Cooked Goose

captain and Margie. “That’s enough, Bloss,” she said quietly.
    “Who the fuck are you to tell me ‘That’s enough,’ when I’m talking to my own kid?” he shouted.
    Dirk stood, too, but Savannah shot him a “Stay Out of It” look. Bloss was still Dirk’s boss, and there was no point in him getting canned, too.
    “You’re in my home,” she told Bloss, still reining in her temper. “And Margie is a guest in my home. That makes it my business. And, besides that, I’m just trying to stop you from saying things you’ll regret and making a complete as... I mean, fool... of yourself, Captain... sir.”
    In spite of Savannah’s silent admonition, Dirk took a step in the captain’s direction. “Your daughter,” he said, “wrecked her car to keep from being raped and murdered. He was in the car with her. That’s how she got away from him.”
    “He was... you mean, the rapist? Oh, my God.” The bluster went out of Bloss, apparently, along with the strength in his legs. He sat down hard on the nearest chair and wiped a hand across his eyes. For once, his daughter had his full attention. “Did... did he—?”
    Margie gave her father a cold, bitter smile, and for a moment, Savannah could see a strong family resemblance. Margie was Bloss’s daughter, after all... not a heritage to boast about.
    “No, he didn’t rape me,” Margie told her dad, “but if I hadn’t acted like an idiot and wrecked my new car—the car you’ve only made one payment on—I’m sure he would have.” Bloss’s scowl deepened. He turned to Dirk, who was returning to his seat. “When did all this supposedly happen?“
    “Supposedly?” Margie’s eyes filled with tears. She slammed her fist on the table. “What do you think, Daddy, that I made this all up? You think I wrecked my car and made this up to...”
    “It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve lied to me,” Bloss returned. “It’s not like you’re above it.”
    Dirk cleared his throat loudly. “It happened, sir. I’m sure about that. It was approximately 1930 hours this evening. He was waiting at your house, slipped into the garage when she came home, and forced her to drive out on Turner Canyon Road . That’s when she smashed the Roadster into a water tank and ran away from him. She called Savannah , and she picked her up at the Mobil station out there.”
    “Did you get him?”
    “Afraid not. By the time we got there, he was gone.” The captain sat quietly, absorbing the facts, then he seemed to soften. He turned to Margie. “Did you get hurt? Have you been to the hospital?”
    “ Savannah took me. I just got some scrapes and bruises. And a couple of stitches on my shoulder where he gouged me with the tip of his knife.”
    She pulled the robe aside, showing him her bandage. He gave it a cursory glance. “Good,” he mumbled, “that’s good.“
    “Your daughter showed a lot of smarts and courage, Captain,” Savannah said. She walked over to Margie and put her hand on the girl’s uninjured shoulder. “If she hadn’t, it might have turned out a lot differently.”
    “I know that.” Suddenly Bloss looked fifty years old going on eighty. He shook his head and sighed. “I know what could have happened. Shit. This sucks. My own kid. That guy’s nuts.”
    “I think that was a given,” Savannah said, “even before he came after Margie.”
    “Did you get a good look at him?” Bloss asked the girl. “Not really. He was wearing that Santa stuff.”
    “She gave us pretty much the same limited description as the others gave,” Dirk interjected. “The only thing new was this.” He took the drawing from his pocket and unfolded the paper. Spreading it on the table in front of the captain, he said, “The guy was wearing a ring like that, a big one with a star in the middle.”
    When Bloss saw the drawing, he looked like he had been hit in the solar plexus. Savannah watched him, fascinated by his reaction. She recalled that he had seemed upset at the hospital when she had told him about the star-shaped bruise on Charlene Yardley.
    “Are you sure, Margie?” Bloss asked her. “Are you absolutely certain he was wearing something that looked like this?“
    “Sure, I’m sure. What do you think, I just made it up, too? Give me a break.”
    Savannah couldn’t resist. “Captain, what do you think about the ring? Does that particular design ring a bell with you?”
    He gave her a deadly look that told her more than his curt, “No.” Turning