Warning: Descriptions of violence. Angst. Post Traumatic Stress. Wishful thinking.

Red Sox: Welcome back, boys!

Beth reached out with two fingers and gently guided a handful wildly untamed blond hair away from Lindsey’s face. She tucked them behind the girl’s ear. Beth was careful not to show her dismay at the yellowing bruises which still littered Lindsey’s face. Each day Beth found herself steeling herself to the patchwork of injuries still visible on Lindsey’s face and arms. However, under the stark fluorescent lights of the DA’s conference room, the trauma seemed more dire than in the relative safety of their home.

“You need a hair cut, kiddo,” Beth said and her voice echoed in the nearly empty room.

Lindsey shook her head slightly before she replied, “Not until my face is back to normal. My hair hides a lot of the marks.”

“Do they hurt?” Beth asked as she lightly traced the yellowing edges of the bruise around Lindsey’s cheek.

“Only when I look at them,” Lindsey hung her head at the admission of an obvious weakness but continued onward to acknowledge another frailty. “Thanks for staying with me, Beth. I’m kinda nervous about telling what happened. It would be harder if I was alone.”

Beth took Lindsey’s hand in her own and gave a firm squeeze, “I wouldn’t be anywhere else in the world.”

Voices from the doorway ended their private conversation. Still, both women kept hold of the other’s hand.

“Sam, you are the best,” a woman’s voice announced outside the conference room.

“To serve and protect, ma’am,” a deep male voice replied.

Officer Charbonnier entered the conference room with a grin. He was carrying a large plastic shopping bag and a twelve cup box of Fresh’ly Brew’d from Donutland. The rich, dark smell of coffee filled the conference room quickly.

“Ladies,” he nodded to Beth and Lindsey as he put the morning necessities on the table, “good to see both of you again. Please, help yourself to coffee while we get our paperwork organized.”

Beth stood with Lindsey’s hand still in her grasp. She didn’t give the girl a chance to argue as she guided them both to the coffee and State Trooper at the end of the table.

“Thank you, Officer,” Beth said politely.

“No problem. I didn’t want to subject you to the County’s version of coffee considering you came in on your own,” he gave a big smile. “Lindsey, it’s good to see you again. How are you healing up? I dressed in my civvies today just for you. My daughter helped me pick out something casual. Hope I look better than last time you saw me.”

Beth was a bit surprised to hear such a friendly tone from the officer.

“You still got that big gun,” Lindsey focused on the large weapon hanging from the Officer’s belt. “But, you don’t look as tall as before.”

The trooper smiled ruefully, “It’s the hat. Makes all of us five inches taller. Good in the field with bad guys but tough on crime victims, I’m sorry to say.”

“I hate to interrupt but you seem to know each other so I’m just going to jump in. I’m Kara O’Malley, Assistant District Attorney,” the woman dumped her arm load of files at the opposite end of the table from the impromptu coffee stand. She walked the length of the room and extended her hand into the midst of the trio.

Beth immediately grasped the woman’s hand, “I’m Beth Pretty.”

Lindsey was hesitant but followed along, “I’m Ash. I mean, I’m Lindsey Ash.”

“Good to meet you in person. And, I’m very glad you decided to talk with us. The other option was not something I was looking forward to doing to you,” the woman spoke with a quiet authority.

Lindsey felt some of her old attitude rising, “You would have let them arrest me? Toss my ass in a cell?”

“No,” the ADA stated, “I would have asked a judge to issue a contempt of court warrant and then Officer Charbonnier would have arrested you and you would have sat in jail until you asked to come see me.”

Lindsey swallowed hard. These people didn’t screw around. They were going to go through all that trouble because she got pummeled. It didn’t make sense to her. She had to ask. Lindsey could not stop the question that had bothered her since Officer Charbonnier’s visit from bursting forth.

“If I don’t care if they get punished then why do you? I mean, why is it such a big friggin’ deal?”

The ADA frowned. The woman’s lips went in to a hard line. But, she answered the question very evenly without any hint of anger, “The laws of the Commonwealth are quite clear. Nobody gets to beat anybody else up! If I don’t enforce the law for you, whether you want me to or not, then how do I justify enforcing the law for everybody else. Lindsey, the Commonwealth has a vested interest in the safety of the citizens. All the citizens. The law provides protection. My office enforces the law.” The woman paused and softly added, “Even if the victims don’t think they deserve to be safe or protected.”

Lindsey looked away. She was unsure of her composure. Much to her surprise, she was reinforced and not destroyed when Beth’s arm snaked around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug.

“I’m ready to tell them,” Lindsey spoke just above a whisper but could not look up. “I’ll tell everything, Beth, but please stay with me. Please hold my hand.”

“Of course,” Beth reassured as she barely managed to hold her own tears at bay.

The group sat. Papers were pulled out and shuffled. Files opened. Then restacked. Pens clicked to life. Lindsey waited silently for ADA O’Malley to tell her what to do next.

“Okay, here’s what’s going to happen. You are going to tell us about the assault,” ADA O’Malley said and then turned her attention on the blank sheet of paper in front of her.

Lindsey waited for more direction but got none.

“Where do I start?”

“Wherever it started,” O’Malley said without looking up.

Lindsey chewed her cheek for a moment. When did it start? How did it begin? Birth? Graduation? Sunday night? A gentle squeeze of her hand from Beth got Lindsey to focus finally.

“My boss, Mr. Deming, took me to the bank so I could deposit my scholarship money. He dropped me back to the shop to finish washing the pots and pans. His wife got movie tickets for them to go see some penguin show. We left the back door unlocked so he wouldn’t have to get out of the car. He didn’t want to be late,” Lindsey gave a shrug to her shoulders trying not to think about what would have happened if Mr. Deming had stayed with her that day. “I went into the store and the trash stanked, I mean, smell, you know. We had a Clams Casino Special. Fish is always stinks up the place after. You need to get it out right away. So, I bundled up two big bags of garbage for the dumpster. I dragged the trash to the alley and tossed ‘em. When I turned around…, they were there. I mean right in my face. I don’t know where they came from but they were between me and the back door of the store.”

“They?” The ADA asked as she scribbled notes but did not make eye contact with Lindsey.

“My mom,…my birth mother and her step son.”

“Do you know their names?”

Lindsey looked to the State Trooper who was sipping coffee and watching her. He seemed not to be paying much attention by the way he slouched in his chair. His note pad had several little doodles but no words. He looked up at her a gave a little nod of encouragement. Lindsey noticed a twinkle in his eyes and realized he was hanging on every word.

“I’m not really positive,” Lindsey stammered. “The last name is Cornway. She’s the Reverend’s wife. When I was a kid and lived with her, she used to go by Jeanette Ash and Jeanette Lee and ‘Netta Lee Ash. When I graduated, the paper called her Jan. I’m not sure what her real name is or was. It might be on my birth certificate?” Lindsey paused for a moment trying to remember something important. It came like a lightening bolt, “My Grammy always called her Annette. We only saw Grammy a few times when I was really little before Mommy found a pimp but I remember the visits. Grammy was a nice lady. Oh yeah, her last name was Ash. I know it was. I can remember copying it off her mailbox onto my pants with crayons she gave me. She always gave me crayons.”

Officer Charbonnier cleared his throat and leaned both elbows on the table, “Why did you copy her name on your pants, Lindsey?”

Lindsey blushed, “It’s stupid.”

“Tell us, please,” Beth said.

“In case I got lost. I wanted Grammy to find me. But, she couldn’t do that. She was just a sick old woman. She probably forgot me the minute we drove away.”

“Do you know what your step brother’s name is?” ADA O’Malley returned them to the task at hand.

“He’s nothing to me,” Lindsey stated defensively. “He’s her step son but I’m not her daughter anymore. She got the judge to arrest me and have me taken away to jail because I was a bad little kid.”

ADA O’Malley’s head was up like a shot. Her eyes were narrow and features pinched. Slowly she shook her head back and forth.

“Lindsey, you’ve got the process backward. The court took you from your mother, Annette Ash, and severed her parental rights because of her inability to care for you. You were,” the ADA grabbed a file from the stack at her elbow and riffled through it, “not even six. Ms. Annette Ash was facing up to ten years for her neglect and abuse of you and her numerous criminal activities. The ADA on the case made a deal to reduce her sentence if she surrendered you without a court fight. She agreed but it was merely a formality. The state was not going to return you to her or hold up adoption potentials any longer. If you ask me, we waited too long as it was.”

Lindsey was baffled. She remembered sitting in the court and listened to her mother tell the judge all the bad things Lindsey did. It struck her, for the first time, that she could not recall anything the judge said other than, ‘take her away.’

“Why did they h…h…handcuff me? Why did I have to sit in a police car? Why did they put me in the room with the bars on the window and the door that locked on the other side?” Lindsey felt like she was losing her grasp on her own past.

“The record states you became hysterical when Ms. Annette Ash addressed the judge.” Kara O’Malley frowned as she read the transcript, “The court officers restrained you and they took you to the hospital psych ward for overnight observation. I can understand your reaction. She said some horrible things about you.”

“THAT FUCKING BITCH!” Beth wanted to shout but she maintained her silence as she reached her arms around Lindsey and pulled the girl’s head down on her shoulder.

“It wasn’t me,” Lindsey let out in a little gasp to Beth. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“You couldn’t have done anything wrong, Lindsey, you were just a little girl,” Beth reassured her.

“Lindsey, do you need a break or can you go on? Can you tell us the name of your birth mother’s step son?” Officer Charbonnier asked in a calm voice but his eyes had gone completely black.

“Jonah. His first name is Jonah. I guess his last name is Cornway.” Lindsey answered as she reluctantly let go of Beth. “He was standing next to her in the alley. She had a bat in her hand. It was taped up like it got a crack or something. Before I could do anything, Jonah came at me swinging with his bare hands. He popped me right on the button and I dropped on my butt,” Lindsey said as she pointed to the faded bruise on her chin. “He pulled me back up by my shirt, hauled back, and slugged me,” she pointed to her cheek. “I hit the pavement…I mean blacktop,” she gave a ghost of a grin to the State Trooper. “There were lots of punches and kicks. I curled into a ball and started begging. My mom, Annette or whatever she goes by, was nagging Jonah to take the bat and, you know, …” Lindsey lost her voice and her courage all at once.

“What?” The ADA asked.

Lindsey closed her eyes and continued, “Finish me off. She told him to hit me in the head. That’d kill me for sure.”

“Oh my God!” Beth gasped and recaptured Lindsey’s hand in her own trembling hand.

“You gonna be okay, Beth?” Lindsey stopped her story to ask.

Beth shuddered and tried to force her own weakness back down, “I’m sorry. I’ll be quiet.”

Lindsey leaned in closer to ask, “I want to know if you’re gonna be okay. I don’t care if you’re quiet. If you can’t listen to the rest, I understand. It could give you nightmares.”

“I’m okay,” Beth managed to look the girl right in the eye. “Lindsey, I’m so very proud of you.”

“Thanks,” Lindsey blushed slightly.

“Ms. Ash, are you sure Ms. Annette Ash stated she wanted you dead?” ADA O’Malley asked.

“Yep. They were arguing about it. He said something like, ‘leave it to God’ or something stupid like that. She kept telling him to use the bat on me. I was trying to crawl away but I was only heading to the back of the alley. No way out there. Really dumb,” Lindsey cursed herself. “Then he yells, ‘OK!’ I looked over my shoulder and saw him with the bat. He pulled back and I started begging. He checked his swing, I know he did. It was heading right for me but at the last minute the top of the bat hit the wall and it splintered against my shoulder. That was bad but if he hit me in the head…,”

“You’d be a dead woman,” Officer Charbonnier supplied.

ADA O’Malley stopped scribbling notes and asked, “Why do you think he ‘checked’ his swing?”

Lindsey just shrugged.

“You said you were begging. What exactly did you say?” Officer Charbonnier asked.

Lindsey blushed bright red, “It’s so stupid. I don’t even believe in anything. But, I was gonna die so I, well, I said, ‘God help me.’”

“Excellent, Lindsey!” The Trooper said.

The ADA gave a big grin. “You may have saved your own life with that one line.”

“Huh?”

“A minister’s son about to commit his first murder is surely going to lose his guts when his victim petitions to the Lord. If he killed you then he would’ve interfered with God’s mercy. He wouldn’t just be a murderer, he’d be a blasphemer too,” O’Malley explained.

“He’d be unforgivable,” the Officer clarified.

“No redemption?” Beth questioned the foreign religious concept.

“Straight to Hell?” Lindsey was curious.

“One way ticket, no transfers,” ADA O’Malley concluded.

“Good enough for him!” Lindsey smiled.

Lindsey was exhausted. They had been going over the details of the assault all day. The mornings hot coffee had long gone cold and the cold lunch sandwiches had gone stale. The ADA swore they were almost done over an hour ago. Yet, Beth and Lindsey were still waiting to leave.

“Sorry to take so long,” O’Malley said as she entered the room. “There is just one more piece of business. I need each of you to promise to be discreet about this matter. Not only for the investigation but your own safety as well.” Both women nodded agreement. “A second investigation was started shortly after we started Lindsey’s assault investigation. We stumbled on it really. There are corruption issues being explored with certain members of the police department.”

“Dylan,” Beth mumbled.

“I can not confirm that. However, Mrs. Pretty, I would strongly recommend updating your security system so only you and Lindsey have the codes. We will increase State Police presence in the town but you might want to think about being ready to go away for a few days after the arrests are made. Especially, it the suspects make bail.”

Lindsey felt sick to her stomach, “Beth, I’m so sorry…,”

“Not your fault. Nobody’s fault but his own,” Beth swatted away a stray tear. “What a stupid man.”

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