Page 23 of Dark Side of the Cloth (The Righteous 1)
“Who better to confide in than someone who only speaks to the Lord?” He gave Mabel a small smile. “I only want to help Yasmine if I can.”
The older woman sighed heavily.
“I guess you’re right. It’s one of those stories you never forget, much like this one.” Mabel picked up the newspaper and stared at the cover page.
“Yasmine had a twin, Raquel, and those two girls were completely inseparable. I know they say twins are close, but I didn’t quite believe it until those girls were born. I can’t tell you how many times those two would rush through that door after school and order strawberry milkshakes. They had to be loaded with whip cream and two cherries each.”
Mabel smiled as she recalled the memories to him.
“Oh, those two were a bit of a handful, I tell ya—I still say it was the ginger in them. Oh, did they have the best laugh, like sweet tinkling bells on a summer’s breeze, and their eyes alight with young wonder. They were so very different and yet so much the same—believe it or not, Yasmine was the outgoing one. The one that loved sports and fishing with her dad and much preferred the dirt. While Raquel was a little shy and she always wore the prettiest dresses and loved to bake with their mother.”
Mabel stopped to wipe a lone tear from her eye.
“The horror that Yasmine and Raquel faced—it happened the night of the Thanksgiving Harvest. Everyone was gathered downtown, and the kids were in attendance until after the fireworks. Yasmine’s parents took her and Raquel back to the house and then returned to the party just like every other set of parents in town. It was a different time then. We never thought…people just didn’t…” Mabel stopped and played with the edge of her crisp, white apron.
“It’s okay, Mabel. I won’t tell Yasmine you told me. I promise I just want to find a way to bring her some peace in whatever has her so distressed.”
The older woman rubbed her eyes, and for a brief moment, he thought she was going to clam up, but she continued.
“Someone snuck into their home and tried to take both of them from their beds. They were no more than eight at the time, but Yasmine had always been a great little soccer player. She was very fit. Apparently, she fought hard and managed to escape the man’s clutches. She ran back to the harvest festival, completely hysterical and screaming for help. We could barely get her to calm down enough to understand what was wrong. I’ll never forget the look of horror on her young face. Bruises marked her arms and face for weeks.”
Mabel paused again and looked him in the eye.
“By the time we all arrived at the house, young Raquel was gone. Yasmine kept screaming to find her, to help her sister, so the doctor ended up giving her something that night to calm down when she spent the night in the hospital. I stayed by her bed as her parents, and the rest of the town immediately started a search for Raquel.”
“There was no trace that the person had been inside the house?”
“Oh no, there was plenty of signs of a struggle, even droplets of blood from Yasmine breaking the man’s nose.”
Dean raised his eyebrows at that.
“There was just no sign of which way the man had gone, no witnesses, and the only access point disturbed was a single-window he opened and snuck in through.”
Mabel’s soft blue eyes filled with tears, pain written in their depths.
“Yasmine’s mother couldn’t handle the guilt, she locked herself in her room for weeks, and when they finally found Raquel—well…then the poor thing committed suicide. The weight of losing her daughter so brutally was just too much for her, I guess.”
Mabel’s voice faltered, and she took a moment to gather herself.
“The image of Yasmine holding her father’s hand as they stood quietly at the gravesite of her sister and then her mother is an image that will never leave me.” Mabel rubbed at her arms like she was suddenly cold. “Yasmine’s father was a good man and continued on the best he could. He kept the business going and looked after Yasmine, but he was a shell of the man he’d once been. I stepped in as much as I could as a mother figure. I knew she needed someone like that around, but at the end of the day, I was not her family.”
“I’m sure that whatever kindness you showed meant more to her than you will ever understand.”
“Maybe, I certainly hope so. Yasmine slowly healed over time, but the once vibrant and outgoing little girl had become very withdrawn from everyone. She went off to college, and she was in her final year when her father died. That was a couple of years before you arrived in town—he died of a sudden heart attack. They found him in the parlor. He’d been setting up for a funeral and was already wearing his best suit. He would’ve liked that.” A wistful smile played on her lips. “Yasmine came home from college to bury the last of her family and stayed to take over the family business.”
“And they never had any suspects?” Dean asked, his voice steely as he pictured Yasmine fighting for her life. Fighting off some fucker like the one he’d just buried. His blood boiled in his veins, but all he showed Mabel was a calm concern.
“Oh, Father…” Mabel wiped away another tear. “They never had enough proof. They suspected a few, that’s what I heard through the grapevine, but the sheriff couldn’t make a strong enough case. Sheriff Daniels was a deputy at the time, and I remember when they found Raquel, he’d been devastated. It was his first big case. Anyway, the rumor was the guy took off, was in jail for something else, or passed away. I hope they were right, the idea that he’s been coming in here like this one.” Mabel pointed to the paper.
“Makes me ill.” She shook her head from side to side slowly. “What was done to Raquel was unspeakable. The man was a monster.”
The rage trying to claw its way out for Yasmine was like a living creature in Dean’s chest. Dean stuffed the last of the pie in his mouth and gulped down the coffee before he slowly stood. He laid a hand on Mabel’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.
“Thank you for telling me. I’ll make sure that Yasmine is going to be okay. Are you still having the monthly food drive this weekend?” he asked.
Mabel quickly wiped away the rest of her tears as she stood to face him.
“Yes, I certainly am, too many people in need, especially this time of year. I want to help as many as I can. I’ve been fortunate over the years and like to pay it forward.”
“Bless you, Mabel, you are truly a soul sent from the heavens.” He gave her shoulder a parting squeeze. “I will be here to help, have a good rest of your day.”
People waved and called out hellos to him as he left, and he must have answered, but his mind was already somewhere else. He had research to do and plans to make.
One thing was certain, he was going to find the man that took Raquel and hurt Yasmine, and if he was still alive, and Dean hoped he was, he’d make sure that man paid for his sin.
