Secrets in the Shadows (13 page)

She sat up a little straighter. “I know.”

He took one of her hands, rubbing it between his own. Seeing that he wasn’t going to budge until she talked, she tried to figure out how to start.

“Her daughter Margie was my best friend until the summer I turned sixteen.”

“What happened to change that?”

Lauren felt herself grow unnaturally calm. Involuntarily, her hands tightened around Charlie’s. This was not a discussion she’d thought to have with him so soon, or under these circumstances.

“That was the summer Margie’s father tried to rape me.”

Lauren forced herself to meet his gaze, watching steadily as her words sank in and made their impact.

A muscle tightened in his jaw, and he inhaled slowly, eyes closed. “Son of a bitch. And the wife blames you, is that it?”

Seeing that he wasn’t going to judge or blame her, she relaxed a little. “Of course. She certainly wasn’t going to blame him.”

“I’ll never understand why some women won’t believe the man they’re with could do such a thing.”

“You’ve seen this before?”

“Too many times. There are a lot of women out there who’ll choose their man over their children, even if there’s plenty of evidence the kids are telling the truth. It’s one of the worst things parents can do to their children, to fail to believe them and protect them. God, Lauren, I’m so sorry.”

She looked away for a minute and he let her have the time. “Aside from that day in the park, today’s the first time in thirteen years that I’ve seen her. She’s so old now. I knew she was back. Word came down through the family. However, knowing and seeing are two very different things.”

“Did he ever go to prison for what he did to you?”

“No, he was never even arrested.”

“I guess that would put a damper on your relationship with Margie. Have the two of you ever reconciled?”

Lauren’s smile was sad, and she pulled her hands away. “I haven’t seen or heard from Margie since that night. See, apparently he’d been doing more than just trying to rape her. I knew something was wrong by the way she was acting, the things she was doing, but I didn’t know until that night what the story was. When I fought back, it woke up everyone in the house, and her mother came in and started screaming about me being just like Margie. That’s when I knew what he’d done to her.”

Tears pricked her eyes, but they didn’t fall. “None of us knew, not my parents, my aunt Shannon. She hadn’t told us. We would have helped her if she had just told us.”

Just then, there was another knock on the door. Clearing her throat, she wiped at her cheeks and called for the person to come in. The door opened slowly and Janet looked inside, a concerned look on her face.

“I just wanted to check on you. Are you okay?”

Lauren held out her hand to the older woman who hurried over. She gave Janet a hug and Charlie scooted back. “I’m fine.”

“This has something to do with your cousin when you were a teenager, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it does. But I’m okay. I’m handling it.”

Janet studied Lauren’s face before heading back downstairs. She patted Charlie on the shoulder as she passed him.

“Don’t worry about the lunch crowd. Between Sarah and me, we’ve got it covered. That girl’s a wonder.” With a smile, she closed the door.

They sat for a minute, not talking, as they listened to her footsteps fade away.

“You should take her advice. Take it easy the rest of the day. You’ve had quite a shock.”

Lauren picked at a loose thread on her slacks. “I have too much paperwork to catch up on. Besides, I need to keep busy. I will stay up here, though, at least for a while. It will give me a little time alone to think.” She smiled awkwardly. “David wants me to think about investigating Carl, see if he’s done anything since he left here.”

Charlie considered the idea. “I’d say that sounds reasonable. Especially given what just happened.”

“I know. I just—what if he has? And I have to come forward, to testify? What’s that going to do to Ava?”

His voice quiet, he asked the question she’d been asking herself. “What’s it going to do to Ava if you don’t take every step possible to find out if there are more victims out there? Wouldn’t she want you to do whatever you could, to help other women who’d gone through what you did?”

Lauren closed her eyes. “Yes, she would,” she whispered. She opened her eyes when he touched her arm. His hand slid down to grasp hers.

“I can help you, if you’ll let me. This is what I do—chasing people through the system, figuring out what they’ve done, where they’ve left traces in the system. I’m good at my job. Let me help, please.”

She looked up at him, startled by the intensity in his gaze. Although her first instinct was to turn the offer down, she wavered. Something about the way he was looking at her made her hesitate. “I don’t know if I can tell you everything you need to know. I don’t know if I can open myself that much.”

He swallowed. “You don’t have to tell me exact details, not if you don’t want to. All I would need is names, dates of birth, that sort of thing. You don’t have to decide right this minute. I’ll be around.”

“Okay. I’ll let you know.” She stood, and Charlie rose with her. He held onto her arm until she looked up at him. As they stared at each other, he carefully placed his free hand on her face. His fingers caressed her skin.

“I’m sorry.” Seeing her confused look, he continued. “About what you went through that summer. You didn’t deserve it. Neither did your cousin.” Bending down, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. The tenderness in the kiss brought fresh tears to her eyes.

Drawing back, he moved toward the door. “I guess I’d better head out.” His reluctance to leave was obvious, and he turned back to face her. “You know you can call me, right? I don’t just mean like for a date or if you decide to let me help, although that would be fine, too. But if you ever need to talk, or rant, or anything, you can call me. Days, weekends, middle of the night—I’ll be there.”

As the meaning behind his words sank in, Lauren felt warm for the first time since the confrontation had occurred. “I’ll remember that.”

“Please do.” He stared at her for a few more seconds, then finally turned and opened the door. Still, he hesitated.

Not letting herself chicken out, Lauren rushed over before he could leave, stopping him with her movement.

“Thank you.” Her voice was a bare whisper as she leaned up against the door frame. “For being here.”

“Any time.” With one last tense smile, he headed down the stairs.

She stood there and watched him go, keeping her eyes on the steps even after he had disappeared. Exhausted, she rested her head against the wood of the door frame and closed her eyes. When her cell phone rang behind her, she groaned and went back into the office to pick it up off her desk. Seeing that it was her mother, she answered, dreading the explanation she knew she would have to give. By now, word of the scene had probably spread all around town, and Lauren didn’t even want to think about what the repercussions might be.

Troy gave a prayer of thanks as he pulled the car into the farmhouse’s driveway. The tension inside the vehicle was palpable, the situation having deteriorated more and more with every mile that passed. The baby had sobbed for most of the drive, finally exhausting himself and falling asleep.

His mother wouldn’t answer any of his questions about what had happened back in Leroy and kept her arms crossed and her gaze fixed out the window as he drove. The only time she had responded at all was when he snapped at Iris. He was sure both women would make him pay for that.

When he pulled the car up to the porch, Iris jumped out with Jamie, and rushed inside the house. He watched her go, pounding the steering wheel with his fist a couple of times in frustration.

“Dammit.” He glared at his mother. “Are you ready to talk now?”

Mary Margaret raised her chin and sneered at him. He was taken aback by the pure hatred that shone in her eyes. “Don’t you dare raise your voice to me like that again, boy. You hear me?” He slowly nodded, deciding that he perhaps hadn’t taken the best approach with her. She fumbled with the door handle before opening it and getting out.

Left alone in the car, he turned off the motor and got out as well, following his mother into the house.

Patricia, Mary Margaret’s sister, met them in the hall. In a hushed voice she asked, “Is everything okay with the new baby? Iris came in here in tears and didn’t say a word to me, just headed upstairs.”

“She’s okay, and so is the baby,” Troy told her.

His mother laid her purse down on the table. “I’m going to check on Carl.”

She quietly walked down the hall toward his bedroom. Troy and Patricia watched her go. Gesturing, his aunt urged him into the kitchen. “You want coffee?” She went over to the counter and topped her own cup.

“That’d be nice.” Sitting down at the worn table, he rested his head in his hands, thanking her when she sat the mug down in front of him. Taking a cautious sip, he sat back.

“What’s going on, Troy? What happened?”

“All I know is that Iris and Mommy went into that little coffee place in Leroy and that Taylor girl, Lauren was there. Mommy got real upset when she saw her, and it got a little ugly.” Hearing his mother coming back down the hall, he stopped talking, waiting to see which direction she would go. When Mary Margaret came into the kitchen and sat down, Patricia jumped up and got her a cup of coffee.

“Do you want anything else?”

“No. I guess Troy told you who we ran into.” She kept her gaze on the chipped mug in front of her.

“Yes, he did. He said it was Lauren, Shannon’s niece. That must have been a shock for you.” She reached out and touched her sister’s hand.

Jerking away, Mary Margaret glared at her. “Don’t you mention that whore’s name in this house, you hear me? I don’t ever want to hear it spoken again. Her or that other one, either.” Taken aback by her vehemence, Patricia just nodded.

Troy’s mind was working furiously. “Mommy, what did you mean about both of them getting what was coming to them? You said the whole town would know about them. What’d you mean?”

Getting up from the table, she picked up her mug and his. She carried them over to the sink and rinsed them. “Never you mind about what I said. It ain’t nothing you need to worry about.” Drying her hands on the kitchen towel, she turned back to them.

“Patty, I appreciate you coming over today. I’m gonna head upstairs and lay down for a bit. I’m feeling awful tired now, and I need to rest.” She headed out of the kitchen, stopping at the door. She looked at Troy, studying him.

“Those whores caused me to lose one baby already. You go upstairs and take care of Iris. I won’t let ’em cause another innocent baby’s death. Hear?” She headed slowly up the stairs, moving as though she were twenty years older.

For a few minutes, Patricia and Troy just sat there, not saying anything as they listened for her bedroom door. Hearing it close, Patricia blew out the breath she had been holding.

“I’m worried that all this with Carl is going to affect her mind. She’s strung about as tight as a person can be without breaking.”

He nodded, agreeing. “She never was the same after we left here. We’ll just need to watch her, make sure she doesn’t have any more surprises like today.” Standing, he stretched. “I’m gonna go check on Iris. Mommy’s right, she doesn’t need all this trouble, either.”

“Just about the only time I see your mother smile anymore is when she’s around Jamie,” Patricia told him sadly. “If Iris was to lose this baby, I think it’d kill Mary Margaret.”

“You gonna stay a little while longer?”

She glanced at the clock on the wall. “I’ll stay until one of you can sit with Carl. He’s had an awful bad day, himself. I don’t like the way his breathing sounds. I put a call in to the traveling nurse, but she won’t be here until later. Keep an eye on him if I leave before she gets here.” She stood and went down the hall toward Carl’s bedroom. “Go check on your wife, Troy,” she said with a small smile. Grumbling under his breath, he trudged up the stairs. If he wanted to get lucky anytime soon, he’d have to make sure he handled Iris and her temper with care.

Later that afternoon, Lauren sat alone in her office, going over paperwork. She found it nearly impossible to focus on the numbers and words in front of her. Sighing, she threw her pen down and leaned back in her chair, rubbing her face with her hands. Somewhat hesitantly she reached for her cell phone, and strengthening her resolve, picked it up and dialed David’s number. He answered on the second ring.

“Hey, it’s me. You have a minute?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

She told him about the morning’s brouhaha. “And of course, Charlie was here. Witnessed the whole thing.”