The Death of Jacob Track (Book One of the 33X Series)

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

November 28, 2014

Captain Roark Williams and Zac Reynolds were in the car for the short drive to a nearby town, Rozel. Rozel had a population of only a few hundred people, but they only wanted to talk to one. To gather information on Larry's case, they needed to talk to his ex-wife Alberta.

Alberta lived in a small two bedroom white house. She had gotten plenty of money from the divorce, but she had used it wisely. She had never been much of a big spender anyway. She moved to Rozel after the divorce to be near her mother and aunt.

Zac and Roark reached the house, knocked, hoping that she would answer quickly. The December wind was biting cold.

"Hello? Maybe I help you?" Alberta, a tall, slender brunette answered the door.

"We need to ask you a few questions about your ex-husband, Larry. May we come in, Ma'am?" Roark asked politely.

"I figured as much. Yes, come in, that wind is terrible!" She hurried them in the doorway and found them a seat.

"Thank you, ma'am." Zac smiled as he was seated, glad to be out of the cold and in a warm house.

"No problem at all. I knew you'd be showing up soon enough. After I seen the news... well, of course you'd want to question the ex-wife." Alberta sighed and sat in a brown chair across from them.

"It's been a terrible circumstance all around. My name is Captain Roark Williams, and this is Zac Reynolds. We will be as quick and thorough as possible. We do not wish to intrude upon your privacy."

"Good I don't prefer to live down memory lane for too long." She spoke quietly, fidgeting with her fingernails.

"What kind of husband was Larry? Loving? Cold? Abusive?" Roark asked, his notepad in hand.

"Larry was charming and wonderful when we first got together. I met him after college, when he came back to Kansas from NYC. He was so smart and ruggedly handsome. He offered to buy me a drink one night and that was that. We were together all the time after that.

"Oh he was a romantic, always buying me flowers and presents. Made me feel like a princess, every girl's dream, really. It was great at first, so we got married about two years later. It was a big, beautiful wedding, a fairy tale." She paused, still fidgeting with her fingernails.

"Did it change after the wedding?" Zac asked.

"No, not right away. About a year after we were married, our...oh, heavens this is embarrassing!" Alberta blushed.

"If it's necessary, please tell us anything that could help. Don't feel embarrassed about it. We've heard some bad stuff..." Roark stated.

"Well, he started to get...violent in the bedroom. Asking to choke me or hit me. Things I didn't feel comfortable with at all. And the requests only got worse. He even asked if he could cut me. I obviously said no! I was repulsed!" Alberta stared at the ground, her cheeks still a shade of crimson. "And when I continually said no, he began to get abusive. Mostly yelling and belittling me at first. Then he'd hit me, always in places that could be covered up. Never hit my face, couldn't let anyone see what he did to me.

"I was just a small town girl that married a gorgeous man, what I had always dreamed of. I did everything I could to save that marriage, eventually caving to some of his perverse fantasies." Alberta's eyes misted with tears.

"I'm so sorry, ma'am." Zac said sincerely. He couldn't understand how a man could do that to a woman he loved.

"So he'd abuse me, often. And I'd hide it to save face. He'd threaten worse if I told anyone. I thought I was doing what I was supposed to, staying in my marriage. Divorce is a sin, right?"