“I could say I was a mind reader, but I’m not. I am a detective and look for clues, put them together to tell a story. This story tells me that Kelly met some of Calvin’s buddies.” Robert didn’t touch her but leaned close and whispered. “Did one of them force himself on her?”
He felt Barbara stiffen and her nails dug into his thigh.
Angie shook head. Her blonde hair whipped across her face. “He didn’t force her.”
“Were you there?” Barbara asked.
“Not that time. I was at the party before.” The words seem to spill over the dam. “I told my mom I was staying at Kelly’s, and she told her mother she was staying with me. The boys picked us up at the end of the alley.”
“Who picked you up?”
She paused; there were tears of fright. “I can’t tell, they’ll kill my family the way they did Kelly’s.” Her voice choked on the words.
“Angie, no one will ever know what you tell me; no matter what, I will never tell.” He crossed his heart with his forefinger and kissed the end. He didn’t know if girls did this, but it was a promise. She relaxed, and the edges of her mouth lifted a little.
“Brody and Mike and Wally were in the car. They said James and Calvin were at the party and would meet us there. We’d seen them before when they came to move Calvin out of the house. Kelly had been with them before, so she said not to worry, they were all nice. She had shown me the charm bracelet one of them gave her.
“Did she tell you who gave it to her?”
“No, she said even though we were best friends, we shouldn’t kiss and tell. That was what he told her to tell me if I asked. I didn’t care, the guys were very nice, and Brody was hugging her, so I guessed he was the one she liked. The other two were in the front seat.”
“Where did you go for the party?” Robert prodded. Before she could answer, Mrs. Davis came into the room with a tray of coffee, cookies, and a glass of milk. “How did you know I love milk and cookies? Angie, aren’t you a little young to be drinking coffee?” They laughed, and Mrs. Davis offered to bring him a glass of milk, which he declined.
She looked at her daughter and asked, “Honey are you okay? Do you want to stop?”
Angie shook her head, “No I am all right.” Mrs. Davis nodded at Robert and Barbara and left the room.
“Thank you, Angie. I want to find the Stevens family killer. Darla and Sara were found in the Columbia River. We’re hoping that the rest of them might still be alive, and we’ll find them.
Angie shook her head violently. “You aren’t going to find them alive.” Tears began to well in her eyes and overflow down her cheeks. She scrubbed her face with the hanky. “They told me they were all—” she paused. Her lips trembled, and her hands shook. She put the glass down and laced her fingers.
Barbara moved to sit next to her. She wrapped her arm around the young girl. “You’ll be fine. We aren’t going to let anything happen to you or your family.” She gave Robert a glare and a nod.
“Yes, we will be sure your family is safe.” He hated to lie. Well, it wasn’t a lie. They would do their best to keep them safe, but other than locking them in a house all day and night, there wasn’t much they could do forever. The mob had long memories. “What did they say?”
“That if I told anyone what happened or if I told anyone what Kelly told me, my family would be next to theirs in the river.”
“Who are ‘they’?” Robert asked.
She shook her head violently. He didn’t press.
He was in a pickle. Here was the one person who could point out the killers, but if he did use her as the star witness, the mob would kill her family and her, probably before it ever came to trial. There was no way to protect this family when the mob had moles in the precinct.
“Angie, can you tell me what happened at the party you went to?” Barbara kept her arm around the girl.
“When we got there, Kelly went off somewhere and left me. I was scared. I tried to look for her, but there were a lot of people. I saw David and asked him where Kelly was. He laughed and said she was being taken care of. Then he took me to a table and asked me what I wanted to drink. I saw some pop, so I just said that. He got me a glass and put the pop in the glass and poured some stuff from a bottle in too. I wanted to say no, but he told me I was at a big girls’ party and I should party as they do. I know there was alcohol in the drink, but I’d never tasted it before. At first, it was awful, but after a while it was warm, and I was having fun. David danced with me, and when his girlfriend got there, he introduced us, and some other guy danced with me. He brought me another drink, and it tasted better, it was like chocolate.
Robert began to get a sick feeling. He looked at Barbara who had the same expression. He was sure what was coming, and he didn’t like it. Angie bit into the cookie, her eyes were gazing into the distance as she remembered.
“I remember dancing. David was teaching me steps; he said he was a dance teacher, but everyone laughed. Someone said, “mattress dancing.” I asked him what dance that was, and he said it came later after I had three of these drinks. Then I would qualify for that dance. I drank the three drinks, but I don’t remember him teaching that dance.” Her voice was sad. Her tears dried in tracks on her cheeks. It was as if she were a dam that had broken, and the words were spilling over.
“What do you remember after that?” Robert encouraged
“I remember that everything was loud and crazy. I laughed and laughed. The new man I danced with picked me up in his arms and carried me somewhere.” Now the tears flowed again, “I remember him taking off my dress. He said I would be more comfortable. My arms felt heavy, and I couldn’t lift my head. He kissed me, and it was sweet. He touched my breasts and… down below. I tried to tell him to stop but I couldn’t. He was kissing me. I don’t know who was touching me down there. Roy!” her eyes flew open. “He told me to call him Roy!”
“Angie, did he hurt you?” Barbara asked.
“Yes. No. Yes.” The last response sounded firmer. “I only remember the kissing and feeling something going on… down there.” Her face was burning red.
“Angie, I am sorry.” Barbara rubbed her arms as if she were cold. “Do you want to stop for a minute?”
“No!” she whispered firmly. “I—I want to tell you.” She had forgotten the recorder and Robert wasn’t going to bring it up.
“He hurt me… down there. Not a lot, but I cried. Roy kissed me and told me he would kiss it better down there if I wanted. I remember laughing and saying no. I coughed, and he gave me another drink of that chocolate stuff. My head was spinning, and it was worse when I closed my eyes.”
“What happened next?” Robert hoped Angie remembered. Some drugs affected the memory.
“I don’t know. The next thing I remember was waking in Kelly’s tent in her backyard. That’s where we were supposed to be. I was sick. I threw up over and over again. Kelly said she did too the first time she got drunk. I told her that was never going to happen again, I felt awful.”
The memory of that event had the same effect on her now. She wrapped her arms around her middle and continued. “We went into Kelly’s room. I washed up in the bathroom and changed clothes. Kelly was asleep when I went back to her room, so I went home. I told my mom I felt like I had the flu. I was sick most of the day.”
“Didn’t Mr. or Mrs. Stevens wake and ask why you were in the bathroom?”
“Mrs. Stevens knocked on the door. I told her I got hot and was washing off to cool down. She said yes, it was hot and went back to her room.
“Did you ever go with Kelly to another party?”
“No. I know she went because she told me.” Angie looked drained. The emotion of holding all that inside was like letting air out of a balloon. She sagged like a sack of beans.