Sunshine Valley

 The truth comes out

    Sheriff Pace watched her. He held his voice to a whisper. “Evelyn?”

    “Are they gone?” Her voice cracked.

    “Yes,” He continued to speak softly.

    “Pinch me.”

    What? No, I won’t! His mind screamed. “Why?” Was all he could say?

    “Because if this is a nightmare, I so desperately want to wake up.”

    A lump caught in his throat, he wanted to hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay. At the same time, he wanted to shake her and say, look at what your dad has done for you. Aren’t you grateful? Plus, you’re home. When he gathered his wits about him, he just said, “no.” The sight of her standing they’re looking so lost and alone was more than he could bear. His arms began to shake at the thought of holding her. His heart kept telling him, this is your Evie; she’s here. Don’t be mean to her. With one giant moment of courage, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

    It took her a while to realize he was holding her. She wanted to fall apart in his arms. What a wonderful thought. It was too hard being strong. But she had always been the strong one. Instead of falling apart, she just laid her head on his arm. He was trembling. God what was happening to her? She knew all of this was part of God’s master plan. What she didn’t understand was why it had to hurt so much?

    She took a deep breath slowly letting it out. “I’m okay.” She gently broke his hold. He followed her to the porch. She surveyed the boxes and bags that surrounded her. A defeated sigh crossed her lips as she sat on the top step. He sat down beside of her. “I’m sure you have lots of work to do.”

    “Are you asking me to leave?”

    Again she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and whispered, “no.” She stood up. The scent of her perfume hit him like a bullet to the chest knocking the breath out of him. “The trash bags are clothing.” She said picking one up and taking it into the house.

    He grabbed one bag following her. “Evelyn, talk to me. I’m the last person you have to pretend around.”

    She busied herself hanging up her stuff. “You have called me Evelyn more times today than you did our entire childhood.”

    He knew she was avoiding the issue. Oh well, he would just go back to the porch. He knew the bags were clothing. The least he could do was open the boxes to see which room they went in. She and a handful of people from her church had packed in such a hurry that no one had labeled anything. Box number one; he cut the tape on top. It looked like things that would go in the bedroom. As he set the box down in the corner of the room, it fell apart. Pictures and papers spewed all over the floor. They made him sick. Were they autopsy photos? What was she doing with autopsy photos? This body was black and blue, covered with blood, and broken. His heart raced out of his chest. He couldn’t breathe. These pictures were horrifying. He had been around blood and his share of death in the last twenty years.

    As he collected the mess, he discovered the papers were hospital reports, EPO’s, DVO’s, and police reports. And there, there in black and white was her name Evelyn Rose Rice. These pictures were of her! This broken body was her!

   All Jack had told him was that Evie was in trouble. And that’s all he knew to tell his closest deputies. Evie’s in trouble. But this? How could a man that loved a woman do such a thing to her? Why? Why? Why? God why? How could you allow this to happen? In all his years as sheriff, he had never witnessed anything so cruel.

    His Evie! Now it all made sense. Why Jack brought Evie’s returning home to his attention. Now he just felt really really sick.

    “I see you found Pandora’s Box.”

    Evie’s voice cut through him like a knife. Chills danced down his spine. “He did this to you?” He still was struggling to breathe. His face was pale and his hands were visibly shaking.

    There was no expression on her face.

    “Evelyn,” he gasped. “Why?”

    She didn’t say anything. She couldn’t. The thought crossed her mind a million times of if he knew and why he never came? His reaction to the pictures answered her questions. Jack hadn’t told him.

    “Evelyn,” he almost screamed. “Why?”

    She stared across her yard at the white picket fence. “That would be the $64 million question.”

    “No,” he flailed his arms against the air. His face was now flushed with color. “No, I will not accept that answer.” He wanted to hurt something and hurt it badly.

    She curled her eyebrows as his body tensed up. “I don’t know why.” There was no point in getting mad. It was over. Maybe. Nothing more could be done about it.

    “But there has to be an explanation.” He was visibly upset.

    “Must there be?” She wrapped her arms around her waist.

    “Yes,” he roared. “Drugs, women, money; you name it.” He pounded his fist against his hand. “Take your pick but give me something concrete.”

   She whispered, “I can’t give you something I don’t have.” She had already spent her upset time. Too much upset time. Her anger had been transformed into a will to live. A drive to survive. Now it was time for her to heal.

    He bolted out of the house. No! This didn’t happen. Not to Evie.

Sunshine Valley