Princess Lost
By
Arecee
Susan returned to court the next morning and couldn't help thinking of
what had happened to her daughter.
Lynn was pushed back on the desk facing Brendan while his hands grew
tighter around her neck. The air had ceased to flow and yet he squeezed
tighter and tighter. It had been several seconds since her airway closed
and her mind was racing.
'How can I escape,' she thought, 'I have to make him let go before I
pass out.' The pressure around her neck increased and as Lynn saw the
rage in Brendan's face she had the strangest thought, why was he
squeezing my neck so hard, it was hurting now, when my breath stopped it
didn't hurt but now it does, wasn't killing me enough, why does he have
to hurt me too?
Lynn thrashed her arms straight out to her side trying to push up, she
tried to kick with her legs but to no avail, and then she felt something
hard with her hand, it was the handle of the letter opener that had been
left on the desk by Brendan's father.
Shamus McCullough was proud of the letter opener having purchased the
object while in Germany twenty years prior. In reality it was an antique
dagger with an eight-inch blade and a jewel encrusted handle once owned
by a German fellow known for using the piece of steel as an
assassination tool. Shamus had found the piece while walking in Hamburg
and for some unexplained reason was drawn into an old shop that
specialized in war memorabilia. The dagger was almost hidden from sight
because of all the clutter in the shop. When he touched it he knew that
he had to purchase the killing instrument, especially after the
shopkeeper told him of the assassin and his evil deeds preformed with
the knife. Unfortunately for Shamus the knife had one more person to
kill, his son.
Lynn wrapped her fingers around the weapon and swung her arm around
Brendan's back plunging it deep into his body. Unfortunately for
Brendan, Lynn missed his ribs and the dagger found its way to his heart.
Brendan died instantly, his grip loosened around Lynn's neck and she
felt the breath of life return to her lungs. Lynn pushed the now dead
Brendan from on top of her and he fell with a thud onto the floor.
Lynn looked at the unmoving body and thought, 'What have I done, oh God
please don't be dead.'
Lynn reached for the phone and dialed 911 and screamed into it, "Oh God,
I think I just killed someone, please send an ambulance."
"Where are you located?" the voice asked.
"In the library," Lynn answered as though the voice would know where the
library was.
"I need an address," the voice said firmly.
"I'm at 739 Elm St.," said Lynn.
"I want you to stay on the line with me and try to remain calm, who do
you think you killed?"
"Brendan McCullough, he just raped me, God I hurt so bad," Lynn said as
her voice fell away as she started to go into shock.
The operator knew what was happening to Lynn and tried to keep her
alert.
"Stay with me miss, tell me what happened."
"Brendan raped me and then tried to kill me," Lynn said as her voice
rose with anger, "if I didn't stab him I would be dead right now."
The fire station was located several blocks from the McCullough
residence and the ambulance arrived within minutes. Lynn had opened the
front door and the paramedics rushed to Brendan's side. They felt for a
pulse but it was too late, Brendan was dead. Looking at Lynn they
realized that she too needed medical attention, her face was battered
and bloody from the cuts in her mouth. The first medic looked at Lynn
and saw her face go pale as she started to black out, the shock finally
getting to her.
"Miss, lie down on this blanket," he said. 'No use having her pass out
right now,' he thought.
Lynn laid on the blanket and was soon covered by another. By this time
the police had arrived and quickly contained the crime scene.
"I'm Sergeant Goodfellow miss, are you able to tell me what happened?"
"He attacked me and raped me and then he tried to kill me."
"What's your name miss?"
"Lynn Collins."
"How old are you?"
"Sixteen."
"Does your mother know where you are?"
"Yes, I came here to study with Brendan and he attacked me," Lynn said
as she broke down in tears.
"Medic, you had better take her to the hospital, we can question her
later and see if you can get a hold of her mother. Tell the ER nurse
that we will need a rape test done on her when she arrives," said
sergeant Goodfellow.
Lynn was loaded into the ambulance and taken to the nearest hospital.
The admitting nurse asked Lynn for Susan's phone number and called her.
"Mrs. Collins, this is Nurse Best at community hospital. We need you to
come here right away as your daughter has been injured."
"Lynn, is she alright?"
"She'll be fine but she was raped and we need you to sign a release so
we can treat her since she's a minor."
"I'll be right there."
Susan put on the first clothes she could find and was off to the
hospital. Who could have done such a thing she wondered, she was with
Brendan and his family was well connected, it couldn't have been him
that raped her little girl, could it have? Susan tried to obey the speed
limit but couldn't, she just had to get to the hospital and quickly at
that. Susan parked her car in the emergency parking spot and ran into
the hospital.
"My daughter was just brought here, may I see her?" Susan asked the
admitting nurse.
"What's her name?"
"Lynn, Lynn Collins, she was raped, where is she, I have to see her."
"Oh Mrs. Collins, she's right back there, come with me. I have some
papers for you to sign but that can wait until you see your daughter."
The nurse led Susan to Lynn's bedside.
"Lynn, my baby, what happened?" asked Susan as tears filled her eyes.
Susan could hardly believe what she saw when she looked at Lynn's face.
The bruises were starting to turn dark where the blood vessels had
broken under her skin when Brendan had slammed Lynn's face against the
desk. Bruising was also taking place where he had squeezed Lynn's neck
when he choked her. Susan reached down and hugged her baby to her
breast. Lynn felt relief as her mother held her, she felt safe.
"I'm sorry to bother you Mrs. Collins, but you have to sign these papers
so we can treat Lynn as soon as possible. We also have to examine her to
see if there was any damage from the rape that might have occurred,"
said nurse Best.
Susan reached for the papers and signed them. She wanted her daughter
treated with the utmost haste.
"Would you please close the curtain nurse," asked Dr. Sheila Belle.
"Lynn, I'm Dr. Belle and I'm sorry but I to have to take a swab from
your rape, it's the law. I'll try to be as gentle as possible
sweetheart."
"Is it okay if my mother stays?"
"Of course she can."
"Thank you, doctor."
"Dr. Belle, there is something you should know about Lynn before you
examine her," Susan said in hushed tones, "she was born a boy."
"Really, I would have never know by looking at her, but I'm sure I would
have found out after she removed her clothes. Lynn, this is going to be
uncomfortable, but we have to remove you clothes now. Your mom can help
you with your skirt and panties but you will have to unbutton your
blouse so it can be removed, okay honey?"
"Yes doctor."
Lynn lifted her bottom so her mother could remove her panties and skirt.
It was the first time anyone had looked at her bottom since the rape.
There was blood on her panties and on the inside of her skirt. Susan
gasped when she saw it.
"Lynn, I'm going to place your feet in these stirrups so I can examine
you better," said Dr. Belle.
The nurse helped Dr. Belle place Lynn's feet in the stirrups. When they
did Lynn felt a cold breeze on her bottom and then she felt dirty and
alone.
"Lynn, I have to take a sample from you, this won't hurt but you will
feel it when the swab touches you."
The doctor tore the paper from the swab and rubbed it around Lynn's
anus. When it touched Lynn she sucked air into her lungs not knowing
whether it would hurt or not. The Dr. finished taking the sample and
placed it in a sterile container. She then examined Lynn more closely.
"Lynn does this hurt?" she asked as she touched the cuts on Lynn's
sphincter.
"Ouch, yes," Lynn said, as she felt as though she was being violated
again.
"That bastard did some significant damage when he did this to you,"
stated Dr. Belle.
Dr. Belle was acutely aware of what Lynn was going through as she had
been raped in college and the bastard had gotten away with the crime.
This made her even more caring as she examined Lynn and being careful
not to do anything that might compromise the evidence. When Melissa
Belle had been raped the nurse that took the swab carelessly had laid it
on the table and it had touched a blood droplet contaminating the sample
and so when they went to trial the DNA was thrown out and the rapist was
released because the trial became a he said, she said affair. Melissa
still remembers the smirk on the face of her attacker as he left the
courtroom.
Dr. Belle tried to comfort Lynn as she continued the treatment, "You'll
be alright Lynn, I know how you feel, I was raped too. Did they get the
guy?"
"I killed him."
Silence filled the room. 'God the rape was bad enough, but now Lynn
would have to live with the thought that she had killed another human
being, the poor girl,' thought Dr. Belle.
"Lynn, I'm going to have to stitch your sphincter so I have to numb it
first, I'm sorry honey but it will hurt a little until the Novocain
takes effect."
All Dr. Belle could think about was this poor girl, violated and ripped
apart like a piece of meat, God, she was so glad the son of a bitch was
dead. Melissa had been working in the ER for three years and had seen
rape cases come through every month or so but this one really hit her
hard, Lynn was such a pretty girl and she was young, most of the rapes
were to women older than Lynn and to see the look in her eyes broke
Melissa's heart, the innocence that was there was now gone and replaced
with the look of terror, the same look the Jews had as they went to the
showers.
Dr. Belle injected Lynn with the drug and stitched her injury. When she
finished she wanted to hug this poor girl, she wished she could provide
more comfort.
Lynn was moved to a room to rest, but that wasn't to be because the
police were there to question her, at least they were kind enough to
have her questioned by a female detective.
"Lynn, I'm Sergeant Linda Carlisle and I have to ask you what happened
tonight."
"Brendan raped me and tried to kill me," Lynn said as tears formed in
her eyes.
"I know this is hard but why were you at his house."
"He asked me to study with him."
"And then what happened?"
"We went into his father's library and he attacked me."
"Why did you kill him?"
"I didn't mean to, I found the letter opener and, and," Lynn broke down
in tears before she could finish.
"I think you're finished here, Sergeant Carlisle, Lynn is too upset to
talk right now, I think you should leave," said Susan as she thought of
how insensitive the police were to make her baby answer questions so
soon after her rape.
"I'm sorry Mrs. Collins but it had to be done, I'll have to talk to Lynn
again, maybe she will be able to after she rests. I would like her to
come to the police station after she's released from the hospital."
"Alright, maybe tomorrow she will be able to tell you what happened."
Meanwhile Shamus McCullough had arrived at home and found police
crawling all over his house.
"What the hell is going on here?" he asked the first officer he reached.
"And you are?" asked the officer.
"I'm Shamus McCullough, the owner of this house and why are you people
here?"
"I'm afraid there has been a terrible accident," replied the officer.
"What, what happened?"
"I think you had better wait for the officer in charge to speak to you,
I'll contact him."
The officer went on the radio phone and spoke to his commanding officer,
telling him that the boy's father had just arrive home and didn't know
what had happened.
"Mr. McCullough, Ben Patterson will be right down to explain what is
going on."
Ben Patterson was a robust man, standing six foot three inches tall and
weighing two hundred fifty pounds, weight gained when he was put into
his office job of investigating crimes. He still ate like the patrol
officer he once was and hence the weight gain. Bob was a straight
forward sort of man, looking at evidence and coming to a logical
conclusion as to what had happened at a crime scene. There was one thing
he hated and that was telling someone that they had lost a loved one
during the commission of a crime.
Shamus McCullough was a self made man. His father came from Ireland in
the mid thirties and labored in construction to provide a home for his
family. He remembered his father coming home covered with dust and
complaining that the dust was making his nose bleed. Shamus's father was
working with asbestos and didn't realize at the time that he was killing
himself. Shamus remembered the day his father started coughing all the
time until he was unable to remove himself from his bed and the times
his mother would stay by his side until death finally came to free his
father from his pain.
Shamus made a decision that he would never have to put up with that kind
of misery. He went to college and received a business degree and found
that if he invested his time and money in a project he could make a
large return on his investment. Once in a while he would do things that
were unsavory and would bend the law a bit but was never caught. He had
a reputation of being a very tough business man, one you didn't want to
trifle with and he had power in the community so what he did went a long
way and now he was about to learn his son had been killed.
"Mr. McCullough, I'm Ben Patterson, the officer in charge here, could
you come with me?"
"What's happened, where's my boy?" Shamus asked.
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but your son is dead."
"Whwhat, Brendan's dead, no, no don't tell me that, it can't be, he's
all I have," Shamus said as his eyes clouded with tears.
"I'm so sorry sir, there was nothing we could do."
"But how, who would do such a thing?"
"Apparently he was with a girl and she killed him."
"Why would she kill him, this makes no sense at all?"
"There was a claim that your son raped the girl and tried to kill her
and she was defending herself."
"My son would never do anything like that, she's lying."
"The girl was beaten pretty badly and there is evidence that something
did happen."
"Nonsense, my son would never be party to harming a girl, may I see my
son now?"
"Yes sir, he's in the library," Ben said as he led Shamus to see his
son.
Shamus entered the library and saw his son lying face down with the
dagger sticking out of his back. Shamus rushed to him and reached down
towards him.
"Stop, you can't touch him until the crime scene investigators arrive,
I'm sorry Mr. McCullough but you will have to wait back here."
"Oh my God, I can't believe it, my boy is dead and killed with that
knife, I knew it was evil but just had to have it, even the merchant I
bought it from said something about it having a curse but I thought that
was just a bunch of hog wash, God I've been so stupid. I'm going to go
to my room, please let me know when I can touch my son?" said Shamus
with a quivering voice.
"Yes Mr. McCullough, I will," answered Ben.
The CSI people came and investigated the scene, removed the dagger and
rolled the boy's body over and saw that his pants were unzipped and
although his penis was inside his underwear there was evidence of some
kind of sexual activity in that there was some blood and semen visible
on his shorts. The technicians took samples and covered the body with a
blanket. Shamus McCullough came down and visited his son one last time
before the coroner came to take the body away for autopsy.
Shamus was heart broken and he vowed to get even with the person that
did this to his son. Sadly Shamus was unaware of what a creep his son
was as he was always away on business and his nannies really didn't care
what young Brendan did as long as they got paid, so they pretty much let
him do what ever he wished as long as he didn't burn the house down.
The following day Lynn was released from the hospital and Susan figured
that they might as well take care of the police on the way home. Susan
called to make sure Sergeant Carlisle was available for the interview.
Lynn and Susan were escorted into the interview room and were seated at
a table.
"Good morning Lynn, I hope you're feeling better this morning. I'm sorry
I have to ask you these questions but I'm afraid it has to be done,
would you like something to drink, some water or coffee?" asked Linda
Carlisle.
"Maybe some water," answered Lynn.
"I'd like some coffee please, with just a little sugar," said Susan.
The attending officer left and returned with the beverages and handed
them to the women.
"Thank you," said Lynn.
"Thanks," said Susan.
"Let's get started, how did you end up at the McCullough home Lynn?"
"Brendan asked me to come over to study with him. I'm doing a report on
the history of the Comstock and Brendan said his father had a lot of
books about it in his library."
"Why didn't you go to the public library instead of Brendan's home?"
"He said that they had more books about it than the library and besides
Brendan was always nice to me at school so I trusted him."
"What happened after you arrived at his home?"
"We went into the library and he closed the door."
"Didn't you wonder about that?"
"No. I just thought he wanted it quiet when we studied."
"And then what happened?"
"Brendan had me climb a ladder to get the books and then, when I was
coming back down, he shook the ladder and made me fall down into his
arms. Then he made me kiss him as a reward for saving me and I told him
to stop. He said not yet and he forced his lips on mine again. I told
him to stop and to leave me alone. That's when he slapped me and told me
to shut up. I screamed at him to stop but he wouldn't and he started
swearing at me and calling me names and hitting me again. That's when he
started tearing my clothing off and then he grabbed me and threw me face
down on the back of his father's couch. I tried to stand back up but he
slammed my face back down and then he raped me," Lynn said as she broke
down in tears. Several minutes passed until Lynn was able to control
herself.
"There was nothing you could do to stop him?" asked Linda.
"No, he was too strong, I tried, but he just kept hitting me until he
had his way with me."
"Then what happened?"
"I was crying and when he finished he pulled out of me and kept swearing
at me. I pushed up from the couch and turned to look at him and told him
that he wasn't going to get away with what he had done to me, that I was
going to tell the police. He looked me in the eye and said 'The fuck you
will,' and then he lunged for me and grabbed my by the neck and started
to choke me. I fell backwards onto his father's desk and I couldn't
breathe, I found the letter opener and grabbed it. I swung it around
into his back, I wanted him to stop choking me, I didn't want to kill
him, it was an accident, I just wanted him to stop," Lynn said as she
dissolved into tears.
"Isn't this enough?" asked Susan as she comforted Lynn.
"I'm sorry but I have to ask her one more question, Lynn after you
stabbed Brendan, what did you do?"
"I pushed him off of me and called 911."
"Did you try to help him?"
"God no, I didn't want to touch him, he just raped me, I just wanted to
get away from him."
"Okay Lynn that should be enough for my investigation, you're free to
go, if I have any other questions I'll give you a call, and I really am
sorry for what happened to you, but it is my job and I have to ask you
these questions. I wish I didn't have to but it is necessary for the
report. I'm going to give you a phone number for a rape support group
and maybe it will help you come to terms with what happened to you,
you're a sweet girl Lynn and I hate seeing something like this happen to
someone as nice as you."
"Thank you Officer Carlisle," Lynn said as she and Susan rose to leave.
Lynn and Susan returned home and Lynn went to bed to rest. She fell
asleep and was soon in the world of nightmares. She awoke screaming and
was quivering with fear when Susan rushed to her room.
"What's wrong honey?"
"I had the worst dream Mom."
"It will be alright, I'll stay with you."
"Thanks mom."
Lynn fell back asleep but even with her mother holding her, the results
were the same, the nightmares continued. Unfortunately for Lynn this
pattern of sleep continued for weeks.
After several days Lynn returned to school and of course everyone had
heard of Brendan's death and the circumstances revolving around it. All
Lynn's friends wanted to know what happened and she just wanted to be
left alone to forget that horrible night. Luckily for Lynn the student's
interest passed as it always does in two days and moved on to more
important things like who was dating whom. All of this had an effect on
Lynn though, she went from being an out going, popular young woman to an
introverted with drawn little girl. Lynn just wanted to be alone, even
rejecting Mindy's support, even though having interaction with her
friends would have been the best thing for her. Lynn would just have to
work this thing out for herself.
During this period of time Shamus McCullough was a busy man,
concentrating all of his efforts on revenge for his son's death. He read
the police reports and contacted his attorney as to what could be done
to punish Lynn. He couldn't believe what was said about his son in those
reports, lies, nothing but lies, he said, I'll make that little bitch
pay for what she has done.
After talking to his attorney Shamus contacted the District Attorney and
reminded him that he had been on his election committee and had
contributed a considerable amount of money to his successful election
campaign. His plan was to have Lynn tried as an adult and have her
charged with second-degree murder, he wanted revenge. The District
Attorney tried to talk Shamus out of such an action.
"Shamus, I don't think this murder thing is such a good idea, we might
lose the case."
"I don't care, I want retribution for my son, I want this little whore
to pay for what she did."
"You'd better be careful with this girl, from what I've seen about her
she's a really nice young woman, she was one of the homecoming
princesses two years in a row."
"I don't fucking care if she was the Queen of England, I want her in
jail."
"Have you read the police reports on this?"
"Yes I have and I expect you to prove them wrong, I want this bitch in
jail."
"How are we going to make the rape and bruises go away?"
"Make her out to be some kind of slut, you know a sex fiend, hell you're
the DA, make it happen, do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Mr. McCullough."
It was five in the afternoon when Susan heard the knock at the door. She
opened it and saw two uniformed police officers standing with a paper in
their hands.
"Lynn Collins?" asked the first officer.
"I'm Susan Collins, Lynn's my daughter, what do you want with her?"
"Mrs. Collins, we're here to arrest your daughter Lynn for murder,
she'll have to come with us."
"What, there must be some mistake, Lynn hasn't murdered anyone."
"I'm sorry Mrs. Collins but the District Attorney has issued a warrant
for her arrest and she will have to come with us. Please don't make this
more difficult than it already is, could you get her please?"
"Would you please come in, this is embarrassing enough without drawing
too much attention as to why you are here. Who's making the accusation
that Lynn did this thing?"
"I'm sorry but we're not at liberty to say, now would you please get
your daughter."
Susan was panic stricken, how could Lynn be charged with murder, all she
did was defend herself, where were they going to take her, what would
happen to her baby?
"Lynn could you come here please?" Susan shouted towards Lynn's room.
Lynn walked out into the front room in her bare feet, wearing shorts and
a blouse.
"Yes, Mom?"
"Honey, you have to go with these police officers, they have to ask you
some questions,"
"About what?"
"Miss you have to come with us, please turn around, we have to handcuff
you, it's the law."
"Hand cuff me, what did I do?" Lynn said as fear ran through her body.
"You murdered that poor boy, now turn around."
"I didn't murder him, he raped me and was trying to kill me, all I did
was protect myself."
"Murdering that boy seems to me to be way beyond protecting ones self."
"I didn't mean to kill him, it was an accident."
"Maybe so but you still have to come with us to be booked. Your mother
can make arrangements to have you released."
The officers led the now handcuffed Lynn to their cruiser, opened the
door and placed her inside.
"Mrs. Collins, she will be at the police station. I would suggest that
you get an attorney before you come to have her released."
"An attorney?"
"Yes Mrs. Collins, an attorney."
The officers drove off leaving Susan standing in the street feeling as
though she had just been robbed.
Susan didn't know any attorneys, she had never had a need for one until
now, who could she call?
"District Attorney Weldon's office."
"Is Bob Weldon in?"
"Yes, whom should I say is calling?"
"Shamus McCullough."
"Shamus, how are doing?"
"I'm doing fine, but that's not why I called, I want to know what's
happening with that girl that murdered my son?"
"We arrested her this very afternoon and she's going to be booked for
second degree murder just like you asked us to do."
"Good, I'm a little worried about this case so I'm going to have my
lawyer consult with you on this, I want no slipups, do we have an
understanding?"
"Yes Shamus, we do," answered Bob as he hung up the phone.
'God what an asshole,' thought Bob, 'the evidence proves that the girl
was raped and was defending herself, why does he hate her so much?'
Lynn sat in the most uncomfortable fashion, hands behind her back and
unable to sit in a way that didn't hurt.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked.
"I'm sorry miss but all we do is follow instructions and we were told to
arrest you."
"But I didn't do anything wrong," Lynn said as her tears began to flow.
Lynn was brought to the local police station and booked. She was placed
into a holding cell until it would be time for her to be transported to
the Juvenal Detention Facility. She was finger printed and photographed,
but even worse she was treated badly. There was no, "I'm sorry we have
to do this," or, "Would you like something to drink sweetheart," but
instead she was treated like a common criminal.
"Why are you being this way toward me?" asked Lynn.
"Because you're a murderer, that's why, now be quiet and do as you're
told, it will make it easier for you," said the booking sergeant.
Lynn was placed back into her cell to await her outcome.
Susan was frantic, she had no idea as to what she should do. It isn't
everyday that your child is arrested for murder but at least she knew
she had to find an attorney. Unfortunately Susan had never needed one
except briefly when her husband left her and Lynn years ago, in fact she
couldn't even remember the lawyers name. Finally she remembered
something Lynn had said, that Shauntay's mother was an attorney.
Susan dialed Shauntay's number and waited as the phone rang.
"Hello."
"Shauntay, hi this is Lynn Collins' mother."
"Hi, but this isn't Shauntay, I'm her mother Belinda, everyone makes
that mistake, would you like to talk to her?"
"No, actually I called to talk to you. My name's Susan Collins and Lynn
had mentioned that you were an attorney and I really need your help
right now," Susan said as she began to cry.
"What's happened, what's wrong?"
"Lynn's been arrested for murder."
"Oh my God, let me think of what we might be able to do. I passed the
bar years ago but only practiced for a couple of years until I had
children, so I don't know how much help I would be, but I do know an
attorney that specializes in these kinds of cases. Let me get his number
for you, this is so upsetting, Lynn is such a nice girl, I can't believe
she would be capable of doing anything like that."
Belinda Miller found the phone number of the criminal attorney and gave
it to Susan.
"Thank you so much Belinda, you're a life saver."
"If there is anything else I can do for you just call."
Susan called the number Belinda had given her and listened while the
phone rang.
"Jack Masters."
"Mr. Masters, my name is Susan Collins and I need your help."
"How did you get my private cell number?"
"Belinda Miller gave it to me. Her daughter and mine are friends and my
daughter has been arrested."
"Belinda gave it to you, Belinda is a very dear friend and for her to
give out this number must mean that it is very important for you to talk
to me, now tell me what has happened with your daughter."
"The police came to our house and arrested her for murder."
"For murder, and how old is your daughter?"
"Sixteen."
"She's only sixteen and she's been charged with murder, this is serious,
do you know where they took her?"
"I imagine the local police station."
"Okay, let me see what I can do to get her out of jail, that's no place
for a young girl to be, you've caught me at a bad time, I'm on the golf
course. I'm going to give you the number to my office and I want you to
call my secretary and give her all the information you can about the
case and I will call her from the police station and see what I can do."
"Thank you Mr. Masters."
Susan wrote down the number and called Jack Masters' office.
"Jack Masters' office, Tiffany speaking."
"Hello Tiffany, Mr. Masters asked me to call you with as much
information that I can give so when he calls you will be ready. My name
is Susan Collins and my daughter Lynn was just arrested for murder.
She's only sixteen and I'm worried about what might happen to her in
jail."
"Can you tell me why she was charged and any other pertinent
information?"
"I don't know why she was charged, she accidentally killed a boy several
weeks ago, but only after he raped her and then tried to kill her. There
is something else you must know and I'm sure you would find out anyway,
Lynn was born male but has transitioned into a girl and if any of the
people in jail find out about that she'll be passed around like meat."
Susan told Tiffany about how Lynn had killed Brendan and why.
"Let me have your phone number so I can call you back. I need to get
this information to Jack right away so he doesn't take his time getting
to the jail. Don't worry Mrs. Collins everything will be alright, Jack's
a very good lawyer, I'll call you back in a little while," Tiffany said
as she hung up the phone.
Tiffany called the police station to ascertain whether Lynn was there or
not. When she found out that she was being held in a cell and what the
charge was, she called Jack.
"Jack, it's Tiffany, we have a real problem with your new client. As you
know she's a minor but the DA wants to prosecute her as an adult. To
make matters worse this girl is transgender, she was born a boy and
that's pretty much all I can tell you for now."
"She's a boy, shit, that's all I need right now. If the papers find out
about this, they'll lynch the poor child. Now tell me more about the
charge against her."
"According to her mother she killed a boy in self defense. Apparently
the boy raped her and then tried to kill her so she wouldn't tell the
police about the rape. She was almost ready to pass out when she found a
letter opener and stabbed the boy in self defense and that's about all I
know."
"If it was self defense why is she being charged?"
"They wouldn't say at the police station, you know how they are, the
wall of silence."
"Okay, call Mrs. Collins back and tell her I'm on the way and have her
meet me at the police station. If I can get her released they will want
the mother there to bring her home."
"Okay boss."
Tiffany rang Susan and told her to meet Jack at the police station as
soon as possible.
Susan rushed to her car and drove to the station house and nearly
beating Jack there. She parked her car and ran to the front desk in the
station.
"Excuse me officer, you have my daughter here under arrest. Her name is
Lynn Collins, may I see her?"
"Since you're her mother I guess that would be alright. She's with her
attorney in the lockup and since you're the mother I'm sure it would be
alright, but first I have to see some identification to prove that you
are her mother."
Susan showed the officer her driver's license and was escorted to the
cell. Jack had just started talking to Lynn to get a better feel for the
case. The officer unlocked the door.
"Mommy, oh God Mommy please take me home, I'm so afraid," said Lynn in a
quivering voice.
Susan went to her daughter and held her, "I will as soon as I can,
baby."
"Mrs. Collins, I'm Jack Masters and I'm going to do all I can to get
Lynn out of here tonight but first I have to find out why this is all
happening. The DA usually doesn't charge minors with crimes like this
without a reason and after talking to Lynn about the circumstances this
vendetta makes no sense to me at all."
"Can you get her out of here?"
"I'll talk to a judge and see if we can. It's important that we do or
Lynn will be booked into jail for the night and if she is, she will be
strip-searched and that's the last thing we will want. If that happens
the news of her sex will spread like wild fire and as usual some big
mouth will tell the news papers and the trial will be like a circus.
Lynn this is important, how are your grades in school, if they are good
the judge will be more inclined to release you."
"I have straight A's. I want to win a scholarship for homecoming
princesses and part of that was being a good student. That's why I was
at Brendan's house that night, to study."
"I have a good working relationship with Judge Greenwood, I'm sure we
can work something out."
Jack Masters found Judge Greenwood and explained what was happening and
why Lynn should be released from custody and was able to do so without
mentioning her sex. He agreed that she should be released but only after
Susan posted one hundred thousand dollars bail. Susan found a bail bond
person that was more than happy to earn ten percent to put up the bond.
Susan and Lynn left the jail and were soon on there way home. Jack
meanwhile called the district attorney to get all the facts.
"District attorney's office."
"Bob Weldon please."
"Who may I say is calling?"
"Jack Masters."
"Oh hello Mr. Masters, Bob's on the other line, I'll transfer you when
he gets off."
Several minutes passed and Jack was getting antsy. One thing had to be
said about Jack Masters, he was an impatient man, he liked his ducks in
a row and he hated it when they wandered because it took time to get
them straight again and he didn't have time to waste.
"Bob will take your call now," said the secretary.
"Jack how you doing, how's the golf game? Sorry I couldn't make it today
but something rather important came up, so what do I owe the honor?"
"Damn it Bob don't make nice with me, I'm calling about Lynn Collins and
what in the hell is going on about with this girl?"
"She's been arrested for murder, that's why I couldn't play golf today."
"Jesus Bob, she's only a minor, what's with the adult charge against
her."
"Those were my instructions."
"Bob you never do things like this, who's pulling the strings?"
"I can't tell you that and it's not important anyway, the point is that
the girl is going to be tried as an adult and that's all I can tell
you."
"Well, I'm representing Miss Collins so I'll need everything you have on
this case, I'll expect to see everything in the morning."
"I'll have it for you, take care Jack."
"You too Bob."
As soon as Bob hung up the phone he dialed Shamus McCullough's number.
"Shamus here."
"Shamus, Bob Weldon, I have news for you and most of it bad as far as
you're concerned. The girl has been released from jail and Jack Masters
is her attorney."
"Jack fucking Masters, damn, that sleazy fuck gets everyone off, I'm
calling in the big guns on this one. I'm calling my lawyer and ask him
what we can do, I don't want to lose this case, I'll talk to you
tomorrow."
Shamus called his attorney Bryant Turner to see what could be done.
Bryant was on staff for Shamus because of all the litigation involved in
most of his dealings. As had been stated earlier Shamus was a tough
business man and most of it was a bit crooked and Shamus learned at an
early age that it would cost less to hire an attorney full time than to
hire a law firm on a case to case basis. Shamus didn't get rich the old
fashion way, he cheated.
"Bryant, this is Shamus. I need you to find a lawyer that will do almost
anything to win a case. I don't want you doing it because I don't want
my name linked to this trial other than as the grieving father."
"Shamus, I have just the man in mind, Myron Snard, he's a real son of a
bitch, in fact I can't think a man hated as much as he is, I'll give him
a call."
Bryant looked through his phone index and found the number he was
looking for.
"Myron, Bryant Turner here, I have something for you that will pay you
very nicely, are you interested?"
"I'm always interested in making money Bryant, who do I have to keep out
of jail this time?"
"Myron, you're not going to believe this, but we want you to help put
someone in jail."
"You want me to work with the prosecution, I don't know if my heart will
stand the shock, you actually want me to do good?"
"Don't worry, you won't be doing good, you can still be the same old
mean son of a bitch you always are," laughed Bryant.
"Good, you had me worried for a minute, now tell me what I have to do."
"My client's son was killed by a sixteen year old girl and he wants her
put away for the killing. The problem is that the girl is claiming self-
defense and unfortunately she has a pretty good case. It seems that the
boy raped her and then tried to kill her and to make it worse there is
evidence to back it up so there is a lot of work to do before trial, are
you interested?"
"If the money's right, I am."
"Does a blank check sound okay?"
"Yes, pretty much what I had in mind, I'll see you next Wednesday, I
have a few things to clear up before then."
"Good talking to Myron."
Bryant called Shamus back and told him of the good fortune to have Myron
working on the case for them, he would almost assure victory for the
prosecution. Shamus smiled his first smile in weeks, it felt good to be
able to ruin someone else's life for a change.
Jack Masters was in his office when the paper work he had requested
arrived for the Lynn Collins case. He opened the envelope and read
everything that had been sent by the DA and came to the conclusion that
Lynn and been raped and almost killed by Brendan. How the DA could
charge Lynn with murder made no sense, there had to be something else in
play, so Jack called Bob Weldon to see what the real problem was.
"Bob, Jack Masters here, I received the package you sent over and read
every word. I don't get it, you have no case here so why are you going
after this girl the way you are?"
"Thanks for calling Jack, the reason I want to prosecute her is that we
think she is lying."
"Bob, did you look at the evidence, Brendan bet the shit out of her and
raped her besides, you must have more."
"We're going to prove they were defensive injuries from when Brendan
fought back while she was trying to stab him."
"Get real Bob, Brendan was six-foot two inches tall and played on the
football team and Lynn is what five-foot three and weighs maybe one
hundred ten pounds, her wounds were a hell of a lot more than defensive,
now tell me what's really going on?"
"There's nothing going on Jack, I just want to see justice done."
"Bob, you're so full of shit sometimes and this is one of them, I'll
figure out the real reason for this thing and then maybe you will come
to your senses."
Jack put the phone down and reread the evidence trying to make sense of
this travesty. It took four times of going over the evidence before the
light went on in his head, this was Shamus McCullough's son and now he
knew why Bob was making such a big deal about this case, everyone knew
that Shamus owned Bob Weldon. This was going to make the case a bit more
interesting, the evidence was cut and dried, Brendan raped the girl and
then tried to kill her, there was no doubt about that, but how would
they spin it, Lynn was the picture child of a nice wholesome girl, hell
she even had a scholarship named after her, I don't get it, there must
be something I missed.
"Susan, Jack Masters here, I talked to the DA and he is adamant about
proceeding with this trial and I figured out why, Brendan was Shamus
McCullough's son and right or wrong he will want retribution so I'll be
up front with you and tell you that this is going to get nasty. Shamus
will do anything to win, cheat, lie, even buy witnesses, he's a real
piece of work. We have the truth on our side but even so it's going to
be a lot of work. Now, I need you to tell me everything you can about
Lynn, the good things and the bad, you can't leave anything out because
you can count on the DA trying to find out about these things too."
"Jack, Lynn's never done anything wrong other than a few harmless pranks
and even those weren't that bad. There is one big thing though and I
don't know if they will find out but you should know that Lynn was born
a boy, she's transgender and a few people remember her as a boy but I
don't think they would say anything."
"That could present a problem with our defense, if it becomes an issue
maybe I might be able to have her sex set aside because rape is rape
irregardless of who it is done to, let's just hope they don't find out,
where are her records kept that chronicle her transition?"
"Only at her doctors and at the school. The records at the school are
kept in a separate file in Lynn's councilor's office so no one is privy
to them."
"That helps, maybe we can pull this off, Bob Weldon is a nice man but he
also doesn't dig too deep when it comes to things like this, it helps
that he is on their side."
"I thought he was a really good prosecutor, I read about him all the
time in the paper?"
"Bob's a really good politician but he really isn't a very good lawyer,
he just tells the papers that he is."
"I hope not, thanks for calling," Susan said as she hung up the phone.
Lynn was sitting with Mindy and Shauntay when the subject of the
homecoming came up.
"Lynn we have to register you for princess soon, there are only two days
left."
"I don't want to run this year, I just don't feel right about it."
"I'm sure you'll win," said Shauntay.
"I don't care, I don't want to do it," Lynn said as her eyes began to
water.
"Why not?" asked Mindy, seeing her girl friend's discomfort.
"I just can't, not after what happened, I'm sorry Mindy," answered Lynn,
trying not to cry.
"Lynn, you're my best friend in the world and I hate seeing you like
this, have you been seeing councelor?"
"No."
"Maybe you should or you'll never get over this thing."
"Maybe you're right, I'll ask my Mom for advice."
When Lynn arrived at home Susan was there because it had been a slow day
at work.
"Mom, I think I should see someone about what happened, I don't want to
do anything and that's not like me."
"I think you're right, you've been so depressed lately, I think you
could use some help. What was the name of that man you used to see?"
"Dr. Jackson?"
"Yes, that's it, I'll call him tomorrow and see if he can fit you in."
"Thanks Mom, can I please have a hug?" Lynn asked. She really needed
one.
Susan took her daughter into her arms and held her tight.
Shamus McCullough was sitting in his office when his secretary came
through the door.
"Mr. McCullough, Mr. Turner is here with some gentlemen to see you."
"Who are they?"
"Mr. Turner said that it's Myron Snard and his body guards."
"Please show them in."
"Mr. McCullough will see you now."
Bryant Turner walked in ahead of Myron and his entourage. Bryant is a
man that keeps himself in shape by going to the gym every morning before
he comes to work and it shows. His clothes are tailored to fit and he
looks sharp at all times. Myron however is the opposite. Myron is a
puffy obese man. He stands five foot three, has a pasty pink complexion,
squinty pig eyes and jowls that quiver when he walks. Shamus could hear
him wheezing as he took his breaths when he walked into his office.
Small beads of sweat had formed on his forehead because of the exertion
from walking the short distance from his car to the office.
The other two figures were something else to behold. Todd Melvin was a
six foot four inch black man that was once a professional football
player. He would still be playing if he hadn't blown his knee out
several years earlier helping his wife with some dumb project around the
house. He had told her to hire someone to do the chore but she begged
him to do it for her as a show of love, well that show of love cost him
his playing career and millions of dollars. The other man was Blackie
Craig, a white man standing six foot six and weighing two hundred forty
pounds. Blackie had a shaved head and several tattoos on his neck and
face. Blackie was once an ultimate fighter in a sport where almost
anything goes, you just can't gouge eyes or bite. Blackie could have
been a champion at this sport because of the mean streak he had. He had
no fear and could take almost any blow from his opponent, hence the
scars over most of his face. Blackie loved fighting, both giving and
receiving but kept forgetting the rules, you don't bite and you don't
gouge. In his last fight he did both. He was a man possessed, his
opponent had connected with a blow to the head and Blackie went crazy.
He grabbed the other man by his eye sockets, bent his head back and bit
half of his nose off, after that he wasn't allowed to fight again and
that's why both he and Todd worked for Myron as bodyguards.
"Shamus, I'd like you to meet Myron Snard, Myron, Shamus McCullough,"
said Bryant introducing the two men.
"It's nice to meet you Myron, and who are these two men?"
"They're my bodyguards, don't pay attention to them, let's just say that
I'm in need of protection these days, for some reason people want to
hurt me," Myron said with an evil laugh, "Now tell me what you want me
to do."
"Myron, this girl Lynn Collins killed my son and I want the little bitch
to pay for what she did. The DA thinks he might have some trouble
convicting her so that's why I asked Bryant to have you help us."
"I don't come cheap."
"Money isn't an issue right now, vengeance is, I want her put away for a
very long time."
"Why can't your local DA handle the case?"
"Because there are some bullshit rape charges that need to go away."
"I see, okay here's what I'll do for you, I'll destroy the girl and
every one around her and by the time I'm finished with her, people will
think she's the second coming of the black plague. Now for your part,
I'll want a fifty thousand dollar retainer and I charge one thousand
dollars per hour because what I'm going to do isn't cheap, do we have an
understanding?"
"I'll have Bryant draw a contract for your services. You'd better
succeed though or your bodyguards won't be enough to stop me from doing
harm to you, now do we have an understanding?"
"Yes we do, have Bryant give me everything on this girl so I can get
started, oh and see if you can have the trial scheduled for the middle
of December, I want the jury pissed off because her trial will take them
away from their holiday cheer."
"I'll get started right away," said Bryant.
Myron studied Lynn's file and determined that this wouldn't be as easy
as he thought it would be. This girl's a Mother Theresa for God's sake,
there has to be something I can find out about her.
"Bryant, this is Myron, is this all you have for me on this girl? Where
is her school records, what about any run ins with the police, does she
have any enemies that would like to get back at her for something, does
she have any fetishes?"
"She has nothing we can use that I could find, and to be perfectly
honest with you Myron, if I was married and had a daughter I'd want one
just like her, she's a beautiful kind person."
"Don't let your feelings get in the way Bryant, we have to destroy this
girl and since you don't have anything I'll have Blackie find something
on her, talk to you later."
"Blackie, come in here, I have something for you to do."
Later that night a tall figure skulked slowly towards a window in the
rear of the high school. Blackie held a towel over the glass light to
both muffle the sound and keep from cutting his hand as he broke the
glass. After he broke the glass he opened the window and pulled himself
inside and walked to find his target, the admissions office. Finding the
door locked he pulled a pry bar from his coat and slipped it between the
door and jamb. With some exertion he was able to break the jamb and gain
entry into the office. Blackie found the file cabinet marked A thru G.
He broke the lock on this one too and grabbed several files making sure
he had the one marked Collins, Lynn. Myron had told him to take at least
ten files or they might trace the burglary back to them if they were
only to take Lynn's file. By the time Blackie had finished his task and
returned to Myron with the files it was well past three in the morning.
"Burn these files Blackie, this is the one I want, I'll read it
tomorrow."
When the head custodian arrived at school at seven in the morning he was
surprised to find the broken window. Then he discovered the door to the
office and it was rendered useless. He called the police to make a
report. The attendance secretary had arrived just before the police.
"Can you tell us if anything is missing?" asked the officer.
"The only thing missing are several of the students files, they didn't
even touch the petty cash."
"Do you know whose files are missing?"
"Not just yet but I'll make a list and fax them over to you."
"Thank you," said the officer, "now I have to finger print the window
and door and hope the thief was stupid enough not to have worn gloves."
The secretary made the list and faxed it off to the police and then went
into Miss Benson's office.
"Miss Benson, one of the files that was stolen was Lynn Collins'."
"Was it really, it's a good thing that I keep her personal information
locked in my office. The only thing the thieves will get from her file
is her grades, I wonder what they were looking for?"
Myron awoke late as was his usual custom and went to look at Lynn's
file.
"Son of a bitch," he muttered, "What the hell is this, there is nothing
here but grades, Blackie, where are the rest of those files from last
night."
"You told me to burn them."
"Were they as thin as this one?"
"No, they were thick, that one must have something missing."
"Damn, I can't have you go back to find the rest of it, and if it wasn't
there someone must be hiding something, I'm going to have to dig a
little deeper."
Myron began his search, looking for anything he could on Lynn Collins,
female. Luckily for Lynn she was born in a little town in Indiana while
her parents were on vacation and so the birth documents were in Indiana
and so with little more than Lynn Collins female to go on Myron was
unable to find a birth certificate. Being unable to find anything
substantial Myron devised another ploy, innuendo.
Meanwhile Bryant approached the DA and asked him to schedule the trial
for the middle of December. When Jack heard this he went through the
roof.
"What do you mean we can't go to trial until then, Bob, what in the hell
has gotten into you, schedule a hearing with the judge, I want this to
be over as soon as possible," said Jack.
"Okay, I'll see if he can hear us next week," replied Bob.
The following week the two attorneys were in court to set a date.
"Your Honor, the District Attorney is asking that we postpone trial on
this matter until the middle of December and we're asking that you
schedule it for no later than the beginning of November. There's no good
reason to stall this thing any longer than that. All the evidence is in
and it isn't fair to such a young girl to have this travesty hanging
over her head any longer than is necessary," said Jack Masters.
"We need more time your Honor," replied Bob Weldon.
"What do you need more time for Bob?"
"We're still looking for more evidence."
"After reviewing what's here Bob, I can't see that there would be
anything else to find so I'm scheduling trial to start November second."
"Yes your Honor."
Lynn had just passsed her driving test one week earlier and was on her
way to see Dr. Jackson for her first appointment in a year and a half.
She wasn't sure of what to expect as she parked the car and walked
inside.
"I'm here to see Dr. Jackson," Lynn said to the receptionist.
"Lynn, you've come back to visit us, let me look at you, my but you've
become a beautiful young woman," said Bernice. Bernice had been Dr.
Jackson's receptionist for years and loved watching his girls become
women and Lynn was his finest example. "I'll show you right in, Dr.
Jackson is expecting you."
Lynn was escorted into Dr. Jackson's office.
"Lynn, it's so nice to see you, how have you been?" asked Dr. Jackson.
"Not so well, doctor."
"Tell me what's bothering you?"
"It's, it's, gosh, it's so many things, I don't know where to start."
"You haven't changed your mind about being a girl have you?"
"Oh my no, it's just that, God I feel so dirty saying this, I was
raped," Lynn said as she crumbled in tears.
"Oh my God you poor thing," responded Dr. Jackson, "Bernice, could you
block out the rest of my afternoon, Lynn needs me for the rest of the
day."
"Yes, doctor."
Lynn composed herself and continued, "That's not the worst of it, I
could eventually get over the rape but I killed someone and I'll never
forgive myself for that."
"My God Lynn, tell me what happened so I can make some sense of this."
Lynn proceeded to tell Dr. Jackson of the rape and death of Brendan
McCullough and how she felt responsible for everything that happened.
"Tell me Lynn, why do you feel responsible for what happened?"
"If I hadn't gone to his house this would have never happened."
"Well of course not but you also didn't expect to get raped either so
you shouldn't feel responsible for a very bad act, that was Brendan's
fault, you had nothing to do with that other than being in the wrong
place with the wrong person. It would have happened to any girl that
happened to be with him so it's not your responsibility and you're not
being fair to yourself by taking the blame."
"But if I wasn't there none of this would have taken place, I wouldn't
have had to kill him."
"Lynn, the last thing you should feel guilty about is that. You might
feel sorrow for his death, but he brought that on himself, what were you
supposed to do, die, you were just protecting yourself."
"But it's all my fault, I should have just gone to the library instead."
"Lynn, there is nothing greater than hindsight when it comes to things
such as this. Of course you could have gone to the library and this
wouldn't have happened, but you didn't know it would. This wouldn't have
happened either if you hadn't become homecoming princess and discovered
your true self, would you want to take that away?"
"No, it's just that I feel so bad because of what I've done."
"I'm not saying that you shouldn't feel bad, I'd be disappointed if you
didn't but you need to put it in perspective, you would be dead if you
didn't protect yourself."
"But I wouldn't have had to protect myself if I didn't go to his house."
"You wouldn't have had to protect yourself if he wasn't a rapist, don't
forget that."
"I know, but still, God I'm so confused."
"Lynn what happened wasn't your fault, what happened, happened, there is
no changing that and we have to work to get you past that. Let's say you
wanted a friend of yours to bring you to the mall with her when she went
shopping and she was killed in an accident on the way to pick you up,
would you feel responsible for that too?"
"I don't think I would because it was an accident."
"But your friend died on the way to pick you up."
"I know but that was an accident, nobody planned it."
"That's the point, nobody planned it, she was in the wrong place at the
wrong time. If you hadn't asked her for a ride she would have still been
alive but you couldn't foresee the accident and it happened, it's just
like the rape, you couldn't foresee that either but it happened and it
was something you had no control of. Brendan's death was unfortunate but
he brought it on himself. If he hadn't tried to kill you he would still
be alive, so that was something he brought on himself, you were the
victim in all this so you shouldn't feel guilty, sorrow maybe, but guilt
no."
Lynn spent the next three hours with Dr. Jackson and was finally able to
come to the realization that she shouldn't feel guilty and that she
shouldn't stop living because another person tried to ruin her life.
Lynn felt as though a great weight was lifted from her shoulders, she
felt like living again. Little did she know that Myron Snard was going
to try to make her life a living hell.
Bob called Bryant who in turn called Myron to inform them that the judge
moved the trial up to November second because there wasn't any more
evidence to be found.
"How does he know that?" asked Myron, who was thoroughly pissed at that
revelation. Myron needed more time to find dirt on the poor girl.
"Jack Masters made the point that it wasn't fair to the girl to have to
wait much longer for trail and the judge agreed," stated Bryant.
"Okay, I'll just have to accelerate what I usually do, here's the plan.
I'll have Blackie search the Collins home for anything damaging and even
if he doesn't find anything we can still damage the evidence at trial.
What we will do is make the girl out to be a sex freak and Brendan was
just doing what the girl asked by making love to her."
"What about the bruises?"
"That will be a little harder, we have to convince the jury that the
girl liked to be choked to unconsciousness, you've seen stories about
the sexual rush kids get from that and that's how she got the bruises."
"That would explain her neck but what about the cuts and bruises on her
face?"
"I'll think of something, maybe she tripped, yeh, that's it, she
tripped."
"I hope this works or Shamus will really be angry if we fail."
"Trust me it won't fail, and by the way get me everything on the doctor
that treated her at the hospital, we have to discredit her too, in fact
get me something on everyone that's come in contact with her, the cops,
everybody."
"You've got it Myron."
There were only two weeks until trial so Myron's plan had to be rushed.
"Blackie, I want you to search the Collin's home for some kind of clue
as to the girls past, do it today," said Myron.
"Okay boss," answered Blackie.
Blackie drove to Susan's home and watched to make sure there was no
activity in the neighborhood. He exited the car and walked to the front
door and rang the bell. When there was no answer he walked to the rear
of the house and pried open the rear door. Entering he wandered through
the house looking in drawers for anything that might be of help for
Myron.
Susan was at work when she remembered that she had left some paperwork
at home so she drove there to get it. She parked her car, noticing a
strange vehicle parked several doors away. She walked to her front door
and pushed her key into the cylinder. Blackie heard the noise and hid
behind the door to the living room. As Susan walked past the door
Blackie struck her on the head knocking her out. Blackie ran from the
house and roared of in his car. Susan was unconscious for several
minutes and then called the police as soon as she woke up.
"911 operator."
"This is Susan Collins at 745 Britton Road, I was just attacked in my
home and my house was broken into, please send someone."
"Do you need an ambulance?"
"No, just the police."
The police arrived and the investigating officer was Ben Patterson.
"Mrs. Collins, I'm Ben Patterson, can you tell me what happened?"
"Yes, I had forgotten something at home so I drove here from work and
when I walked in here I was struck on the back of my head."
"Did you see anything?"
"No nothing, other than a strange car several doors down."
"Do you know what kind of car it was?"
"No, not really, it was a blue American car but I don't know what kind."
"Do you know how they entered your house?"
"I think through the back door, it seems to have been pried open."
"Hmm, that's interesting, do you know if they took anything?"
"Not that I can see."
"I just happen to realize that your Lynn Collins mother aren't you?"
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"Because I was the investigating officer at the McCullough home the
night she was attacked. There have been some strange things happening
with regards to this case that didn't make sense until now. First the
school was broken into and some file were stolen. We thought maybe it
was a prank but one of the files was Lynn's and now your house is broken
into, I think there is more than meets the eye with this. I have to go
make some calls, are you going to be alright?"
"Yes, my head just hurts, I'll go see my doctor just to be sure
everything is okay."
"I'll get back to you as soon as I know anything Mrs. Collins."
"Thank you officer."
Ben Patterson returned to his office and called Bob Weldon.
"Bob, Ben Patterson calling, what the hell is going on with the Lynn
Collins case?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Because there have been two break-ins related to the case and that's
more that a coincidence."
"Well our office had nothing to do with that."
"But I'm sure you know who does."
"That ridiculous Ben, breaking and entering is against the law and this
office would never have anything to do with that."
"Well someone is doing it and I'm going to find out why, I'll be talking
to you later."
As soon as Bob hung up the phone he called Bryant Turner.
"Bryant, this is Bob Weldon, you had better call of your dogs before
something serious happens, the police have some kind of idea as to what
we're doing, so tell Myron to lay low or we will all be in hot water if
we're caught."
"Okay, I'll tell him to quit doing things that might put us in jail,
I'll talk to you in a few days."
Bryant called Myron and told him to stop doing illegal things because
the police were getting wise to what they were doing and that they would
have to be careful.
Jack Masters was informed of the two break-ins and had put two and two
together. He knew Shamus McCullough was the person behind what was
happening to Lynn but there was nothing he could do about it, Shamus
owned Bon Weldon. Jack had his own problems, he had to find someone to
discredit Brendan and began his search. He finally found a girl who had
dated Brendan and discovered that she also been raped only she never
reported it because she feared for her life and with good reason, she
would be his ace in the hole so to speak.
The days passed with Myron drilling Bob Weldon on what to ask and what
to avoid until Bob would be able to ask questions in his sleep. During
this period of time Myron hired a jury consultant, he wanted to be sure
his ducks were in a row and the jurists would be the most likely to vote
in favor of the prosecution.
It was the night before the trial and Susan decid