part 3

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The visit to her mothers was always a chore for Andrea.  At least Bailey was now in school and didn’t have to deal with the insanity that is her mother.  Always sickly, weak and spiteful.  What in her life was so damn bad?  She sold her only child’s innocence for cheap child care. 
As young as she could remember, Andrea was a sex toy to her uncle and passed around to his sick friends all the while in the “care” of her aunt.  Was it because her aunt was more interested in the alcohol and drugs then the obviousness her husband was molesting her charge?  One of Andrea’s earliest memories was looking out the apartment window at her aunt and uncles wishing some how her mother or her new husband would come get her.  They came two days later, she would spend the next four days in and out of the hospital with what they said was the beginning of appendicitis.  She was suffering from being sodomized and raped by her uncle in the middle of the night when her aunt was asleep.  Thinking back on it now, she wondered if she was asleep, or if she knew and didn’t care.  Her faith in humanity wanted to believe she never realized.  With age she realized that her aunt likely knew.
The alcohol and marijuana laden breathe heavy with anticipation about suffocating her as his huge body moving over her three year old body.  The burning and searing pain as her skin tore again, it wasn’t the first time and she was sure it wouldn’t be the last.  She felt she was going to die.  She would lie limp, pretending to sleep and pray he would finish quickly.  She knew even with the pain that if she yelled he would place his massive hands over her nose and mouth till she shut up or passed out.  She knew whatever he was doing was wrong and hurt so bad.  He called her beautiful and special as he thrust his hard dry extremity into her little body, she felt dirty and disgusting and about to die.  After he would finish the first time he would wait a bit seeing her bleeding body and get excited once again. Letting her battered body rest, he pulled out magazines with children like her, naked, broken.  He forced her to watch him while he masturbated, his semen mixing with the blood dripping from her bottom.  Lost somewhere between her and his sick fantasies he would complete what he called his sick game with her and whisper into her ear, “You tell anyone, and I will kill you and everyone you tell.  You are only naughty if you tell.  What we are doing is a beautiful thing.”  Then he would kiss her and throw her clothes at her and tell her to go straight to bed.  He would just put the magazines away in his special place above the fridge.  Then off to have sex with his wife.
The indifferent feeling for her mother grew and as she rang the door bell.  Wonderful childhood memories brought back to her thanks to her mother’s blind eye.  But it was not blind.  Some of the things she remembers her mother saying to her child when she was caught with her step uncle at age four.  Her mother yanked her out of the bed with her step brother and swept her into the bathroom.  She pulled her underpants back down.  Andrea was sure her mother was going to hurt her too.  She yanked them off and looked into them, “Well as long as there is no white stuff in them, you should be fine.”  Andrea was about twenty-two she realized her mother had sold her out to her uncle and his friends which included her former step uncle.  Her strained relationship with her mother got worse with the realization.  By the time she married Ben and was pregnant, she realized that any child could never be left in her families care, ever.  Even at thirty, the nightmare that went on till she was nine haunted her dreams.  Leaving scars you could see, and those carried heavy in her heart. 
Mother was acting sickly as usual.  How could she pretend to be all weak and feeble when fifteen years earlier she made a hobby out of beating the hell out of her daughter?  Just get this over with, visit, and tell her how wonderful your life is.  Listen to how horrid hers is and get out, back to the normal world. 
That is just what Andrea did, told her how wonderful Bailey was doing, about her dance classes, soccer, and her scholastic achievements.  Ben was keeping busy with the job, and after just over a year is Cade McCann’s right hand man. 
She kept the secret once again about the foul things her husband had been doing online.  Didn’t tell her mother that some of the whores he was wasting his time and attention on online were dead, another one was missing.  All incidents coinciding with times that Ben had been out at meetings in those areas for Cade’s invention.  She compared dates with times they took “family vacations.”  Cade encouraged him to bring the family.  She remembered at each place having trouble tracking down her husband. 
The visit lasted about fifteen minutes.  Most of which about how her mothers body ached, how poor she slept and how her sister was screwing her over when she wouldn’t give her money.  Same issues, different visit again today with dear old mother.  Using the excuse that she had to bake for the school bake sale, she gave her mother a hug and got out of the house she grew up in.  She couldn’t leave fast enough for home as fast as she could.
“Ben, are you home?”
“Who else would it be? Can you come into the kitchen, Andy!  I could sure use a hand if you have one to spare. I need some help with these bags.  I want to get back to the lab and do some finalization on the presentation before the company comes to look them over today.”
“Yea, can you give me a minute?  I want to see the news.  There was a rumor that there was going to be a big announcement on the locals about the new restaurants’ coming in the shopping complex.”
Turn it on down here and listen while we get his crap put away, please.”  He called up the stairs to her.
She stomped down to the kitchen, once again seemingly at his beckoned call.  There were a lot of bags. He went overboard in shopping again.  She began to take out and put items into their place.
“Seeing as the entire mall moved out there, I hope it isn’t the last hang out from there.  That’s not news.”  She snipped.
“No, I heard maybe more then one.  Likely a chain Applebee’s or Culvers, I really want a Wild Wings.  This town really lacks a bit in a place like that.”
“I wouldn’t mind some kind of buffet, like Old Country, or like that soup and salad place we ate at in Kansas.  That was really yummy.”  **********************************************************************
Andrea was not the only one who wanted to see the local news.  The hunter about jumped for joy, the search for the little slut was on.
“...Donna Frank’s friends and family are pleading for her safe return. She was last seen eight days ago while on her way to a bird watching expedition with her fiancé, Randy and a group of friends.  She was last seen on camera getting into her SUV outside the TA in Grand Island.  She was wearing a light green coat, tan capris, and crocks.  Randy has been ruled out as a suspect.  If you have any information…”
‘Damn it all, they said nothing about her being a slut.  They have yet to link her to the other two.  It’s not like many women are beaten, shocked, and disemboweled, then staged to be found in the Midwest.  When would they find her in the feedlot?  How much longer till vindication?’ The wait would be over within hours.
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The response said, ‘It’s about damn time you get back to me!  Get your feelers out I am sure this is real.  Get up here if you are able and help me find this girl! ~O’  To the point, that’s Olivia.
Though his bank account gave him ample funds to live any where and fly anywhere in the world, driving was Wolfe’s forte.  He had enough of flying in his younger days in search of the worlds best and brightest.  Having only seven charges total he had modest homes all over the country to be near them when needed.  Each fit him and his portable pet perfectly.  He even had access to safe houses in other countries all over the world.  Lucky for both himself and those he mentored, none had needed it.  Not to say some had not come close.  Wesley, a particularly gifted medium had about caused an international incident about ten years back.  As they were getting to the clean up phase after his break down, he mysteriously died.  No other medium has been able to contact him.  The team was in mourning. 
         Sage was at his side while he drove, he knew it was safer in the backseat in a pet carrier, but she tended to puke from anxiety back there.  If there was such a person whom enjoyed cleaning puke out of a full coated Havanese, Wolfe hoped to never meet them.  But, he knew as well as anyone this world was full of weirdo’s.  They were driving from their home in South Dakota, the one closest to where Olivia was in Nebraska.
         Olivia was his most successful and favorite of his section of the group.  Not because of her success publicly and that the prying eyes never saw, but because her talents were across the board.  She could do damn near anything they asked.  She was one of only three people in the life of the secret program to be able to manipulate objects in to moving without physical assistance.    He introduced her to her husband when they discovered her talent.  Cade in his own rights was a great mind.  The program was thrilled when they hit it off, married and had their child.  The potential shown by their offspring at a young age already had the higher-ups all but salivating.  Too bad he was too busy to be the child’s private tutor.  Maybe as the Godfather, he should make more time.  Buy a house even closer to the McCann family.

The trip took longer with Sage wanting to stretch out every rest stop it seemed.  Sage knew this was a pending family reunion with her off spring.  Could she sense she was about to become a grandmother?  He knew there were members of the program that could read animals.  Even with all he knew of the human minds abilities, that one realty gave him goose bumps.
He pulled up at the farm house just as his main phone died.  He knew it had nothing to do with the signal.  It was just toast.  A trip to the cell store was in his future.  He laughed to himself about the cleaver pun.  Technology could be such a bitch.  Not his idea of progress, sitting at customer-no-service instead of assisting in a perspective case. 
His foot hit the driveway and he felt the familiar pull that told him he must follow.  The urge to drive was so strong he almost didn’t want to take the time to toss Sage into the fenced front yard.  She would find her way to the house.  Olivia would understand he was on to something.  Damned it he knew what it was.  Keys in the ignition, he drove.  Fifteen minutes later he felt as if his mind hit a brick wall. 
Looking around there was a gigantic feedlot, knowing this was the one that boasted over fifty thousand head of cattle.  Nebraska had countless feedlots, but this one Olivia complained when the wind hit right the stench could permeate the walls of her home over 8 miles away.
Getting out reluctantly his eyes were drawn to the far end of the lot.  He hopped the fence, cursing wearing his nice new hiking boots.  The great intuitive, didn’t realize he would be ankle deep in cow shit when he hurriedly dressed this morning.
Letting go of the disgust, centering on his training, his senses pulling him again to where his eyes fixed moments earlier.
The smell was just a step below unbearable.  What happened to letting your cattle out to graze and roam?  Feedlots were a greedy way to get a lesser graded result of food.
His mental rant cut short when he saw the dark mass of flies.  Death was a smell that he quickly separated from the others.  May be it was a dead cow.
Peering into the shade he saw a bare leg.  Looking deeper into the shaded area, he realized this was Olivia’s young woman.  He quickly grabbed his working phone and debated on whom to call first.  Olivia deserved to know she was not crazy, but his boss would have his head if he was not notified immediately.
“Sir, the notice from Olivia has panned out.  I ended up being pulled to the body.  I don’t like this one bit.  I will secure the area and put the usual cover story to the feed lot workers.  Please send someone out to assist the locals in the processing of the scene.  I have briefly looked it over and it is a nasty one.
She was splayed out on the ground, displayed for the maximum shock value.  Her abdominal cavity contents outside of the body.  And have been chewed on by critters. There are several stabs to her face.  It appears the eyes are gone, but again that could have been critters there doesn’t appear to be cuts there.  A long cut across the throat.  Several signs of torture, including what looks like taser marks.  This is not the kill site either, no blood pools.  I just moved some hair from her face and there also appears to be a word carved into her forehead.  SLUT.  Lovely, it appears this was a rage kill.  I will upload these pictures to your office as soon as I get off the phone with you.  Also, she has been out for a couple days, between decomp, flies larva, and critter nibbles…”
The deep voice spoke finally, “I need to know, can you get anything off the body from your formal training.  I do have profilers and forensic people on staff too.”
“Yes I am sure this is the girl Olivia saw in her dream.  The energy matches.  What the touchstone to her is, that I cannot tell you.  I was pulled to the location as I put my foot down in Olivia’s driveway. 
This girl knew near the end that she had lead her attacker right to herself.  We need to identify her, then dump her phones and dissect all things technological with her.  I saw her blowing a kiss and shutting down the computer when I moved her hair.  There is not a lot of residual energy left here.  I think she was stalked via the net.”
“We will scour for more victims with the information you have given me.”
“Sir, they will be scattered.  Check if there is a connection between them when you sift them out.  You will only need to go back six to nine months.  I feel this killer is somewhat fresh, but one sick puppy.  Start in the Midwest, and expand out from there, but I don’t think you will have to.  I see the number six. More as it comes about.  Good evening sir.”  He hung up and called Olivia.   
         The highs of validating a dream came crashing down when Olivia realized how very close to home it really was.  That is not how it is supposed to be, this was her town!  The emotional toll sent her to the confines of her room.  Cade referred to events suck as she was going through as psychic brain drain.  Of course he was working on the other side of the property likely well in to the evening and had no idea what was going on.  Wolfe was taking over what he could, she felt she was useless.  The missing girl from the news how could she not have made the connection?
         All she wanted to do was sleep; she feared if she didn’t the images would continue.  She also feared if she did sleep, there would be more information, and just didn’t feel ready for it.  The flood of information that came to her all the time in twilight when she was ready was massive.  A fractured psyche would be like a tsunami.  Sometimes she could tune it out, but she knew today was not one of those days. She was just desperate to shut down, but that could make her susceptible to “other worldly communications.”  She just kept mumbling to herself, “this is not another Katy,” over and over.  The girl was dead before she even saw it happen from Wolfe’s assessment of the body.
         It still didn’t make her feel much better; this dead person was a stones throw away from the bedroom window she was looking out.  What a funk, she had to find a way to separate herself from the case, so as to continue to assist.  Wolfe would pull her in a heartbeat if she got too distant.
         She wanted to call her husband so badly.  Tell him to come home and take care of her.  It wasn’t realistic, glancing at the clock she knew they were in the midst of the last team meeting before the buyers arrived.  Selling those chips meant the world to Cade, something he did without the help of her, or the program.  She wanted him to succeed in this venture, but felt jealous that it was taking him from her when she needed him the most.
         Wolfe was a constant mother-hen to her as he had since she was a child.  Well, he was really more like a drill sergeant.  She would have to pull herself together soon; Rey would have to be picked up from school.  She didn’t want him to see her like this ever.
         Wolfe entered her sanctuary tossing clothing on the bed next to her.  “Get up Ducky, freshen’ you face up.  Let’s go get Rey.  Then it’s off to the cell store and see if I can get this piece of shit fixed.”  He picked up the phone, quickly slammed it down on her bedside.
         “Can’t imagine why it’s not working for you, Wolfe, you treat it so well.”
         “That’s the spirit, Ducky.  You are getting your feistiness back, good we will need it.  You can assist as much or as little as you want with this, but I am not leaving till it’s solved.”          
         She knew better then to continue the conversation with him.  She motioned for him to get out, but stayed in the clothes she changed into after the conference this morning.
         Time to pull herself together and be “Super Mother,” despite any case she always vowed to take the needed time for Rey.
         She checked on the trio of dogs, Sage was watching over her baby preparing for her own litter.  Hope who was still adjusting to having to be shaved down for the pending birth was spending almost all her time in the whelping box.  Smokey was doing the famous Havanese run-like-hell, chasing a ball way too large for his little mouth.  Pausing only as Olivia entered the kitchen.  He padded over with his floppy paws and looked up with his big eyes and whimpered. 
         “They say that with the Hav’s you cannot go wrong with either gender, ya know.  Girls will love ya, but boys will be in love with ya.”  Wolfe said as he knelt and patted the concerned Smokey on the head before heading Olivia out the door.
She left a note in the box out front for Cade if he happened to arrive home before they were back.  The box was their system to avoid Cade interrupting her when she was channeling, or in the middle of a reading.  Note in the box, stay away for the appointed time. 
“Off to get Rey then to get Wolfe’s cell fixed.  We will talk when I get home.  Media is all over the case, don’t worry about it.  Just keep TV off, there was a break through.  It was real, all of it. Love ~O          
Rey was ecstatic that his “Uncle Wolfe” was visiting. 
Going anywhere with Wolfe always proved a chore.  Something always came up.  Off to the store the trio went.
Wolfe was determined to walk out with the phone fixed or a new one free of charge.  He was extremely frugal with the governments buck as he was with his own.  After all, he paid taxes, so he felt he paid in and should not waste what could have been his own tax dollar.
Olivia just prayed to herself he wouldn’t make a scene.  Hastings was only so big, and his drama would make it around the city at breakneck speed. 
Pitting the breaks on, Wolfe stopped the car on what could only be described as the parking slope.  Mindfully applying the parking brake hoping the vehicle wouldn’t get door dinged.  The way this day was going already made him feel it was inevitable.
They exited the car and were off to the store.  Holding the door for Rey and Olivia Wolfe paused to look around before entering.  He was scanning for someone whose face he could not conjure.  He could have done this errand alone, but not having Cade working so hard today of all days on his pet project he wasn’t about to leave Olivia alone.  Plus the threat assessment had not been fully done to see if it was the victim or the killer that was the connection to her.  He couldn’t leave her home alone with her visions; it was torture he knew first hand.  Cade had no idea the company that he was working so hard to sell the chips to in fact a branch off of the program.  They should have rescheduled the meeting giving him some bogus excuse after Wolfe filed that this was an active case and involved Cade’s wife.  Sometimes the greed of his bosses pissed him off.  They were so hot to get those chips.  Wolfe could more than guess why; sometimes being psychic was a real bitch.  He chose to put the thoughts out of his head and chalk it up to the “betterment” of society. 
Inside to join the mother and son duo he went.  They were already talking to the greeter lady who it seemed was hopped up on at least eight double shots of espresso. 
Waiting annoyed Wolfe, there was fresh meat to analyze, and his star student was distraught.  So many things already today occurred putting him in just a foul mood.  His mind wandered during these idle times to what some would call astutely macabre.  After about ten minutes of Wolfe pacing, Olivia either reprimanding Rey or spacing out they were finally assisted.
“Sir it seems you are still under warrantee, but just barely.  Good thing you brought it to us today!”
Another thing that didn’t go over well with Wolfe was chipper smarmy comments.  Grinding his teeth he replied, “Well good thing it took one of the most important days to die!  What the hell is wrong with it?”
“Well if you refer to the booklet it states that you should never charge your phone with the power on.  It’s really bed for the battery, causing the charge to drain more quickly.”
“That’s the best you got?  I never charge it with the power on, next excuse?”  Wolfe’s reply was curt and all Olivia could think was here we go again I can’t take him anywhere.
The hapless associate seemed oblivious to the quickly maddening customer, or just didn’t care.  “Well, it could just be the battery itself.”
“No, it’s not the stupid battery; I have two backups and neither one of them work either.  What are the odds that all three decided to die at the exact same time, really?”
“Sir, it may just be the technology has superseded your…”
“Maybe you may think due to the fact I am almost fifty that I am tech stupid.  But according to any of the national and international I.Q. tests I am on the low side a one seventy-nine.  Do you know what that means you minimum wage, hi I work for commission moron?  It means I helped spin up these things, and constantly work to make them better.  This one is a piece of shit!”  Olivia elbowed the now raging Wolfe.
“Sir, I didn’t mean to imply your age or intellect was inferior to me or the technology…”
Wolfe leaned across the table almost nose to nose with the now frightened associate. 
“Fix this so I can recover my missing info and get me a working phone ASAP or I will make a scene.”
They left the store in less than ten minutes.  Magically the information recovered and transferred to Wolfe’s new phone.  Olivia just prayed that the small scene as Wolfe called it wouldn’t come to haunt her after he left and went home.  She glanced at dash clock; it was time to figure out supper.
“Cade will be out until later this evening.  What do you boys want for dinner, as if I need to ask?”  When in doubt for dinner the guys wanted to go to the only buffet in town, Valentino’s.  Olivia had realized she had hardly eaten that day and though not overly hungry, knew she had to keep her strength up.
Cade had met her at the door with a hug when they arrived home stuffed and happier then when they had left. 
“I made Ben a partner as we had talked about.  He accepted, of course.  His first assignment is to go finalize with the buyers in Omaha.  I insisted he bring Andrea and Bailey to celebrate for the following weekend.  Do the zoo and such.  I am off the hook and am here for you one hundred percent.”  Cade said.
“No, this is your baby you need to go and follow through one hundred percent.  I will be fine.  After all, I have dealt with worse, and Wolfe refuses to leave so he will baby sit me.  Don’t worry.  You will only be gone for two days.”
“You sure”
“Positive, what could happen.  I am guessing the murder is random, though ritualistic in nature.”
The night went uneventful afterward. The house fell quiet and for a few hours the house slept peacefully.  Olivia woke with a start.  Cade didn’t stir, she was grateful for that.  She pulled on her robe, crept to Rey’s room checked on him and was startled by a voice behind her.
“He is safe here with you now, it won’t happen again.  He is even safer with me here, you know that right?”
“Old habits, I guess,” and she shrugged, turning to her old friend the memories of two years ago came rushing back to her.
He broke in while she was relaxing in the bath after she had put her young son to sleep.  Planning on taking the young boy, he would have got away if not for their amazing little Havanese dog.  Havanese, due to their size are not known to be great watchdogs, though the barks on them are quite large and loud when they feel the need to actually bark.  Extremely loyal dogs and one of the most humanly compassionate of the canine dogs.  They bought him for his compact size perfect for children, and the fact their shedding virtually nonexistent. 
Smokey, their sole dog at the time, since they had recently adopted stood guard at the boy’s bedroom doorway as if he knew that this night would come.  Being of dark color he blended easily into the shadows. As the man crept into the room, the dog began bellowing and barking; alerting Olivia that there was something wrong, as he hardly ever barked.  Olivia‘s blood went cold.  All the obscene phone calls, letters to her office, and home connected, that moment with Smokey’s bark.  Someone was in her home, despite the security system, and in or nearing her sleeping son.  Due to the layout of the home, she could not have been discovered yet.  She grabbed the phone and dialed the police then went to her child.
There were no weapons to speak of in the bathroom, so she improvised.  Hair spray and the lighter for the candle could work.  She tucked them in her robe pocket along with her hair brush.    She took the back entrance down to the floor where her son was sleeping. 
She caught the silhouette of the intruder trying to get past the ten pound ball of fur.  To that day she had never seen nor never again hoped to see such a loving little animal look for fierce with his heckles up and bellowing out a warning to the stranger trying to enter his “little masters” room.  Snapping and jumping into the air he wouldn’t relent.  Then almost as if he sensed she was there, instantly quieted, Smokey backed into the room close to the still sleeping boy still harboring a low growl. 
Confused by the dog from the it’s discover in the house, and the sudden change in its attitude he was too deeply contemplating what had just happened to see, nor hear her come from behind him smashing his head with her paddle brush cracking her favorite brush, cracking it nearly in two.  It was almost comical the way he fell to the floor.  Then aiming the candle lighter and hair spray at him, held him at bay till the police arrived.  Through the whole ordeal her son didn’t wake till the police arrived and had taken the man away.  A crazed fan had become obsessed with her, calling, harassing, successfully tracking her down.  He made the connection between her using her maiden name not her married one while in the public eye. Her anonymity was gone, along with her sense of safety. 
Wolfe looked at her and read her mind.
“No, it’s not over with you and this case yet.” He said sadly.  “Go to bed, we both need our energy.  I will keep you and your family safe.  You are the closest thing to a family I have ever had, I won’t lose that.”  She hugged him and went back t bed for a blissfully dreamless night.
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The clock hit 9am, Bailey was off to school, Ben was sleeping in and she was at the Doctors office again for her bi-weekly meetings.
“Please have a seat Andrea.” She took a seat across from the doctor, tucking her legs beneath her. 
The doctor began the buzz of questions and soul searching for her as she did every day twice a week for the last six months or so.
“How was the visit with your mother?”
“I feel bad for her current situations, but I realize they are called to course by her decisions.  I can’t change her, what she is becoming, was anything.”
“That’s very good, and I am sure it was a difficult realization.  Do you still harbor feelings of rage due to her past actions? 
“Honestly, I think I will always will.  We may make a lot of progress here twice weekly meetings moving through past trauma.  But, fact of the matter is she has no right to act as if she was the best mother in the world, and did me some favor by keeping me when she knew to a point what was going on and did nothing.  As a mother, I will never understand the selfishness of her past actions.
“I ask this every time but, in this moment, can you say you love your mother?”
“When I talk to her on the phone and sometimes in person I want to protect her from the world that she is in.  Other times I feel nothing, and nothing would make me happier then to disown her.  Let her fend with the wolves.”
“Both emotions are consistent with one another.”
“Really, how can that be so?” Andrea leaned in intrigued.
“You wish to show her how to protect and nurture.  On the other side you still struggle with the questions of would you have dealt with what you did if she had given you up for adoption; or ever had you at all.  Andrea nodded solemnly weighing the words the doctor said.  “Pick a memory and tell me about it, just like last time.”
“It was either Christmas or the eve of it, for the longest time the mother’s side of the family came to celebrate.  I was thirteen; my older cousin and I were in my room looking at the new perfumes we had gotten in our stockings.  She tossed me my old aerosol bottle of Wind Song, me with my hands full just watched it arc in to the crease between the side of my bed and the mattress.  It was quite the shot!  We for some reason thought it was so funny, we just were in stitches laughing so loud.”
“Sounds like a great memory.”  The doctor noted a darkening of her patient’s demeanor as she said it.
“Up to that point yes.  The parties were always at our home, I was safe there.  He never tried anything, not at my home.  Till that night I always pretended the uncle was not there.    He had to have realized that.  He heard us from the main part of the house and left the party unnoticed.  He kept in without us seeing or hearing him as our backs were to the open door. He drew attention to his presence only after he shut and locked the door with just us three in the room, alone.  “What’s all the giggling about you girls?  Happy I am here?  It’s been so long since I have had time with either of you two.”  I went from elation and joy to being royally pissed off.  This was MY home.
“Get out of here or you will be sorry!”
“What are you going to do about it?  Four years since our last dance, you are practically fresh meat again sweetie.”  Lydia was huddling in the corner of the bed trying to hide herself best she could.
“You step one foot closer, I will scream.  Then you will have to explain why you are in here with the door closed and locked,” I had warned.
“Please, you won’t tell a soul!  You liked what I did, I saw you squirm.”
He stepped forward, in a quick motion his hands shot out, one around my mouth the other around my neck; knocking my head into Lydia’s knees, and pinning my body to the bed.  Arms flailing as my head hit, one hand wrapped around the bottle of Wind Song that had been tossed carelessly minutes before.  I took it and sprayed it directly into that bastard’s eye.
He screamed releasing me and was clawing at his eyes.  I told him he would be sorry!  He struggled to unlock the door and I knew I was going to get my ass in trouble.  I didn’t right at that point care.  I had won for once against him.  He would never again touch me after that.  I had no foresight to see that at that point, but I digress.  He was still howling as he grabbed blindly for the door.  I still remember that moment; hold it dear to my heart. 
“That little bitch sprayed me in the eyes with perfume for no reason.  She is nuts, unhinged, a menace!”
I did it for survival not thinking of the why or how I was going to explain my actions to the other adults.
Lydia begged me as my stepfather summoned me to the living room not to tell the secret.  I nodded to her and left out to the living room. 
Every conceivable adult was out there and staring at me.  Before I could even speak my mother approached me, I thought to hug me.  She paused when she saw the welts that were forming from where he had grabbed me.  I opened my arms to her just as she back handed me, knocking me to my knees.  The uncle laughed. 
“How dare you, why would you do such a thing?  You are grounded for the remainder of Christmas break.” My stepfather was just buzzing questions at me.  Worse than the grounding was the fact he insisted I apologize to that bastard!
“Did you tell the secret as you called it that night?”
“No, I only asked them to ask the uncle why he came in and locked the door.”
“Did you mother or stepfather ask him why?”
“No, my mother told me to shut up and go back to me room, by myself and sit in the dark to think about the dark thoughts I had had against my uncle.”
“How did that make you feel?”
“I knew at that moment she knew something was off and was not going to confront it with all the other people around, or the fact he had the audacity to come after me in my own home?”
“Any, all, take your pick.”
I remember how bad my jaw hurt. I remember for the days afterward wondering if the subject would be brought up again because of the hand shaped bruise on my neck.”
“Did your parents bring it up again?”
“No.”  Andrea began to sob.
“We will touch on this again another day, but let’s fast forward to the present.  How are things with Ben right now?  I bet he’s been busy since the chips went out for sale was it, yesterday?”
Andrea smiled with a hint of pride, “Yes, as a matter of fact they did.  Cade is sending him, well us out to Omaha to sign the final papers for him.  He made him partner last night after the guys met with the company executives.”
“So, Cade is sending your whole family, instead of going himself?”
“Yes, his wife is having some kind of weird breakdown or something right now.  She’s that famous author and psychic, Olivia Page.”
“Really, I have read some of her books, quite entertaining and at the same time reasonably realistic.”
“Yea, I just put two and two together yesterday with her being Olivia Page, the famous author.  Not Olivia McCann, mother and wife.  Funny isn’t it, how you can know someone for a long time and not really see them, huh?”
“That seems like a pointed question, you never did answer how you and Ben are doing, you answered how Ben was doing.”
Andrea readjusted her feet, “At times I feel like it never happened, like it is all okay.  Other times I feel the betrayal has fractured me to the point of no return; it’s all I can think about.  I was progressing so well then I see he was back on those sites again, and now, he is not even hiding it.  How could he have figured out the childproof password?”
“All of the same women as before, no new ones?” The doctor asked.
“All the same, weird thing is that is how I made the connection to Olivia; he pulled up her book and readings site.  Maybe he is fixating on her now.”
“You want to know something completely bizarre? Most of those hoochers that he looked at are dead now.  He was also looking up articles in their local papers and online tribute pages.”
Looking up the doctor replied, “Well when they live a life like that they are just wayward souls that have been sexually abused as a child or sometime in their lives, you know.  Statistically, they are drug users to either lower their inhibitions or to ease the pain of what they are doing to themselves. Suicide is common with them too.  That could have been you if you had made different decisions in your life you realize that don’t you Andrea?”
“They were not suicides, they were all murdered.”  She mumbled almost unnoticed, then strongly came back with, “No, they are not like me; I took the moral high road.  I broke the circle!  I married what I thought was a man who held the same high beliefs I did.” “He may still hold those beliefs”
“He lied to me!  He talked about how awful all those things were.  He lulled me into the false sense of security, all the while indulging in those very things!”
“What he did was not illegal.”
“It should be.  I know it isn’t, I’m not thick.  Taking the morals and trust for him I held so high and talked them up.  He was just laughing at me.  Here I think I have the perfect man.  I had the perfect liar.”
The bell dinged.  “Hour’s up, but remember ‘You are only as inferior to those you let allow to make you feel that way.’  Or it is something close to that; I never get that quote right, but I think you get the drift.”  The little quip seemed to cheer Andrea up. 
“Till next week, Doc, thank you” With that another hour over and she was out the door.