In this chapter we finally meet Cassandra. She's nine and has yet to experience any real love in her young life and trusts nobody. She's been kicked around foster home after foster home, and raped at seven in one of them. The boy, Les Paul, worst-of-the-worst psychopathic killer, was there but did not help in the rape, but did re-learn his interest in sex. He now wants to know all about it, but needs help from older boys to learn. This is a long chapter so I cut the first scene with the chaplain and Nicole's visit with family services, as this chapter (the last free one) is meant only to introduce Cassandra.
At the end please see a list of the chapters, Contact info and other information.
At the end please see a list of the chapters, Contact info and other information.
****
Chapter 27 Meeting With Cassandra
The next morning, about 10:30
they stopped on a dusty street near the edge of town. A broken and slightly
heaved concrete sidewalk led to an older, one-story white house. Nicole again
looked at the address, “314. This is it.”
“Not such a nice house this time,” the chaplain observed.
“No, but they could still be good people.” Nicole opened her
door and stepped out.
The chaplain followed. Halfway to the house they stopped and
Nicole pointed to a swing-set they hadn’t been able to see from the minivan,
“There she is.”
“Maybe a good thing,” he said, “She’s more apt to open up if
her foster parents aren’t around.
****
Cassandra, sitting in the swing, the one thing that still
worked on the swing set, had heard the sound of a vehicle that maybe stopped
out front. Then she heard the engine stop. She stiffened her legs on the
ground. Her body, from her mouth to her stomach, stiffened also. She held her
doll a little tighter, and waited, hoping it wasn’t somebody from Family
Services again. She wished those people would just leave her alone. She wasn’t
exactly happy at this home but she wasn’t unhappy, either. At least there were
no other children…no, boys…
She heard two doors close. That seemed strange. Usually
Family Services sent just one person, so maybe it wasn’t Family Services. Two
people appeared on the sidewalk, a woman and a man. The woman saw her and
stopped the man.
The woman was young, and pretty, and a little shorter than
the man, who, with white hair must be a lot older. The woman smiled. That was
different. Usually the people who bothered her did not smile, at least didn’t
smile honestly. Cassandra, in her short life of nine years, had seen dozens,
hundreds, of fake smiles, but the smile on this woman’s face seemed…real.
She swallowed. Her fists tightened. She tightened her heels
on the ground.
The two started toward her. Cassandra stiffened even more,
and held her doll even tighter. Even with what appeared to be a real smile she
wasn’t ready to just trust some strange woman.
“Hi,” the woman called, then shaded her eyes from the sun,
“What’s your name, honey?”
‘Honey?’ Nobody had ever called her anything but ‘Cassandra.’
If they were from Family Services they would know her name, so they weren’t
from Family Services. She wondered if she should answer.
The woman touched the man’s arm and he stopped, then the
woman came closer, and knelt down, “I’m sorry, honey,” the woman said, “I
shouldn’t just ask you your name without first telling you mine.” She kept
smiling. Cassandra liked her smile, and liked her eyes, dark blue eyes like her
own...she’s so pretty…and nice. She began feeling something in
her chest…an emptiness, like when the Family Services people kept taking her
away from somewhere, just as she was beginning to kind of like it there…but
this feeling was different, like something maybe was going to break in her
chest—“My name is Nicole,” the pretty lady said.
Without even thinking further, “I’m Cassandra.”
Nicole increased her smile, “That’s a very pretty name,
Cassandra, and I’m glad to meet you.” She held out her hand.
Cassandra stared at that hand. Nobody had ever wanted to
shake her hand. Again, without even thinking, she took that hand, and felt the
warmth, and held on.
“May I ask you some questions, Cassandra?”
She trusted this woman. She couldn’t help it, and couldn’t
realize that her heart so wanted to trust somebody. Again,
without even thinking about it, “Yes.”
****
The girl had light brown hair and wore a very plain yellow
dress. She had stayed sober watching them walk toward her, but didn’t show any
alarm. If any emotion showed on her face it seemed to be one of, well, very
sober, and not trust for sure, but not distrust, either.
At mention of the word ‘honey’ from Nicole, a very
quick smile had fleeted across the girl’s face. From about ten feet away, where
Nicole had touched his arm and stopped him, the chaplain could see a scattering
of very faint freckles around the girl’s nose and spreading into her cheeks.
When Nicole knelt down fairly close the girl’s eyes seemed to
double in size and again that quick smile fleeted. The girl remained sober but
he could see that trust of Nicole was growing by leaps and bounds. Strange,
Nicole had affected him that same way, and just as quickly. For maybe three
seconds a thought of the three of them together crossed his mind but he
dismissed it just as quickly.
After Nicole introduced herself, which, even from the
distance he heard quite plainly, he also noticed that little Cassandra held
onto Nicole’s hand. Yes. Trust. The girl likely had not experienced much
of that, and again the three of them together slipped through his mind, not so
easily dismissed the second time.
“First,” Nicole said, “Are your parents home?”
“They aren’t my parents.”
A straightforward answer. The girl’s face changed slightly.
Maybe some of the trust dissipated, as it appeared the girl had tried to
withdraw her hand, but Nicole held on. He hoped Nicole could bring that trust
back as quickly.
“So you mean you just stay with them?”
“Yes. And they’re not home. The man works nights, and he
always eats somewhere else for breakfast, and the woman just went to the post
office. They both should be back soon.”
Just the ‘man’ and the ‘woman.’ Not a lot of
love lost there. The girl’s face now said she maybe wondered whose side she
should be on…her foster parents or Nicole’s. Probably the same kind of decision
the girl had been dealing with for a long time. Again the thought of the three
of them—but he stopped that thought, and shook his head.
“We wanted to ask you, Cassandra, about something that
happened to you a couple years ago.”
Almost imperceptively the girl moved back. Again she appeared
to try to withdraw her hand, but again Nicole held on. Two years obviously
meant something to her. The girl then looked toward the chaplain, with not
nearly the amount of friendliness on her face as for Nicole. Surely the men in
the girl’s life had never been too good for her.
“Who’s that?” With her other hand the girl pointed at the
chaplain, and her doll nearly fell, but like a flash she grabbed it and again
held it tight against her front.
“That’s Radford, my traveling companion.”
“You’re not married to him?”
“He’s a chaplain, Cassandra,” Nicole said, as if being a
chaplain should help make the girl trust him, and maybe it did help as the
girl’s face returned to just sober again, rather than unfriendliness.
The chaplain decided to take advantage of the momentary
quasi-trust and stepped forward, smiled, squatted, and extended his hand, “Hi,
Cassandra, I’m glad to meet you too.”
Surprise covered the girl’s face. Nicole released her hand,
then Cassandra did take the chaplain’s hand, but only for a second, “Hi,” then
her attention—and her hand—went right back to Nicole, “So what’s your
question?” she asked, and referred to Nicole.
“All right,
Cassandra—“ Nicole began.
“You can call me ‘Cassie.’” That very quick smile came
again, and went again.
“All right, thank you, Cassie.” If Nicole’s smile could get
brighter and warmer, it did, and rapport between the two appeared to be
guaranteed. “What about your doll? I bet you’ve given her a name.”
“It’s Rachel Ray.” The girl’s smile remained a second
or two longer.
“Oh, like that nice lady chef on TV.”
“Yes, I really like to watch her show.” This time the girl’s
smile lit up the yard. She even appeared to relax a bit. The question they
wanted answered, though, required not exactly a smile, except Nicole didn’t ask
the question he was hoping for.
“Do you like the people you’re living with, Cassie?”
“I don’t know.” The girl looked down, for about two seconds,
“I guess….”
“But you aren’t sure…?”
Come on, Nicole, the foster parents could get back any
second! But he knew she was laying groundwork for the future. He also knew
they probably didn’t have a lot of excess time.
“Do you like the woman, Cassie?”
“She—“ Cassie fidgeted, “She’s, OK, I guess.”
“How about the man?”
“I don’t know.” Again Cassie looked down, and then away,
“He—he kind of scares me sometimes.” Cassie brought her full attention back to
Nicole. The expression on her face with no doubt said she saw Nicole as her
savior—again the thought—he stopped it!
“How does he scare you, Cassie?”
“It’s just how he looks at me sometimes, and sometimes he
acts like he wants to tuck me into bed. It—I, it, it’s creepy…sometimes.”
Obviously the man had done nothing, yet, but the young
girl was sensing that he wanted to, and the chaplain was pretty sure that she
was sensing correctly…but until the man actually did something there
would be no help for Cassie. He wished he could pick her up and carry her away
to safety—then caught his thoughts again and dismissed them yet again! Forcefully!
“Two years ago, Cassie,” Nicole said, thankfully returning to
the subject at hand, “You lived with a family who had four boys and two other
girls—“
The girl let out a breath, then took it back in. Nicole had
definitely touched a nerve.
“The boys, at that time, were ten, and twelve—“ The girl drew
in to herself at mention of the twelve-year-old, and appeared to try harder to
withdraw her hand, but Nicole hung right on. He hoped Nicole had seen the
girl’s reaction as well, and Nicole glanced at him, her eyes saying she did,
“and two other boys, seven and six, and the girls were—“
“That boy reaped me.” Again the long ‘e’ sound.
“Which one, Cassie?”
“The big one—“
“What’s going on here?”
Cassandra jerked her hand free and instantly was out of the
swing and running for the house. Nicole and the chaplain stood to face two
arrived people.
****
“I repeat,” the newly-arrived woman said, “What’s going on
and who are you people?”
The chaplain stepped forward and held out his hand, “I’m
Radford Ohare, and this is my partner, Nicole Waters. We’re both private
detectives.”
The mere mention of officialdom brought a surprised look from
the woman, about forty and dressed in slack morning clothes, a stained
sweatshirt and baggy sweatpants. At one time the sweatpants likely were white.
The woman glanced at the man beside her with more a look of disgust, which
changed to a dishonest look of approval when she brought her attention back to
Nicole, “Goodness, what brings the law to our charming little house here in Marble
Falls
“We aren’t the law,” Nicole condescendingly clarified, very
obviously not liking the woman, which the chaplain would very definitely
bring to Nicole’s attention.
The look on the man’s face was a little different. Pretty
obvious he was guilty, of something. He was unshaven, not bearded
but unshaven, the look that some women seemed to love to identify the bad
in boys, to find their bad boys. He suspected this woman had picked the
man for that exact reason, because he was bad, but now that she had him
she probably wished he would change a bit. But they never did. They would
always be bad in that way that women perceive as sexy, but likely wish
they wouldn’t exude the same sexiness to other women.
“I’ll check on Cassandra,” the man said, then threw a lewd
glance at Nicole before he left.
Nicole looked after him, probably wishing that she also could
pick Cassandra up and take her away to somewhere safe.
“So,” the woman said, also watching as her man disappeared,
“What can we do for our two partners in crime?”
The chaplain, knowing that in this case he maybe would be the
best for further communication, stepped forward, “We’ve been hired by the
original parents—“
“Of Cassandra?” A look of, what?—Fear of losing the foster
money? Probably—took over the woman’s face. “They told us both her parents died,
and there were no close relatives!”
“No, not Cassandra. It’s a boy that she at one time lived in
the same household with up in Nebraska
“The boy that raped her?”
“Well, we think the boy she accused didn’t do the actual rape,
as, according to our information, Cassandra just pointed. She didn’t actually
name him.”
“It doesn’t matter. She got raped, and now, thank God, she’s
in a safe home.
Through peripheral vision the chaplain saw Nicole not only
lose a breath, but cringe. Neither thought this particular foster home was
probably the best in the world, but also there was nothing to really suggest it
wasn’t, either.
“So may we speak to her?” Nicole asked.
“I don’t know. I’ll ask her, but if she doesn’t want to….”
“We’ll understand.”
****
They finally were invited into the house—which was clean,
enough—and then to Cassandra’s room—where the unshaven man quickly departed
from the doorway, after giving Nicole another lewd look. The girl’s demeanor
had changed, drastically. She was seated at a card table that held both lined
and plain notepaper, color crayons, markers, and other items that most young
children enjoyed using. Other than the card table and a bed with a little night
stand and lamp the room was bare. It did have carpeting, though, and a window
that faced the swingset.
“These people want to ask you some questions, Cassie,” the
woman announced.
Bent over and drawing, Cassandra did not look up, and barely
mouthed, “OK.” The rapport, begun so in earnest earlier, appeared to be gone.
“May we speak to her in private?” the chaplain asked.
“I suppose.” The woman gave a huff, then left.
Nicole approached, and reached out, likely intending to touch
Cassandra’s shoulder. But the girl pulled away, stopping her.
“Cassie—“
The young girl looked up and scowled, “My name’s Cassandra!”
Yes, the rapport was absolutely gone.
“All right, sorry, Cassandra. You started to tell me—“
“I did tell you—the biggest
boy reaped me!” Her mouth set, she turned back to her drawing. “The other big
boy would’ve too—he wanted to do the littlest girl!—but the parents came home!”
Nicole, sadly, looked at the chaplain and opened her hands.
They had the information they came for, so there was no reason to stay longer.
They started for the door.
“And they’ll keep doing it!” Cassandra said in a voice
not even recognizable. She also didn’t look up.
They both stopped and stared at the young girl who now was
old far beyond her years.
“They hurt those other girls—I know it! Even that
smallest little shit wanted to!” The girl, her friendly face absolutely gone,
glanced toward them, then right back to her notepaper—which she then tore to
shreds, “And that boy the same age as me, I know he wanted to!
But the big boys wouldn’t let him!”
1 Meet Les Paul 23 Employed
2 Meet the Chaplain 24 Les Paul at Seven
3 It's Time 25 Rape!
Interlude 26 A few Foster Homes Behind
4 First Evil Act 27 Meeting With Cassandra
5 Meet Cassandra 28 The Engagement
6 Second Evil Act 29 Last Foster Home
7 The Abandonment 30 Jail
8 Meet Nicole Waters 31 Marriage
9 Alone 32 Learning his Trade
10 Lay-down Comedy 33 Meet Patrolman Sikorsky
11 Foster Family #3 34 The Tommerdahls
12 Partners 35 Juvie
13 Meet Riley Stokes 36 The Markums
14 Murder 37 His First Sex
15 Training 38 DNA Disappointment
16 Still Alone 39 Adoption
17 For Graduation 40 Hitchhiking
18 More Murder 41 Nicole's Confrontation
19 Talk With a Drug Pusher 42 Backroom Prostitution
20 Baby Boy-Doe9 43 He Remembers Her
21 The Barbie Dolls 44 The Discrepancy
22 Cassandra at Four 45 Diva Girl
46 Lights Out
Until May 10, 2012, with an Amazon Kindle Prime Membership, you may borrow this book for free. Otherwise digital download is $0.99, paperback $15.00. On Friday, May 11, 2012, this novel will be available for free for 24 hours, and, again, with the Prime Membership, this book may be borrowed indefinitely.
Sorry, but this is the last free chapter.
**** End of chapter
Thanks for reading!
Contents
1 Meet Les Paul 23 Employed
2 Meet the Chaplain 24 Les Paul at Seven
3 It's Time 25 Rape!
Interlude 26 A few Foster Homes Behind
4 First Evil Act 27 Meeting With Cassandra
5 Meet Cassandra 28 The Engagement
6 Second Evil Act 29 Last Foster Home
7 The Abandonment 30 Jail
8 Meet Nicole Waters 31 Marriage
9 Alone 32 Learning his Trade
10 Lay-down Comedy 33 Meet Patrolman Sikorsky
11 Foster Family #3 34 The Tommerdahls
12 Partners 35 Juvie
13 Meet Riley Stokes 36 The Markums
14 Murder 37 His First Sex
15 Training 38 DNA Disappointment
16 Still Alone 39 Adoption
17 For Graduation 40 Hitchhiking
18 More Murder 41 Nicole's Confrontation
19 Talk With a Drug Pusher 42 Backroom Prostitution
20 Baby Boy-Doe9 43 He Remembers Her
21 The Barbie Dolls 44 The Discrepancy
22 Cassandra at Four 45 Diva Girl
46 Lights Out
Until May 10, 2012, with an Amazon Kindle Prime Membership, you may borrow this book for free. Otherwise digital download is $0.99, paperback $15.00. On Friday, May 11, 2012, this novel will be available for free for 24 hours, and, again, with the Prime Membership, this book may be borrowed indefinitely.
Sorry, but this is the last free chapter.
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