Mean Streak

He gave a mirthless laugh. “Oh, they happen. Worse than this. Your nice, sanitary world protects you from the ugly side of our society.”

She lowered her hands. “Don’t you dare do that.”

“What?”

“Insult me like that.”

“I wasn’t—”

“Yes you were.” She stood up. “I can’t help it that my parents were affluent. I didn’t ask to be born into a nice, sanitary world any more than Lisa can help the circumstances of her birth.”

He set his book aside and raked his fingers through his hair. “You’re right. I was out of line. I apologize.”

“Don’t patronize me either.”

“I wasn’t.”

“Next you’ll be calling me a do-gooder again.”

He came out of the chair. “All right, then tell me something I can say that won’t piss you off.”

Still angry, she asked, “What will become of Lisa?”

“Hopefully the aunt and uncle will take her back.”

“They don’t sound like the most generous of hearts. A foster home might be preferable.”

“Foster home?”

“CPS could place her—”

“CPS?”

“Child Pro—”

“I know what it is,” he said, vexed. “But to get them involved, Lisa would have to report the sexual abuse.”

“Of course she’ll report it!”

“She hasn’t up till now.”

“But she will. Those two degenerates need to be in jail.”

“Yes. But it’ll never happen. It should. But it won’t.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I know the mind-set, Doc. It’s a clannish mentality. They protect their own, no matter what. Pauline has ignored and denied it up to this point. She’ll go on the same way. She’ll handle it, but outside the law and without government interference.”

“If neither she nor Lisa reports it, if you don’t, then I will.”

“You would do that to Lisa? Put her through the fallout, which could involve harsh reprisal from Norman and Will on both her and her mother?”

“So we’re supposed to look the other way and let them get away with rape?”

He didn’t say anything, but Emory shivered at the look that came over his face.

“What are you going to do?” She looked down at the pistol. “You can’t kill them.”