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“That’s enough. She’s been through enough.” I dance my begging eyes between Detective Pascall and Sonova. “Don’t make her go through more.Please.”
After wiping away the tears streaming down her face, Mara says, “My father had an excuse for every horrible thing that had happened to me so he could hide his own malicious crimes.” I see the train coming. I hear it clattering along the tracks. But the words leave her mouth before I can push her far enough away from the collision to stop her from getting hurt. “So when I thought he was going to do the same to my daughter, I made sure he couldn’t.”
“No!” I shout, my voice a roar. “She doesn’t understand what she’s saying. She is traumatized from me admitting to what I did.” I cup Mara’s cheeks and align our eyes. “Tell them the truth. Tell them what really happened.”
Nothing but love beams from her eyes when she whispers, “I just did.”
“No,” I shout again as Detective Sonova stands to her feet, removing her cuffs on the way. “She’s lying. She isn’t telling the truth. She is trying to protect me.” I return my eyes to Mara, wet and begging. “Please tell them the truth.” I switch tactics when I realize there’s only one person who can save her from herself. “Don’t do this to Tillie, Mara. Save her from this.”
She smiles like she didn’t just confess to murder before saying, “I don’t need to save her from this because you already did.”
As she’s cuffed and read her rights, Mara keeps her drenched eyes on me. They repeat the same three words again and again and again.
I trust you.
It is in that instance I know what I must do.
I fight, and I fight hard.
When Mara is walked out of my apartment, I bark orders like everyone in my realm is beneath me. I order Detective Sonova to keep Mara in a private cell, I tell Mara not to talk to anyone without a lawyer present, and I instruct Rafael to get me the best defense attorney in the country like he isn’t already on the phone doing precisely that.
I take control as I should have decades ago, my tirade only ending when the faintest snivel sounds through my one good ear.
Tillie’s ashen cheeks as she hides behind Mrs. Lichard’s somewhat curvy frame announces she is aware of her mother’s plan, as does the quiver of the breath she releases when she spots her father on the open screen of my laptop. She is as devastated as me but vainly trying to keep it together because she trusts that her mother would never lead her astray.
Her faith is admirable, and it has me doing something I haven’t done in years. I close my laptop screen before bobbing down and holding out my arms in offering.
She runs into my arms in an instant, almost knocking me over with the strength of her hug.
Once I have her tucked under my arm, I promise to make everything right.
“I won’t let them take her from us, Tillie.” I hug her in closer, lessening her shakes. “I won’t let them win.”
47
MARA
My breath catches when the courtroom door opens, and Tillie enters two steps in front of Ark. The past week has been the longest we’ve been away from each other. I’ve missed her so much, but the pain has been manageable since I know deep in my heart that she is being well cared for.
Ark loves her as if she is his own. I have no doubt about that. What he did for her already proved it, but the way he included her in all aspects of his life in the three days following his confession outright verified it.
“Mommy!”
I hug Tillie the best I can in the prison shackles the guard has yet to remove, squeezing her tight and breathing in her scent. I almost cry. Now Ark’s obsession with my shampoo makes sense. You don’t realize how for-granted you take things until they are removed from your grasp.
Tillie inches back before I’ve had close to my fill and does a twirl. “Do you like my new dress? Riley made it for me.”
She speaks at a million miles an hour, but I refuse to slow her down. She’s flourishing under Ark’s care, and it assures me thatI made the right decision accepting a victim advocacy lawyer’s advice.
The courts will be less harsh on me since I am a woman who has faced inexcusable abuse that is well-documented in numerous medical files.
They’d throw the book at Ark since none of his abuse made it into a file.
Well, they hadn’t.
He has spoken out in the past week, and the stance he’s taken against predators has made me incredibly proud. He is removing the stigma victims of abuse forever endure and touching the lives of many—Tillie and Riley included.
By speaking up, Ark’s approval rating has surged to record highs.