Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
Claire
“A lot of people didn’t like Kate,” Robin said, her voice wavering. “But that’s because they didn’t understand her. Foster care isn’t always a good thing. It can be brutal. You learn to survive, but survival isn’t always nice and pretty.”
“No, it’s not,” I said, understanding.
Robin nodded. “Over the years, we ended up in three different homes together. One of them was pretty good, but the other two were shitty.” Her face turned bright red. “One of the dads was into little girls.”
I wanted to vomit.
“Kate was my protector.” She blinked back tears. “Even though I was the oldest. She was fierce. She wouldn’t let him touch me, even though it meant she endured it all. She was always like that. Taking the worst to shield the rest of us.”
My eyes filled with tears, thinking about the girl so many people had spoken badly of during this. How everyone had judged her, called her names. Would they have done that had they known what she’d sacrificed to protect the people around her?
I knew that the sad truth was they probably still would have.
Vance put a steadying hand on my back. I leaned into his strength as Robin continued her story.
“Kate always wanted one of two things. She either wanted enough money to ensure her security— our security. Or she wanted love. The movie kind of love where he would adore her and protect her.” Robin’s face darkened. “When she started dating Tony Evans, she thought she’d found both.”
Vance and I exchanged glances.
“Did Tony hurt her?” I asked gently.
She shook her head. “Not physically. But he’s got a sick desire for control. It’s something we got used to seeing, growing up the way we did. It can get dangerous. So when Kate started seeing the warning signs, she started looking for a way out.”
Vance interjected. “What do you mean?”
“Tony’s obsessive,” she said flatly. “He’s into the whole sub/dom thing. Kate was kind of cool with it when she thought it was just kinky foreplay, but that wasn’t enough for Tony. He wanted to control her whole life.”
“Her whole life?”
Robin nodded. “He has this fantasy of marrying someone who would be entirely submissive to him. He wanted to control everything, even who she was friends with and what shows she could watch on TV. He thought he could just claim her as his and it would sweep her off her feet or something. But when you’ve lived most of your life with absolutely no control over what happens to you, the last thing you want to do is give it up when you finally get some. ”
“What happened when she started looking for a way out?” Vance asked. “Did Tony get angry?”
“Yes, but I don’t think he killed her, if that’s what you’re thinking.“
“I don’t, either,” Vance agreed. “But it might help if you can tell us why you think that.”
“Because he didn’t know where she’d gone,” she explained. “He thought I did. He tried to make me tell him. Said it was to protect her. But I couldn’t tell him because I didn’t know, either.”
“Did he hurt you ?” I asked. My jaw clenched. I’d had just about enough of Tony bullying young girls. All I wanted was one good reason I could go after him.
She shook her head. “No,” she said softly.
“He scared me, but he didn’t hurt me. And after that, he was just so sad.
He kept checking in with me every week, asking if I’d heard from her.
I think he was about the only person who actually listened to my podcast. And when we heard that she had died, he was as devastated as I was. ”
I glanced at Vance, hoping he could see the question in my eyes. He seemed to, because he nodded.
“We think she had a new boyfriend and that she might have left Laramie to be with him. What can you tell us about that?”
Robin hesitated, biting her lip.
“It’s okay,” I said. “You can tell us.”
I glanced at my watch again, realizing I needed her to tell us quickly. The heli could be here any minute.
Robin’s face turned red. “I told her it was a bad idea,” she blurted out. “Worse than Tony. More dangerous.”
“Why?” I asked, heart pounding.
“Because he was married. That never ends well.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “It doesn’t.”
Regret settled onto her face. “He whisked her off her feet, just like Tony had. I tried to tell her it was just a fantasy, that he could never give her what she wanted. But she said he was different. That the situation was different.”
“How so?” Vance asked.
I heard the faint sound of the chopper in the distance. I caught Vance’s eye and saw that he heard it too.
We were almost out of time.
“She said he was powerful enough to give her anything she wanted. That it was different because she had no illusions about him leaving his wife for her. She didn’t even want him to. He was just a stepping stone.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, gripping her hand.
“He offered her protection, money, even a place to live. He told her he would help her make connections, meet other people with money. That he could help her get into graduate school or land a good job that would put her in the right circles to find the kind of husband she wanted. He was the exact opposite of Tony—he wanted to be a benefactor, not someone who controlled her or kept her for himself. All he wanted in exchange was some fun and excitement. She said he was a great lover and that it was a win-win for both of them. I told her that things that sound too good to be true usually are.”
“Wasn’t she worried about the wife finding out?” I asked.
Robin shook her head. “No. The wife knew. She didn’t care.”
“The wife didn’t care ?”
“Back up,” Vance said. “He offered her a place to live?”
The sound of the helicopter grew louder.
She glanced at both of us, unsure who to answer first. “They had an open marriage,” she said, choosing me.
“Kate had met the wife and everything. The wife assured her she was welcome to have a relationship with the husband as long as she remembered her place and kept things discreet. The wife had a boyfriend of her own.”
She turned to Vance. “They had a guest house on their property. For discretion, they said. Kate wasn’t the first girl, obviously. She planned on spending the summer with them, but when Tony tried to rape her at that party, I guess she decided to leave sooner.”
“Tony tried to rape her?” Now, I was furious.
She nodded, biting her lip. “I got to the party as she was leaving. She was crying. She told me what he had tried to do. But she didn’t tell me she was leaving. She didn’t even say goodbye.” Tears welled up again.
The helicopter came into sight, spotted us, and hovered over the ravine.
“Do you know the boyfriend’s name?” Vance asked quickly.
Robin shook her head, blinking back her tears.
“No. She was very secretive about the whole thing. She said they made her sign a non-disclosure agreement because it could get him in trouble if it got out. She wouldn’t tell me where he lived, where they had met—nothing like that.
Only that he was married and that he has a guest house. ”
I racked my brain, trying to figure out who here had something that might be called a guest house.
The McGraths had an apartment over their garage.
They usually rented it out during the summer when temporary hires needed seasonal housing.
The Evanses had a building out back that I’d always assumed was a gardening cottage.
Maybe it was a guest house. I couldn’t see Katelyn wanting to stay there over the summer, though, if their son had tried to rape her.
Robin’s face brightened. “Oh, and that they own horses. He even bought a gray pony that he said would be hers to ride while she was with them, and he gave her a silver charm bracelet with a horse on it.”
The truth slammed into me like a hurricane.
I knew who Katelyn’s boyfriend was—I’d sold him that gray pony last January.
“I need to know who you spoke to at the sheriff’s office,” Vance shouted over the rising noise of the incoming chopper. “Was it Sheriff McGrath?”
Two men began descending from the chopper on rappel lines.
“No,” she shouted back. “It was a sergeant something or another.”
“Sergeant Collins?” I yelled.
Her face lit up. “Yes! That’s the one. I told everything to Sergeant Collins. He said he would take care of it.”
Then the medics pushed us back so they could hoist Robin up to the chopper and fly her away.