if I follow this, Selma. Fellows received visitation rights because Ellie wouldn't allow his past treatment of her to be brought up?” George's expression showed his disgust.

  “That's right. As I said, now this is only my opinion mind you, I think that somewhere buried deep down she still believed there was hope for Carson to have a normal relationship with his daughter even though there was no hope for her to have one with him. I believe that she, herself, no longer wanted a relationship with him. But now his daughter was a different story. A thought just occurred to me. Possibly that was why she didn't bring up her past with him to the judge. She may have thought it wouldn't be fair to Alice to deprive her of a possible relationship with her father since the troubles were between Ellie and Carson.”

  Frankie rubbed her jaw. “So, you're saying he treated Alice well.”

  “In the beginning. But we all noticed that he started becoming very short tempered with her. He had no patience for the little things that were normal for a child to do. I know Ellie worried herself sick every time Alice went with her father for the weekend. She'd mope around and was very nervous.”

  “So when she realized he wasn't going to change and may start acting violent towards Alice, she decided to distance Alice from him.” Frankie squinted. “I'll bet she wishes she would have told the judge everything.”

  “We'll never know. But she did take the job and seemed happy in Kraton. She was making good money, had a nice apartment, and was making friends. Effie and Doug, of course, missed her and their granddaughter terribly. They drove to Kraton every other weekend to spend time with Ellie and Alice.”

  “Did Fellows ever get married?” George asked.

  Selma grunted. “No. I think that, too, was just a rumor he started to upset Ellie.”

  George rubbed his chin. “Selma, do you know the details of what really happened the day Ellie was murdered? Maybe something Effie mentioned? Or the events leading up to that day? Was anything unusual going on concerning Fellows? Anything Effie might have mentioned she was concerned about?”

  Selma cleared her throat. “It was horrible. Carson had brought Alice home that Sunday evening after his weekend visit. I remember Effie rushing over late that night to tell us that she and Doug were going to Kraton because something had happened to Alice. She was frantic and didn't give me any details, but asked us to keep an eye on their trailer. I was worried sick. We thought she'd been injured or was sick.”

  “They didn't call from Kraton?” Johanna asked. “Just to let you know that Alice hadn't been injured? Since you were so close it seems that would have almost been expected.”

  “No. We thought it odd, too, that they didn't. We could have called Ellie, but we didn't want to pry. We figured it was something very personal going on. And we also didn't know if Alice had been injured or worse, possibly they weren't ready to talk to anyone. Anyway, when they returned a couple of days later they told us that the baby had been molested and the police were looking for Carson. We were shocked. As rotten as that man was, we never dreamed he would harm his own child.”

  Frankie's hands balled into fists as she listened. Now her full attention was on what her mother was imparting. Her lips drew tight and her shoulders stiffened.

  “They'd only come home long enough to take care of a few things and were going straight back to Kraton the following day,” Selma continued. “Ellie was planning to stay with a co-worker until her parents returned. She was going to pick up a few things for her and Alice from her apartment after work on Monday before picking Alice up from her daycare and heading to her friend's house.” Selma's voice began to wobble at the end.

  Frankie knew that remembering that horrific event had to be tearing her apart. “Mom, if this is too much—”

  “No…no, it's fine, honey,” Selma interrupted softly. She drew a shaky breath. “Carson somehow managed to get into Ellie's apartment. He waited for her to come home from work. When she returned, he attacked her. He beat her so badly that she was almost unrecognizable. But that wasn't enough. He grabbed a butcher knife and…and,” her voice choked in sobs.

  “Selma, you don't have to finish this,” George said gently.

  Selma blew her nose. “No, I'll be okay. That didn't even seem to be enough so he shot her five times.” Selma's voice quivered. “I'll never forget that day as long as I live. The minute I opened the door and saw the look on Doug and Effie's faces I knew something was terribly wrong, but never in a million years did I expect them to tell me that Ellie had been brutally murdered. Effie collapsed in a state of shock. She was hospitalized for a few days. We took care of Alice for them until after Ellie's funeral. If it weren't for Alice, I don't think Effie would have survived. That little girl was the only thing that kept her going. But Effie was never the same after that. I didn't know how she could be.”

  “Alice continued to live with the Akrons?” the Sheriff asked.

  “Yes. Effie and Doug eventually got full custody of her. She was a happy well-adjusted child. She and Frankie were best friends. I never noticed any problems with her. She was a sweet, sensitive, and very loving child. Thank God she was too young to remember what had happened to her mother and father. I often wondered when she got older how Effie and Doug would tell her.”

  “That definitely wouldn
't be easy,” Johanna observed. “You never found out Alice's reaction?”

  “No. One day when Alice was about six, Doug and Effie told us they were moving. We were shocked. But, of course, we understood. They wanted to be closer to Barbara and their other grandchildren. They promised to get in touch with us as soon as they were settled, but we never heard from them again.” She sighed deeply. “I suppose looking back that they just wanted to cut ties entirely with Bradford and all the bad memories Carson had caused.” She cleared her throat. “And I suppose somehow we became mixed in with everything they were trying to escape from. We never took it personally, but I certainly did miss Effie. She'd become my closest friend over the years.”

  “People do strange things when they're grieving,” Johanna said softly.

  “Yes, they do,” Selma agreed. “I only wish that they'd gotten in touch at some point just to let us know they were okay. We missed them terribly.”

  “When exactly, during all of this that was going on, did Fellows attempt to molest Frankie?” George's forehead creased as he jotted some notes.

  “It was a few days before he molested Alice.” She exhaled loudly. “We filed charges, but the judge let him out on bail, which his family promptly posted. Effie and Doug were livid. It wasn't until after Ellie and then Alice's pediatrician filed the report against Carson that the police put out an all- points bulletin for his immediate arrest. But that didn't help Ellie.” She sighed heavily. “If only he'd been kept behind bars for what he did to you, Frankie, maybe Ellie would still be alive today. If only the other parents had come forward sooner about what he'd done to their children. But like I stated, everyone was afraid of that family.”