Gaylynn (Seven Sisters Book 3)

  Gaylynn

  Seven Sisters

  Kirsten Osbourne

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Also by Kirsten Osbourne

  Chapter One

  Gaylynn sat staring at the wall between clients, not able to forget the images that had gone through her brain with the last man she’d talked to. The man had complained to her for a full hour about how the police wouldn’t leave him alone, accusing him of hurting a little girl in his building. As he’d told her in detail his version of the story, she’d seen the true story played out before her eyes.

  Ever since her father had shown her and her six sisters his new cell phone and computer modem back in March of the previous year—and a power failure had followed—she had seen images that she had no desire to see. Anytime someone told her a story, the images began. And no matter how emphatically someone said their story was the truth, she saw the reality through their words.

  Her question now was what to do about Tim. He’d been a client of hers for two years, always complaining of people not treating him well. She saw through the truth of his stories, but never before had she seen him do something that should have him in jail. How was she supposed to approach this? She couldn’t tell something that he’d told her in therapy, but he hadn’t told her this. She’d seen it while he’d lied to her.

  She shook her head, knowing she couldn’t tell anyone. Who would believe what she’d seen with her strange new powers anyway? No one. That’s who.

  Gaylynn glanced up when her receptionist opened her door. “Mrs. Walker is here to see you.”

  “Send her in, please.” Gaylynn quickly glanced at her file on Mrs. Walker, noting it was still mostly blank. She’d filled out some forms the day before, and now she was there for her first appointment. Gaylynn got to her feet and held her hand out for the other woman. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Walker.” There were very few people in Bagley, Texas that Gaylynn didn’t know, but Mrs. Walker was one of them.

  Mrs. Walker nodded politely before sinking down onto Gaylynn’s couch. “Please call me Tanya.”

  “Thank you, Tanya. I’m Gaylynn. Tell me a little about yourself.” Gaylynn had been through this scenario a hundred times since she’d gotten her master’s degree in psychology.

  As Tanya started talking a bit about her life, Gaylynn made rapid notes, paying careful attention to her new client’s speech patterns. “My little girl, Joy, was touched by a man who lives in my building,” Tanya said, and Gaylynn stopped writing, looking up at the other woman.

  “I’m so sorry that happened.” Was it Tim? She hoped and prayed it was, because she didn’t want there to be two men running around town doing that to little girls.

  “Me too.” Tanya got to her feet and walked to the window, which looked out over the park, where you could see bluebonnets growing in the meadow. “The man denies it, though the police have questioned him repeatedly.” Gaylynn could see the other woman’s tears streaming down her face. She grabbed the box of tissues from her desk and carried it to her.

  “How old is your daughter?” Gaylynn was still unsure if this girl was Tim’s victim, but it seemed more and more like it the more she heard.

  “She’s just six. Now he didn’t rape her or anything, which is good, because I’d have to hunt him down myself . . . but he touched her in a way that made her feel bad. Why do men think they can do things like that to little girls who have never hurt a fly?”

  “I have no idea . . .”

  “Joy is one of the sweetest little girls you could ever imagine. Her dad is a trucker and on the road a lot, so it’s usually just us. When he finds out, he’s going to tear Tim apart. Little pieces of the man’s body will be everywhere. I almost think it would be good for him to be locked up, just to protect him from my husband.”

  Gaylynn stifled a grin. The image the woman’s words put into her brain were comical, knowing Tim. But it was time to be serious, and grinning about the pervert getting torn apart was not something she should be doing. Sometimes her sense of humor did not serve her well. “Maybe you should tell the police that.”

  “I did! But because Tim is denying everything, I don’t have a leg to stand on. And soon he won’t! His legs will be in a ditch somewhere and his arms in another ditch! Roger will make certain that man never touches another child for as long as he lives.”

  “Does your husband know?”

  Tanya shook her head. “Not yet. But he will. That’s what scares me. Even if I don’t tell him, Joy will. She tells her daddy everything. As soon as he gets back in town, he takes her to the café, and he buys her a Cherry Coke. Alcohol doesn’t loosen a drunk’s tongue the way Cherry Coke loosens Joy’s. It’s almost scary!”

  “How is Joy at this point? Does she communicate with you about what happened? Is she frightened?”

  “She’s frightened knowing any time she leaves our apartment, he could be there. I make sure I walk her to school, and I am waiting out front when she gets out every day. But what if something happens? I couldn’t bear it. And the police have just been useless through the whole thing.”

  “That’s terrible.” Gaylynn frowned at the paper in front of her. She could picture Tanya waiting for little Joy. She even saw Joy sitting beside her father, spilling her guts while munching on maraschino cherries. “Maybe you should talk to the police again?”

  “It won’t do any good. They need proof something happened to her. Like a little girl would make up the kind of touching that jerk did. He needs to be locked away for the rest of his life. I might find my husband’s gun myself!”

  “I need you to promise me you won’t hurt him.” Gaylynn didn’t want to have to alert the police about the threats made in her office, but she would. She would do whatever it took to keep Bagley a safe place. Although, she wasn’t sure she wanted sexual predators to be safe.

  “I plan to talk to them again. I saw Tim looking at her again last night, and I got goose bumps all over. Will you talk to the police with me? Please?”

  Gaylynn glanced at her clock. “I can’t really have the police come here, because it would frighten people. Could I meet you at your apartment after my last client of the day? So around five?”

  Tanya looked relieved. “That would make me very happy. You don’t mind?”

  “I don’t mind at all. I think this town should be safe from child predators.” Gaylynn knew she couldn’t tell the police what she’d seen, but she could provide moral support, and she was happy to do it.

  “Thank you!” Tanya quickly wrote down her address. “I’m sure you have it somewhere, but this way you don’t have to look it up.”

  Gaylynn tucked the paper into the pocket of her skirt. “I’ll be there.”

  As soon as she said the words, Tanya hurried out of her office. It was obvious she didn’t really want a counselor, but she needed someone to be with her when she talked to the police again. That was fine with Gaylynn. She was willing to help in any way she could.

  Zachary Jones looked at his partner, Sylvester, and frowned. “Another call from Tanya Walker about the creep who is always messing with her daughter.”

  Sylvester rubbed the back of his neck. “I want to take the man and smash him into a million pieces. There’s no doubt in my mind he’s guilty, but we can’t get proof!”

  “We have to stay calm when we talk to them. There’s no point in getting a
ngry.” Zach did his best to calm his own racing thoughts as he watched the streets while his partner drove. “We have to do everything by the book so when we do catch him, he stays inside for a very long time.”

  “I know. I just . . . scum of the earth like him make me want to hurt someone. Like them.”

  “We’ll handle it right, and all will be good. Let’s go talk to Mrs. Walker. Call came in from her place.” Zachary was glad he wasn’t the one driving their patrol car, because he was sure he would have been too distracted. He was consumed with anger.

  They pulled up in front of the apartment complex, and both men got out. Zach kept his hand over his gun, ready to use it if necessary. He wouldn’t put anything past the man they were there about. Timothy Cooper was lower than pond scum in his opinion. He knocked on the door, well aware that Tim was watching him out his window. His eyes met those of the perp, and he tried to look as intimidating as possible.

  The door opened, and Tanya Walker let them in. Zachary smiled at the woman, knowing all this was killing her. “Mrs. Walker.”

  “Hello, Officer Jones. I’m sorry to bother y’all again, but Mr. Cooper scared Joy last night. She was playing on our doorstep with her doll, with the door open. I was cooking supper, but I watched everything she did. I saw him stop and offer her a sucker to go for a ‘walk’ with him.” Tanya stood straight and tall, her eyes meeting his. “I need him to stay away from my baby.”

  “I think it’s time for a restraining order,” Zachary said softly. “Do you want to do that?”

  A woman responded, her voice strong and strangely melodic. “She wants him locked up where he belongs. A restraining order isn’t going to be enough for a man like Mr. Cooper.”

  Zachary hadn’t noticed anyone other than Mrs. Walker in the room, and his eyes moved, settling on a tall, leggy woman with a beautiful smile. She was wearing a gray business suit with a pink blouse. And heels. He couldn’t take his eyes off her legs for a moment. “And you are?”

  “I’m a friend of Mrs. Walker’s. She shouldn’t be having to go through this, and you don’t want that man on the streets when her husband gets home.”

  “Is that a threat, Miss . . . ?” Zachary asked, surprised by the woman. He hadn’t seen her around town, and he’d been there for over three months. He thought he’d met almost everyone.

  “It’s not a threat at all. It’s a concern. I’m Gaylynn McClain.” Gaylynn tossed her hair behind her shoulder.

  “What do you know that I don’t, Miss McClain?” McClain . . . was she related to the people who ran the McClain Boys’ Ranch? They were serious do-gooders, from what he could see.

  Gaylynn smiled sweetly, and her smile seemed to say a great deal to him. She knew a lot more than she was willing to tell. That was for certain. “I know that Mrs. Walker is genuinely afraid of what will happen when her husband returns home. Joy will not keep quiet about her run-ins with Mr. Cooper. She tells her father everything. If you want to keep Cooper safe, I’d lock him up.”

  Zachary frowned. “I can’t lock him up with no proof.”

  “Mrs. Walker just told you that she saw Mr. Cooper trying to lure Joy with a sucker. What more proof do you need?”

  “He may have just been giving her a sucker he’d received from his doctor yesterday. We don’t know if it’s more than that.” Zachary wanted to grab the man and take him straight to jail, but the criminal justice system was more complicated than that.

  “Have you asked him?” Miss McClain asked, uncrossing and re-crossing her legs. He had to wonder if she had any idea what she was doing to him.

  “I have spoken to him repeatedly,” Zachary said, wishing he could cuss the man out right there and then. But what good would it do?

  “And he denies it?”

  “He does. Over and over again.”

  Miss McClain sighed. “Question him again. It’s all you can do, I guess. That and I agree a restraining order is needed at this point.”

  Zachary frowned. “It sounds like you’re some kind of expert.”

  “I’m not, but I am a mental health counselor, and I know how Mrs. Walker is feeling at the moment.”

  Zachary looked over at Sylvester, who had remained quiet throughout the discussion. “Let’s go and talk to Mr. Cooper.”

  Sylvester nodded. “We’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  As soon as the police were gone, Tanya looked at Gaylynn with tears in her eyes. “What am I going to do if they don’t take him in?”

  Gaylynn stood and walked over to Tanya, putting her hand on her arm. “It’s going to be all right. I’ll move in here with you to help protect little Joy if that’s what it takes.”

  “Isn’t that going a little above and beyond the duties of a counselor?”

  “It may be. But it’s not going above and beyond the duties of a caring human being, and that’s what I am. I will stay with you if that’s what you need. Or you can stay with me, which might be even better. My house is small, but you two could easily stay there.”

  Tanya’s jaw dropped. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

  Gaylynn nodded. “I believe you. I believe everything you’re saying with every fiber of my being, and I refuse to let that man touch little Joy again.” Joy had been in her bedroom for the entire conversation. Gaylynn didn’t feel like the girl needed to be part of the discussion with the police.

  “Thank you,” Tanya’s eyes filled with tears. “You have no idea how good it feels to finally be believed.”

  The police came back then, and Gaylynn turned her icy gaze to the younger police officer, the one who had done all the talking. “What happened?”

  Officer Jones looked frustrated. “He denied everything, of course. We’re going to start the paperwork on the restraining order. In the meantime, do you have anywhere you can stay? I would feel better if you were somewhere farther from him.”

  Gaylynn nodded. “They’re going to stay with me.” She strode to the sofa where her purse was and pulled out a pen and a notebook. She scrawled her name, address, and phone number on a piece of paper and took it to him. “There. Come and check on them.”

  He took the paper, nodding. “Don’t think I won’t. I want them safe, just as much as you do.”

  “I suggest this situation be resolved before Saturday, when her husband is due home.” Gaylynn raised an eyebrow, daring him to say something.

  “We’ll certainly do what we can.” Zach turned his attention to Mrs. Walker. “If you would come by the station sometime tomorrow, we can get the restraining order in place.”

  Tanya nodded. “I’ll do that.”

  Gaylynn smiled. “I’m going to go and help Joy pack her things.”

  “Don’t let her talk you into taking more than three stuffed animals. She’ll insist she needs twenty-three of them, but she doesn’t. I promise.”

  With a nod, Gaylynn set off into the little girl’s room. “You and your mama are going to stay with me for a few days. Won’t that be fun?”

  The little girl nodded. “I like chicken nuggets.”

  “Then I’ll make sure you get chicken nuggets! We can stop at the store on the way to my place.”

  “That would be nice.” Together the two of them packed her room. They had just closed up her suitcase—with a compromise of six stuffed animals—when the little girl said, “We’re leaving because of that bad man, aren’t we?”

  Gaylynn pulled all of her years of studying to be a counselor around her and answered as honestly as she could. “Yes, you are. We feel like you’re going to be safer at my house.”

  Joy nodded. “Thank you.”

  “I’m happy to have you stay with me!” Gaylynn said with a smile. And it was true. She was looking forward to her two houseguests.

  “I meant for telling me the truth.”

  “I’ll always do my best to tell you the truth, Joy.” Gaylynn took the girl’s suitcase and then reached down for Joy’s hand. “Let’s go wait for your mama to be finished.”

  When the
y reached the living room, they saw that Tanya had already packed a small bag and was waiting. “I left a message for my husband with his company, and they are going to give him your phone number so he can call me. He usually calls every night before he starts working for the day. He drives all night, you see.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll make sure to give the two of you privacy to talk.”

  Chapter Two

  Gaylynn’s house was small, but she had three bedrooms. They’d all be sharing one bathroom, but there would be enough bedrooms for everyone to have one. The smallest guest room doubled as an office, but Joy was ecstatic to stay there anyway.

  “I’m going to fix supper,” Gaylynn said as she unloaded the groceries she and Joy had chosen together. “Are you all right with chicken nuggets and fries? I’ll throw together a fruit salad to go with it.”

  “Sounds good. I just don’t want to have to think about it,” Tanya said. She walked into the room Joy would use and started helping the little girl unpack. “I can’t thank you enough for letting us stay with you.” She raised her voice so that Gaylynn could hear her in the kitchen.

  “I’m so happy to do it. It’ll be nice to have company for a change. I keep thinking I should get a dog for companionship, but then I realize I’d have to leave him here alone for ten to twelve hours per day, and I can’t imagine what the point would be.”

  “I understand. We’ll be your pets this week,” Tanya said with a bit of a smile as she came back into the room.

  Gaylynn was pleased to see a flicker of emotion on the other woman’s face. She had been feeling sad when she realized she had yet to see Tanya smile. “You have a beautiful smile.”

  “That’s what Roger always says. He tells me that he loves my smile, and he doesn’t know how he forced himself to get up in the mornings before it was part of his life.”