The next morning, Danita called her mother and told her about Dave’s suicide.
“Oh my God,” said her mother. “Are you all right?”
“I’m okay,” said Danita. “But I’d like to come for a visit if that’s all right with you and Dad.”
“Of course, honey. You just come right on home.”
“I have some things to tie up tonight, but I can leave first thing in the morning.”
“I’ll have your room ready for you.”
Danita packed some clothes in her one suitcase and loaded it into her Corolla. A quick shower and she was ready to hit the road.
The drive was pleasant. With each mile, she felt the memory of her time with Dave grow more distant as if it were a bad dream she was slowly waking from. She thought about what it would be like working with Barb. She’d really sold herself yesterday, and she hoped she’d be able to follow through.
She thought of her parents’ neighbors, the Sanchezes. Danita hadn’t known them well until two summers ago when Maria Sanchez broke her leg and was forced to stay off it for six weeks. Her husband, Roman, hired Danita to help with household chores while his wife recuperated.
What Danita recalled most about that time was how kind and decent both Ramon and Maria had been. She could tell it made Maria extremely uncomfortable to be laid up. She’d seemed almost apologetic when she told Danita what chores needed doing. She’d also engaged Danita in conversations about her plans for the future. Danita hadn’t spent as much time with Ramon, but when she did, he’d been kind and thoughtful, with a subtle sense of humor that confused her at first. He could say the most ridiculous things with a straight face—and then give her a sly wink. Once she caught on to his dry wit, she really enjoyed his company. All in all, Danita remembered it as a happy time in her life.
As she got closer to town, she felt herself enveloped in memories. Here were the fields where she used to drink stolen beer with her friends on a Saturday night. Here was the stretch of two-lane where boys used to drag race, and where the older brother of Danita’s first boyfriend died in a fiery crash. Here was the town sign: “Welcome to Dixon. Population 816.” It was still peppered with birdshot, revealing the current generation to be every bit as bored as Danita’s had been. Main Street, all six blocks of it, was objectively the same but it seemed impossibly small to her eyes.
As she passed the Dairy Freeze where she used to work after school and weekends, she was surprised to find the parking lot empty. In fact, there were no other cars anywhere. The place was like a ghost town. The only exception was the sheriff’s station. A cruiser was sitting in front, and when Danita passed, it swung out into the road behind her. She glanced in her rearview mirror as the black and white came up fast behind her, riding her bumper. She was careful to stay under the speed limit all the way to her parents’ farm. She hoped she didn’t have a brake light out or any other pretext for the cruiser to pull her over.
She came to her parents’ driveway and slowed. The cruiser was so tight on her bumper that she braced herself for him to plow into her. She braked as much as she thought she could and waited for the crash. The driver backed off at the last minute, and Danita swung into the driveway on two wheels. Her pulse raced as she fought to regain control of the car.
She let the car roll to a stop, her heart thudding in her ears. What the hell had that been about? She sat until her pulse settled down, and only then drove the rest of the way up to the house. The dogs came out from under the porch to announce her arrival, barking as if they’d never seen her car before. But when she opened the door, they crowded around, pushing each other out of the way to get to her. They bumped into her still-tender ribs, making her flinch.
“Easy, Jock,” she said. “Easy there, Sunny. I’ve got two hands. I can love you both.”
The screen door slammed, and Danita’s mother came out, drying her hands on her apron and smiling wide. She waited patiently for Danita to finish with the dogs and make her way up onto the porch. When she did, her mother wrapped her up in a big “Mama” hug. Danita thought she’d done a good job of disguising how much her ribs still hurt, but her mother leaned back and held her at arm’s length, frowning. Without a word, she lifted the bottom of Danita’s T-shirt.
Danita forced herself to stand still, fighting a wave of almost crippling shame.
“Who did this?” she said. “Was it—?”
Danita nodded.
“That bastard.”
Danita could only nod again.
“Why didn’t you leave him and come home sooner?”
“He said if I tried, he’d kill me—and you, too.”
Her mother looked appalled—and then furious.
“You said he’s dead?”
“Yes.”
“Good,” said her mother, softly.
Danita had never seen this side of her mother, and she didn’t know how she felt about it.
“Please don’t say anything to Daddy,” she said.
“You can’t ask me that, honey.”
“I just don’t want him looking at me like I’m…”
“Like you’re what?”
“Weak. Stupid.”
“Oh, sweetheart—he knows you’re anything but that. Anyone can fall in with the wrong person. What matters is that you’re strong enough to come out the other side.”
Danita heard her mother’s words and wished more than anything that she felt strong.
Danita heard the tractor pull up behind her. She turned, and her father was climbing off.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my all-grown-up daughter, back from the big city,” he said.
Danita ran toward him, and they met on the porch stairs. His hug was firm, but it didn’t squeeze her sides, so she didn’t flinch. She closed her eyes and let herself be a little girl again, safe in her daddy’s arms.
They fought over who would bring her suitcase inside. It seemed important to him, so she let him win. She followed him inside and up to her old room. He put her suitcase on the bed and gave her another hug.
“It’s good to have you here,” he said.
She simply nodded, not trusting herself to speak. When he left the room, she stood, looking around. As far as she could tell, her mother had left everything exactly as the day she’d moved out—but something was still different. It took her a few more minutes to realize that what had changed was her. She was no longer the naïve and innocent girl who’d belonged to this room.
Just exactly who she was now—that was yet to be seen.
#
A few hours after Danita drove off, Barb got a call from Martin Sands.
“I reached out to the judge assigned to Jackery’s lawsuit,” he said. “When I told him about the shitshow of a deposition, he was outraged and agreed to throw it out. That leaves Jackery with nothing. If you want to give the bastard a taste of his own medicine, we could try turning the tables and forcing a deposition on him. I’m sure Uncle Julian would love nothing better.”
“Thanks for the thought,” said Barb. “But men like Jackery operate outside the reach of the legal system—especially these days.”
“You can’t just lie down and let him walk all over you.”
“Don’t you worry about that. When the right moment presents itself, Peter Jackery is going to regret ever tangling with me.”
“I don’t know why,” said the lawyer. “But I think I believe you.”
“Smart man.”
#
Dinner was like old times—until the subject of the Sanchezes came up, and Danita’s parents fell silent.
“What is it?” said Danita, looking back-and-forth between her mother and father.
“No one around here talks about that,” said her father. “We’ve all seen what happens to anyone who does.”
“It’s just the three of us here,” said Danita.
“That doesn’t seem to matter,” said her mother. “Somehow, they have a way of hearing what people say in private.”
“So if I were to say, ‘Peter Jackery is an arrogant asshole,’ he’d hear me?”
Both parents froze, their faces going white.
“Don’t even joke like that,” said her father.
“Bob and Alice Fleming thought they were alone,” said her mother. “The next thing they knew, the sheriff’s department was at the door with a warrant for Bob’s arrest. They dragged him off in handcuffs.”
“What were the charges?” said Danita.
“They said he had child pornography on his computer,” said her father in a low voice.
“They kept him in a cell over the weekend before letting him go, saying it was a mistake,” said her mother. “But everyone got the message.”
“So, no one is speaking up for the Sanchezes?” said Danita.
“No one can afford to,” said her father. “We’ve all got bank loans, and even if we didn’t, there’s still the sheriff.”
“I’m going over to their house tomorrow,” said Danita.
“You can’t,” said her mother, horrified.
“Someone has to.”
“I never should have sent you that email. I wouldn’t if I’d known it would make you want to get involved.”
“You need to listen to your mother,” said Danita’s father. “It’s not safe for you to be seen associating with the Sanchezes. They’ll make an example of you.”
“I’m not afraid,” said Danita. “That’s not how you raised me.”
“We weren’t afraid before,” said her father. “But you don’t know what these people are capable of.”
“Virginia Peters took some casseroles over to the Sanchezes yesterday afternoon,” said her mother. “Two hours later, her house burned to the ground. The fire department tried to get through, but the sheriff’s department blocked the road. She lost everything. She’s lucky she got out alive.”
#
Up in her room, Danita was unpacking her suitcase when a soft knock came on her door. She opened it to find her father.
“Dad?”
“Your mother told me what you’ve been through.”
Danita felt a flush of shame run through her as her eyes involuntarily lowered. Her father gently wrapped her in his arms.
“It’s not your fault,” he said gently.
At his words and the warmth of his embrace, something in her broke open. She cried like she hadn’t since she was a girl.
When at last she was all cried out, she felt a lightness enter her, a feeling she hadn’t known for as long as she could remember. She couldn’t identify it at first, but as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve, it came to her.
Hope.
#
That night in bed, she prepared to call and bring Barb up to speed. Cell coverage at her parents’ was spotty, so she was tempted to use their landline, but she decided against it. It appeared people were having their conversations overheard, and landlines were simply too easy to tap. Cell calls could also be monitored, but there were apps that could encrypt them. Danita texted Barb, and they agreed on an app, which both downloaded and installed. Only then did Danita place the call. She quickly summarized what she’d learned.
“You should have seen my parents’ faces when I told them I planned to visit the Sanchezes,” said Danita. “They were terrified for me.”
“It sounds like they have good reason to be,” said Barb. “Are you sure you want to go?”
“Someone’s got to stand for them,” said Danita.
“Just making sure. You do realize there’s a good possibility the sheriff will use the opportunity to find some pretext for arresting you?”
“If he does, I’ll just play innocent.”
“Unfortunately, in a situation like the one you’re facing, innocence is no protection.”
“What else can I do?”
“Nothing,” admitted Barb. “Go ahead and assert your innocence, and keep your eyes and ears open in the process. You just might pick up on something useful. In the meantime, I’ll arrange backup for you.”
“What kind of backup?”
“I’m not sure yet. But I promise I won’t leave you hanging.”
Before they ended the call, Barb shared a tidbit she’d learned from conducting a little preliminary research.
“Peter Jackery did some interviews recently where he talked about creating a ‘libertarian’ paradise, free from federal oversight. It looks like you’ve stumbled on the first step in his plan.”
“What kind of libertarian paradise uses law enforcement to persecute people?” said Danita.
“One that lets Jackery and his billionaire pals act like the gods on earth they believe themselves to be—everyone else be damned.”