DON'T LIE TO ME: Eva Rae Thomas Mystery #1

by Rose, Willow

  Chapter 57

  "FIRE!"

  I had barely set foot inside the house before Alex jumped out in front of me, screaming the word. I grabbed my chest.

  "Alex! You scared me!"

  The boy swung his ax in the air, making noises like he was smashing a window, then ran off.

  "Oh, good, you're home," Christine said as I entered the kitchen and put down my computer. She was eating cereal and handed me the empty milk jug. "We're out of milk. Again."

  "Awesome," I said and threw the jug in the recycle bin.

  "And we're out of clean underwear too. All of us."

  I nodded and sat down on a stool next to her by the counter. "I see. And how was your day?"

  She shrugged. "Normal."

  "And school?"

  She shrugged again and looked at her phone. "Usual."

  I nodded, then looked at my watch. I could still make it to Publix before dinner and put in a load of laundry.

  "Dad called today," she said like it was the most natural thing in the world. My eyes grew wide.

  "Excuse me?"

  "He called me. From Greece. Said he was coming home in two days. He wants to see us when he comes back. Can we go up there next weekend?"

  "He wants to see you?" I asked, startled.

  "That's what I just said," she said, annoyed.

  "Well, I just…" I stopped myself. I couldn't really tell her that I had thought he didn't want to see them, but that was silly. I could see that now. Of course, he wanted to see them on weekends and vacations from time to time. He was, after all, their father. They had once been his entire life. What he didn't want anymore was the workload, all the trouble it was to take care of them.

  "So, can we go?"

  "Sure," I said.

  She smiled. "Good. I can't wait to see him and hear about his trip. You think he bought us something?"

  I nodded. "I’m sure he did."

  She smiled again. "He better."

  Christine finished her cereal, then left the kitchen, still playing some game on her phone. I chuckled, then decided to make the trip to Publix when my phone rang. It was from Alex's school. That was never a good sign. I picked it up.

  "Eva Rae Thomas."

  It was Alex's teacher, Miss Melanie. She sounded serious, and I braced myself for what Alex had gotten himself into now.

  "We need to talk," she said. "Can you come in tomorrow? Say, around eleven o'clock?"

  I swallowed and felt my hands go clammy. I knew Alex wasn't easy and wondered what he had been up to now.

  "Sure," I said. "May I ask what this is about?"

  "I prefer we talk about it when you come. See you tomorrow."

  I put the phone down, feeling like I had just been called to the principal's office. I sighed, then walked up to Christine and told her to look after her baby brother while I went to Publix. On my way out the door, I texted Olivia and asked her what she was doing, why she hadn't come home from school yet, then received the answer that she had volleyball practice and that I really should know these things by now.

  Chapter 58

  Maddie stared at the letters scratched into the wall.

  Sydney.

  She couldn't stop wondering about this girl and who she was. Where was she now? Had she gone home to her mom? Was she back with her friends, back in school again, and was everything back to normal again? Maddie would give anything for normal right now. She would love to be able to go to school again, even to be faced with Gareth and his bullies. Even they would be better than what she was facing now.

  The person inside the box had grown quiet, and there hadn't been a sound coming from in there all day. She wondered if this person was still in there at all. She had scratched on the outside of the box several times, but there had been no response. It felt devastating to Maddie because she felt like she had just found this person, she had just realized she wasn't alone in this, and yet now she somehow was again.

  I miss my mommy. Why can't I just go home to her?

  Maddie wondered if this was all her own fault. Maybe it was some sort of punishment? But for what? Could it be for breaking her mother's watch and not telling her about it? Could it be for the bad grades she had on her last report card and because she had signed it for her mommy because she didn't come home in time? And maybe because she didn't want her to see it because she'd only get mad at her because she wanted so badly for her to do better in life than she had?

  Or was it because it was all her fault that her dad had left and that her mother had to work as a hooker? That's what Gareth and his friends had told her it was called. A dirty hooker. Did that mean Maddie was dirty too?

  Maddie sniffled, then looked out under the blindfold, when suddenly there was a sound coming from outside the door. Maddie knew these sounds by now. The scrambling, the rustling, then the opening of locks, and soon the creaking of the door, followed by the heavy footsteps.

  She knew the procedure by heart, and it always filled her with the greatest terror. Maddie gasped and realized she wouldn't be able to get back into her corner, so instead, she crumpled up into a ball by the opposite wall. The footsteps walking across the floor were determined, but they didn't come close to her. Instead, they walked to the box, then stopped. Out of the small crack under her blindfold, she could see a dolly being inserted underneath the box and it being lifted into the air, then rolled across the carpet toward the door. Maddie gasped as she saw it disappear out the door, then the door being slammed shut again behind it and the sound of it being locked.

  Maddie sobbed when she realized that now she was actually all alone again. The person in the box was gone. She didn't know what this meant. Did the person get to go back to his or her family? Or was he…or she…?

  Maddie didn't dare to finish the thought. Instead, she crumpled up on the floor next to the name on the wall, then cried till she exhausted herself so much that she fell asleep.

  Chapter 59

  I grabbed three gallons of milk to make sure we could make it for a few days before I had to shop again, then got the rest of the items on my grocery list, and even added some candy for the kids. To sweeten their lives a little. I knew I was going to end up eating most of it, but I bought it anyway. Halloween was coming up at the end of the month, and you had to have sweets in your house.

  I spotted him in aisle three. He was looking at cereal, holding a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch out and putting it in his cart. I wondered who in his household ate that.

  Phillip Anderson spotted me as I came closer and took two boxes of Cheerios.

  "What? Are you stalking me now?" he asked. His nose looked swollen and crooked. It was still purple in places.

  I looked into his cart. There was a roll of duct tape and zip tie strips. "To put up Halloween decorations," he said.

  "I’m just getting cereal for my kids," I said.

  "You're lucky I don't press charges; do you know that?" he asked.

  "Well, I could say the same about you. How did you convince her not to, huh? Did you tell her you'd beat her even more?"

  Phillip looked at me, his teeth gritted. "I wasn't even with her when it happened."

  I wrinkled my forehead. "You're lying!"

  "You think you know me, huh?" he asked. "You've never even talked to me properly. You just come down here and start judging me. You have no idea who I am and what I am capable of."

  "Wow. That sounded almost like a threat," I said.

  He growled. "Argh, it doesn’t matter what I say to you. You'll just twist it anyway. Don't you get it? I didn't hurt Dawn. I love her. I don't understand what happened. Yesterday, we were dating and having a wonderful time, and then suddenly today I hear she's in the hospital and everyone thinks I put her there. I’ve tried to call her, but her mom keeps answering the phone, telling me to stay away from her. I am completely freaking out, and I have my daughter coming this weekend, and I was hoping they'd meet. What if she hears these stories too? About me beating Dawn up?"

  I pau
sed. "Well…didn't you?"

  "No! That's what I’ve been trying to say all this time. Even my colleagues at the station won't believe me. Everyone in this stupid town thinks I beat her up."

  "Wait…Why should I believe you?" I said.

  He threw out his arms. "I wasn't even with her last night. She was going home for dinner with her parents. I had coffee with her at Juice N' Java at three o'clock and then she kissed me and told me we'd see each other tomorrow. She had promised her mom she'd take her dad for a walk. He's in a wheelchair, you know? They like to drive out to Lori Wilson Park, and she helps him get all the way down to the beach. He loves it there. He misses the ocean."

  "He was an excellent surfer back in the day," I said, remembering Dawn's dad in the lineup. It was always spectacular to watch him do tricks on his longboard. I chewed on this new information while my eyes locked with Phillip’s, wondering what the heck was going on. If Phillip hadn't put Dawn in the hospital, then who had?

  I left Phillip in the aisle, then rushed to the checkout, holding the phone between my shoulder and my ear while calling Melissa.

  Chapter 60

  Melissa told me Dawn had been discharged from the hospital and that she was staying with her parents, so her mother could take care of her. I drove to their house and parked in the driveway, my heart racing in my chest. What was going on here? I kept wondering.

  I grabbed a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and walked up to her door, then rang the doorbell. Her mother opened it.

  "Eva Rae? What a nice surprise." She wiped her hands on a dishtowel, then opened the door for me to enter. "I put her in her old room."

  "How is she?" I asked.

  Her mother shook her head and looked down. "Not good."

  "Can I go see her?"

  "Yes, yes, of course. Go ahead. You know your way."

  I did. It was strange how being there again brought back so many memories and emotions I had completely forgotten. Inside her parents’ house, it was as if time had stood still. Even the smell was the same as it had been back then. The furniture was all in the same place.

  I knocked lightly on Dawn's old door, then peeked inside.

  "Hey there."

  "Eva Rae!"

  She sat up in the bed, but I could tell by her strained face that she was in pain.

  "I brought you chocolates," I said and handed her the bag.

  She smiled. I opened the pack and fed her one. She could barely get it inside her swollen lips and winced in pain from where they were cracked. As she opened her mouth, I could tell that two of her front teeth were chipped.

  I stuffed my mouth with two pieces at the same time, trying to suppress my desire to burst into tears. Dawn chewed cautiously, but it seemed to be more pain than pleasure for her.

  "You want another one?" I asked.

  She shook her head, and I exhaled, then ate another chocolate. I had a knot in my stomach, and a big part of me just wanted to run out of there, but I had to have some answers. I had to know what was going on with her. Something wasn't right.

  "I punched Phillip," I said and grabbed her hand in mine.

  "No!" she said, her swollen eyes lingering on me.

  "Yes," I said with a chuckle. "Hit him right on the nose. I was that mad at him for what he did to you."

  She slumped her head, and her eyes looked away.

  "Dawn?" I paused. I really didn't want to ask about this, but I had to. "It wasn't him, was it? He didn't do this to you, did he?"

  Dawn lifted her head and glared at me from inside the small cracks between her swollen eyelids. I could tell she was contemplating what to say to me. I let her think it over.

  "It was never any of them, was it?" I asked and held her hand tightly in mine. "All the times you ended up in the hospital. It was never your boyfriends."

  Her eyes lingered on me still; her nostrils were flaring lightly. I could tell she was getting agitated, scared even.

  I leaned closer and squeezed her hand tightly. "It's okay, Dawn. You can tell me. I remember how your dad used to beat you when we were children. My guess is the abuse never stopped. Am I right? Is it still him?"

  Dawn's nostrils flared violently now, and she shook her head.

  "It's okay, Dawn," I said. "You can tell me everything."

  Dawn shook her head fiercely now and was breathing heavily. Her eyes were staring at me and fear seemed to be spiraling through her.

  "What's wrong?" I asked, then turned to look at what was behind me. I barely managed to duck before the crowbar whooshed through the air and hit me on the shoulder. I screamed and fell to the floor, then looked up at Dawn's mother, who was hovering above me.

  "This is my daughter," she almost screamed at me. "You're not going to take my daughter away from me, do you hear me?"

  She swung the crowbar again, and it whistled through the air, then hit my arm. I screamed in pain.

  "MOM, NO!"

  Dawn screamed from behind me as her mother jammed the crowbar down on me once again, barely missing me as I rolled to the side. As I did, I reached down my leg and found my weapon and pulled it out of the ankle holster, then pointed it at her.

  "Stop, Vivian," I panted. "It's over."

  The woman's wild eyes glared down at me, and I could tell she didn't care. She swung the crowbar once again, and I fired my gun, hitting her in the shoulder. The shock was so great that she dropped the crowbar, then fell backward and landed against the dresser, her eyes struck with deep fear. I rose to my feet, still pointing the gun at her as she sank to the floor, blood gushing out of her wound.

  Chapter 61

  "So, it was her the entire time?"

  Melissa handed me a bottle of water, and I drank greedily, wishing it was something a little stronger. I was sitting with Dawn, who was still crying heavily. I couldn't get her to stop. I had given my statement to the police, and Dawn's mother had been taken away in an ambulance. The paramedics had also tended to my bruises. They wanted me to go in for an x-ray to see if anything was broken, but I told them I had to go home. I felt okay. I was sore and in pain, but I didn't think anything was broken.

  Dawn nodded and looked up at Melissa. "I am so sorry, you guys. I should have…I should have told you. I lied to you."

  "I can't believe it," Melissa said.

  I nodded. "Me either. All those years, we believed it was your father who had beaten you up and…you were just covering for your mother?"

  Dawn looked away. Tears spilled onto her bedcovers, and she wiped them away.

  "Over the years, it got worse," she said. "And as I grew older, I began saying it was my boyfriends. I didn't mean to lie or get them in trouble. It was just easier that way."

  "And because it was too embarrassing to tell anyone that your mother still beat you," Melissa said.

  "Using a crowbar, apparently," I said, feeling my sore shoulder.

  "I…I tried to get away from her. I tried to stop visiting, but she was just…she had such a stronghold on me. It was like I was powerless. I don't know how she did it, but she always made me come back. She would guilt trip me or tell me my dad was sick, and then when I came to see him, she beat me. It was actually better if I came often because then she wouldn't touch me for a long time unless I upset her somehow. It was worst when I had boyfriends. She got so jealous and would tell me I was worthless, that he would leave me, that no one would ever marry me. I tried to hide them from her, but somehow, she always found out. A neighbor would tell her that she saw me with someone downtown or she would follow me in her car and see us together. And then she would become this monster, yelling at me that I wanted to leave her, that I was a loser and that I was destroying the family and making my dad upset. It was actually mostly to see him that I ever came home. I felt like I needed to be there for him. He was the one who was really trapped here with her."

  "Wait…she put him in the wheelchair?" I asked.

  Dawn nodded. "He was about to leave her. After so many years of abuse, he was a broken man, and th
en one day, he finally found the courage to stand up to her. She pushed him down the stairs, and he landed in the wrong way, getting paralyzed from the waist down."

  "That way, she made sure he never could leave her, that he was forever dependent on her. Just like she made sure you were," I said. "If you never had a boyfriend, you'd never leave her. So, she destroyed every relationship you ever had. It was a way for her to control you."

  "I still…I can't…It's sick. I can't believe I never saw this," Melissa said. "I just thought…I always thought you found these bad guys. I had no idea what you were going through, Dawn. I feel terrible. Poor you."

  "It wasn't your fault," Dawn said, smiling between tears.

  I couldn't hold mine back anymore either and, a few seconds later, we all three joined in a hug until Dawn groaned in pain and we had to let go of her.

  "No more secrets," I said, wiping my tears away. "You hear me? The three of us, we need each other, and we can't be of help if we're not honest."

  "Okay," Melissa said with a deep sniffle. "That's a deal."

  "You start by telling us what's going on with Matt. And be honest," she said laughing.

  I blew my nose, then threw the tissue at her.

  "I do know one thing, though," I said. "I owe Phillip a major apology."

  Dawn exhaled deeply. "So do I. If anyone owes him one, it must be me."

  Chapter 62

  I had called my dad and asked him to be with the kids till I got back. It was late, and they were all asleep as I entered the house. Even my dad was napping on my couch in the living room, snoring loudly.

  I woke him with a kiss on the forehead. He smiled happily. "You're back?"

  I nodded and sat down with a deep sigh. He sat up and folded his hands. "That bad, huh?"

  "Worse," I said. "I'll tell you about it another day. Right now, I am beat and just want to go to bed. Thanks for coming over."