Lost & Found (Possessed 3)

For Nick and Ace, she would do it.

“Judge Maddox, this is highly irregular,” another man complained.

“Shut it, Superintendent. This young lady’s life was in the balance. Don’t you think she should be the one to judge these boys on their conduct?” Maddox snorted at their objections. From what he’d told her, he ran the town and not the mayor. That he had dirt on everyone, and if she wanted to speak, it would be so.

“Fine.” The mayor gave an exaggerated eye roll before commanding, “State your name and birth date for the record.”

Clearing her throat, she fought back the tears as her anxiety threatened to take control. “Pepper Nicole Wallace, born February 6th, 1993.” Her voice rang out stronger than she thought it would.

“And what is your nature in this matter?”

“I’m the victim.” How she hated that word.

“Please explain.” He sounded bored.

“Is my situation boring to you, Mayor?” She wasn’t going to cower to his ignorance.

“Excuse me, miss?” He was shocked she’d called him on it.

“The bored expression, the condescending eye roll, not once but twice. Is my near death and rape boring to you? My family was missing me for weeks, worried sick that I had died, and you sit there acting as though my situation means nothing. You want to persecute two honorable men because what? I fell in love with them? Found the other half of my soul? You sit there high and mighty as can be, judging what you know nothing about.” She took a minute to catch her breath and let him absorb her words.

Tami’s slow clap from the back of the room drew his glare to her.

“Listen, young lady. I am sorry for the trouble you’ve been through. There’s no question there. The question is, did Alex Medina have to die? Could his death have been prevented?”

“Okay, I can understand that. You want everything tied up in a neat little bow and shoved in a dark closet never to be looked at again. Do you have a daughter or maybe a granddaughter, Mayor?”

“I have a daughter your age.” His answer wasn’t nearly as sarcastic as his questions before.

“Let me paint a picture for you. If you would all please close your eyes. Imagine a young woman, happy and miserable all at the same time. A young woman that wanted nothing more than to be loved, to be someone’s everything in life.” She took a breath because even though she was trying to distance herself, it wasn’t working. “Picture her going out on a blind date with a man she had only known by word of mouth. Trusting in the two people who had set them up to know he was a safe choice. That she would be safe with him.” She watched their faces for any ticks. Looking back to Nick and Ace, she saw they had their eyes closed too. Tami had moved closer to her in the front pew. “Imagine a cold chill running down your spine, a menace surrounding you, and you don’t even realize it. But she ignored it, going against every instinct for just one night of intimacy, one night to be a woman and not a burdened sister, not an orphan, not just an ordinary girl.

Think of what your own first date with your spouses was like, the happiness and joy. The nervousness. You worked through it, made a connection, and soon you were actually dating. You had someone listening to you, asking about your day. Now think of how heartbreaking it would be without that connection. Picture leaving defeated.”

Pepper’s hands were shaking as she paused to take a drink of water. Wet her parched throat. Fear was bubbling to the surface as she continued.

“The opportunity to have a romantic getaway presented itself, and you jumped on it because you’d gotten into a fight with a loved one and even though your head was screaming at you not to go, you do. You go, and you have all these notions built up in your mind, but instead what you get is a fat lip for not spreading your legs. A bruised cheek for flinching when he bites your breast as you fight him off. A concussion from a blow so hard you lose your memory. Bruised ri

bs for fighting back. Amnesia because you said no. Thrown from the side of a mountain and left for dead. All because You. Said. No.” She punctuated the last three words with her fist banging on the podium in front of her. Looking at everyone’s faces, she knew they felt what she did. Time for the kill.

“Now, imagine that was your daughter.” The mayor’s eyes popped open, tears swimming in them. “Your granddaughter,” Maddox and the superintendent slowly opened theirs as well. “Or maybe even your wife before she met you. Imagine their pain.” The other two councilmen finally looked at her.

Not a single person was unmoved by her statement. “Gentlemen, that was me. That happened to me. That is my truth, my statement. Now tell me, if you found one of your loved ones in that very same position, what would you do?”

Everyone was so quiet a pin dropping a mile away would have been heard. The tears running down her own cheeks remained unchecked as she struggled to contain her emotions in front of this panel of strangers.

“I am terribly sorry for what you went through, Miss Wallace, and I can’t imagine how you’re dealing with it all.” The mayor was such an idiot.

“No, Mayor, I don’t believe you are. You couldn’t care less what happened to me. You only care about what happened to Alex fucking Medina.” She blasted him.

“We care about what happened on that mountain,” his voice hardened.

“What happened on the mountain? What happened was that Alex was going to kill me. There was no doubt in my mind that had he gotten his hands on me, I would be dead right now. What happened was Alex set a bear trap on a trail I personally frequented with Nick’s dog, Roxie. What happened was Alex planted bombs at each corner of Nick’s home. What happened was one of those bombs went off, and a Molotov cocktail was thrown through a window and a man was sent running for his life out of his son’s house as it began to burn. I was chased up a mountain, Roxie was shot, and I led Alex to his death… I led him into a cave where two Cougars lay in wait, and as soon as he entered, they tore him apart. That Mr. Mayor is what happened. No shots were fired from Nick, Ace, or anyone else except Alex when he shot Roxie for protecting me.”

“I was never given that information,” he sputtered out.

“Which information, Mr. Mayor?”

“Mr. Medina’s cause of death,” he explained weakly.