28
Ruth Anne
Mayford, Texas – 1987
At the police station,I pointed to the picture of the man who’d murdered Cheryl and raped me less than twenty-four hours ago. “This is him,” I told both the detective and the sheriff. “This is the guy I saw last night.”
Sheriff Enquist leaned forward to study the picture. Slowly, he shook his head. “No, that’s not him.”
I stared back at the picture. “It isn’t?”
“No. That guy was in jail yesterday.”
“Are you sure?” Detective Gonzales asked.
The sheriff nodded. “Positive. It’s Wayne Montgomery, right? I arrested him myself that morning.”
I slumped back in the chair, devastated. How could I have gotten it wrong?
“Hey, it’s okay, Ruthie.” The sheriff placed a hand on my shoulder.
Automatically, I recoiled.
“Ruthie?”
“I’m sorry. I... I...” Fear wrapped around my throat making it impossible to breathe. I didn’t want to be touched, and yet, I couldn’t bring myself to say so.
“Ruthie, did he...” The sheriff studied me carefully.
I wrapped my arms around my body and tried to make myself small. I didn’t want the sheriff to know what happened to me. I didn’t want anyone to know.
“Ruthie, do we need to order a rape kit for you?”
I tried to answer, but I couldn’t. Finally, I shook my head. It was too late. I’d already scrubbed away all the evidence in a hot shower.
Sheriff Enquist grew quiet. “We’re going to find him. I promise. We’re going to make him pay for what he did.”
Swiping at my tears, I nodded and returned my focus to the thick book of mug shots. How in the world would I find the right guy among all these pictures?
“This is too confusing.” The sheriff closed the photo book. “Let’s move her on to the six pack.”
Beside me, the detective tensed. “We need to finish the book first.”
“No. We’re going to cut to the chase and see what Ruthie thinks. We either got the guy or we didn’t.”
I looked up at Sheriff Enquist. “You’ve arrested someone?”
He grimaced. “We haven’t made an arrest yet, but we have our suspicions. He’s been questioned and is waiting in the other room. Come back to my office, Ruthie. We’ll get a cup of coffee while the detective puts everything together.”
Detective Gonzales tapped his pen on his notebook. “Are you sure that’s what you want to do, Sheriff?”
“What I want is to arrest the criminal who did this. I want justice for Cheryl. Don’t you want to see this guy behind bars, Gonzales?”
The detective hesitated, making me think he was hiding something. Was he trying to protect the man in custody? Is that why he was being so difficult?
Irritated, the sheriff headed for the door. “Let’s go, Ruthie.”
Like the obedient woman I’d been trained to be, I pushed back my chair and followed him down the hall to his office. While the sheriff collected our coffee, I glanced around at all the reelection signs, buttons, and pens.