Page 85 of Free
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
"Do you guys want anything to drink?" Jessica asked as they walked into the kitchen.
"I'm good," D said as he sat down at the table.
Jeremy waved his hand. "No, thanks."
Jessica nodded, leaning up against the counter, her arm in a sling, and her face looking as if she'd gone ten rounds in a boxing ring. "First, let me tell you how sorry I am. I never meant to bring this problem to the team. If I'd thought Kevin would just show up at the hospital, I'd have never called you. I figured he was out with his friends and busy. It's not unusual for him to ignore my calls when he's out."
"It's okay. I know you didn't plan it. It's happened. Now we just have to figure out what to do about it." D sighed. "What did your brother say?"
"He wasn't happy. He said I put him in a really fucked up position, making him choose me over his job. And he's right, I did. Still, he knows why I'm associated with you. He understands it, maybe even silently supports it. He swore to me that he wouldn't pursue this at all. As far as he's concerned, he never saw you."
"And if he changes his mind?" Jeremy asked.
"He won't. He knows that would hurt me too much, and if there is one thing Kevin would never do, it's hurt me. I know I'm asking a lot for you to trust him, to trust me even, but I swear, Kevin isn't going to be a problem. He would rather die than do something to hurt me." Jessica stared down at the floor for a minute before looking back up at them. "I was attacked and raped when I was ten. The two men who did it nearly killed me. They left me for dead in a shed behind my house. It was Kevin who noticed one of my shoes on the grass outside and came to check on me. He found me, bloody, beaten, unconscious."
D glanced at Jeremy, wondering how they'd missed this information.
"I wasn't meant to live, but I did. I knew my attackers. It was my neighbor's son and his friend. I saw them all the time when I was playing outside. They were nineteen at the time. They used to sit outside and smoke pot and I'd watch them while I jumped on my trampoline. I don't know what made them attack me that day. I've always wondered if it was something I did, but I hadn't said or done anything out of the ordinary." She turned, reaching up into the cupboard and grabbing a glass. She kept her back to them as she filled it with water. "Charges were filed, and they were arrested, but then my parents decided they couldn't handle the attention. They seemed embarrassed more than upset. As soon as I was able, they packed Kevin and me up and moved us from Texas to Washington. They didn't let the police interview me anymore, they didn't tell me what was going on with the case. They refused to talk about it. I was just supposed to heal and move on. Trouble was, I had so much damage to my body, that healing took years. They'd destroyed my body, took away any chance I'd ever have of conceiving, and stole my innocence. Life was never the same after that. I struggled in school, couldn't trust enough to make friends. The only person I wanted to hang around with was Kevin. He was my protector."
"How did you end up in Denver?" Jeremy asked.
Jessica turned back to look at them. "Once I was old enough, I dug into what happened with the case. I found out that Marcus and Tony each served five years or so for assault and rape, then were released. They hooked up again, moving here. Kevin was furious that they'd only gotten five years each. He was pissed at the justice system. Said he became a cop so he could make sure that didn't happen to anyone again. He wanted to fight to make sure that people like them got longer sentences. He worked in Washington for a few years, then decided we should move to Denver with hopes that he could find some way to get Marcus and Tony back in prison. They had small arrests, DUI, drugs, public intox. Nothing major, but Kevin thought if we just waited, he'd find a way to bring them down. Our parents moved to Arizona about the same time, so Kevin and I decided that we'd come here. That was when I started pushing for new legislation for harsher penalties for child sex offenders."
"You changed your name," D stated.
"I did. I was nervous about coming back to the same area Marcus and Tony were in. They tried to kill me once, why wouldn't they again? I changed it in Washington before I came here."
"That should have shown on the background check." Jeremy frowned.
Jessica shrugged. "I have no idea how that all works. I just wanted a little more security if we were going to be here. Kevin wants Marcus and Tony to know he's the one who is after them. He wants them to remember what they did and know that my brother was the one to take them down, but I wasn't that strong. I didn't do anything to hide the name-change, so I don't know why it didn't pop up. I thought you knew about that."
"No. There is nothing before Washington for you, but I didn't find that strange as a lot of people don't have much of a public record until they are older. Honestly, I didn't pay attention to searching for much when you were younger. It didn't dawn on me that I should focus on birth records or things like that. I had everything from your eighteenth birthday on and thought that was enough." Jeremy glanced at D. "That's a lesson learned for me. It won't happen again."
D wasn't worried about that. They were all figuring out how this all worked as they went. "I wouldn't have worried about it either." He glanced over at Jessica. "So you've been here several years now and Kevin hasn't been able to take them down for anything?"
She shook her head. "He's watched them closely, but even though they do a lot that's questionable, they haven't given him any reason so far. Marcus is married now. He's got two step-daughters. I often wonder if the woman knows what Marcus did to me, and if she did, would she let him around her daughters. Tony lives in Marcus's basement. They work construction, drink too much. Basically the losers you'd expect them to be."
"From what you said at the hospital, I assume you were hoping that by joining the team we'd help you go after them?" D asked.
"It was a thought. Still is, honestly. I want them to pay for what they did to me. It was something I was going to bring up once I got to know you guys better. I wasn't going to run off and act on my own or try and force you guys into something quickly. I just need some kind of…" She shook her head. "It's hard to explain."
"I understand what you're saying. You want them punished, you want them to suffer the way you did. You don't care how vindictive it is. You just want the pain to stop and hope that by seeing them suffer it might help ease your suffering." D glanced at Jeremy, sure he knew he was speaking about his own parents.
"Yeah, but that sounds so horrible." Jessica moved over to the table and took a seat.
"It's not horrible to want revenge. I think it's very human. Wanting it and acting on it, though, are two different things," D told her. "You don't want to fall to their level. You can't put that on your shoulders."
Jeremy nodded. "I'll look into them, do some digging. I promise if I find anything we can use, we'll use it, but as a team, we don't go in unless there is an active threat to children. This happened a long time ago, and even though it feels like yesterday in your mind, it wasn't. If there is no current threat, the team can't back you on this. I promise I'll search as soon as I get to my computer, but the team has to run by rules or we ruin the effectiveness of what we do. We aren't revenge-seekers."
D reached over and touched Jessica's arm. "But we are here for you. We'll do what we can, if we can, but we can always listen and be the support you need. I know from personal experience that the abuse still sticks with you. It doesn't matter how many years have gone by. The struggle is a daily thing. Let us be your support."
Tears filled Jessica's eyes. "Thanks. It's been a long time since I've talked to anyone about this other than Kevin, and he tends to get so angry when I do. He tries to be supportive, but he blames himself for not being there to stop it. He saved my life, but for him, that wasn't enough."
"One of the things I'm working on for the team is finding a good therapist we can trust with what we do. On my old team, it was mandatory that we go in every so often just to talk. I hated it, but honestly, it was good, because sometimes we ended up talking about things I didn't even know were bothering me. When I finally find someone, I think it might do you good to do some sessions alone, but maybe to also have Kevin sit in on some with you. Nothing will ever heal you completely, but it will help take some of the edge off that feeling of helplessness." D gave her shoulder a squeeze before sitting back.
"Thanks." Jessica wiped her eyes.
