She ignored his irritation—and his question. “Where’d you get this truck?”
The salt-and-pepper goatee he’d grown since quitting the force strengthened his resemblance to Kenny Rogers. They had the same build, were probably about the same size and had similar blue eyes and tanned faces. Leonard wasn’t unattractive; it was what he harbored inside that Sophia didn’t like.
“This is a company vehicle, provided by my employer. Name’s Dwight Smith. But you already know that, don’t you? You had plenty of time to look it up. Standard procedure and all.”
“He doesn’t mind if you drive it for personal use?”
“He knows I don’t have a choice. Lorna took the car when she left.”
The accusation in those words suggested he blamed her for his wife’s actions. But that came as no surprise. Sophia already knew he blamed her for everything.
“You abused your power and cheated on your wife, Leonard.” Which, rumor had it, wasn’t the first time he’d stepped out. He liked the attention the uniform brought him. He’d even hit on her once or twice when they’d started working together. “Why not do the right thing and take responsibility for your actions?”
“That’s easy for you to say. It’s not as if you’d ever be tempted to have sex with anyone. You’re the ice queen.” He lowered his voice. “You’re probably so frigid you wouldn’t know what to do with a c**k if—”
“That’s enough,” she snapped. But he didn’t back off. He moved closer.
“No, it’s not. It’s not nearly enough. You think you’re such a ballbuster. That you don’t have to worry about your own secrets getting out. But I’m here to tell you that no one’s secrets are safe in Bordertown, not even yours.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the reason you hate men.”
“You know nothing about me!”
“I know your stepdaddy spent more time diddling you than he did your mother. That’s something, isn’t it?”
Sophia opened her mouth to deny it but nothing came out. It felt as if he’d been doing more than following her and watching her; it felt as if he’d been listening to every word she said.
“Your mother came to me once,” he explained with a victorious smile. “Crying.” So Anne had heard when Sophia tried to tell her what was happening. And, on some level, she’d believed it. But if that was the case, why hadn’t she done anything?
Her mother’s refusal to protect her hurt more than the memory of the instances, before Sophia had turned to Starkey, when her stepfather had pressed her to let him touch her. She’d always resisted, but his attempt alone made her feel dirty.
“You expect me to believe my mother sought you out?” she said.
“It’s true.”
But if Leonard was as sure of that as he pretended, he wouldn’t be telling her. He’d be spreading it all over town, twisting key parts of the story to make it appear that she’d seduced Gary, or at least actively participated in an inappropriate relationship. If he was following her around, heckling her, he suspected but didn’t know. Which meant that whatever her mother had told him left room for doubt.
Acting as indifferent as she could, she slipped her gun back in its holster. “That’s crazy. Even if my mother believed I was sleeping with her husband, she’d never turn to you.”
“She actually came to talk to Chief Bernstein, but I happened to be the only one at the station. And she was in desperate need of advice. She wanted me to tell her, given my extensive background in police work, whether I’d ever encountered a situation where a teenage girl had falsely accused a stepfather of molestation. She thought you might be lying to get attention or to get rid of Gary.” He lowered his voice almost to a whisper. “But you weren’t lying, were you?”
How could her mother have betrayed her in this way as well as all the others? How could she have been that selfish?
It would be foolish to react to the throbbing ache inside her. At least, right now. Straightening her spine, she poured every ounce of energy into a performance she hoped would put an end to this.
“If she really said that, she was just being paranoid. There was a period when she didn’t feel she was getting enough of Gary’s attention. But there was nothing going on between us. Nothing at all.”
For the most part, that statement was true, despite her stepfather’s advances. And she suspected her mother knew the truth on some level and had been jealous, which was why she hadn’t fought to keep Sophia at home when Sophia moved out.
But this explanation didn’t seem to sway Leonard. He remained as smug as ever.
“Maybe I’d believe you if not for what your stepfather carries in his wallet.”
Sophia had the terrible feeling that this encounter was about to go from bad to worse. “How do you know what my stepfather carries in his wallet?”
“Gus happened to be at the Firelight tonight.”
Gus was one of the men who worked at her stepfather’s feed store. He ran tractor rentals.
“And what does Gus know?”
“Just what he’s seen with his own eyes.”
“Which is…”
“Your stepfather carries your picture.”
She could hardly breathe. “A lot of people carry pictures of their children.”
“In this one—” he smiled, relishing the moment “—you’re naked.”
Sophia wished she could rally with a quick denial. But he’d succeeded in leveling her. When, if ever, could her stepfather have taken that picture? She’d never undressed for him. He used to come into her room after her mother was asleep and sit on the edge of her bed. He’d talk to her about life, school, her father—always her father, as if he was trying to differentiate between himself and her real dad. And sometimes he’d touch her in ways that would, at first, seem harmless. He’d smooth the hair off her forehead or tuck her in, actions designed to win her trust. Then he’d “accidentally” brush her br**sts or even try to lie down with her.
But, to her knowledge, he’d never seen her naked. She’d made sure of it. She’d become ultramodest, wouldn’t even shower unless he was out of the house.
“That can’t be true,” she said decisively.
“Gus swore on a stack of Bibles. Said you have the most amazing tits he’s ever seen.”