Ripple Effect (Effect 1)

“Love you, too, Ainsley. I’ll always be here for you.”

The curtains were drawn in my mom’s room, and I began pacing ten steps down before turning and taking ten steps back. I was going to wear a hole in the tile when my handsome man came through the doors. Sweaty, he was wearing gym shorts and a T-shirt. I ran straight into his arms, and he picked me up.

“Are they still with her?”

“Yes.”

He set me back down. “I’m glad I made it in time. I was getting a quick workout in at the gym.”

Doctor Thompson came out with a clipboard in hand. “Evening, Miss Pearson. Your mom seems to be recovering nicely. Her movement is slow and delayed, which is to be expected. With a little therapy and continued healing, I do believe your mom is going to make a full recovery. Until she’s able to speak more, we won’t know if she sustained any brain injuries.”

I took the doctor off guard as I hugged him. “Thank you. Thank you for everything.”

He awkwardly patted me on the back, and I pulled away. “I’ll be in touch with a treatment plan as soon as your mom gets additional rest, and I can do a full evaluation of her. Your mom was asking for you.”

I was already walking toward the door before he finished. I peeked in the room, and the nurses were rearranging her. She looked exhausted.

Both nurses were leaving.

The one with red hair said, “We’ll be right back with some pain medication that will help with her discomfort.”

“Okay, thank you.”

I moved to stand beside my mom. I looked back, and Adam was at the foot of the bed.

“Hey, Mom, everything is going to be okay. The doctor is very pleased with your progress.”

She started to close her eyes, and I needed to confirm if my suspicions were correct.

I pulled out my phone and pushed record. “Mom, I’m taping you, so I can tell the police. Who did this to you?”

She swallowed several times. It was the strongest I had heard her voice since she woke up. She fought to stay awake as she said, “It was your father…Gerald.”

Middle of December (A Few Months Later)

It was cold as I went to the car from the club. Ainsley was on Christmas break from school. Currently, she was with her mom at her house, getting ready for today.

Her father, Gerald, was being sentenced for attempted murder. He deserved whatever they were going to throw at him and more. I had hired the best prosecution lawyer to work with the state. His main job was to keep from allowing any plea-bargain shit.

As I started the car to get the heat going, a tap happened on my window. It was Brandt. I rolled down the window. He was crazy for being out here without his coat on.

“Hey, man, good luck. Give Ainsley and Christine a hug for me. Let me know if you guys need anything. I hope that fucker gets what he deserves.”

I scrubbed a hand down my face. It had been a stressful few months. “Me, too. I’ll give the girls a hug for you. Thanks for everything, Brandt. My schedule will lighten up a lot, so I’ll be able to work my normal hours.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m glad I can help. You know that. She’s more important than the club.”

“I know. Thanks, man.”

He took a step back and then stopped. “Did you get it yet?”

A smile emerged on my face. “Not yet, but the jeweler called, and it’s ready. I’m going to get it tomorrow while Ainsley drops her mom off at the airport. Christine’s going to see her great aunt, Marge, out in Arizona. Then, Aunt Marge is going to come here for a couple of months to help out. By then, we’re all hoping that Christine is fully recovered.”

Marge, Christine’s long-lost aunt, had heard about Gerald through the grapevine. Shortly after Christine had been released from the hospital, Marge had reached out and rekindled their relationship. During their marriage, Gerald had succeeded in isolating Christine from her entire family, especially after her mom had died.

“Good luck, man. You guys need a little time to yourselves.”

I let out a long breath as a few flurries fell from the sky. “I couldn’t agree more. I’m ready for this to all be over. It’s taken a toll on Ainsley, but she’s strong.”

Brandt kicked at some rocks on the pavement before he looked back up at me. “I’m glad they’re still going to counseling.”

“Yeah, me, too. I think it’s helped them put the past in the past, so they can live out their present and future without those ghosts. Today is going to determine a lot.” I was stressed, wondering what the day was going to bring.

If they let that motherfucker walk free, I wasn’t sure what I would do.

Brandt tapped the roof of my car. “Yes, it is. Go get your girl.”

“That’s where I’m headed.”

I began driving to Christine’s. Christmas wreaths hung from the light poles, and the businesses all had Christmas lights adorning their establishments.

Ainsley had talked us into putting a tree up on both sides of the club. I’d tried to tell her that people were at the sex club to fuck and not be jolly, but she wouldn’t hear of it. Both our bedrooms, at our home and the club, had trees in it, too. She loved Christmas. In the end, I’d smiled and helped get all the trees decorated. Snake and Trigger had made whipping sounds as I hung tinsel. Ainsley had scowled at them and then laughed. In the end, Ainsley had made it up to me as she let me bend her over the Tantra Chair and fuck her senseless multiple times.

I pulled into Christine’s driveway.

She had lived with us for the first month after she was released before moving into her new home. When the time had come, Christine had been ready to be independent, but Ainsley had worried about her mother since all her motor skills were still returning slowly. At the time, Christine had only been at about seventy percent of her normal self. The doctors had expected a full recovery, but it would take time. As of two days ago, the doctors had estimated that she was about ninety percent recovered.

As I sat in the driveway, I thought about hearing Christine’s statement to the police in the hospital room.

Ainsley was seated next to her mom where she stayed anytime her mom was awake. I was standing beside Ainsley. I felt better standing in situations like this. It made me feel more prepared and able to react.

Christine had been attacked twelve days ago today. Since Ainsley had gotten the phone call to come to the hospital, it had been an emotional roller coaster. There were times when I hadn’t been sure that Christine was going to wake up, and my heart had broken for Ainsley.

Once Christine did wake up, she wasn’t able to talk for long periods which made it difficult for the police to get a confession. The doctors had limited her visitors, not wanting to cause stress since the first few days were critical to recovery.

She was stronger today and we believed we’d be able to finally get her account of all the events in one setting.

Christine’s hospital bed was tilted into an upright slanted position as two detectives sat on the other side with their notebooks and voice recorders.

The slightly balding man wearing a fitted suit asked, “Ms. Pearson, can you tell us what happened?”

He and his female partner, who had a tight bun on her head, looked like they were sharp and a no-nonsense team. That was what we needed.

Christine’s black-and-blue face nodded. She was still weak, and her speech was slow. Breathing was sometimes painful with her broken ribs. She closed her eyes as if she was conjuring the scene from that night.

“I went home to get my car, so I could drive to the bookstore and then back to the center. As I was crossing the living room to the garage, Gerald came out from the kitchen area. He asked why I was still trying to ruin his life. I didn’t know what he was talking about. He said I had poisoned our daughter against him, and that caused him to lose one of his biggest accounts. I assumed that account was Adam’s club. He lost the partnership, and he walked out on his only source of income after a heated argument.”

/> She paused and opened her eyes for a second before closing them again. “His partner’s son—Tyler, I think—had gone to his dad and told him that Gerald’s daughter had cost them a lot of money. He said she had daddy issues. Gerald blamed me for that. He threatened this was going to be the last time I ever got in the way, and he was going to finish things once and for all. He threw me against the wall where he repeatedly hit and kicked me until I could no longer stand. I tried to fight him off, but he was too strong. He told me how worthless I was and that I was a waste of space. He was livid and out of control, more than I had ever seen him.”

She took a few minutes as she closed her eyes. The officer with the tight bun asked, “Are you able to continue?”

Christine nodded. I was glad. It was time to get things rolling so that motherfucker could get what he deserved.

Taking a deep breath, she winced. Ainsley was patting her head and about to say something when Christine continued, “When he picked me up and shoved me across the room, I tried to grab a candlestick, but he pushed me and then stomped on my wrist so that I would drop it. I knew he wasn’t going to stop this time.

“I saw my life flash before my eyes. The pain started to turn me numb, and the world became fuzzy. I tried to stay awake, but eventually, my body began shutting down. As my eyes were closing, something heavy hit my head, and my world went black. The next time I woke up was with my daughter sitting beside me.”

Ainsley had a few silent tears as she sat stoically supportive next to her mom. She had an inner strength unlike anyone I knew.

After her mother had survived surgery and Ainsley and I had gone home from the hospital, she had sobbed into my chest until exhaustion claimed her.

After that, Gerald had been arrested, and the trial process had started. We never received a confession as he’d pleaded the fifth and refused to talk to anyone. Hampton had tried to track down the guy from the hospital who had come to visit Christine, but the guy had never looked into the camera and had left on foot.