"She took them most likely to pawn," Jake said.
"That’s what I figured," Maya agreed. "She works as a hostess at a casino and she called in telling them she was taking a two-week vacation. According to her boss, she won’t have a job when she comes back," she added. "Her car was found abandoned on the outskirts of Mobile, Alabama. The same day, a car was reported stolen in the same area—a brown sedan."
"Let me guess, the license plate matches the one that followed me to Shelburne," Jake said.
"Yep."
Jake sighed. "Have you had any luck tracking down Lewis Park?" he asked Arch Keller.
"Nothing yet. Apparently he turned his life around, joined the Peace Corps. He’s stationed somewhere in the jungles of Rwanda, but no one has heard from him in weeks."
#
Violet was climbing the walls. Trapped in her own home, she wasn’t allowed outside even to walk Zeus. The poor dog had been confined to doing his business in the fenced-in backyard. Usually that wouldn’t have been a problem but with four feet of snow on the ground, the pooch had a hard time trudging through the heavy white blanket. She watched as he circled and circled, looking for the perfect spot. She thought he found it, only to watch as he circled some more.
"Ms. Anastasia?"
Violet turned to the young freckled-face cop who was installing taps on her phone. "Yes?"
Concern etched his features as he struggled to pose his question. "How long have you lived in this house?"
"Not quite six months. Why?"
"Well," he began, only to be interrupted by a low voice.
"Violet?"
"In the kitchen."
Jake appeared and she reigned in her impulse to leap into his arms since they had an audience. He greeted the officer.
"Mr. Kincaid, I um, have some distressing news."
Violet caught the flash of apprehension cross his face before he covered it. "What is it?"
"I was in the process of setting up Ms. Anastasia’s wire taps and I found this." He held up a small black object, no larger than a fingernail.
Jake swore.
Violet glanced between the two men. "What is it?"
"Someone beat us to the punch," Jake answered.
#
"I think it’s time you told me about your stepfather," Jake said after everyone else had left and they were alone.
Violet wanted to tell him, but actually doing so was hard. Taking a seat on the sofa, her mind drifted back twenty years earlier to her turbulent childhood.
It was late summer and Violet had been invited to a slumber party at a neighbor’s house. She didn’t want to go, partly because she and SueLyn Borne had never been friends, but for the most part, she didn’t want to leave her younger sister alone. Daisy had been withdrawn lately, refusing to play or do any of the things she once enjoyed. Her mother insisted she attend the party. That SueLyn was a spoiled brat didn’t matter. She was a councilman’s daughter and Loretta worried about appearances. She even bought Violet new pajamas, a sleeping bag and a pink Barbie suitcase on wheels. It wasn’t affection for her daughter that made her purchase the new items. It was all for show.
Loretta dropped Violet off on her way to a lady’s social, one of the must-do’s in their small community. Anyone who was anyone went and now that Loretta hit the big time with Willie Jack Kinney and his money, she never missed one.
Violet stood on the porch, afraid to knock. She knew the other girls didn’t want her there. Loretta honked the horn and when Violet turned around, she made a shooing motion with her hand. Rolling down the window she hollered, "Knock on the door, dammit." Violet faced the house and inhaled deeply before pressing the glowing white button next to the handle. SueLyn’s mom opened the door with a big smile, waved to Loretta and propelled Violet into the living room. A dozen pairs of eyes stared at her with undisguised contempt and she bit her lower lip to keep from crying. She was already self-conscious and being forced into this situation only reinforced her feelings.
SueLyn’s mom breezed over. "Here, honey, put your things there. The girls are just getting ready to play some games."
A wave of fear swept over her when she glanced at the sneaky faces of the other girls in the room.
"Yes, Violet. Come sit right here. We have saved a special place for you," SueLyn sang out sugary-sweet as she patted the ground beside her.
Hesitatingly, Violet walked over and sat next to the hostess. The other girls wore suspicious smiles. "We are going to play ‘Truth or Dare,’" SueLyn announced. "You get to go first."
"M-me?" Her voice wavered. "Why do I have to go first?"
"Because it’s my party and I say so," SueLyn chirped, a wicked glint in her eyes. "Truth or dare, Violet?"
Violet looked around at the other girls and knew the dare would be something horrible. She opened her mouth but SueLyn interrupted. "I’ll make it easy. I’ll tell you what the dare is and if you don’t want to do it, you have to pick truth."
Violet nodded, knowing this was some kind of trick.
"The dare is that you have to go upstairs to my older brother Keith’s room and kiss him on the lips."
Violet gasped while the other girls giggled. SueLyn’s brother was eight years older, a senior in high school. He was the star of the football team and every girl within a fifty mile radius had a crush on him, her included. He was always nice to her and sometimes talked to her when he came over to mow their lawn, but she could not kiss him. She was too shy.
A thought struck. Maybe she could pretend she kissed him. The girls would never have to know. She started to say she would do it but SueLyn cut her off again.
"Just to make this a true dare, Carrie and I will go with you to make sure you actually kiss him."
Violet’s shoulders slumped, her heart sinking to her stomach. "Truth."
SueLyn clapped her hands together and shared a knowing smile with the other girls. They all covered their mouths and giggled expectantly. "Is it true that your mom is nothing but a whore who sleeps around and you grew up in a mobile home, making you and your bratty sister nothing but slutty trailer trash?"
The look of triumph on SueLyn’s face shook Violet almost as much as her cruel words. She didn’t know much about sex, her mom had never bothered to tell her anything, but she knew what a whore was and having SueLyn call her mom that and calling her and her sister trailer trash was an unexpected blow. She closed her eyes to block out the laughing faces of the other girls.
They had lived in a trailer when her dad was alive. He worked hard at a construction job but her mom spent all of his money on herself, so they could never afford much. Her dad had made sure his daughters were happy though. He built a tree house and he took them to the zoo and played games with them. Her mother was never home. She was probably sleeping around, just like SueLyn said.
"Well?" SueLyn prompted, using her foot to nudge Violet. "Is it true, slutty trailer trash?"
Violet felt like a dry, brittle leaf caught in the eye of a storm. She crushed her palms to her ears to stop the laughter from echoing through her head until finally, she couldn’t take the taunting. She got up and ran out of the house, leaving her new Barbie suitcase and sleeping bag behind. She was out the door, her long black hair flowing behind like a cape, halfway down the steps when she ran into something hard. Strong arms reached out and kept her from falling.
"Whoa, sweetheart. Where are you off to in such a hurry?"
Violet looked up into the smiling face of SueLyn’s older brother. Keith hadn’t even been home. SueLyn had to know that. She deliberately made up a dare that she knew Violet wouldn’t accept and even if she did, couldn’t carry out. SueLyn wanted to humiliate her in front of all the other girls.
With tears streaming down her face, she sobbed, "Home."
"Hey now, don’t cry. What would a pretty girl like you have to be sad about?" He wiped the tears from her face. Violet looked up at him, her purple eyes shimmering and blurted out that his sister had made fun of her and laughed
at her.
"My sister is a spoiled brat. Don’t let anything she says get to you, okay?" Violet nodded but that was just for Keith’s benefit. The words had permanently scarred her young heart.
"Come-on. I’ll walk you home." Keith took off his letter jacket and draped it across Violet’s shoulders and then put his arm around her and led her to her house. "My sister is just jealous of you because you're so beautiful."
Violet tripped but Keith’s arm kept her from pitching face first into the sidewalk. Keith thought she was beautiful! No one had ever told her that except for her dad, but he didn’t count. He loved her. Her mother had certainly never said it. She was always fussing over Violet’s hair getting tangled or telling her to put on sunglasses because her eyes were too big. She truly thought she was ugly. But Keith didn’t. Her pre-teen heart thumped in her chest. Why, oh why couldn’t she be older?
A new determination stole through her. She was going to try her hardest to grow up so she could be with Keith. Surely if she put on a little makeup, or dressed more like her mother, he would want to be with her. Violet stole a glance at his handsome face and pretended that she was his girlfriend.
Too soon they came to her house. Keith bypassed the front door and escorted her to the back. It was unusually dark for this hour and a feeling of unease crept over her. Standing in the shadows, Violet was suddenly nervous. "T-thank you for the jacket, and for walking me home," she stammered. She handed him the coat and reached for the door. Keith’s hand stopped her.
"Looks like no one’s home here and it’s early yet. What do you say we enjoy ourselves, hum?" Before she realized his intent, Keith pinned her against the brick house, his mouth slammed down on hers. He kissed her roughly, savagely, with no finesse. Shocked, Violet gasped and he took advantage and shoved his tongue inside her mouth. She gagged as she struggled against him, fighting to get free.
Keith grabbed her flailing arms and anchored them to her sides. Leering at her with a condescending grin, he said, "Why are you fighting me, sweet thing? Everyone knows you are a slut just like your mother." His lips crushed hers again.
Violet’s heart sobbed. Keith was no white knight, coming to her rescue. With all her strength, she jerked her knee straight up into his groin, just like her dad taught her to do.
Keith released her with an agonized moan and fell to the ground, his hands covering his crotch. Violet didn’t spare him a backward glance. She jerked the handle and ran into the house, not even realizing the door wasn’t locked. She slid the deadbolt in place, her heart hammering in her chest. If she hadn’t managed to get away, Keith would have raped her.
She struggled to control the sob welling in her throat. She wanted to lock herself in her room and cry but she needed to check on Daisy.
The house was quiet - deathly quiet. As she tiptoed upstairs, she heard muffled cries and an odd-sounding grunting noise. A dim light winked under Daisy’s door. Violet pushed it open and gasped. Her little sister was lying on the bed, her big green eyes staring into space. Something was stuffed into her mouth, her small body naked. Her stepdad was crouched over her, pinning her arms over her head, moaning.
A primal scream rose from her throat. "No!"
Violet flew at her stepdad, battering him with her tiny fists. He spun around, surprised. "What the hell are you doing home you little shit?" He reached out and backhanded her so hard she flew against the wall. "You were supposed to be over at the Bourne’s house."
Momentarily stunned, Violet shook off the sting and jumped to her feet. Her hands balled into fists, her whole body shook with rage. "Get off of her you monster."
She pummeled him repeatedly, forcing him away from Daisy, who hurriedly crawled up the bed and curled into a ball.
"Now you’ve done it, you little shit." Willie Jack grabbed Violet before she could get away. She kicked and screamed, but he was too strong. He threw her on the bed and crammed his other sock in her mouth. He restrained her arms above her head with one hand, his naked lower body pinned her to the bed. His pee-pee pointed straight at her, mocking her. With one move, he ripped the clothes off her body.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"
Violet was appalled to have him look at her newly budding body. Her breasts weren’t much, but she asked Loretta for a training bra since all the other girls had them. Loretta refused, of course.
Willie Jack’s cold hand came down over her small breasts and Violet fought the urge to vomit, knowing she would choke to death. A fear like no other gripped her. He was bigger, stronger than Keith. She would not be able to get away from him. Willie Jack pushed her legs apart with his knees and grabbed his pee-pee. She felt the tip touch her between the legs when an earsplitting scream filled the air.
"What the…" Willie Jack spun around just as Daisy flew at him, a baseball bat in her hand. The bat slammed into Willie Jack’s face.
"Aahh," Willie Jack yelled as blood spurted from his nose and mouth. Daisy was still screaming. She pounded Willie Jack with the bat, hitting him in the head over and over until he slumped motionless to the ground.
"Daisy, stop! Come with me." Violet grabbed her little sister’s hand and tugged their robes from the hook hanging on the door. They ran outside to their next door neighbor’s house and banged on the door. When Mrs. Stansfield, opened the door, Violet blurted out the entire story.
"You girls come in here right now," the elderly woman said, ushering the two inside. "I have to call the police."
She called nine-one-one while Violet and Daisy huddled together on the sofa. Soon red and blue light filtered in through the windows as police surrounded the house next door. Mrs. Stansfield clutched Violet and Daisy’s hands and guided them outside to the porch. A few minutes later, cops brought a now-conscious Willie Jack out on a stretcher. His face was a bloody mess and someone had draped a blanket over his ugly, naked body.
Willie Jack looked over at the two little girls standing frightened on the neighboring porch. He pointed a meaty finger in their direction. "I’ll get you both for this. I ain’t done nothing wrong. You hit me while I was sleeping. They hit me while I was sleeping." He was pleading for the cops to listen. "Those bitches are lying. I want my lawyer," he shouted as they wheeled him into the waiting ambulance. As they were lifting him in, Loretta screeched to a stop in the driveway and jumped out of the car.
"Willie Jack, Willie Jack, what happened? Are you all right?" She rushed to her husband’s side.
"Those damn bitches of yours attacked me while I was sleeping, hit me with a bat. Now they are trying to say I raped them or something."
Loretta gasped, her hand flying to her chest. "My girls? Why would they do such a hideous thing?"
"You better get them to shut the hell up and drop the charges or we’re through."
Loretta gasped again, her eyes darting around in panic. When she spotted Violet and Daisy, they narrowed dangerously. "I’ll talk to them." She fumbled in her purse for a cigarette and lit one with shaky fingers. Slamming the lighter in her purse, she stomped over to where they sat perched on a step, unbridled anger mottling her face. Mrs. Stansfield stretched a protective arm across both girls. Two cops were crouched in front, asking questions as they scribbled in notebooks.
"What the hell is going on?" Loretta boomed. "No one is talking to my girls. I can clear up this misunderstanding."
Daisy moaned woefully and started rocking, her arms hugging her waist. Violet tightened her grip on her little sister.
"Misunderstanding?" Mrs. Stansfield pushed to her feet. "Mrs. Kinney, your young, innocent daughters were molested tonight by your husband. Haven’t you any compassion?" she asked incredulously.
"My girls tend to exaggerate," Loretta said as she stuck the cigarette in her mouth and inhaled. "I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation. Willie Jack would never do such a thing," she managed between puffs.
One of the cops, himself a father with daughters, stood and flashed a look of utter contempt at Loretta. "Ma’am, we are taking th
ese girls to the hospital to have them examined. If we find evidence of rape, your husband will be charged, and I will personally throw him in jail with pleasure. Now I suggest you cooperate or you will be arrested either as an accessory or for obstruction of justice, or hell, child neglect. Depends on how generous I’m feeling."
Loretta gave the cop a distasteful look. "Well, I’m sure the doctor won’t find anything. Like I said, these girls tend to embellish everything, little drama queens. They ain’t nothing but trouble," she added under her breath, her lips puckered around the nicotine stick.
Violet and Daisy rode to the hospital in the back of a police car with Mrs. Stansfield, who provided the support that should have come from their mother. Loretta drove herself, saying she had to "freshen up" first, not once offering comfort to her traumatized daughters. Meanwhile, Violet was deeply concerned about Daisy. She hadn’t spoken a word since the ordeal and her eyes had a vacant, dead look about them. She was still rocking and Violet’s worrying intensified.
Once they arrived at the hospital, the girls were separated into different rooms. A doctor and nurse preformed a thorough and very intrusive examination. Violet had bruises on her wrists, chest where Willie Jack had squeezed her breasts, and small tears around the opening of her vagina, but since he hadn’t actually penetrated, she didn’t have more severe damage. Daisy wasn’t as lucky. Willie Jack had torn her little body up so much, they didn’t know if she would ever be able to have children. They were convinced this wasn’t the first time he had violated her. Sadly, Violet realized why her sister had been so distant the past few weeks. Guilt washed over her, more guilt than any ten-year old should ever have to feel.
After the exam, Mrs. Stansfield was allowed in the room as one of the policemen asked more questions. Violet repeated what happened over and over and was so tired, she wanted to do nothing but sleep. Once she was finally finished, a nurse took her to visit Daisy, who was being kept in the hospital to treat her injuries. Daisy rolled away from Violet when she entered the room and the nurse told her that she still hadn’t spoken.
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