Chapter 5 - The Fired Guardian
Before Evelyn headed to the precinct, she had one more mission. She drove through the quiet, leafy suburbs of Alexandria to a modest apartment complex off Route 1.
She climbed the narrow wooden stairs and knocked firmly on apartment 2B.
The door opened a few inches, held by a brass chain. A young woman with red, puffy eyes and dark circles looked out. It was Brenda Cole, the twenty-three-year-old college student who had worked as Lily’s nanny for two years while Evelyn was stationed stateside.
"Brenda," Evelyn said.
The chain rattled frantically as Brenda unlatched the door and threw it open. "Major Hayes! Oh God, Major Hayes, they told me... Bradley told me you were dead!"
Evelyn caught the girl as she burst into hysterical sobs. She pulled Brenda into the small, cluttered apartment, closing the door behind them. "Breathe, Brenda. I'm alive. Lily is in the hospital, but she is stable."
"Is she safe?" Brenda gasped, clutching Evelyn’s forearm. "Did you find her? Please tell me you found her!"
"I found her. Now tell me what happened on Tuesday morning."
Brenda collapsed onto her worn sofa, trembling violently. "On Monday night, Bradley called me into his office. He was drinking. He had all these papers spread out. He told me that your convoy in Jordan had been hit by an IED and that the Army had sent casualty officers to the house."
Evelyn felt a muscle twitch in her jaw. "He told you that?"
"Yes! He was crying! He looked completely destroyed!" Brenda wiped her nose with the sleeve of her cardigan. "He said you were gone. And then his mother, Mrs. Hayes, came downstairs. She was carrying a legal document. She said that because you were deceased, the family was reorganizing their living arrangements and they had to relocate Lily to an elite boarding school in Maryland immediately."
"And you believed them?"
"I asked to see Lily! I wanted to say goodbye to her!" Brenda cried, her voice cracking with guilt. "But Mrs. Hayes told me that Lily was sedated by a grief counselor and that seeing me would cause severe psychological regression. Then Bradley pulled out an envelope with five thousand dollars in cash. He told me it was my severance, but I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement promising not to contact any of your military colleagues or speak to the press about the tragedy."
"Did you take the money?"
"No!" Brenda shouted, her eyes wild with indignity. "I told him to go to hell! I told him something felt wrong! I tried to push past him to get up the stairs to Lily's room, and Bradley... Bradley grabbed me by the throat, Major Hayes."
Brenda pulled down the collar of her shirt. Faded, purple-yellow bruises in the distinct shape of broad adult fingers circled her windpipe.
"He threw me out onto the driveway," Brenda wept. "He took my phone and smashed it against the curb so I couldn't call the police. He said if I ever came back to the house, he would tell the police I was stealing medication from their medicine cabinet and have me expelled from nursing school. I was terrified! I came home and locked my doors. I was trying to find a way to contact your base commander, but I didn't know who to call!"
May you like
Evelyn reached out, gently placing her hand over Brenda’s trembling fingers. "You're going to come with me to the Fairfax County Police Department, Brenda. And you’re going to show the Commonwealth’s Attorney those marks on your neck."
***
