Chapter 10

It was a quiet day at the Styles Academy. Melissa enjoyed these quiet days. There were no fights to break up, no one had gotten hurt, and no parents were called to pick up screaming kids. The younger kids were listening to the final half-hour story time, the older kids were watching a movie and things were winding down. Parents would be there soon to pick up their kids, teachers would hug their charges goodbye for the night and everyone would clean up to prepare for the next day. It was another good, calm day at the daycare. The school was closed for the summer, those teachers were sent home to recover from their exuberant charges and gear up for the next session in two months.

Melissa did her final walk through the daycare and noticed a young girl running through the field toward the building. She looked closely at what the girl had in her hand: a long, blood-tipped sword. Melissa started running back to meet the girl before she entered the front door of the school. She ran down the long corridor, saw the many rooms filled with children and shut the thick wooden doors. The school was built to withstand an attack, no one was going to infiltrate it to harm any of her students. Melissa grabbed two of the security officers and instructed them to wait until she ordered them to react.

“Help me,” the girl cried as she raced through the gate. She ran quickly down the path, her face was red, she was sweating from the exertion, there were leaves and twigs in her hair and her shirt was covered with dirt.

The guards trained their eyes on her with their hands on their guns at their hips, but wouldn’t bring their guns up until Melissa gave orders.

“That is Veronica Conway,” Melissa was surprised. “Stand down but stay ready,” Melissa told the guards. “I will meet her to see what she needs.”

Melissa started to walk quickly down the path before Veronica crossed the gate. She was breathless by the time she stood before the girl who stopped right in front of Melissa.

“Can you call the police?” Veronica said as she looked behind her. “Please, I don’t know if he is still after me.”

“Who is after you?” Melissa grabbed the young girl by the shoulders. She wanted Veronica to look at her. “Veronica, what happened?”

“Keith Ridgewood,” Veronica said when she finally calmed down. “He chased me into the woods and I was able to fight back. I stabbed him in the shoulder and he fell. He was still lying on the ground when I ran past him.”

One of the guards tried to take away the sword, but Veronica’s muscle memory and training kicked in, she went into her “en garde” position and the guard found himself staring at the bloody tip.

“Leave her alone, you fool,” Melissa said, waving the guard away. “She and her brother are expert fencers. Go inside and call the police, we are going to stand out here.” She turned to Veronica, “I am sorry, my dear. I can’t have you in the school with the other children. We can go into my therapy office. It is a separate building. One you know well.”

Melissa put her arm around Veronica and they both walked to the therapy office. Melissa opened the door and led Veronica onto the sofa in the waiting room. Veronica sat down and felt rather numb. She remembered running to the tree, climbing the nailed planks to get to the platform twenty feet up, got her sword and thrust the tip into his shoulder. She watched him fall and ran past him when she realized he wasn’t getting up.

“I am here to listen to you,” Melissa said. “I think you should tell the police your story first.”

“Oh my god,” Veronica said, as she jumped off the couch. “The police are coming. I need to call my uncle. Father said never to talk to the police without Uncle Maxwell.”

“My dear,” Melissa said. “Of course we will call your uncle and your father. They can meet you at the police station. But why did Keith Ridgewood chase you into the woods?”

“Because, I know he killed Casey Hammond,” Veronica said, “I found her body. I know he did it.”

“Did you watch him do it?” Melissa asked.

“Yes,” Veronica said softly.

Melissa just nodded. She needed to help Veronica get through this just like she helped Veronica through other terrifying visions. She pulled out a pad with Veronica’s name on it and asked her to describe the visions and what she saw.

Veronica went through all three visions: the first one of Casey dying, the second one showing where Casey’s body was and the last one of Keith chasing her through the woods. Melissa wrote all of it down and checked the descriptions of the first vision. It was consistent. Melissa sighed in relief. Veronica wasn’t adding anything or omitting anything. The police had responded to the call and met with Veronica in Melissa’s office.

“I cannot give you any information as of right now,” Melissa said. “She is my patient and I am claiming patient/doctor privilege.”

“I will speak to you when my attorney arrives,” Veronica said when the officer approached her. “He has been notified and should be here shortly.” Veronica took a sip of water Melissa provided to her earlier.

Ten minutes later, Maxwell came into the office and ushered the police out, “I will need to speak with my client. We will meet you outside.”

The officers walked out of the room and waited in the lobby. Melissa stayed with Veronica as Veronica spoke with Maxwell about what happened. The police had taken the rapier and wrapped it up, but Veronica refused to speak with police until Maxwell showed up.

“I hope you didn’t say anything to the police,” Maxwell said after Veronica told him the entire story. “I understand they needed the sword, but I hope you didn’t offer a statement yet.”

Veronica shook her head, “you and Dad taught me well.”

Maxwell smiled, “They will want to take you to the station, where you will wait for your father to come get you.”

Veronica nodded.

“Don’t worry child,” Maxwell patted his niece’s shoulder, “everything will be OK. We will get through this together.”

They walked out to meet the officers together and Veronica gave them her statement. She pointed to where she came out of and told them she didn’t know Keith Ridgewood’s condition. The responding officer sent a team to investigate the scene of the crime after Veronica told them where she made her stand against Keith. They came back to whisper something into the officer’s ear, and he nodded.

“OK, Miss Conway,” The officer started to take Veronica into custody. “We will get you to the station, collect evidence and call your parents.”

“I will drive her to the station,” Maxwell said. “I am her attorney of record and can take guardianship of her until her parents are notified.”

The officer nodded and let them pass. He had to find Ridgewood and get his side of the story.

Melissa watched Veronica get into the car with her uncle and felt the girl was finally safe. She looked around and was about to go inside the school to lift the lockdown when she saw Marc Anthony. She walked over to him to get his attention.

“Well, Marc,” Melissa smiled at him. “What brings you here?”

He didn’t say anything, he just wanted to get closer to the police to hear what Veronica was saying.

“Maybe we can go to dinner after this?” Melissa tried again.

Marc walked off without acknowledging her. Melissa’s eyes narrowed as she watched his back. He just walked away. He didn’t even say anything. She felt the heat rising in her face. She was embarrassed and outraged. He should have at least said something. Not that it mattered, but it made her angrier. She made plans to get his attention. He will pay for humiliating her.

Keith felt the blade pierce his skin and plunge into his shoulder. The bitch stabbed him. He lost his grip on the planks and fell about twenty feet, landed on his back, and had the wind knocked out of him. He couldn’t move for several moments. Keith saw Veronica looking at him, he watched her climb down and tried to get up to catch her when she ran down the trail. He couldn’t see which direction she ran, and had to lie on the ground for a few moments, as he fought through the pain to draw air into his lungs. He slowly got up and made his way to his truck. He applied pressure to his wound to stanch the bleeding. He opened the door truck and slid in. He had to get back to his house before Veronica sent the cops to the area.

Keith put the truck into drive and navigated the short distance to his house. He opened the door and slowly got out. He felt the wound starting to bleed again. Nancy wasn’t in, thank god, it was grocery day and she wouldn’t be home for another two to three hours. She also took the kids, which meant they would be fed and quiet when they got home. He took his shirt off and put it in the trash, it was ripped and bloodstained. Keith then went to the bathroom, cleaned the wound and looked to see if he needed stitches. The cut was smooth and deep. He narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth, he needed medical attention. Keith opened his phone and called his doctor’s office to tell the office he cut his shoulder; the assistant listened to his complaint and told Keith to make his way to the office. They would work him in.

Two and half hours later, Keith was back home answering the door to Officer William Phelps.

“Hey, Keith,” Phelps said. “Sorry to bother you, but we had a complaint. Where were you at about 3:30 p.m. this afternoon?”

“What is this about, William?” Keith asked. He wasn’t going to play the fool.

“Well,” Phelps ran a hand through this hair. “Do you know Veronica Conway?”

“I am a recent acquaintance of her father,” Keith said. “I am helping her father with a new insurance policy. I first saw her at a match in Austin when her father invited me to watch his son.”

“She says you chased her into the woods and she had to defend herself with a sword,” Phelps said. “We have the sword and Veronica in custody.”

“Well, she did attack me with a sword,” Keith said. He had to change this narrative fast. “Said something about high ground. I think she was showing off. She then caught my shoulder. I had to go to the doctor to get stitches. I was lucky she didn’t go lower.”

Phelps wrote down the statement and then he swallowed before he started to question Keith again, “Veronica Conway said you might have something to do with Casey Hammond’s death.”

Keith laughed, “And you believe her. This is a child with an overactive imagination.”

“Keith,” Nancy came in from the store, “do we have company?”

Nancy looked a little panicked. Keith was home early and dinner wasn’t ready, and there was another man in the house and she wasn’t there to greet him. Nancy put the first sack down and walked up to both of them and offered the officer a drink.

“No thank you, ma’am,” Phelps said. “I was just asking your husband about an incident this afternoon.” He turned back to Keith, “so, where were you at about 6:30 to about 8 p.m. Wednesday two weeks ago?”

“I was home,” Keith said. “Right, Nancy?”

Nancy looked at him, “of course. He was home all night with me and the kids.”

Phelps nodded and wrote Keith’s alibi down, “I am sorry to bother you. You can come by the station if you want to press charges against the Conway girl for attacking you.”

“I will do that,” Keith said, rotating his shoulder.

Veronica sat in the precinct hall with her uncle as they waited for her father to come to collect her. She went to the bathroom before the police interview and cleaned herself up. She really wanted a brush to pull through her long, blond hair. She pulled some of the leaves and twigs out of her hair and tried to brush the dirt off her shirt and pants.

Maxwell came into the bathroom to tell her that an investigator was ready to take her statement. Veronica sighed, picked up her pack and walked out of the bathroom. The police took her sword into evidence along with transporting her bike to the station. They told her she could take her bike but the sword was now property of the state.

Maxwell disagreed, he said if there were no charges filed, then the sword will go back to Veronica. The investigator said there was a chance that Veronica would face charges of aggravated assault resulting in injury with a deadly weapon. It depended on how the prosecutor saw the case.

“He chased me, he ran me off the road,” Veronica said. “I am allowed to defend myself. Even as a minor, I am allowed to stand my ground. I didn’t have to run.”

Maxwell placed his hand on Veronica’s shoulder, “how injured is the complainant?”

“We don’t know,” the investigator said. “We are tracking him down to take his statement.”

Maxwell nodded, “Well, if you are not going to charge my client with anything today, I think we are through here.”

The investigator didn’t want to take Veronica Conway into custody without talking to the prosecutor. If her story turned out to be true, which is what the evidence was starting to support, then she could easily claim self-defense. He didn’t want to make a premature arrest; he knew where to find Veronica if the wind shifted. He decided to bide his time and let the investigation lead him.

Howard Conway walked into the police station and demanded to see his daughter, “Where is she? What have you done with her?”

Veronica heard her father’s voice and ran towards him, “Dad, I am here. I am OK.”

Howard hugged her closely, “are you hurt? What happened?”

Maxwell stood up, “I was with her for most of the time and when I wasn’t with her, Melissa was with her. She was protected.”

Howard looked at his older brother, “Thank you. What is going on?”

“She was chased into the woods, climbed a tree and had a weapon waiting for her,” Maxwell said. “She used the weapon, which the police now have in custody, to defend herself, stabbed her attacker in the shoulder and ran to the Styles Academy.”

“How much do police know?”

“We took all elements of premeditation out of the attack, on Veronica’s part of course.” Maxwell assured him. “She did a good job, Howard. Not just with the attack, but with the aftermath.”

“Do we know who the attacker is?” Howard asked.

“Dad, you can’t do anything or say anything,” Veronica said. “It was Keith Ridgewood.”

“What?” A confused look crossed Howard’s face.

“He contacted you to get closer to me,” Veronica said. “We need you to maintain that connection.”

“Are you crazy?” Howard was exasperated. “I am not going to have anything to do with that man. He attacked you.”

“That is not going to be his story,” Maxwell said. “The police are questioning him too.”

“I told them about Keith killing Casey,” Veronica said.

Howard frowned, “Veronica, you have no proof.”

“I know,” Veronica admitted.

“Let the police deal with this,” Howard said. “I don’t want you anywhere near any of this. We will discuss this later. Let’s get you home.”

I became a part of this when I uncovered those graves, Veronica thought.