Drake Sisters 07 - Hidden Currents

happened?â€
    Jonas glanced at El e, who tightened her fingers around Jackson’s and stuck her chin in the air a bit defiantly, daring Jonas to send her away.
    â€œThat’s Lori Robertson. She’s a single mother with a teenage daughter. The girl’s name is Venita and she’s fourteen, a bit rebel ious, this is her mother’s description, a cutter—the kids refer to them as emo around here. She dresses in black, has multiple body piercings, writes depressing poetry, you know the dril . She wears enough eyeliner for a roomful of people, according to her mother. Her hair is straight black and in her face al the time.â€
    â€œI ran into her at the grocery store,†Jackson said. “She looked like half the kids we know.â€
    â€œYeah, wel this one has a mother who thinks her daughter is possessed by the devil. Her Reverend told her so. First they spent a week on their knees praying together, but Venita continued her demonic behavior.â€
    â€œWhat’s demonic about emo behavior? They like to color their hair and write poetry about life being depressing—which it can be at fourteen,†El e defended. “They’re referred to as ‘emo’ because they’re sensitive and emotional.â€
    â€œI’m not saying anything against her, El e, just fil ing you in on what the mother believed. Apparently the Reverend told her that the number of earrings she had in her ear was a sign of devil worship.â€
    â€œAnd she believed him?†El e said, disgusted.
    Jackson put his arm around her, drawing her under his shoulder. “What happened?â€
    â€œWhen the prayers didn’t work, RJ graciously offered to bring Venita to a house and work with her. They arrived together and the mother planned to leave, but at the last second the daughter fel apart and begged her mother not to go. RJ became angry when the mom decided to take her daughter back to San Francisco with her and he demanded she leave. He told her he’d gone to the trouble of arranging this time with her daughter and the expense of renting a house.â€
    Jackson shook his head. “The man’s such a bastard. He had a taste for the girl and didn’t want to give her up.â€
    â€œThe mother stil refused and RJ’s bodyguards dragged her into one of the bedrooms and tied her up there. She was beaten and raped.â€
    â€œDid we pick them up?â€
    Jonas nodded. “We’ve got the bodyguards. She should be at the hospital so we can have a forensic rape kit done on her, but she won’t go. Evidently Reverend RJ had himself a good time with the daughter. Venita overheard RJ cal ing someone and arranging to sel her along with setting up an accident for her mother. The daughter snuck into her mother’s room and cut her loose. They ran and the men caught them here.â€
    Jackson walked closer to where the firemen were working, trying to get down to the rocks below. “Damn it. The daughter fel over?â€
    â€œNot exactly. RJ had Venita by her hair and was dragging her back. Her mother said she was sobbing and pleading, trying to get away. The mother kicked herself free and tried to shove RJ away from Venita, but the edge crumbled and he went over, taking Venita with him. Jeff Dockins and a couple of others saw the entire thing and held RJ’s bodyguards until the deputies arrived.â€
    Jonas saw the captain motioning toward him. They went over to him. He shook his head. “My men can’t get down there, Jonas. We’ve cal ed in the rescue helicopter and it should be here within ten minutes. She’s moving down there and so is he, but they’re both injured. The water is slamming that rock. I think the man has a broken back and the girl seems to have a compound fracture of the leg. Maybe one arm broken and there’s blood on her face.†He shook his head again. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t risk my men. That cliff is unstable and we nearly lost one of our guys.â€
    El e blinked back tears. Al those months she’d put in undercover overseas to stop this very thing and it was happening in her own hometown. She hated that she couldn’t prevent any child from experiencing such a terrible fate. Jackson, his mind woven tightly with hers, brought up his hand and curved his palm around the nape of her neck, his fingers massaging gently.
    Bomber gave