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Luke stepped forward after pushing his wallet back in his pocket. “Serina, we don’t know. We’re here to find Natalie before something bad does happen to her. If you can help, we’d appreciate it.”
The young woman nodded. “Let me lock up and we’ll go through to the living room and I’ll tell you what I know.”
We thanked her, and waited for her to draw the curtains and lock the door. She indicated for us to follow and we were led into a small living area where, after refusing the offer of coffee, we sat. Luke and I on a couch opposite Serina. Her hands were tightly clenched in her lap.
“Shit, where do I start? As I said, Nat’s father was—is—an incredibly cruel man. The public sees this smiling, hand shaking gentleman. They have no idea what he’s really like. His sons are tarred with the same brush. They hated Nat and took every opportunity to hurt her. Black eyes, broken bones, cuts, bruises, she had them all at one time or another. Everyone in town knew what was going on at that place but no-one was brave enough to say anything and the police were paid off by him.”
My temper rose, I had a feeling what Serina had told us so far was only the tip of the iceberg. I wanted to tear her father and brothers limb from fucking limb. I focused on Luke’s calm voice when he spoke.
“Where was her mother?”
“Romancing whatever bottle of alcohol she had in her hands at the time. She was an alcoholic, died around ten years ago. The whole family were heavy drinkers except Nat.”
“So, why did she leave?”
I squeezed Luke’s hand, dreading what was coming next.
“Cyril West was obsessed with her. He was her oldest brother’s best friend and hung around the property like a bad smell. He did everything he could to persuade her to sleep with him. Nat was revolted by him, like most girls in town, and told him so. Cyril paid her brothers to help him. When he wanted something, he didn’t take no for an answer. They cornered her out in the barn when she was stabling her horse and she was dragged into one of the stalls. Her four brothers held her arms and legs while Cyril raped her over the course of a couple of hours. When they finally let her go, she’d been beaten, was covered in bruises, bite marks and bleeding. She managed to get a call to me and asked me to come get her. Nat’s father had locked her in the bedroom after she tried to tell him what happened. Her brothers said she wanted to be fucked rough and had begged them to hold her down so Cyril could do what he wanted to her body.”
Tears slid over Serina’s cheeks as they did mine. I couldn’t bear thinking about how frightened she must have been and how violated she must have felt.
“When I reached the small property, I parked the car far enough away so as not to be heard and ran to the back of the barn where we’d agreed to meet. She was a fucking mess. I helped her to the car and drove straight to the hospital, promising to stay by her side while she pressed charges.”
Serina paused and Luke grabbed the opportunity to ask another question.
“Were they charged, what sentence was handed down?”
Serina shook her head and laughed, but it wasn’t joyful laughter. There was no doubting the malice in the sound. “The doctor at the hospital said it was clear she’d had sex, and taking into account the bruising and tearing, it had been rough. But, he couldn’t state it was rape. He was in her father’s pocket.”
“For fuck sake!” I exploded.
Luke rubbed his hand over my back in a soothing motion.
“It gets worse. After we left the hospital, we discussed the fact the doctor was probably too scared of the family to say anything against them and I took her to the police station. I was convinced we had enough evidence to press charges.”
“The way you have described Wendy’s injuries, it sounds like you definitely did,” Luke agreed.
“Wendy?”
I answered her question. “I was at Uni with her, it’s where we became friends, and she has always been known to me as Wendy. After we finished our degrees, she became my foreperson in Clearlea.”
“So, why are you here if she’s at your place?”
“She’s missing. Two days ago she was down checking cattle and her horse returned without her. My men organized a search but there was no sign of her. We think her father found out where she was and sent someone to snatch her and bring her back here. But, why the hell would he want her if he hated her?” Luke was puzzled.
“To force her to marry Cyril. When we told the police what had happened, they questioned him, her father, and brothers so it appeared they were actually doing something. Nat’s father paid them to come to the conclusion he wanted.”
