Chapter 5: Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

“Kate, this is going to be hard for your mother,” Jan said. “Why don’t you let me handle the introductions?”

“Is that her?” Kate asked, nodding in the direction of the waitress.

“Yes,” Jake said.

“She looks so much older.”

“These three years have been hard on her,” Jan said.

It took a couple of minutes for Marie to find her way over. She wearily pushed herself away from the bar and walked over, frowning.

“You are too young to drink,” she said to Jake. She looked at Kate. “I’ll need to see an ID for...”

Then Marie caught her breath. Jake winced at the pain she radiated when she saw the resemblance between the girl and her long-lost daughter. After a moment she steeled herself.

“I’m sorry,” Marie said. “You look a lot like someone I once knew.”

“Are you Marie Stewart?” Jan asked.

Marie was suddenly wary. “Yes.”

“Would you sit with us for a minute?”

Marie glanced over at the bartender before she nodded. Jake read that the bartender didn’t like for his waitresses to sit with the customers. He slid over to make room for her. She kept darting glances at Kate.

“Ms. Stewart, I’ve got shocking news for you,” Jan said. “You should get a hold of yourself.”

Jake could tell that Jan’s attempt to control the emotions of the reunion wasn’t going to work. Jan saw it, too. She decided to come out with the bald truth.

“I’d like you to meet your daughter, Kate.”

Marie looked at Kate in disbelief despite Kate’s familiar features. She began to hyperventilate and then to wail. Kate leaned away from Marie, looking at her uncomfortably.

“Patience, Kate,” Jan said. “You can’t appreciate how important this is to her.”

Heavy footfalls drew Jake’s attention. The bartender suddenly loomed over the table.

“What are you doing to my waitress?” he demanded.

Jan looked up at him. “Nothing. Marie has just been reunited with her daughter after a long separation. I’m afraid it made her emotional.”

“Well, no shit.” He looked closely at Kate. “You mean that story of a kidnapped daughter is true?”

“Yes, sir,” Jake said. “It is.”

“I can see the resemblance.” He glanced at Marie. “Well, she’s no use to me today. Why don’t you get her out of here? It’s early enough I can probably find someone to come in and work her shift.”

“Thank you,” Jake said, grateful for the bartender’s compassion.

Jan stood and drew Kate out of the booth and to her feet. Marie jumped up and embraced Kate, still crying. Kate looked around uneasily. Jan patted her on the arm reassuringly.

They moved outside. The conjoined Marie and Kate shuffled awkwardly, but Marie wouldn’t let go. They got into the back seat of the rental car with Jan. Jake started the car to run the air conditioning, but they remained parked there until Marie finally calmed down.

“What happened to you?” Marie finally asked.

“Can you get a hold of yourself, Ms. Stewart,” Jan said. “We can tell you Kate’s story, but it is harrowing.”

“Oh, God, did someone hurt you?” Marie asked, starting to breathe rapidly again.

“Please, Ms. Stewart, calm down,” Jan said, “Kate’s been through a very bad time, and this isn’t helping her. If you’ll calm down, I’ll tell you what happened.”

Marie made herself breathe deeply.

“Okay. I’ll listen.”

Jan told about her about the kidnapping, the three years Kate had been held captive by Harris, and how they had rescued Kate and tried to help her.

“But why did you keep her? Why didn’t you send her home?”

“The ordeal has caused a great deal of psychological damage to Kate. She was not, and still is not, ready to come home to her family. She is here for a visit, not to stay.”

“But I can’t lose her again,” Marie said, her voice rising.

“You won’t lose her, but she needs to remain in treatment for now. It may be, however, that she can communicate with you, accept visitors, and perhaps, briefly, come to visit. And then, when she is ready, she can return home permanently.”

“Who are you people?”

Jan pointed to Jake. “This is Jake Fielding. It was he who found and freed Kate. He has engaged me to provide psychological treatment for her.” Jan pointed to Shannon. “This is my stepdaughter, Shannon. She came with us to help support Kate.”

“You’re just a boy. How did you rescue her? How can you hire a psychologist?”

“The man who kidnapped Kate is my father,” Jake said. “As you can imagine, we are not happy with him. The family had him taken into, well, call it confinement and put in a place where he can’t do any more harm. I discovered Kate when I began wrapping up his affairs. I feel very bad about what my father has done and my family accepts its responsibility for making amends. We have the wherewithal to provide the very best care for her.”

“How long ago did you find her?”

“It’s been about a month and a half.”

“Why didn’t someone notify us?” she said, her voice rising.

“Until yesterday, I didn’t know where to find you, ma’am.”

“Have the police arrested that animal?”

“No. It is being handled within the family, but I can promise you that his current prison is both more secure and less pleasant than jail would be.”

“I don’t understand why Kate can’t come home.”

“Her psychological injuries are severe,” Jan said. “At the moment the symptoms are masked, but Kate is very unstable.”

“You drugged her?”

“No. We are using something akin to hypnosis to help Kate maintain control of herself. Without it, her temper is unmanageable.”

“Have you told Troy?”

“Not yet.”

“He deserves to know.”

“We agree,” Jan said. “What’s the best way of getting Kate and him together?”

“It’s almost five. Trevor is at home and Troy will be there soon.”

“Then let’s go there and wait for him,” Jan said.

Marie gave Jake directions to a modest house in a working-class neighborhood. She knocked on the door and a slight, blond teenaged boy answered.

“You’re not supposed to be here, Mom,” he said.

“This is important, Trevor. I need to talk to your father,” Marie said and pushed her way into the house.

“He’s not here yet,” Trevor said. “He’ll be home soon.”

“We’ll wait in the living room. Be a good boy, and offer your guests something to drink.”

He did, a bit grumpily. Jake gratefully took water from him, thirsty from the humid South Carolina August afternoon. Once they were served, an uncomfortable silence broke out. Trevor kept throwing surreptitious glances at Kate, Jan, and Shannon.

Mercifully, Troy arrived a few minutes later. He came in the door and noticed them in the living room. Marie stood and Troy glared at her. Then Kate stood. He stared at her.

“Kate! It’s you,” he finally said and started moving toward her with his arms out.

Kate shied back. Jake and Jan quickly interposed themselves between Kate and Troy.

“Wait, Mr. Stewart,” Jan said. “She’s had a hard time, and she’s very uncomfortable around men.”

That got Troy’s attention.

“Oh, God, what’s happened to my little girl?”

“She’s Kate?” Trevor asked.

“Yes, this is Kate,” Jan said. “If you’ll just be seated, I’ll explain what happened to her.”

Troy pulled up a chair and sat facing Kate.

Jan told Kate’s story again. Troy’s eyes never left Kate, much to her discomfort. Jan spent several minutes going over Kate’s psychological injuries and her state of mind.

Trevor stared in horror throughout Jan’s recitation. Troy was visibly struggling to not cry.

“How did it happen, Katie?” he said. “How did this man take you away?”

Kate glanced over at Jake. “I’m, uh, I’m not sure.”

“The perpetrator is very good at what he does, Mr. Stewart,” Jan said. “He has multiple techniques for luring away young women. Once he set his sights on Kate, she never stood a chance.”

“At least tell me that he has been arrested.”

Jake repeated his account of how his family took responsibility and had dealt with Jake’s father.

“That’s not good enough,” Troy snapped.

“It will have to be,” Jan said, “because if it’s not then Jake’s father will get away with his crime.”

“What do you mean?” Troy asked.

Jake interrupted. “We have questioned him thoroughly since taking him into custody, Mr. Stewart. We haven’t been gentle. We have also conducted our own investigation. We believe that in the last 20 years my father has committed almost one thousand sex crimes against women.

“He has been arrested a dozen times for those crimes but never convicted. In fact, no case has even gone to trial. Mrs. Harrison is right. If my family doesn’t hold him responsible, he will go unpunished. Worse, he will soon be free to attack other women or come after Kate again.”

“He’s done this to a thousand women?” Troy said incredulously.

“No, not this,” Jan said. “What he did to Kate is worse than what he did to almost all the others. Their captivity usually only lasted for a couple of days and the emotional damage wasn’t nearly as severe. We’ve been able to help some of them, the ones that we’ve been able to locate.”

“So because Marie was late picking Katie up, she has endured this nightmare for three years.”

“Troy, I was less than five minutes late.”

Jake scanned Troy and Marie. It became quickly clear why the marriage had broken up and Marie’s life had nosedived. Troy blamed Marie for letting it happen. Despite her excuses, Marie blamed herself, too, and the guilt was a crushing burden.

“Mr. Stewart, I’m not sure you’ve been listening,” Jan said. “Once this man set his sights on Kate, Mrs. Stewart wouldn’t have been able to prevent the kidnapping, not even if she had been present. Anyone who says differently is being unfair to Mrs. Stewart.”

Jake felt Marie’s hopes rise. She desperately wanted to believe Jan. Troy, however, wasn’t ready to forgive his wife. He turned to Kate.

“I’ve got an unused bedroom,” he said. “If you’ve got any bags, why don’t you go get them and we can get you set up in there.”

“That is completely impossible, Mr. Stewart,” Jan said. “Kate’s personality is too unstable for her to live among the general population. Your circumstances in particular are unsuitable for her. She is unable to deal with men, much less live in a house with two of them. If she moved in here, it would make her, you, and your son miserable. Worse, she wouldn’t be getting the treatment she needs to recover.”

“You can’t stop me. I’m her father. I have rights.”

“You would ruin your daughter’s life just so you can exercise your rights?”

“How do I know that what you’re saying is true? She seems perfectly calm.”

“Hardly calm, although she is doing a creditable job of concealing her discomfort. But that is only because her anger has been suppressed by artificial means.”

“What does that mean?”

“We are using a hypnosis-like technique to keep her temper in check. Without it, she would be completely unmanageable.”

“What do you say about all this, Katie?” he asked. “Are you too angry to live with your family?”

“I think she is right, Daddy,” Kate said.

“Are you as uncomfortable around men as she says?”

“Yes, Daddy. I’m sorry.”

“Are you sure they aren’t making you like this?”

“Jan has been good to me. I trust her.”

“But this could just be a way to keep you from going to the police. They might be doing this to protect this boy’s father.”

“I don’t think so. I’ve talked to Jake’s mother. She’s been hurt by him, too. Nobody seems to like Glen.”

“Glen?”

“That’s his name, Glen Harris,” Jake said.

“And what do you think of this man?” Troy asked Jake.

“Mostly I hate him.”

“Mostly?”

“He’s still my father. He’s cruel. He’s hurt many people, but he’s not completely evil.”

“He sounds evil to me.”

“You’re not going to get me to defend him.”

“My problem, young man, is that I don’t see why I should believe you. I know nothing about your intentions or this woman’s competence to diagnose and treat Kate.”

“Sir, there is proof, but it’s hard on Kate.”

“What proof.”

“We can remove the conditioning that is keeping her anger tamped down. You can see what she would be like without Jan’s intervention.”

“Show me.”

“It’s not a good idea,” Jan said. “It’s very upsetting to Kate.”

“I don’t like it either, but it may be for the best,” Jake said. “Besides, it’s Kate’s decision to make.”

“I’m her father. She’s still a minor.”

“And I’m her mother,” Marie said. “You can’t know what it’s like for a girl to be sexually abused. I’m not surprised that she needs special care.”

“It doesn’t matter what you think. The divorce decree gave me custody of both Kate and Trevor.”

“Kate wasn’t even here then.”

“Read the decree. I made sure that it named both kids, just for this possibility.”

Marie looked pained, but she subsided.

“I’ll do it,” Kate said in a small voice.

“You really don’t have to,” Jan said. “We can handle this situation without it.”

“I know you can. I’d just rather my dad understand how things are.”

Jake looked at Jan who finally nodded.

“But I’m only going to let it go on for a few seconds,” Jan said.

“That’s for the best,” Jake said. “Any longer and someone would call the police.”

“Why?” Troy said.

“You’re about to find out.”

“You men, stand over in that corner,” Jan said, pointing to the farthest part of the room. “Now!” she barked when Troy balked.

Jan turned to Kate once Troy had grudgingly moved to the corner. “You know what’s going to happen, Kate, darling. We’ll do it just like we did yesterday. It will be too strong for you to control, but you can still watch it, knowing it for what it is. There is therapeutic value in that. We’ll treat this as just another step on the road to recovery. Are you ready?”

Kate nodded nervously.

“When I snap my fingers the anger will be unblocked. One ... Two ... Three.”

Jake reached into Kate’s mind to remove the rings around her amygdalas only to find that they were already gone. He felt sudden anger radiating from Kate. He filtered out most of it.

Kate scrambled to her feet.

“I wouldn’t stay with you if I was penniless and homeless,” she shrieked at Troy. She turned toward Jake and Trevor. “Or with either of you pathetic little boys.”

She struggled to control herself.

“Be conscious, Kate,” Jan said. “Don’t bother to fight it. Just feel it. This is what the anger feels like.”

“Stop staring at me!” Kate shrieked at her father. “Can we get out of here?” she whined at Jan. “If any of them come any closer to me, I’ll kill him, so help me.”

Then Jake felt the anger vanish.

Jan stood and drew Kate into a hug. Kate burst into sobs.

“Well done, darling,” Jan said. “I know it’s hard. I’m very proud of how well you are dealing with it.”

“But I’m not,” she cried. “I can’t fight it.”

“For now, so don’t even bother. Just recognize it. In time, it will lose its power.”

Troy was shaken.

“That was Kate? Not something you made her do?”

“That is the current state of Kate’s mind. Of course, you haven’t been around to see it, but Kate is doing much better than when Jake rescued her.”

“It’s been worse?” Troy asked.

“I’ll say,” Jake said. “She hasn’t tried to kill me in over a month.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“It’s true. Ask her yourself. Of course, she’s never been without her conditioning for more than a minute. I wouldn’t want to have to answer for her behavior if she had to go for long in her normal state.”

“Now you see our dilemma, Mr. Stewart,” Jan said. “There are two paths Kate can follow from here. She can remain here with you where she will soon have to be hospitalized because she is a danger to herself and others, or she can continue with her treatments, and with sufficient time, recover from her ordeal.”

“Did you try to kill him, Katie?”

“I’m not sure. Probably. I was going to attack him, rip him apart with my bare hands. He turned the conditioning back on before I could get at him.”

“I’ve got to think about this. I don’t want to get my little girl back and then lose her again.”

“Think carefully,” Jan said. “And keep this in mind: You’ll never get that little girl back. She has seen too much, been through too much. She is a very different person now.” She stood. “We have reservations at the Hampton Inn under the name Jake Fielding if you need to get in touch.”

Jake, I don’t trust him.

I feel the same way. Give me a second.

Jake made sure that neither Troy nor Trevor would tell anyone that Kate had returned. Then he stood.

“Marie, why don’t you come with us,” Jan said. “I think it would be good for you and Kate to spend some time together.”

Jake put Kate and Marie in one room at the hotel and Jan, Shannon and he took the one next door. They joined up for dinner at the nearby Blue Marlin Restaurant which had been recommended by the desk clerk.

Dinner conversation between Marie and Kate was awkward at first. Kate didn’t have much to say about her time since she had disappeared except for a terse account of the torture and a description of life at Jake’s house. Marie was hesitant to discuss her decline of fortune over the last few years of her life.

Jake spent some time reading her. The excitement from Kate’s return had boosted her spirits, but Jake could tell that it would not overcome her underlying unhappiness for long. She had other problems. She was both terrified of and resigned to a jail term of a year or more.

Her guilt at letting Kate be kidnapped was a throbbing malignancy just under the surface of her consciousness. She was humiliated by the depths to which she had sunk in the last year, but the comfort she found in drugs and alcohol was too powerful to resist. She couldn’t even marshal the will to try.

She was very conscious that she hadn’t aged well in the previous several years. She was underweight and unhealthy looking. She was horrified by the lines and wrinkles she saw in the mirror.

Even though Jake knew that Marie would be uncomfortable talking about her legal problems, for Kate’s sake he had to make the effort.

“We know about the drug charges,” he said. “How is that going?”

Marie radiated shame.

“No trial date has been set yet,” she said, speaking down at the table. “My attorney doesn’t seem very optimistic.”

“If we can schedule it before I have to leave tomorrow, I’d like to meet with you and your attorney. We may be able to help.”

“Help? How?”

“A properly motivated lawyer will do a better job for you.”

“I could call him in the morning. I don’t know if we’ll be able to get in to see him though.”

“Tell him that I might be willing to pay more toward his fee if it will improve your chances.”

Marie dropped her eyes in embarrassment but nodded her agreement.

After dinner, they went back to the hotel. Jan sat with Kate and Marie in their room for a couple of minutes. Jake listened in while Jan got them talking about their lives before the abduction. That cheered both Kate and Marie up.

When Jan came back, Jake and she spent a few minutes probing Shannon’s mind-reading skills to see how much progress she had made. Her progress was typical of someone after a single day. She could sense strong primary emotions but nothing else.

“When you turned Kate’s anger back on it was really strong. I got angry, too, especially at you, Trevor, and Mr. Stewart.”

“You’ll learn how to filter out other people’s emotions when they become inconvenient,” Jake said. “I had that problem for a long time.”

“That would be a good topic for the next class with the second wave,” Jan said.

“Good thinking,” Jake said. “Are you volunteering to give that lecture?”

“Sure. It’s not like I have to do anything to prepare.”

“Then what do you say that we supercharge my slave here? Afterward, I can show you how much I missed you the last two weeks.”

Jan smiled broadly. “That’s a plan I can get behind.”

“You mentioned something about supercharging yesterday,” Shannon said. “What is that all about?”

“Quiet, slave,” Jake said gently. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

I didn’t bring any props for tying Shannon up, Jake sent to Jan, but I have an idea. She is aroused by pain, humiliation and control. Why not just create those conditions in her mind? We won’t need to have any actual hardware.

Sometimes the binding, beating, and humiliating are part of the fun.