Mercy

Chapter 16

Pine wiped the water off her face with the hand towel in the Atkinses’ bathroom. She looked at her reflection in the mirror over the sink. She almost didn’t recognize the reflection staring back at her. She seemed transformed into something hollower than she had been before knocking on the Atkinses’ door, as though a core part of her had been ripped away. She drew a long breath and tried to settle her nerves. She had had to abruptly leave the room and come here after Wanda Atkins had told them about Mercy being tortured with needles.

She went over to the window and looked out. A hawk was lazily flapping its wings as it made its way across the sky. She heard the sounds of children playing from another yard. A truck rumbled by. There was a car horn. And the blustery noise of a motorcycle starting up somewhere. A white-haired woman was taking laundry off the backyard clothesline next door. All normal, all regular.

And none of it had anything to do with how she was feeling, which was anything but normal. It was all ragged and piercing and traumatizing.

And it’s nothing compared to what Mercy endured.

She shivered once, squared her shoulders firmly, though she in fact felt no spine in her body or soul, and returned to the front room to find both Atkins and Blum staring anxiously at her.

Pine retook her seat after saying, “Sorry about that. I just had to take... a moment. I’ve... I’ve gotten personally involved in this case.” She did not want to reveal to Atkins her familial connection to Mercy for a number of reasons.

Atkins said slowly, “Yes, well, I can understand that, sure.” She glanced apprehensively between Pine and Blum.

Pine cleared her throat and said, “And did you think to take Mercy from her after you saw what Desiree was doing to her?”

“We were certainly stunned. But then Joe explained it away.”

“How could he possibly do that?” said Pine between clenched teeth.

Atkins kneaded her thighs with her hands in her agitation. “He... he said that Mercy had terrible pains and that what Desiree was doing was sort of like that, oh what do you call it when they stick the pins in you?”

“Acupuncture?” suggested Blum.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Acupuncture doesn’t make you scream in pain,” pointed out Pine, her cold gaze square on the other woman. “The needles they use aren’t anything like regular needles.”

“Well, I believed my son,” said Atkins defensively as she looked away.

“And did you know about them moving her from the house to the prison in the woods?”

Atkins winced at this. “They... they told us she was uncontrollable. That she would hurt herself and others. They had to take precautions. It was to keep her safe, too,” she added.

Pine drew out the photo again. “So this girl standing right next to you was uncontrollable and would hurt herself and others?”

“Joe said they had given her something to calm her down that day.”

“Well, Joe seemed to have an answer for everything. Did you go out to the prison cell?”

Atkins looked up at her. “I did.”

“Why?”

She spread her arms and said in a near wail, “Because... I felt so sorry for her. I brought her food and books and I talked to her about things, read to her, did numbers with her. I’m no teacher or anything, but I did what I could. I... I just wanted her to have a friend.”

“But you never told the authorities about what Desiree was doing to her?” interjected Blum. “That she was being held prisoner?”

Atkins shook her head. “I... I was afraid. Len and I could go to jail.”

Pine said impatiently, “Talk to me about that last night. When Joe was killed.”

“We had no idea any of that had happened. We only found out about Joe the next day.”

“If you lie to me, I will arrest you.”

“What do you mean?” said Atkins, looking severely shaken.

“We know that Desiree vanished. We know she drove their truck to the location where it was found by the police. Her husband was dead and Mercy was gone. Who would she call except you and your husband? You’re the only ones who knew what was going on, who knew of their criminal acts.” Pine stared the woman down. “So you need to tell us the truth.”

Atkins eyed her husband, who had grunted at her and then added a nod of his tilted head to that.

Atkins turned back to Pine with a resigned expression. “She called while Len and me were watching TV, a rerun of Gilligan’s Island. Funny how you remember things like that.”

“Go on,” said Pine impatiently.

Atkins said in a rush, her words coming out like beans spilled from a jar, “She said Becky had gone crazy, had broken out and killed Joe and then run off. Desiree said she had to get away or else they’d arrest her. She was out of her mind with panic.”

“Why would you agree to help her at that point?” asked Pine. “With your son dead?”

“We were completely paralyzed by what she told us.” Tears slid down the old woman’s cheeks. “My God, she had just told me my son had been murdered. And then that evil bitch threatened us. She said if we didn’t help her, that she would tell the police we knew all about it. She said she’d tell the police that we had tortured Becky. Len and I didn’t know what to do. We were scared out of our minds. Desiree can lie better than anybody. So we helped her get away.”

“How exactly did you do that?”

“We drove her all the way to Atlanta. She got a bus out.”

“To where?”

“I don’t know. She wouldn’t tell us. We haven’t seen her since.”

“Or talked to her?”

“No. And good riddance.”

“And what did she tell you about Joe’s death?”

“She said that Joe tried to stop Becky, I mean Mercy, from leaving. And... they fought.”

“And Mercy killed him?” said Pine.

“That’s what Desiree said.”

“And you believed her?”

“I didn’t know what to believe. It was all a blur by then.”

“And the sheriff told you about Joe the next day?”

Atkins’s eyes filled with fresh tears. “I already knew he was dead, but I had to pretend to be shocked. It was the worst day of my whole life.”

“And what did the sheriff tell you about Joe?”

“He was sure that Desiree had killed him. I mean, he had no idea about Mercy living there. We told him we hadn’t seen or heard from Desiree.”

“So you lied to him and obstructed the investigation,” said Pine bluntly.

Atkins nodded, her features full of misery. “I... I suppose we did, yes.”

Pine eyed Len Atkins, who looked back at her mournfully. He slowly shook his head. “I think your husband would like you to tell the truth.”

Atkins glanced sharply at him. “I am telling the truth.”

Pine said firmly, “So your son’s body lay outside all night long and was untouched by animals? Not one bite taken out of him, according to the police.”

Atkins put a trembling hand to her face. “Please, stop. Please.”

Len grunted. Pine glanced at him once more. He was staring fiercely at his wife.

Atkins looked at him, drew in a sharp breath, and said, “Okay, we went over there... and saw Joe’s body. We had to. He was our son. We had to make sure. We didn’t know if Desiree was lying or what. When we saw he was... dead... we... we couldn’t leave our son out... out there alone.” She teared up again. “It was horrible... Len had his shotgun and he kept watch and scared the critters away... but... but the flies... they were all over h-him.” She let out a gush of air and took some time to calm while Pine and Blum waited.

Atkins wiped her eyes with her sleeve and said, “I met Desiree at the old Esso station, and drove her to Atlanta while Len guarded Joe’s body. The next morning he was going to call 911 from a pay phone and tell them about Joe without identifying who he was.”

“Why wait until the next morning?” interjected Pine.

“Desiree wanted time to get away. But then early the next morning, before I got back from taking Desiree, Len heard someone coming and hid. A man was walking his dog. He found Joe’s body and ran off, obviously to call the police. I got there about ten minutes later and Len told me what had happened. We drove back together to the trailer. When the police showed up later we acted all surprised.”

Pine studied her. “Did you look at the body closely?”

“It was our son, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Blum interjected, “We know this is hard, Wanda. But we’re trying to find Mercy. Anything you can tell us about what you observed that night will help.”

Atkins wiped her eyes and said firmly, “There was a knife sticking in my son’s back, and he was dead, that’s what I saw.”

“Anything else?” asked Pine.

“I don’t know. I was so upset.” She paused. “He... he had a lump and some blood on his head. I remember that.”

“Did you see signs of a struggle?” asked Pine.

“No. But I’m not sure what I would be looking for.”

“What did Desiree say actually happened? As detailed as you can recall.”

“That Mercy got away somehow. And Joe tried to stop her. And she attacked him. And stabbed him. And then ran off.”

“Where’d she get the knife?”

“Desiree didn’t say.”

“There was a gunshot,” said Pine. “On the surveillance tape we heard a shot.”

“I don’t know anything about that. Desiree never mentioned a gunshot.”

“Did Desiree have a shotgun when you saw her at the Esso station?”

“No.”

“Did she tell you where she was going? Are you sure you haven’t been in contact with her over the years? Not once?”

“No. I don’t want to ever see that awful woman again,” Atkins snapped.

“And then you moved away?”

“Yes. We sold Joe’s house. With Desiree gone, we were next of kin. We used that money to buy this place. Joe also had money in some bank accounts from his business. All of that came to us, too,” she added, shooting them nervous glances.

“I see.”

Pine rose, took out a couple of her business cards, and handed them to Atkins. “You think of anything else, or if you hear from Desiree, please call me.”

“I doubt we’ll hear from her after all this time.”

“Oh, you just never know, do you?”