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“Dee!” Winston grabbed her from his porch. “Oh, my god. Lydia, come here!”
Dee sunk in his secure embrace and cried, feeling as if she released the emotions she suppressed throughout her ordeal.
“Dee, oh.” Winston twirled her around, making her woozy but she didn’t give a damn. Nothing would make her let him go. “I love so you much, honey. I missed you.” He kissed her cheek, leaving slobber. “Oh, Dee.”
“I’m so sorry, Winston.” She left tears on his T-shirt. “I’m so, so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?”
“Forgive you?” He grabbed her face, looking at her. “You have nothing to be forgiven for. You didn’t anything wrong.” His sucked back tears. “I can’t believe this.” He hugged her. “I can’t believe this.”
“Dee!” Lydia darted past Winston, grabbing her sister. “I can’t believe this.” She hugged Dee, twirling her. “I’m so happy!”
“Lydia.” Dee tightened her arms around her baby sister, never wanting to let go. “I’ve missed you so much.” She kissed Lydia’s tear-stained lips. “I’m so glad you’re here. Rena told me you visited me.” Dee looked down, batting her eyes. “I don’t remember.”
“None of that matters.” She sobbed into Dee’s shoulder. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah.”
Winston took Dee into the living room and plopped beside her on the couch.
Lydia stood by the coffee table, rocking with tears covering her face.
“What the hell happened?” Winston asked.
“I drugged Jonathan and left.” Dee took a deep breath into her palms. “The Broadville Port Police brought me home. I don’t remember anything of the last three months. All I remember is Jonathan bringing me there but nothing after that. Rena filled me in on the details.”
“I can’t believe this.” Lydia squeezed beside Dee. “Thank god you’re okay.” She hugged her.
“Are you hurt?” Winston looked her over. “You need to go to the hospital.”
“I will.” Dee wiped more tears but new ones replaced them. “I can’t believe he was drugging me.”
Winston nodded, rubbing her shoulder. “He’s a sick man.”
“What happened to Jonathan?” Lydia asked.
“They arrested him.” Dee scratched underneath her tight hair bun. “He’s being held on kidnapping.”
“Good.” Winston scowled. “We’re gonna make sure they throw his ass under the jail.”
“With Jonathan’s money he has access to the best attorneys in the world,” Dee said.
“Trust me, he’ll pay.” Winston grabbed her hand. “Jonathan’s going to prison for what he did to you.”
“I hope so.” She jerked her head in his direction. “But, I feel like this isn’t over and it’s just the beginning.”
Lydia stroked Dee’s shoulder. “No way in hell he’s getting away with this.”
“We won’t let him.” Winston swept her into his arms again. “I got you back and I’ll never let you go.” He kissed her. “Never.”
****
“I didn’t get to be one of the best defense attorneys in Maryland by accident.” Horace Black walked out the Broadville Port Police station with Jonathan. “Trust me; this entire thing is a joke. No one will take it seriously.”
“I do.” Jonathan rubbed the top of his head.
“Quarter has no proof.”
They walked through the parking lot toward Horace’s black Mercedes.
“No judge in their right mind would waste time with this nonsense.” Horace unbuttoned his black blazer when they got to the car. “The more Quarter tries to push this, the crazier she looks.”
They got into the car and Jonathan leaned his head against the headrest. “You sure I can get out of this?”
“With no witnesses to back her up or any proof she was drugged, she has shit.” Horace tossed his briefcase into the giant backseat made of gold leather. “Now if she had a witness to support her claims it’ll make things iffy but even that isn’t solid proof.” He started the car and backed out the narrow parking space. “Relax, Jonathan.”
“How the fuck can I relax when I might go to prison?”
“It’s been years since I lost a case.” Horace’s glasses wiggled as he smiled. “I don’t intend on losing one now.” He turned onto the street. “But, you have to be honest and tell me everything. I need to know what drug you used, what you did while she was there and get rid of that drug okay? All of it.”
“So if she ended up with a witness it would be bad for me?”
“Yeah, but who would it be? None of the people who were there will go against you, right?”
Jonathan sighed, thinking of Rena.
“Right?”
“Wish I could say I was positive.” He touched the door handle. “There’s one I’m not sure I can trust.”
“Then you make sure you handle it. If there is anyone at the compound who might squeal, you need to do something about it.” Horace laughed, turning the steering wheel. “You can bet your sweet ass the media will be all over this one, ‘Popular Cult Leader Charged with Kidnapping Detective.’ Sounds like something out of a novel.”
“I’m not a cult leader.”
“I know that.” Horace nudged him. “But, that’s what the papers will say. They’ll spin it to get a headline with wings. Man, this could become international.”
Jonathan glanced out the window as they passed a strip mall. “I don’t want you dragging Deidra through the mud.”
“I’ll do whatever I have to, to keep your butt out of prison.” Horace stopped at a red light. “That’s the point, isn’t it?”
“No. The point is getting Deidra back where she belongs.”
“What?” Horace’s top lip wrinkled. “Are you mad?”
“I love her.” He rocked his leg. “Our love is bigger than the both of us. You’ll never understand.”
“I understand you’re fuckin’ crazy. I just got your ass out the jail because of this woman and you can’t even pretend you don’t want her?”
“She’s mine.”
“Which would you rather have?” Horace got into the left lane. “Dee Quarter or your freedom?”
“Neither exists without the other.”
“I mean it, Jonathan.” Horace steered. “Stay away from Dee Quarter. Do you hear me?”
****
Susan spun around as Travis came into her bedroom while she undressed. “Get out.” She grabbed her blouse and held it over her bra.
He walked closer, stopping by the dresser. “I’m sorry about Charlie.”
“Yeah, right.” She rushed past him and got her gown out the chest.
“I didn’t want to kill him, but you’ll see it was right in due time. I couldn’t let him hurt you and he would’ve.”
She fought the thunderstorm of tears as she stood with her back to him. “Get out.”
“Why?”
She felt him moving closer to her.
“Why do I have to get out?”
“I wanna go to bed.”
“Don’t be mad at me.” He touched her arms, pushing his nose into her hair. “Susan—”
“Don’t.” She jerked away from him. “Leave right now.”
He sniffled. “Please—”
“Just leave me alone.”
She walked into the adjacent bathroom and locked the door.
****
Washington, D.C.
“My goodness.” Winston gazed upon the Sims Ranch for Mental Health Treatment two evenings later. “Look at this.”
Connie gaped at the scene as she shut the passenger door of Winston’s car. “It is beautiful.”
They strutted through the rugged trail, passing young men who trained horses with experienced guides.
“Smell that.” Winston sniffed hay and horse manure. “Pure nature.”
Connie fanned, grimacing. “That’s not all it is.”
“Hello there.” A tall, stout man with Santa Claus cheeks and a furry gray beard, staggered toward the officers on run over cowboy boots. “You must be Detectives Wilks and Lewis.” He gestured to both of them. “Which one’s which?”
“I’m Detective Wilks.” Connie took his hand, smiling. “And this is Detective Lewis.”
“Nice to meet you.” Sweat trickled from underneath the man’s glasses.
“You too.” Winston shook his hand. “I take it you’re Dr. Lopez.”
“Yes.” The Puerto Rican psychologist’s large, dark eyes flashed from the sun. “How did you enjoy the trip from Baltimore?”
“Didn’t take much time at all,” Connie said. “Not much traffic during this time of day.”
Winston spun around, gawking. “This is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.”
“Well, thank you.” Lopez tipped the rim of his beige, cowboy hat. “We strive to make it as attractive as possible.”
“We appreciate you speaking with us,” Connie said.
“No problem.” He scratched the mole on his hand. “You wanted to speak about Travis?”
Winston gripped his waist. “Trying to learn more about him since the shooting and you popped on our radar.”
“Anything I can do to help, I’ll do it.” Lopez led them to a wooded table and chairs underneath a tent, overlooking the grassy mountains.
“Man.” Winston propped his arm on the table. “It’s gonna be hard to concentrate with such a lovely view.”
“I hear you.” Lopez laughed. “I always joke that this scenery’s like a beautiful woman.” He took his hat off, dipping his head to Connie. “Though this place pales in comparison to you, Detective Wilks.”
She smiled.
“We’d like insight about how he was here at the ranch,” Connie said. “All we know is he stayed here from age fifteen to eighteen.”
“Travis was one of my most complex patients.” Lopez perched his hands upon his big, solid belly. “His mother checked him in here because he wouldn’t leave her alone. Charlie abused Susan.”
Connie’s eyebrows fell.
“He’d go on these tantrums and become very violent. It started when he was young and the rages got worse as he became older and by sixteen he was too much for her to control.” Lopez’s right shoulder dropped. “It took a while for me to see what was going on in the household and it was the most disturbing thing I’d ever come across.”
“What?” Winston asked.
“Travis has an Oedipus complex.”
Connie stuck her nose in the air. “A who?”
Lopez’s cheeks swelled with air. “Travis is in love with his mother.”
Winston’s lip dropped on the table.
“You see these feelings become present in the child at about four years old. The child desires the parent of the opposite sex. Meaning, a girl will fantasize about having a sexual relationship with her father and a boy with his mother. As the child grows older, the feelings become more complicated when you add puberty and hormones to the mix.”
“My god.” Connie’s face twisted. “Is this uncontrollable?”
Lopez nodded. “It’s an obsession where the child even sees the parent of the same sex as a romantic rival.”
Winston blew out a long breath. “Give me a minute.”
“Hell, give me an hour,” Connie said.
Winston scowled. “You’re saying Travis beats Susan because he’s sexually obsessed with her?”
“He beats her because he can’t control his anger and he lashes out on whoever is close to him, no different from an abusive mate.” Lopez moved his hat aside. “With Susan and Travis, things have gone off the rails. The relationship has become muddled on both sides. That was evident when Travis first got here. He admitted to having a sexual encounter with his mother more than once. Travis told me.”
Winston shook his head, trying to shake the revolting thought out his mind, but it didn’t work.
“Oh.” Connie grabbed her stomach.
Lopez pressed his lips together with a neutral expression. “He told me Susan let him go down on her on his fourteenth birthday.”
Winston exhaled, lowering his head.
“He said it felt as if he were being born all over again.”
“Please.” Winston swallowed, eyes closed. “Spare the details.”
“Travis has done all he could to keep Susan’s suitors away and sabotage her relationships,” Lopez said. “I’ve wondered if he had something to do with his father’s death.”
Winston stared at Lopez. “You think he killed his father?”
“When you have someone with an Oedipus complex and who flies into rages, I wouldn’t put it past him. He’d do anything to keep Susan to himself.”
Connie put her hand over her eyes, groaning.
“So this is why Prisha was looking up incest,” Winston whispered. “Prisha must’ve found out about Travis and Susan. My god, Travis killed Prisha.”
“We don’t know that,” Connie said.
“But, it makes sense.” Winston jumped from the table, shaking Lopez’s hand. “We can’t thank you enough. We never would’ve found this out without you.”
“There’s more.”
“Oh god.” Connie stood, pushing the chair aside. “I can’t take anymore.”
“Susan has had multiple abortions through the years.” Lopez stood with a sickened expression. “I believe they were Travis’ babies.”