Read Online Silent Scream by Maria Rachel Hooley, Stephen Moeller - Free Book Online Page A

tears burned her eyes.
    “It was a threat to keep you quiet, Maddie.  That’s it.”  She replaced the receiver in its cradle.  “Besides, if you don’t do something, he’s going to do this to other women.  He won’t stop with you.”
    Maddie stood and walked to the window.  “Maybe I brought it out in him.  Maybe he wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t hit his truck.  Maybe it’s my fault.”
    “Like hell!” Yolanda exploded.  “He didn’t need an excuse, and if he attacked you, that means no woman is safe, including me or my daughter.”
    Exhaling sharply, Maddie felt a painful twinge in her arm.  She closed her eyes and absently rubbed the cast.  Despite her best intentions to keep her mind from forming images, Maddie saw Karen at the hands of her attacker, the blond man holding a knife at her throat,  Karen’s long, red hair framing her face as her mouth blossomed into a full ‘o.’  She could hear the young woman’s screams, agonized shrieks.  She could see her white, button-down blouse stained with blood.
    Maddie’s knees threatened to buckle, and she quickly sank onto the bed.  “You’re right,” she whispered, feeling her whole body trembling.  She plucked at the rose-patterned comforter.  “Nobody else should have to go through this—not you, not Karen.”
    Yolanda picked up the phone and thumbed the buttons.  “You shouldn’t have have had to go through this.”
    * * *
    “Is there anything else you can tell us?” Steve asked as he sat on the sofa in Yolanda’s living room.  Maddie shook her head.
    David stood in the doorway next to Yolanda, his hands thrust deep into the black pockets of his police uniform.  “Any other details you remember?”
    “No,” Maddie replied softly, brushing her hand on her rough denim jeans. Maybe it didn’t seem like much to the police, but it felt like more than enough to her. She absently stroked the cast, her fingers memorizing the coarse white stiffness engulfing her arm.  “What happens now?”
    “Since you gave a pretty detailed description of the perp, we have something to go on, and hopefully we’ll turn him up.”
    What if they never catch him?   Maddie shuddered as a chill ran down her spine at the thought of always looking over her shoulder to see if the creep was following her. 
    Maddie peered at him.  “Do you think he’s done this before?”
    “It’s possible.  A lot of rapists repeat the act several times before they’re caught.  The thing is, we need to catch him before another woman goes through what you have.”  He closed his notepad and stood.  “Thank you for calling us, Maddie.   We’ll be in touch to let you know our progress.”
    “I’ll show you out,” Yolanda said, heading into the foyer with the two officers following closely behind, while Maddie remained in her chair, leaning back and wishing she could forget the horrible turn things had taken.  She heard Yolanda bid them farewell, and  the front door squeak closed before Yolanda ambled back to the living room where Maddie sat.
    “Do you feel any better?” Yolanda asked, sitting next to Maddie.
    “No, not really.”  Maddie leaned back against the chair.  “What if they don’t find him?”
    “They have a significant amount of information to go on, Maddie.  They’ll find him.”
    Maddie grabbed the afghan from the couch’s armrest and tugged it around her body. 
    “And if they do, there’s the trial in which I have to go over this story again and again.  Either way, what bliss.”
    “I know this isn’t easy, but you’re doing the right thing.”
    Sighing, Maddie looked at the grandfather clock on the opposite wall.  She watched the pendulum swing back and forth, back and forth.  Tears stung her eyes.  She thought , You’re a healer, damnit.  Why can’t you heal yourself?   But the why didn’t matter.  No matter what happened from this point on, Maddie was never going to be the same.  Never.  And she knew that