Evidence of Darkness Page 3

  Stacy gently brushed Reesa’s long brown hair away from her face with her hand. “You need to tell your mother what happened. Okay, dear?”

  Reesa looked at Stacy, then looked up at her mother who was glaring at her. She looked down at the floor again and finally answered quietly, “Um, Bryan…he…he raped me this morning.”

  Barbara became outraged. “Oh, come on, Reesy, you know that’s not true. He would never do that and you know it. Stop all the lying and let’s go home. This is all just a bunch of bullshit!”

  Stacy struggled to remain calm. “I think you should talk with your daughter, Barbara. Something awful has happened to her.”

  “It’s all lies, Stacy! She’s been trying to get me to kick Bryan out of the house for months now. This is just another ploy to get him out, and I won’t stand for it. Bryan is a hardworking, respectable guy. He would never do anything to harm Reesy. He loves her just as if she were his own. She just won’t give him a chance. That’s all that’s going on here.”

  Stacy glanced over and saw Jim standing in the doorway listening to their conversation. “Will you please call the police?”

  He immediately turned around and walked down the hallway toward the foyer.

  Barbara screamed as she stomped down the hall after him. “You will do no such thing! She’s lying and I know it. She’s my daughter and I’ll deal with this. MY WAY!”

  Jim had the phone in his hand and turned to her. “Just calm down, Barbara. I think we need to get to the bottom of this. Please, just have a seat.” He dialed 911 and requested that a police officer to come to their house.

  Barbara stood there glaring at him throughout the entire conversation, then stormed out of the house.

  As Reesa listened to her mother, her whole body and soul went numb. It was one thing to think that her mother didn’t care – it was devastating to know for certain that she didn’t. She found it incomprehensible that a man her mother had known for only a few months had become more important to her than her own daughter – her own flesh and blood. Reesa felt worthless, unimportant, ashamed, but not only because she’d been raped, but because her mother had abandoned her when she needed her the most.

  At that moment, Reesa didn’t care what happened. Nothing mattered. She didn’t matter. Her life didn’t matter. Nothing anyone could do or say to her could ever hurt her again, because it would never compare to the emotional injury that day had brought. She felt lifeless, as if her soul had been stripped from her body. What Bryan hadn’t taken from Reesa, her mother just had. Everything after that brutalizing moment became a blur.

  Present, New York City

  Reesa snapped back to the present as she pulled up to the front door of the Dalton School. She couldn’t remember driving the last two blocks. Her hands were numb from gripping the steering wheel, and her entire body felt tense.

  She was looking straight ahead as if in a trance when Jade ran up to the car and opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat. “Can you please try to be on time for a change?”

  Reesa cleared her throat and could barely speak. “Yes…I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

  Jade looked over at her. “Mom, have you been crying? What happened? Did you lose a case or something?”

  Reesa wiped the tears from her face. “No, I’m fine.” She knew she had to pull herself together somehow.

  “Oh, I know, you had another counseling appointment today, didn’t you? Is that why you’re so upset?”

  “Yes, this morning, but I’m fine.” Trying to change the subject, Reesa asked, “So, where would you like to eat dinner – anywhere you want. I’m buying so make it good!” She tried to smile through her tears.

  Jade laughed. “You always buy, Mom. You’re being silly.”

  Reese forced a laugh, “Well, what will it be?”

  “I don’t know. I’m kind of tired. Can we please get a pizza from the new pizza place on the corner? We can take it home and watch a movie or something.”

  Reesa was relieved. She was too distraught to go to a restaurant and attempt to act normal. This would give her some much needed time to regroup her emotions. “That sounds like an excellent idea!”

  2

  THE INTERROGATION

  On Monday morning, Reesa felt refreshed when she arrived to the office at 6 a.m. She had worked from home on Saturday, and was delighted that she was able to catch up on a few briefs for upcoming cases. She enjoyed Sunday with Jade decorating their apartment for Christmas, and they even did a little Christmas shopping. She was also able to keep the tormenting flashbacks from her past buried for the entire weekend.

  Reesa was on the phone with a client when Mike tapped on her door. She motioned for him to come into her office. He walked in and took a seat across from her desk.

  After she finished her call, she smiled at him. “I guess it is about time to see Adele, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, it is. Are we taking a cab, or are you going to insist on driving again?”

  “I don’t mind driving.”

  “I know you don’t, but you do realize it might be hell finding a place to park, right?”

  “I do know that, but it’s fine, really.” Reesa hated taking taxis. She didn’t trust the cab drivers, and their driving annoyed her. She felt most comfortable when she drove her own car where she felt in control.

  Due to the holiday shopping traffic, it took longer than usual to get to the Metropolitan Correctional Center. Reesa finally parked a few blocks away in an expensive parking lot.

  It was blistering cold outside, and the penetrating winter wind was blowing snow in every direction. Wearing a warm winter coat, boots, gloves, and a heavy scarf, she was well prepared for the harsh weather.

  Mike tugged his wool hat down over his ears, then pulled the collar up on his coat and held it together at his neck to shield himself from the wind and snow that was pelting his face. He glanced over at Reesa as they walked swiftly toward the building and yelled, “And this is why I take a cab. They drop you off at the door.” He chuckled, then added, “At least you dressed appropriately. Are you even in there somewhere?”

  Reesa smiled at him, feeling somewhat embarrassed by her attire, then quickened her pace.

  After they entered the prison, they presented their credentials and checked in with the guard. They were instructed to deposit their cell phones and most of their personal belongings into a plastic container, then they were searched and swiftly escorted up to the third floor and into a small conference room. The space was dreary with gray walls void of pictures, and the floors were highly polished concrete. The only furniture in the room was a small conference table and a few chairs.

  Once they sat down, Reesa began feeling uncomfortable as she pulled her notepad and pen out of her briefcase and placed them on the table in front of her. She knew Mike had a firm grasp on the case. She only wanted to attend the meeting to make sure they covered every possible angle of the defense. She wanted no stone unturned when the case went to trial in a few months.

  After Mike retrieved his files from his briefcase, he set a small voice recorder on the table.

  A few minutes later, Adele Castillo was ushered into the room by a security guard. Reesa watched as she laboriously walked up to the table and sat down across from them, her hands cuffed in her lap.

  Reesa hardly recognized the beautiful woman whom she had first met three weeks after the grand jury indicted her on first-degree murder charges. After being in prison for the last four months, she looked considerably thinner and the orange prison uniform was baggy on her petite frame. Her enormous dark eyes appeared sunken into her lifeless face and were now shadowed by dark circles. Her long, thick dark hair looked disheveled with tangled wisps dangling over her eyes.

  Reesa smiled at Adele and thought she resembled a young child as she sat there oblivious to the seriousness of the charges she faced, and the long battle that lay ahead. “How are you doing, Adele? Are you okay?”

  She looked down and shrug
ged her shoulders, then shifted around in the chair trying to get comfortable. “Yeah, sure, I’m fine.”

  “We have uncovered some information that may be helpful in your case and we need to ask you a few questions.”

  Adele looked up at her. “Okay, I got nowhere else to go. Shoot.”

  “Do you mind if we record our meeting?” she asked. “I’m a slow writer.”

  “Nope. That’s fine, do whatever ya gotta do.”

  Reesa looked at Mike and nodded her head once, indicating for him to begin.

  After he tapped the record button on the recorder, Mike extended his arm on the table with his hand palm down and looked at her intently. “Adele, we received the prosecution’s discovery last week. Ms. Collins and I are hoping you might be able to shed some light on a few items that are of concern to us in hopes that we can investigate them further.”

  Adele looked at him and he proceeded. “We discovered that Victor DeWald had a stepdaughter. Ah, this would be his second wife’s daughter. Her name is LeeAnn. Have you ever met her?”

  Adele thought for a moment and shook her head. “Nope. I pity her though, having him for a stepdad.”

  “Do you recall your mother or Victor ever mentioning he had a stepdaughter?”

  “No. I don’t think so. We weren’t really talkin’ much after she met Victor though. And I tried not to talk to him. I didn’t like him. Hated him if you really wanna know. He always treated my mom like shit. I was only stayin’ with them ‘cause I had no place else to go. I don’t know why my mom even put up with the bastard. He was a low-life, lazy piece of shit if you ask me. He was just using her.”

  Mike paused a moment. “Oh, okay, I understand. Well, we’re trying to locate LeeAnn. We have reason to believe that she may have been raped by Victor as well. She filed sexual assault charges against him almost ten years ago. The charges were dropped before the case ever went to trial, but we were hoping that perhaps you knew her, or knew of her?”

  “Nope. Like I said – never heard of her.”

  “Your mother denies knowing anything about her, or where she might be residing. In your best estimation, how long had your mother and Victor known each other?”

  Adele looked up at the ceiling as she attempted to calculate the timeframe. “Um, maybe about eight years? Mom hooked up with him right after I graduated high school. He was from Arizona and she moved back there with him. I split ‘cause I didn’t wanna move. I had just started seein’ Lenny then.” She looked to the side as a tear trickled out of her eye. “That was a huge mistake, too. Glad I didn’t go with them though. I’d have had to kill the son-of-a-bitch sooner.”

  Mike looked at his notes on the table in front of him and hoped Adele would act a little more remorseful when she took the stand during her trail. “Okay, we’ll continue trying to locate her. We’d like to talk to her. If we can establish a history of abuse, and more specifically rape, it would greatly increase your chances of an acquittal. We’ll question your mother further about this during her deposition.”

  “Go for it. Good luck gettin’ anything out of her though. She’s pretty much abandoned me since all of this happened. Like I never even existed, ya know? She thinks all this is my fault. It’s not like we were really that close or anything anyway.” She sighed and tilted her head. In a soft voice, she continued. “We used to be though. Before she met Victor we were really close. Once she met him, she kinda cut everyone else out of her life.”

  Mike continued to ask Adele questions, trying to fill in some of the missing pieces of the puzzle from her original narrative of the night she had murdered Victor DeWald. He wanted to squeeze any ounce of new information out of her he possibly could.

  Reesa listened closely and made notes of questions she wanted to ask Adele, as well as some of the witnesses they planned to subpoena to appear at the trial.

  Adele’s feelings of rage and contempt toward Victor, as well as her angry comments to Mike’s questions, triggered more memories from Reesa’s past. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead, and her heart pounded hard in her chest. She placed her hands in her lap and clenched her fists. Then, the past flooded back to her again.

  Connersville, Indiana – 1999

  After Barbara had stormed out of Madeline’s house that cold March evening in 1999, a police officer walked into the family room where Reesa sat with Madeline and Stacy. After a brief discussion, Reesa was taken to the hospital for a thorough examination. The medical staff also administered a rape kit, although they were concerned that too much time had passed since the actual crime to collect the adequate DNA samples needed to form a tight case against Bryan.

  She then had a lengthy meeting with a female police officer. Officer Porter’s face was still etched into her mind as she recalled the soothing and confident demeanor she displayed when she informed Reesa of her rights as a victim of a violent crime. Officer Porter questioned her about every painful detail of the events of earlier that morning. She felt safe in her presence and told her everything that had happened. Reesa finally felt like Bryan would be held accountable for what he had done.

  After the long, treacherous night, she returned to Madeline’s house. Jim and Stacy Donovan had agreed to let her stay with them until she graduated. Although Reesa was grateful, she was devastated when they informed her that Milo was not welcome due to Jim’s allergies.

  One evening almost a week later, Stacy came into Madeline’s room while they were studying. She smiled, then looked at Reesa. “I’m sorry to interrupt you two, but could I speak to you for a moment, Reesa?”

  She was on the bed with her head propped up against a pillow reading her biology book. Reesa closed the book and scooted to the edge of the bed.

  Stacy sat down beside her and held her hand. “I’ve had several discussions over the past few days with your mother. She would like you to return home.”

  Reesa glanced at Madeline who had a blank look on her face. Then she turned back to Stacy and slowly shook her head. “No. I can’t, Mrs. Donovan. I can’t go back there.”

  “It’s going to be fine, dear. I’ve also talked with Officer Porter about your situation. Bryan has been arrested and will remain in jail. He’s unable to come up with the necessary bail bond to be released, so he’s out of the picture now. He can’t harm you anymore. We’re all in agreement that your home is the best environment for you right now. I’m so sorry, dear, but I think it’s time you went home.”

  Stacy put her arm around Reesa. “I know this is a very scary thing, but you must know that your mother loves you very much. You really need to mend your relationship with her. In time, I think you’ll see that this is the best solution.”

  Tears flowed from Reesa’s eyes. The thought of returning home made her sick to her stomach, but she felt she had no choice. She looked at Madeline, who also had tears in her eyes.

  Madeline moved to the edge of the bed and took her hand. “Rees, it will be okay. We’re here if you need us.” She glanced at her mother, pleading, “Right, Mom? She can come back if she wants, can’t she?”

  Stacy paused for a moment. “Yes, sure. If things don’t work out, let us know. We’ll figure something else out.”

  When Reesa returned home, she was relieved to find that Milo was fine, but she couldn’t seem to fight off the immense feelings of doom and defeat. She continued to remind herself that she only had to tolerate living with her mother for two more months. Then, she would graduate and go to stay with her Aunt Wanda for the summer.

  For the next week, she was hardly ever home. If she wasn’t in school, she was at the library studying, determined to graduate top of her class. When the library closed, she would go home and go directly to bed, cuddled up with Milo as he purred softly beside her.

  She frequently had difficulty falling asleep, fearful of the horrifying nightmares that would inevitably wake her up in a state of terror.

  On Saturday night, one week after she had returned home, she heard a loud crash that sounded like it came from
downstairs. She listened carefully. Then she heard laughter and two sets of footsteps coming up the stairs toward her bedroom. She surmised that it was her mother returning home with a man after a night of heavy drinking. Both of them sounded drunk and obnoxiously loud.

  She listened closely as they passed by her door. Then she heard Bryan’s voice taunting, “Is cutesy Reesy home? Is she sweeping like a wittle bug in a rug in her wittle bed?” Then he burst out laughing.

  Reesa felt like someone had sucked the air out of the room. She was unable to breath, and her body became consumed with fear as she wondered how he had managed to get released from jail; and even more mystifying, why would her mother bring him home?

  She heard her mother slap him. “You behave yourself, do you hear me?”

  Bryan laughed again and replied sarcastically, “Yes ma’am!”

  Reesa pulled Milo closer to her as tears streamed from her eyes, drenching her pillow. Moments later, she could hear them having sex in her mother’s bedroom down the hall. She felt like she might vomit. They both disgusted her.

  She lay motionless in bed until she thought they were both asleep. Then she got up, threw on a pair of jeans and a sweater, and packed as many clothes and belongings as she could into her small overnight bag. She shoved all of her textbooks and school supplies into her backpack.

  Tears were falling down her cheeks as she picked up Milo and held him close. “I’m coming back for you, Milo.” She kissed him and placed him on her bed.

  After grabbing her pillow and the heavy quilt off her bed, she quietly crept down the creaky stairway and tiptoed to the kitchen. Her mother’s car keys were laying on the countertop by the phone, right where she had hoped they’d be.

  She was shaking and felt like her heart might beat out of her chest as she briskly loaded up her mother’s car, hoping she didn’t wake her, or Bryan, in the process.

  After she climbed into the driver’s seat, she put the key in the ignition. Suddenly, it occurred to her that she had no money and no food. Plus, she would probably need some gas. She contemplated going back into the house to get her mother’s coffee tin off the top of the refrigerator. It was full of spare change Barbara would use when she was short a few cents for cigarettes or liquor.