Casper (Blazing Skulls MC #3)

Prologue

Mary

Getting up, I throw on my robe to see what is going on. As I step out of my room, I hear a whimper. Knowing in my gut that it is Gemini, I head to her room. I’m afraid she is having a nightmare.

“Please, no. Please, George. I won’t tell. Please leave me alone,” she begs.

“I’ve told you, Gemini. You will be my very own special girl. Now, pretty girl, keep your voice down. Daddy wants to play with you.”

Pinching her little nipple, she cries out. That’s when I become unstuck from my spot by the door. I’m so angry, I see red.

Rushing in, I grab the closest object, which happens to be the lamp, and hit him over the head with it. George falls sideways off the bed onto the floor with a thud.

Gemini scrambles up and curls into a ball.

“It’s going to be OK, honey. I won’t let him hurt you again.”

She just whimpers and stays huddled.

“Come on, honey. Let’s go call the police. OK?”

She looks up at me with big, fat tears in her eyes and nods her head. Slowly, she takes my hand, and we leave the room to call the police. Gemini sits huddled on the couch in the den. I cover her with a blanket and stand in the doorway until the police arrive so I can keep an eye on George.

It doesn’t take them long to show up. The doorbell rings, and I open it for them. George is rubbing his head and leaning against the hallway wall when they walk in.

“I’m Officer Jacobs, and this is Officer Markham.”

“Thank you for coming, officers. I am Mary Poston. I have a foster daughter named Gemini. My husband, George, has done some horrendous things to her, and I want him arrested.”

I tell the officers what I walked in on when I woke up. I told them about hitting him over the head and knocking him to the ground before calling them.

Officer Markham walks over to George and tells him that he needs to come outside and talk with him while Officer Jacobs speaks with Gemini.

George starts yelling and cussing, but Officer Markham is ready and places him in handcuffs before taking him outside.

I lead Officer Jacobs to the den and introduce him to Gemini.

“Hi Gemini. I’d like to ask you about George. Would you answer some questions for me?”

Gemini nods and looks towards me before launching into her story. I am disgusted with my husband. Every word she utters breaks my heart a little more than the last.

“He has come into my room many times now. At first, he would just watch me sleep. I woke up once and asked if everything was alright. He said he was just making sure his special girl was doing OK. That’s what he started calling me, his own special girl.

I didn’t know what he meant by that. But then he started coming in more and would lie down with me, usually while I was sleeping.

I would wake to him in bed with me, rubbing my arm or my hip sometimes. ”

She shuddered, and I became seriously nervous about what else had happened while she was all alone with him.

“He always told me to never tell anyone. That I would be taken away again. That I would probably be placed in a home where the dad would hurt me. As if he wasn’t trying to hurt me.

I was so scared. Then he started touching me more.

He would lean in and sniff my hair, my underarms. He came very close to touching my privates before tonight.

I think he was worried you would wake up, Mary. ”

She keeps her head down like she is waiting for me to pass judgment on her for something she didn’t do. None of this is her fault.

“Alright, Gemini. Can you tell me what happened tonight?” The officer asks.

“I went to sleep around ten thirty. I woke and found George in my bed. He was rubbing his hands up and down my back, stopping on my butt and squeezing it lightly, almost like he was trying not to wake me. I rolled over and asked what he was doing. He told me to be quiet, and he would take care of his own special girl. I tried to push at his chest so I could get up, but he put his leg over mine, and then grabbed my wrists, pulling them over my head.”

She starts panting, so I sit next to her, wrapping her in my arms. She buries her head in my chest before continuing. I just hold her tight to me.

“He lifted my shirt and started playing with my boobs. He even pinched it, and it hurt so bad. He said that Daddy wants to play with me. I’m not a dumb kid who has no idea what he was doing. But why is he like that?” She starts to cry.

I’m crying too. I just keep rubbing her back, trying to give as much comfort as I can.

“Sweetheart, sometimes there is just no understanding people. We will take him down to jail. The judge will set bail for him on Monday. So, he will at least be in there for the weekend. I would advise you to come down and maybe get a restraining order so he doesn’t think he can come back here.”

“We will, Officer. Thank you so much for coming. We will get a bit of sleep first.”

Officer Jacobs leaves the house. I lock the door behind him, making a mental note to change the locks in the morning.

Going back into the den, I take Gemini’s hand and pull her up from the couch. “Come on, honey. Let’s go get some sleep. Then we will deal with the rest in the morning. You can sleep with me.”

“OK. Thank you, Mary. I’m so sorry about all of this. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I was trying to be good.”

“Oh, sweetheart. You are good. Just because George is a sleazebag doesn’t mean it has anything to do with you. I would have never had anything to do with him if I knew he was like that.”

Leading Gemini into my room, we get comfortable in bed. Hopefully, she will be able to sleep. It’s doubtful that I will.

***

George was sentenced to ten years in prison. The media was a circus, but we managed to keep out of the spotlight for the most part. Once the craziness had settled down, I filed for divorce. No way would I remain married to him longer than necessary.

Even though I always tell her it isn’t her fault, Gemini keeps apologizing for it all.

I had to fight Child Protective Services to keep her with me. They don’t like that George did what he did, and they don’t like that we were getting divorced.

The reason they let me keep her is that they knew I would do anything to keep her safe and that she didn’t have to deal with a pedophile creeping around her anymore.

George tried to prevent the divorce, but honestly, he could do nothing. No judge would withhold the decree after what he did.

He made a lot of threats, saying I need to watch myself because he would be out someday. But that day is not today.

The prosecutor says that there is a possibility George could get out early. He didn’t think it would happen, though, he did say we would receive notice if it did.

Gemini and I fell into a routine of sorts. She did well in school and stayed for the remainder of her school years, only moving out after going to college and getting a job.

Even though I did not give birth to her, I still feel like she is my daughter. She is the daughter of my heart.