Page 107 of Stalker

I took a deep breath. That sounded an awful lot like another situation where people looked the other way. “You were threatened if you exposed the truth?”

She looked away briefly, chewing on her lower lip.

“It’s okay, Jeanine. You can trust me. Were you threatened?”

“Yes, I was.”

There was something about the stilted way she offered the information that raised my hackles. “You’re still being threatened. Aren’t you?”

She brought her hand to her mouth and her entire arm was shaking. “Let’s just say I was reminded to keep my mouth shut.”

“By whom?”

“I can’t tell you that, Cassandra. You just don’t understand.”

Shit. She was genuinely frightened. Why did anyone feel the need to slide this under the rug after all this time?

“I understand, Jeanine. So they allowed those children to be turned into monsters.”

“That’s what everyone believes. But here’s the thing, Cassandra. They never touched the women in the households. Not one of them. I was curious about their reasoning and checked their files. A couple of the women had either called 9-1-1 for domestic abuse or had tried to walk away from their relationships only to find themselves back where they started.”

“The Blackwell boys were trying to protect them,” I said absently. That fit Wilder’s behavior.

“Like they couldn’t their mother.”

I sat back, exhaling slowly. “Did something happen with Wilder in particular when he was a teenager? Not because of something he suffered, but maybe a friend at school or a teacher who was nice to him?”

She glanced away briefly. “Patty Bennett. She was another foster child living in the family he’d been assigned to a couple years before. At that point, he was almost sixteen. She was fourteen.”

“What happened?”

“Almost a year later, she was attacked, abducted, raped, and murdered. Wilder found the girl’s body. From what I heard, he never forgave himself. It was so sad, so tragic. During the year they were together, Wilder excelled in everything he did. His grades went from failing to making straight A’s. He was into art and sports. He had a part-time job. Things were looking up for him. It seemed as if the young man would finally be able to thrive.”

“Until she was murdered.”

“Even before he aged out, he left home. He disappeared for a long time. When I saw news about the Blackwell Group in the papers, I felt a sense of relief.”

“I’m sure you did. Was Patty’s killer ever caught?”

She almost had a smile on her face. “Four delinquent town boys. They were found murdered. All four of them.”

“They got what they deserved,” I whispered more to myself. Wilder. There was no shadow of a doubt in my mind.

“The system is broken, Ms. Penticoff, but there are some of us who try, many of us who care about these children. We just become overwhelmed.”

“Do you think the Blackwell men are still dangerous after all this time?”

“I think anyone with darkness inside can choose one of two paths. To follow the road that will eventually lead them into hell or to reach toward the light, no matter how hard the struggle. It also helps when they find someone they can relate to, someone they can love. Love is vital for everyone.”

Love.

I thought about her profound statement and tried to smile. She was right. Three young boys had endured a nightmare, not just once, but repeatedly, the vicious cycle molding the boys into cutthroat men. They’d done the only thing they could do to counter the agony they’d suffered.

They’d tried to save others from the same fate.

CHAPTER26

Cassandra

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