Just Try It

Chapter 64- Inquisition Time

Saturday, February 18th, 11:30AM

Swisher Street Apartments

When Paul spotted Moe and Sondra coming down the street, he gave a pointed nod before he walked away from Libby to lounge against his car. With a mutter of disgust, Libby shot him another glare and walked a few steps away to wait next to her own car. Finally, a little peace, Paul thought as he relaxed against the hood. Ever since Sondra had disappeared, Libby Mac Inness had been on a tirade. Everyone knew how dedicated she was, and when he had first gotten the text messages last night he had been in a panic too. All the bad things that could happen to such a sweet kid had raced around his mind until she had finally gotten back. The adrenaline had given him the boost to force last minute cooperation with the night shift several cities away. After the adrenaline had worn off, exhaustion had set in, and he was still wrung out.

Having Libby Mac Inness rail at him for using a minor as an informant wasn't what he needed, but he knew that he deserved at least some of her anger. Paul had tried to explain that Sondra had approached him with the offer, and he hadn't taken her seriously since she hadn't kept his card. That had finally stopped Libby, and she had almost seemed guilty when she grumbled, "She would do something like that. That girl is just full of surprising plans."

When the kids had appeared in the distance, Paul had used that as a good excuse to stop talking before she started yelling again. Besides, it gave him time to watch Sondra pulling the guy along with her. To his relief, Sondra didn't seem traumatized by her recent adventure. In fact, Paul thought with a small grin, she seemed pretty happy with herself.

A quick glance showed that Libby had noticed the budding young love. To his surprise, the dedicated DHS worker actually cracked a smile. To be honest, Paul was mostly relieved. An annoyed child advocate could put a real crimp in an interview. They could be almost as bad as lawyers.

When Sondra went past and invited them to follow her upstairs, Paul was still smiling in anticipation of wrapping things up relatively quickly. The smile slipped away as his eyes locked onto Moe's back. Surprise had him stumbling as he slid away from his car. He actually would have fallen if Libby hadn't grabbed his arm and started dragging him in her wake. When the kids were a little ahead, Paul whispered, "Did you know?" to Libby, and saw her head give a quick nod.

As they dropped back a little further, Paul couldn't stop himself from asking in an angry whisper, "Who did that to him?"

The frown on Libby's face made him shift back and wonder if he was pressing too much, but soon he saw that she wasn't angry at him again. Her brief explanation of, "Childhood abuse before he came to live with his aunt and uncle. The case was handed down to me, but it is mostly closed. The guy who did it is coming up for parole, and the mom is out of the picture, but we were notified recently of some attempts to re-establish contact," explained the true source of her anger.

Paul completely agreed with the controlled bitterness in her voice. He had seen a lot in the few years since he had joined the force, but child abusers were one of the hardest groups for him to deal with calmly. Before he could voice his agreement, Sondra glanced back and called out, "Don't worry, we are almost there," and slowed her steps. For the rest of the quiet walk up the staircase, Paul carefully examined the old scars. Rage, at what was clearly severe abuse, warred with logic, since the scars were obviously very old.

As they entered, Sondra turned to Paul. He seemed distracted, but when he turned his attention to her and gave a forced smile, she said, "I guess that you want a statement."

He nodded and said, "We can piece most of it together, but your statement would be helpful. Just tell me what you can remember."

Moe brought over some coffee and water. He and Libby moved off to one side and watched as Sondra and Paul got started.

"What I remember?" Sondra repeated with an eye roll and a sigh. "I don't suppose that you knew that I have a photographic memory."

"That explains why you didn't need my card," Paul said even as his eyes lit up. Without another thought, he pulled a recorder out of his pocket and put the paper to the side.

With another sigh, Sondra organized her thoughts. Then, she started at the beginning and told the whole story with as many details as she could remember. When she was done, she was pleased and thought she had covered everything except the withdrawal of money or buying her ticket home. Instead, she had mentioned how much Coleton had helped her and implied he had purchased the ticket. However, when Paul started his questions and she realized that she was far from done.

When Sondra seemed completely distracted, Libby turned to Moe and started asking her own questions.

Swisher Street Apartments, 1:00 pm

The questions were finally winding down. Coach Riley had returned from her errands just after they had started, and quietly supplied some sandwiches. Libby had finished talking to Moe. Neither was happy, but at least Moe could go back to listening to Sondra with the coach.

He could almost tell what Coach Riley was thinking as they listened to Sondra lay out everything that had happened. Sondra had kept her in the dark too, and while she seemed glad at how things had turned out and proud of Sondra's resourcefulness, she also looked like she was tempted to ground Sondra forever.

When Paul and Libby finally left, Moe plopped down next to Sondra on the couch.

"So, is your part completely done now?" Moe asked Sondra.

"Yeah, Paul didn't seem to think we were talking that long, but I didn't know how many questions there would be," she answered.

Coach Riley frowned and said, "You could call in tonight. Jamie would understand."

Sondra thought about it briefly, and Moe could see her considering it, but then she shook her head and said, "I can't do that to Jamie. This is the first night she and Korbin have been off grounding. They have plans."

"Then take a nap before you have to go work. I'll wake you up, and you are so tired that you will fall asleep at the counter," insisted her grandma.

Sondra hesitated, and Moe hoped she wouldn't send him away. Even though he was tired too, he didn't want to let her out of his sight.

Her grandma rolled her eyes and said in exasperation, "Or just stay there and watch TV. You can at least turn off your brain for awhile. If you fall asleep I'll wake you in time to get to work."

They both looked at the remote as her grandma bustled around the kitchen muttering about hard headed teens as she putt away dishes. After an minute's consideration, Sondra have a small groan and leaned forward to pick up the remote. As Sondra settled back and flipped through the channels without interest, Moe let out a relieved sigh.

Not five minutes later, Coach Riley finished putting the dishes away and came back out to pick up the few plates from earlier. She wasn't at all surprised to see both were sound asleep in front of the TV.

As she looked at them, she would have said that they had chosen the least comfortable way to sleep on a couch, but both looked completely relaxed. They had slid down and leaned back and both had their feet on a footstool. Since Moe had an arm across the back of the couch, and Sondra was using his shoulder as a pillow. Even in sleep they held hands.

He was a good kid and he cared about Sondra almost as much as she did. Teens always thought that no adult understood, but even though neither had come to her, she had been aware of the strain on their friendship. It was good to see them getting along. After a moment of considering them, she sighed. From the look of things, Moe would be around a lot. They would be happier, she finally decided, but it would take some getting used to. At least with Moe, Coach Riley knew Sondra would be safe, not like with Aaron. So, instead of waking them, she slipped the remote away and turned off the TV as she went on to other weekend chores.

The light snores and deep breathing told her that they were going to be out for awhile. As she roamed from room to room picking up and cleaning they didn't so much as stir. They didn't even budge when the phone rang multiple times from concerned friends, or when one showed up at her door.

Coach Riley glanced at her watch and smiled. She quickly gathered the laundry and headed down to the basement. She had enough time to do a load of laundry before she would need to wake up Sondra for work.