by Carol Cox
Or maybe not. Kate stopped in the hallway and spent a moment asking for a better attitude.
Up ahead, she saw a young man coming out of Casey’s room. Her curiosity aroused, Kate stepped forward to intercept him.
“Hello, were you visiting Casey?”
The boy caught himself before he barreled into Kate and peered at her through his thick glasses as if she wasn’t quite in focus.
“Who are you?” he demanded.
Kate ignored the rudeness of his question. “I’m Kate Hanlon, a friend of Casey’s.”
The young man blinked. “I’ve never heard her talk about you.”
“I haven’t known her very long,” Kate said evenly. “And you are...?”
“Martin Chandler.” A deep red flush rose from the neckline of his button-down shirt. “I’m Casey’s boyfriend.”
Kate couldn’t hide her start of surprise, and a scowl formed deep ridges across the young man’s forehead.
“She didn’t mention me?”
“Well...”—Kate tried to make her tone as diplomatic as possible—“we haven’t had a lot of time to talk. She’s been unconscious for some time, you know.”
Martin’s face darkened even more. “I do now, but I didn’t hear about it until this morning. Melanie McLaughlin told me about it between classes, and I drove straight over here.”
With his slight build, tousled brown hair, and heavy glasses, he looked like a studious type who would be content to spend his days with his nose in a book. At that moment, though, anger seemed to radiate from every line of his body. From not knowing about Casey’s injuries, or for some other reason?
Kate chose her words carefully. “You care for her very much, don’t you?”
“I love her,” Martin said simply. “Casey’s the best thing that ever happened to me. I don’t know what I’d do without her.” His voice trembled, and he seemed on the verge of tearing up.
“Casey seems like a very special girl,” Kate said softly.
The boy nodded and swallowed hard. “I never knew what was missing from my life until I met her. She means everything to me.”
Kate considered his remark, wondering why neither Casey nor Melanie had mentioned him if he was such a major figure in Casey’s life. She tried another tactic. “I guess the two of you spend a lot of time together?”
“Not so much right now.” Martin’s face clouded. “Not as much as we’d like to, anyway.”
When Kate looked up at him questioningly, his words came out in a rush. “She’s very focused on schoolwork, you know. She’s working very hard to keep her grades up, but that’s okay. I know she loves me, and that’s all that really matters.”
Then his expression changed, and he slammed his fist into the palm of his other hand. “How could something like this happen?” he demanded, looking at Kate as though expecting her to produce an answer.
“I don’t know.” Kate took a step back and appraised the volatile young man a moment before she spoke again. “When she was brought in here, they said she looked like she’d been in an accident.”
“This was no accident!” Martin’s eyes glittered behind his thick lenses, and his hands clenched spasmodically. “Someone did this to her, and I want to see him brought to justice. How could anyone hurt a girl like Casey? The guy who did this must be some kind of monster.” He glared at Kate as if daring her to argue with him.
An uneasy feeling worked its way along Kate’s spine, and a sour taste filled her mouth.
What’s that line from Shakespeare about protesting too much? Kate thought once again about Renee’s contention that the police often looked at people closest to the victim as their first suspects. She studied the boy in front of her. Martin Chandler was no strapping physical specimen, but it was clear that he had a capacity for deep anger.
“So who did this, Martin? Do you know?” she asked quietly.
The young man’s face convulsed, and he punched the wall with his fist. The shock of the blow seemed to bring him to his senses, and he stood for a moment staring down at his hand as if wondering who it belonged to.
Then he looked over at Kate, and his face hardened. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Cradling his hand against his chest, he hurried away.
Kate stared after him, trying to understand what had just happened. She took another moment to collect herself before she continued down the corridor to Casey’s room.
Casey was sitting up in bed, looking down at her hands folded in her lap when Kate entered the room. She flinched when Kate called a greeting, then relaxed when she realized who her visitor was.
The girl looked drained emotionally, Kate thought. She wondered what had passed between her and Martin.
“How are you feeling today?” Kate asked.
“A little better.” Casey put one hand up and touched her temple. “At least my head doesn’t feel like it’s going to explode every time I move it.”
Kate chuckled. “I’d say that’s a definite plus. Do you feel up to talking for a bit? I don’t want to overtax you, since I know you’ve just had a visitor.” In response to the girl’s questioning gaze, Kate added, “Your boyfriend, Martin. I met him just now, out in the hallway.”
“Oh. Martin.” Casey’s taut face and flat tone didn’t give Kate the impression of a young girl in the throes of first love. Perhaps the two of them had just finished some sort of squabble.
“Do you feel comfortable talking more today about what happened out at the campground?”
Casey’s fingers picked at the sheet, and she averted her eyes. “That’s what Martin kept asking me. I tried to tell him I didn’t want to talk about it, but he wouldn’t give up.”
“I know it’s hard,” Kate said, “and you certainly have the right to wait and talk to the sheriff instead of telling me. But it’s obvious that it’s distressing you, and bottling things up inside only tends to make matters worse. Maybe the best thing would be to get it all out in the open once and for all.”
Casey’s eyelids fluttered rapidly, and Kate could see her lower lip begin to tremble. She reached out and stroked the pale blonde hair as if Casey were one of her daughters.
“Let’s back up a little bit and take it one step at a time, shall we?”
Casey responded by curling her fingers into tight fists as though she was bracing herself for some kind of onslaught.
“This”—Kate indicated the girl’s bruised cheek—“was done by someone you know, wasn’t it?”
A long moment passed before Casey clamped her lips together and nodded. Kate took heart. It wasn’t much of a response, but at least it was progress.
Keep on searching for the truth. The impression she’d gotten during her quiet time filled Kate’s mind, and she pressed on.
“Can you tell me who it was?”
Casey’s lips moved, but no sound reached Kate’s ears. She leaned over the bed. “Would you say that again, please? I couldn’t hear you.”
This time the answer was barely audible. “It was Dr. White.”
Chapter Nineteen
Kate felt the blood drain from her face. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t expected the news. But the confirmation of Kate’s suspicions hit her with the force of a blow.
Roger White held a position of authority. How could he abuse that standing by inflicting such grievous injuries on a vulnerable young girl? For a moment, Kate felt as angry as Martin had looked.
She struggled to get her emotions under control again. This was no time to fall apart. She had to be there for Casey. “Go on, sweetie. Just let it all out. Then we can try to figure out what to do next.”
Casey took a long, shuddering breath. Her voice trembled when she spoke. “I had him for philosophy last fall. It was a required class, or I never would have signed up for something like that. But Dr. White made it really interesting.” For an instant, her eyes lit up, then the light faded, and they grew cold and hard. Her mouth twisted, and she looked away before she continued.
“He was friendly
and seemed very open. He told us that students were welcome to see him anytime during his office hours. I went in a couple of times when I didn’t understand some things in the reading assignments and I was afraid of falling behind.”
Kate felt a prickle of foreboding. “Did anything...happen while you were there with him in his office?”
“No,” Casey said softly. “He was really nice. He helped me understand so I could get caught up again.” She went on in a dreamy sort of voice, as if reminiscing about something pleasant. “I enjoyed talking to him, and he never seemed to mind my being there. He always acted like he was glad to see me.”
She lapsed into silence again, so Kate prompted her gently. “So you spent some time in his office, and you enjoyed talking to him?”
Casey nodded haltingly. “At first, it was all about classwork. Then I started going in and talking to him because he’d always listen. He really seemed to care.”
Kate thought about Melanie’s description of the girl who hadn’t seemed able to open up to anyone else, and a wave of revulsion swept over her. Roger White worked with young people day in and day out. Surely he must have realized how vulnerable a girl like Casey would be.
Or was that the whole point? she wondered. Did he have some kind of radar that enabled him to spot the most insecure students? Those he could lure into a closer relationship by making them feel special?
“Then he started asking me to stop by after class,” Casey went on. “He said he just wanted to know how I was doing.” She looked up quickly at Kate, then her glance slid away, and she stared down at the sheet. “I think he started liking me. Really liking me, I mean. Not just as a student.”
Kate felt her knees go weak. She pulled the chair close to the bed and sank into it. “Go on,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady.
“I-I guess I was flattered at first. Here I am, just a nobody, and this professor was paying all this attention to me.” A hint of pink tinged Casey’s cheeks. “Nobody ever made me feel that way before.”
Kate’s throat thickened. She could understand how easy it would be for a lonely girl to be drawn into a dangerous situation.
“So what happened out at the campground?” she asked again, knowing it was vital to have the information but not sure she was ready to hear it.
Casey knotted her hands into fists, and Kate could see the quick rise and fall of her chest. “He asked me to go for a drive. He said he thought I might like to get off campus for a while so we could have a nice long talk. It seemed a little weird, but I didn’t want to upset him. I guess it was really stupid of me to go, but at the same time, it was kind of exciting.
“We talked the whole time he drove. I was feeling so happy, like I didn’t have a care in the world, and he acted like he was enjoying himself too. Then when we got there...”
Her voice trailed off and faded into silence. Kate couldn’t bring herself to push any more at that point. She waited quietly for Casey to pick up the story again in her own time.
Finally Casey continued. “He pulled off the road and turned into a campground. I didn’t know where we’d driven by that time, and I was a little surprised to see how deserted the place was. But we got out of the car and walked around for a while and talked some more. It’s a really pretty place,” she added in a wistful tone that wrung Kate’s heart.
“That’s when he changed.” Casey swallowed convulsively. Her voice shook, and a spark of anger flashed across her face. “H-he got this funny look on his face, and then he grabbed me.”
Despite her best efforts, Kate couldn’t hold back a gasp. Avoiding her gaze, Casey went on, speaking in a flat monotone. “I told him no, that wasn’t what I wanted. He kept trying, though, like he thought I was just teasing him. Then I shoved him away, and he got mad...really mad.”
Her face took on a somber expression, and she drew a ragged breath. “I backed up again, but he caught hold of my arm. I pulled away from him and ran into that building where the restroom is.”
She flickered a glance at Kate. “I don’t know why I did that. I guess it just seemed like it should be a safe place. He came right in there after me, though. Then I realized I had his cuff link in my hand, and I threw it at him. It didn’t make any difference, though. He just kept coming.”
She closed her eyes and added thoughtfully, “I tried to get past him, but I tripped over near the sinks. That must have been when the note slipped out of my pocket. And I guess I hit my head and got a nosebleed or something. That would be why there was blood on the note.”
Casey paused for a moment and opened her eyes. She looked up at Kate and seemed to take courage. “He got hold of my arm again and dragged me out to his car. He looked really angry by then, and I was so scared. He shoved me into his car and started driving like a maniac. I didn’t know what he was going to do next.”
Kate pressed her hand against her chest. “So how did you wind up on the side of the road?”
“I jumped.”
The unadorned statement shocked Kate to the core. “You what?”
“I jumped out of the car. He was going around a curve really fast, and he had to use both hands to steer. I saw my chance to get out of there, and I took it.”
Kate reminded herself to breathe. “But you could have been killed!”
Casey lifted her shoulders in a small shrug. “I didn’t think about that then. All I cared about was getting away from him.”
Kate turned the girl’s story over in her mind, picturing the way it must have happened—the car hurtling around the curve, and Casey seizing the only opportunity she saw of escape.
“What happened then? Do you mean he just drove off and left you there?”
Casey nodded, and the angry expression returned. “He never even looked back.”
Kate sat quiet for a long time, mulling over the story she’d just heard and picturing it in her mind. It could have happened exactly that way.
Finally Casey sniffled. “This was just what I was afraid of. You don’t believe me, do you?”
One look at the girl’s woeful expression melted Kate’s heart. How often had she read about a victim of violence who had come forth only to have the story discounted by the very people who should have helped? That wasn’t going to happen in this case.
Kate reached over and took Casey’s hand in hers. “I believe you, sweetheart.”
Casey squeezed Kate’s fingers. “Thank you. I knew you could help me.” She let her breath out in a long sigh, and her eyelids fluttered closed.
Kate cupped Casey’s hand in both of her own, wishing she could do or say something that would undo the past and take away the pain of what the young woman had endured. She knew vaguely that things like that happened, but it had never come so close to home before. How many other girls like Casey had been betrayed by someone they admired and trusted?
When Casey stirred, Kate squeezed her hand lightly and said, “You’ll need to tell the sheriff what you just told me.”
Casey’s whole body began to shake. She pulled her hand out of Kate’s grasp and held it up in front of her as though warding off a blow. “I’m not up to that yet. Can’t it wait until I’m stronger?”
“No, I’m afraid it really can’t. This man mustn’t be allowed to get away with what he’s done. You don’t want to leave him free to find other victims and do this to someone else, do you? You need to speak up now.”
“Just a little while. Please?” Casey looked up with such pleading in her eyes that Kate’s resolve wavered. How could she insist that Casey put herself through more than she’d already had to bear?
But then reason reasserted itself. This was something that simply couldn’t be put off. “Then let’s do it this way. I know the deputy in charge of this case very well. I’ll make the call, but you’re going to have to talk to him and tell him what happened. I’ll stay right here the whole time, if you want me to. Is it a deal?”
Casey drew a deep breath, then nodded reluctantly.
Kate dialed the d
eputy’s office in Copper Mill, relieved when Skip answered on the second ring. “It’s Kate Hanlon, Skip. I’m here at the hospital with Casey Barnes, and she has something she needs to tell you.”
She handed the receiver to Casey, who took it with all the enthusiasm of someone picking up a rattlesnake. Kate could hear the deputy’s voice rumbling over the phone line and could imagine the stream of questions he was asking.
Casey pressed the receiver against her ear, closed her eyes, and began to pour out her story. When she’d finished, she responded to a few more comments from Skip, then returned the phone to Kate.
“You did the right thing,” Kate told her, hanging up the phone.
Casey slumped back against the pillow. “I guess so. He wants to come talk to me in person, probably this evening.”
“He just needs to take a statement to have all his paperwork in order. It shouldn’t be anything too stressful.”
Kate found a piece of paper and a pen in the bedside-table drawer. “Here’s my cell phone number.” She jotted it down as she spoke and handed the paper to Casey. “If you want me to be here with you when you talk to him, just give me a call, and I’ll come right away.
“Speaking of the deputy...” Kate braced herself and went on. “I talked to him just before I came here today. He said he’d gotten in touch with your cousins up in Washington. I don’t know how to tell you this, but...”
“They aren’t coming.”
The girl’s flat statement took Kate completely off guard. “You already knew? Have you spoken to them?”
“I didn’t have to. They never wanted to have much to do with me in the first place.”
“But isn’t there anyone? What about your family?”
“They don’t really care about me. I don’t have anybody on my side. Except you.”
The sadness on Casey’s face nearly broke Kate’s heart. She reached for the girl’s hand again. “You’ve been through a horrible experience, and you need someone to help you through it. I’m willing to do everything I can for you, but I can’t be with you every moment. God can, though.”
Casey rolled her eyes. “Yeah, like he’s interested in someone like me.”
