Page 47 of Last Girls Alive

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Tanis…”

The young woman stopped petting Cisco for a moment. “You want to know about that night? The last time I saw Candace?”

“Yes, I do. Can you tell me?”

“I told that police officer who took the missing persons report everything I knew. He was always at Elm. And I never lied.”

Katie searched her phone photos and stopped on one showing Deputy Hugh Keller, which was from his academy photo. “Is this the police officer that came to Elm all the time?”

“Yes.”

“I would like to hear what happened from you. Can you tell me?” Katie kept her tone low as if talking to a child.

Tanis took a deep breath and observed Katie. She remained quiet, studying Katie’s face for a moment before speaking. “There’s a sadness about you, Detective. You feel torn. Part of you is here and part of you is still there. Don’t worry, it will be okay.”

Katie blinked in surprise, completely taken off guard. Like Tanis had looked right into her soul and really seen her. She felt her pulse jump and her voice caught in her throat. Taking a deep breath, she said, “Did you plan on escaping before that night?”

Tanis smiled and went back to petting Cisco. “We talked about it for a while. We talked about our dreams and what we would do when we left Elm. We both wanted to get married and have children, live in a big house with a maid, and… always live near each other so our children could play together…”

This time, Katie looked away.

“Then one night Candace woke me up and said it was time to go. We had already packed our small suitcases with what we could and hid them outside. There was no time to change. We were both in our nightgowns.”

“What was Candace’s mood?”

“She was her usual upbeat self, ready for an adventure.”

“What happened? Why didn’t you go with her as planned?”

Tanis readjusted her seat and smoothed her skirt. “You don’t understand, Detective. If I would have left, then one of the other girls would have to take my place for the discipline. I couldn’t let that happen. I only had a few more months before I was legally able to leave.”

“I see.” Katie had to strain to hear Tanis. At times she spoke so quietly that both she and McGaven had to lean forward to better hear her.

“I’m not sure that you do. Oh, I think you understand a lot about good friends, teamwork, and doing everything within your power to make sure that they’re okay—that you are all okay. But…”

Katie felt the ping of prickly energy shooting down her limbs. The mention and memory of her army team evoked so many emotions that it was difficult to process them all at once.

“The girls at Elm, we were like a team. And I was the one that was most able to take the discipline. I knew it wasn’t forever. Just like it was Candace’s place to protect us from…” She couldn’t finish. Her voice went hoarse and tears welled up in her eyes.

Katie swallowed hard, knowing what she was going to say, but she had to hear it from Tanis.

“Candace protected the rest of the girls from what?”

“From whatever he wanted… and whatever the she-beast wanted…”

“Tanis?” she said, and waited for the young woman to look at her.

Finally Tanis met her gaze.

“What did they make Candace do?”

“Awful things.”

“I know this is uncomfortable… but…”

Tanis blurted out. “They made her have sex with them. And they told her if she didn’t that they would do to us what they did to her. She protected us, just as I did from the physical abuse and so-called discipline.” She began to cry. Cisco snuggled close to console her.