Chapter 8 #2
“You stay out of my things. You’re not supposed to find that list either.
” He said he’d been using it to contact people to testify against her.
“You’re going to pay Mark. See that you don’t.
I’m not going to be in here very long, and when I get out, you’re the one who had better have their ducks in a row.
I’m going to do to you what I should have done to Trin when I had her.
She took my checks, and I’m going to get them back. You bastard.”
“You have a good life. You’ll never find me, Martha, because I know how you work now.
I’ll just stay out of sight, and you’ll be in prison forever.
I know that I’ve said it before, but that’s just where you belong.
” She could still hear him laughing when she banged the receiver against the wall.
He wasn’t getting away with finding her list of names, or she’d have to kill him.
Damn it all to hell and back, why did he have to be snooping around in her private matters?
She’d been keeping a list since she’d been taken away when she’d been twelve by the police.
The nuns had told her to write down her feelings every day, and that would give her something to work with.
Instead of writing out her feelings, she began a list of people that she’d hurt.
Not just their names, but dates and times that she’d done it.
She even went so far as to keep up with them after they were hurt so that she could have something to write about their recovery time.
It had gotten her so excited to read it that she’d kept several books over her lifetime and had kept them in a special place under her bed. Damn, Mark, for finding them.
If he turned them over to an attorney, she was going to be in so much trouble.
All they had to do was contact any one of the people on the lists, and she’d be in trouble.
Never had she threatened anyone in not saying anything.
She just assumed, wrongly so she was afraid to admit that they’d tell on her whenever anyone asked.
This was all Trin’s fault, and the sooner she was able to take care of her, the better things would be for her.
Damn that girl for telling her no. She needed those checks.
Mark had told her that her shop wasn’t making any money and that she was either going to have to make some sales or just close up.
She didn’t want to do either of those, and she told him that.
That was the first huge argument that they’d had over her little shop, and she didn’t like that he told her that he was paying for everything and had every right to have her close up.
As soon as next year was all he was giving her, and that wasn’t a great deal of time for her to plan out a way to make him pay.
With the money that Trin had stolen from her, she’d be able to make it look like the shop was selling things.
She didn’t need the money, but she had to make it look as if the shop had sold something from now until next year to get Mark off her back.
But now that was about bust. He knew that the money was coming to her, and now he’d divorced her.
Like she was nothing to him. Damn, but had Trin done what she wanted, none of this would have been necessary.
~*~
Trin was trying to wrap her head around the fact that her aunt had murdered three people before she’d turned thirteen.
Not only had she murdered them in cold blood, but she’d taken pictures as well and taped them into a notebook.
There were a dozen notebooks that had been given to Bastain, and she’d only read the first one before her stomach had been upset.
“It says here that she was able to change her name when she got out of the Sisters Home for Wayward Children. Do you suppose they really called it that?” She looked at Bastain and tried to think what she’d been thinking.
“You don’t have to read them all, darling.
I just thought you’d like to know what Mark had been able to find out. ”
“She beat my mother all the time. Even after she had me.” He wisely didn’t say anything, for which she was grateful. “She said the bruises were from the medication she was taking. I never knew. No wonder, towards the end of her life, she didn’t want her around. I was there to protect her.”
“According to the lists that she has, she’s been doing it since she was a child.
Both of them.” Trin nodded, not understanding what to do about Tilly now.
“The lists are long and brutal about the things that she’s done to other people.
I don’t understand how she was able to get away with it at all.
I mean, look at this list? There must be a hundred and fifty names in just these couple of pages. ”
“She didn’t care that I was her niece. The only thing that she cared about was getting the money for her shop.
And now you own it. I wonder what she’ll do to you now that she understands that you’re going to sell everything that she had.
” He promised her again that she’d not get to her.
“I don’t mean me. I was talking about you.
She’ll stop at nothing to get back at you since she won’t be able to find Uncle Mark. ”
“She can try.” Nodding again, she wondered how badly she’d try to hurt Bastain.
Looking at his face, she could tell that he was upset about the entire thing.
Just as she was going to tell him that she didn’t want him hurt, he spoke first. “I’d rather it be me than you any day of the week. You’ve been through enough.”
“I’d rather it not be either one of us.” He told her that he was going to be able to bring all this up in court. “And what will that do? I seriously think that she’s been getting away with things for so long, she’s not going to take no for an answer. Then what will you do?”
“She’ll be in prison for a long time. The murder of those three people will be enough to keep her in for at least twenty or so years.
The other things will just add to it.” Again, she didn’t think it was going to work out that way because she’d been getting away with it for so long.
“I will work the system to our advantage. I promise you with all that I am, she’ll never be able to get to you again. I’ll protect you with my life.”
“But who will protect you? I’m in a cast. Or a half-cast now, and I can’t get around too well yet.
” He said that she wasn’t getting out anytime too soon.
“You keep saying that. But look what she’s done since she’s been a child and gotten away with it.
Even her own parents paid for her not getting her way.
Hell, my own mother was terrified of her. That’s not right.”
“No, it’s not. But I know how to keep her inside.
I’m a good attorney who will make sure she pays for what she’s done.
” It wasn’t that she believed he wasn’t a good attorney, but just reading about her aunt had given her the shivers.
A baseball bat seemed to be her weapon of choice, and she used it well.
She couldn’t seem to wrap her head around her aunt and what she was planning to do to her.
“I can find another attorney if that would make you feel better. Dayton and I have been working on this case for weeks now, and we have enough information on her to keep her there for decades. I’m only counting on a couple of them because I don’t want to get my hopes up too far.
But we’ll keep her away from you for the time being.
She’s in prison and causing trouble there, too. ”
“So I was told. And no, I don’t want to have to find someone else to take over this case.
I believe that you and Dayton will do a good job, but I’m afraid that she’ll still get away with it.
She has all her life.” Bastain pulled her up out of the chair she’d been sitting in and onto his lap.
At first, she didn’t want to be there, but when his erection made itself known to her, she stilled. “What are you doing to me?”
“Distracting you. It’s working, isn’t it?” Trin nodded. “I’ve been thinking about holding you for weeks now. Not only holding you but making you mine.”
“We’ve never talked about sex before. I mean, I know that you want me, but I didn’t know how badly.” He told her that he wanted her badly. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say to me that you think about me that way as well.” She laid her head on his shoulder and thought about having sex with him. “Trinity, I’m in love with you. I don’t think I’ve ever been in love with anyone in my life as much as I love you.”
“I like you now, but I’ve never been in love before either.
I have nothing to compare you with, but my mom, and that’s not right.
” He laughed a little, and she sat up and looked at him.
“You didn’t laugh much before I came into your life, either.
Abbott told me that. He said that he can tell this is true love because of the way I make you light up. Is that true?”
“You make me feel so good about everything in my life.” She laid her head back down, thinking about what he was saying to her.
“You’re the only woman who is for me. I was terrible to you at first, and I’m sorry about that.
But since I’ve figured out how much I love you, I hate the way that I treated you. ”
“You were mean.” He laughed and told her that she was good at not giving him a break. “Well, do you want me to lie to you about it?”
“No. Not at all. I love the fact that you put me in my place when I need it. It makes me feel like there is nothing I can do that you won’t keep me in line with.” She sat up and moved back to the chair. “Are we done cuddling?”