Small Town Corruption

by Liz Turner

  Dana chuckled. “Well, where are they going to go? They’ll come back when they’re ready.” Just as she finished her sentence, she saw the little group begin to make their way to the parking lot. “See?”

  The constable grunted.

  “I suppose you all deserve an explanation,” Susan said once they reached the cars. She looked exhausted, her hair frizzy, her skin dull, and her makeup fading to reveal a greenish-yellow circle the size of a baseball spreading over her left eye and cheek. Looking into her puffy red eyes, Dana’s heart ached imagining what the woman must have been through these past few weeks—or possibly years; she doubted the abuse only started recently.

  “Why don’t you all come stay with me tonight?” Dana said. “I’ll order some dinner and make up the guest room. Then in the morning, after a good night’s rest, we can go to the station and get this sorted out.”

  The constable looked at her sharply. “I don’t know if that’s—” he began, but was silenced by Dana’s narrowed eyes glaring at him. He sighed heavily. “Okay, but I’m posting some officers outside your home tonight, Ms. Potter. In case Barney discovers their whereabouts.”

  Dana’s eyes twinkled. “Constable Hollows, why don’t you at least come over for dinner too?”

  He blinked at her in surprise. The creases around his eyes deepened as he laughed in surrender. “I can’t very well say no, now can I, Ms. Potter?”

  “No indeed.”

  ***

  Shortly, the crew had arrived back at Dana’s home and she got to work making them comfortable. Her heart swelled as she remembered why she had loved being a real estate agent so much—she loved making people feel at home.

  She was about to call the Blue Swallow to order food when she abruptly realized it was nearly one o’clock in the morning. It had been a long time since she’d been awake at such an hour.

  She put down the phone, knowing she couldn’t wake Lydia at this hour.

  I guess all that excitement works as well as a good cup of joe, she mused. It’s the morning, after all.

  Feeling inspired by the thought of coffee, she bustled into the kitchen and started taking out a carton of eggs, flour, vegetable oil, and a big frying pan.

  “Constable, go ahead and start mixing up some biscuit mix,” she ordered good-naturedly.

  “Breakfast instead of dinner, is it?”

  Dana winked. “Nothing like a southern breakfast for comfort food.”

  While the constable cooked, Dana made sure the guestroom was set up for Susan and Maura. She wondered for a moment if Pete would be joining Susan in the room, but then thought better of it and decided it best to set up the couch for him. She did hope though that those two would find their way back to each other for good. They just seemed to fit with each other so perfectly—Susan’s tall frame nestling neatly with Pete’s sturdy physique.

  Finally, the group settled around Dana’s dining table with a hot feast of biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, and grits before them.

  Maura pet Punchy and Susan nibbled on a biscuit, darting glances at Pete. Meanwhile, Pete was his usual reserved self, occasionally commenting on how much he enjoyed the food.

  After dinner, the group moved to Dana’s living room, where she offered them all a nip of whiskey to help relax them.

  Breaking the comfortable silence around them, Susan began to cry.

  Chapter 8

  State Patrol

  Dana patted Susan’s knee as she told her story.

  “I feel like such a fool for marrying someone like that,” she began, an occasional tear sliding down her face. “After Peter left, I felt so alone….”

  Dana glanced at Pete. His face was stony, unreadable.

  “And then the most charismatic man I’d ever met came waltzing into my life,” Susan continued. “He would take me out and always pay. Always open the doors. He was chivalrous like that. And he didn’t seem to mind that I didn’t have a lot of money and that I had a young daughter. I don’t know if I fell in love with him, or just the idea of being taken care of.” She bit her lip. “That doesn’t sound too good, I know. But you have to understand how hard it was to keep things together for Maura. So when someone like that comes along and offers to take care of things…” She shrugged. “He asked me to marry him after about six months. I said yes, and we had a quick little wedding. At first, our marriage was as good as I could have hoped for. He convinced me that I didn’t need to work since his salary as a dentist was more than enough for all of us. I agreed because that meant I had more time to spend with Maura.

  “We went on fun weekend getaways to the shore or camping. Things were good. But then—I don’t know what happened. It was gradual. He started getting upset with me if things didn’t go exactly the way he wanted them to—like if I hadn’t made the meal he asked for, or if I wasn’t paying him enough attention. He’d yell. At first, I stood up to him, but when he started getting physical—” She reddened. “I stopped talking back and started pleading with him instead.” Susan looked around the room, which had fallen quiet. She sighed and slumped her shoulders. “Everyone wonders why people don’t leave in a situation like that. But the thing is, I didn’t have many options. If I left, I’d be all alone again with no money whatsoever to raise Maura. Plus, he always threatened to come and find me if I ever left him. I almost felt like it was safer to just stay.” Her face darkened. “This went on for years. But a few weeks ago, I found out he’d started threatening Maura too. I saw all the same signs—the verbal abuse, followed by a quick slap across the face. I was enraged, but I kept quiet so that I could plan.

  “I told Maura to stay away from him as much as she could. To sleep at friends’ houses whenever possible. Then I began to stockpile food and money. After two weeks, I thought I had enough to get us to my sister’s place. We left in the night, but unfortunately, our car broke down outside Pippin. The rottenest luck—stuck in the middle of nowhere, penniless. But…” She looked around, her eyes landing on Pete, “maybe it was good luck, after all.”

  “I’m sorry we were so rude to you, Ms. Potter,” Maura said. “Mom and I were just terrified of being found out. And…” she cracked a smile, “you sort of seemed like the type to figure out exactly who we were.”

  Everyone laughed, though quietly.

  “Yes, well, I suppose that is my nature. They tell me I’m a busybody,” Dana said.

  Susan smiled sadly. “She’s right. After you came sniffing around, I knew it was only a matter of time before we were discovered. I wasn’t thinking straight. I just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. So I picked a man’s pocket in the lobby for his keys, and Maura and I scurried out to the parking lot, clicking the key fob until we located the car. Sorry again, Ms. Potter, but we loaded up those groceries we stole from you. Then we made for Savannah. I had no money and no desire to steal anymore, so I knew we wouldn’t make it to Tallahassee on just the one tank of gas. I thought the best thing to do was just to find somewhere to camp out for a few days until I sorted things out. My parents’ old sailboat wasn’t too far and seemed like a good option.”

  “It’s not your fault,” Pete said gently. “I should have never left you. I just thought—”

  “You thought you were doing what was best,” Susan interrupted, looking at Pete with a pained expression. “Neither of us knew what would come.”

  “Still,” he said through gritted teeth, “I regret it. Now that I’m finally around you again, it’s hard to fathom how I felt about life just a few days ago.”

  “How’s that?” Maura piped.

  He sighed. “Like it was best if I just floated through without leaving any traces. I didn’t want to be a burden on anyone.” He blew the air out his cheeks. “But I forgot that I’d already left some deep marks on this earth that can’t be erased no matter how much I wanted to start over again.” His comment was met with silence until a well-timed bark from Punchy distracted everyone enough to change the subject.

  As the night wound dow
n, the constable bid the group goodbye and Dana showed Susan and Maura to the guestroom.

  “You know, I can’t ever thank you enough for what you’ve done for me and Maura. And Peter,” Susan said, smiling shyly just as Dana was making her exit.

  “Of course,” Dana said. “And you can stay here as long as you need until you get yourself on your feet, and that husband of yours is behind bars.”

  At the mention of Barney, Susan’s face fell. “That’s very kind, Ms. Potter. Thank you.” She looked around the room helplessly before sitting down on the bed.

  “Goodnight, Susan.” Dana closed the door behind her.

  ***

  The next morning, Dana woke earlier than usual despite the late hours she’d kept the night before.

  Must be all the excitement again, she thought.

  She swung her legs over the bed and pulled on a pair of slippers. Her knee aching where she’d slammed it last night on the Peacock, she swilled a glass of water and took an aspirin. She then squinted at herself in the mirror. Her hair was a dark gray all the way through now, and at the moment, it was thoroughly frizzled. She massaged a bit of oil through the dry ends.

  That’s what you get for cavorting around late hours like you’re twenty years old, she thought to herself.

  She had just finished brushing her teeth when she got a call from the constable.

  “Constable Hollow?” she said.

  “Can you get Susan in to give her official statement about Barney Mendel?” he asked immediately, not bothering with courtesies.

  “Of course. As soon as she comes downstairs for breakfast, I’ll let her know.”

  Pulling on a robe, Dana went downstairs and busied herself preparing a pot of coffee until she heard someone come in behind her.

  “Good morning, Ms. Potter,” Pete said. He leaned on the countertop, Punchy’s special lead in his hand.

  “Good morning, Pete. How’d you sleep?”

  “Good morning,” Susan said, coming in before Pete could answer.

  Dana watched a look pass between the two, the tension in the room palpable.

  “Well, Susan,” Dana said, “I thought we could all eat breakfast first. Then Constable Hollows wants you to go down to the station and give your statement.”

  Susan swallowed and looked down. “Okay, I will.”

  Within an hour, Dana was walking Susan to the station. The day was cooler than most, a nice breeze passing across Dana’s face and blowing a bit of dirt across her ankles.

  “Feels nice out here, doesn’t it?” she said, trying to make conversation.

  “Oh, yes,” Susan said. She hadn’t worn her usual amount of makeup today, perhaps no longer worried about being found out. Dana thought she looked stunning, a true natural beauty, despite the bruise across her eye and cheekbone marring her tanned skin. In the bright light of day, Dana cringed inwardly looking at it, but suspected it would help make her testimony against Barney stronger.

  Soon, they’d arrived at the small cottage that served as the Pippin Police Station. Constable Hollows greeted them as they came in. A woman Dana had never seen before stood beside him, wearing a similar uniform but with a distinctive golden badge on each shoulder. She was pretty—petite with dark brown hair and almond-shaped eyes. After a moment, Dana recognized it as the badge that the Georgia State Patrol wore; she’d seen her share of those officers in Atlanta.

  “Ms. Potter, Ms. Mendel, this is Officer Resin,” the constable introduced. “She’s with the state patrol. Given the scope of Ms. Mendel’s…journey…through the state, I thought it would be wise to bring the state guys into it.” Upon seeing Susan’s alarmed expression, he held up a hand reassuringly. “She’ll just be coming in to hear your statement and get your description of who we’re after to pass it along to her team. They’ll probably be the ones to arrest him since anything outside Pippin isn’t in my jurisdiction.”

  Susan nodded and shook Officer Resin’s hand weakly.

  Dana shook the officer’s hand as well, all the while marveling at Susan’s change since she’d seen her the first time. She supposed now that the woman wasn’t in survival mode, the reality of her situation was settling in, making her skittish and insecure.

  They followed the constable and the state patrol officer to the constable’s office.

  “Ma’am,” Officer Resin said kindly, turning to Dana, “I’m afraid we can’t have civilians listening in on private statements.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you outside, Susan,” Dana said, though she secretly wished she could stay. But she knew it would probably just be what Susan had told them in her living room the previous night.

  Dana went to the waiting room and picked up a magazine titled ‘OFFICERS OF THE LAW’, figuring it must have been a trade magazine. She absently thumbed through it, skimming article titles between eyeing the constable’s office door down the hall and studying the shadows occasionally passing behind it. She knew she wouldn’t glean any information that way, but her curiosity remained.

  After what felt like an eternity, the door opened.

  Dana hoisted herself onto her feet, not bothering to conceal her excitement. “So?” she said as the constable came up beside her.

  “Men like Barney Mendel are why this country has a death penalty,” he mumbled.

  Dana raised her eyebrows. “But he didn’t kill anybody—did he?”

  “He very much could have if Susan hadn’t gotten out when she did. As it is, the poor woman’s had her arm broken, her wrist fractured, an eye infection caused by a nasty punch to the face, and plenty of bruising. One aptly landed blow to her chest, the right spot on her temple, or her gut and she’d be lying in a hospital right now with internal bleeding or brain damage.”

  Dana nodded, frowning. “So you’ll arrest him then, right?”

  Constable Hollows hesitated. “Officer Resin isn’t sure there’s enough to get him convicted yet. Domestic abuse charges are sometimes hard to pin down, especially in a case like this, where Susan’s coming to us after not having seen her husband for a week. But Resin is going to send the state patrol over to his house and arrest him, anyway. I think if Maura Mendel testifies, Barney’s got a good change of rotting in prison for a long time.”

  Dana nodded in Susan’s direction. She stood with her body folded slightly into itself in a defensive position while speaking to Officer Resin. “Is Susan free to go?”

  The constable smiled. “Yes. At least that’s a spark of good news. I spoke to the gentlemen whose car she’d stolen and got him to agree not to press charges after I explained the situation to him. We recovered the vehicle in tip-top shape.”

  “Good, good,” Dana said, nodding. “So is there anything I can help with?”

  “I might suggest to Susan that she go see Doctor Gooch, just to make sure she doesn’t have any internal injuries.” He shook his head, a shadow passing over his face. “Makes me shudder just thinking about it. She said she’d been to a hospital for serious injuries before, but seems reluctant to go now. Perhaps you can change her mind.”

  Chapter 9

  Motorcycle

  A crow screeched overhead somewhere in the silence. The tree they’d been sitting under shook as a squirrel scampered around its branches. The heat was getting stronger as the day grew. Even in the shade, it was becoming unbearable.

  Dana hoped Susan would make up her mind quickly. She’d asked her if she would allow her to accompany her to the local doctor, but Susan had only huffed and fell silent before chewing her lips.

  “Okay,” she finally said with a sigh. She met Dana’s eyes. “I think I’m just struggling to accept that all of this is really happening. My husband is being arrested as we speak. My life as I know it is over. I guess I just don’t want to face everything at once. Is that crazy?”

  Dana shook her head. “Not at all.” She cleared her throat. “Yes, everything is changing, but it’s for the best, and you made it happen. You should be proud of yourself.” She flicked her wrist over to ch
eck the time. “Let’s go on, though. Doctor Gooch usually takes lunch around one. We don’t want to miss him.”

  “You sure he’ll be able to fit me in so last minute?”

  “Oh, honey, yes. Pippin hardly has enough people to keep that man busy.” She studied Susan’s face. “And trust me, I know you don’t want to deal with this now on top of everything else, but you’ll feel much better knowing that you’ve got a clean bill of health.”

  Susan nodded and gave a tight-lipped smile.

  Dana patted her on the hand. “Just think of all the positive things that have come out of your ordeal.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, for one—you’ve met me!” Dana laughed gently. “But more seriously, you’ve been reunited with Pete. That’s quite a good thing, isn’t it?”

  Susan blushed. “Yes.”

  “How do you feel about him?” Dana knew she was being a little forward, but she couldn’t help it.

  Susan blushed. “Oh, I don’t know. It’s all a little too much for me right now. I can’t think about that. Plus,” she hesitated, her voice growing small “he’s the one who left us.”

  “I have a feeling he regrets that more than anything. Just look at how he’s been living. Punishing himself, he has been. And for what? For, in his mind, failing to provide for the love of his life and his daughter, and having to leave.”

  “He thinks he failed us?” Susan asked, her eyes searching Dana’s.

  “You didn’t know?”

  “Well, I knew his blindness was why he left. But I always thought it was because his accident made him realize he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life with me…”

  Dana stopped walking and turned to Susan, shaking her head. “No. My dear, you’ve got it all wrong.”

  But the conversation would have to be postponed until later. They had arrived in front of Doctor Gooch’s white brick office.

  They went in and Dana instructed Susan to have a seat in the waiting room while she explained the situation to the doctor to see if he could take her immediately. Right away, he agreed, just as Dana had expected.