Edge came out of the shadows and took the chair to Jake’s left. “I have no problem answering any of your questions,” he announced as he handed Gedeon the file. “My main concern is Laverne’s safety.”
“Then you can confirm that she is alive,” Meiling said. She didn’t bother to hide her relief. There had always been that underlying fear that Hawkins had killed her and was using them to find her body, or he figured if they couldn’t find her body, no one would.
“Laverne is alive. She realized Guy was getting ready to have her killed. Can you imagine how that would be? Living that lie every day? Knowing your husband was plotting your murder but still acting as if you were the greatest love of his life? She deserves an Oscar for her performance.”
Meiling had never known that her family had been murdered. In her sleep, she knew, but not when she was awake. She didn’t have those horrific memories. Gedeon had the memories and they were all too clear, burned into his mind, coloring his life forever. He knew exactly what Laverne had gone through. He had to pretend and give the performance of a lifetime in the pakhan’s house.
“I heard his lies. So subtle, trying to gaslight her all the time. Making her feel small. Like she was never good enough. He’d make fun of her when they were out with friends. Never anything big, just a little line or two, and he’d pass it off as a joke. She’d laugh, but I could see the hurt on her face. He undermined her confidence. What he was really good at was manipulating everyone around him into believing he was wonderful to be with a woman who wasn’t quite up to his intellect. She wasn’t quite his equal and yet he was so amazing to treat her so perfectly and love her so much.”
Meiling had come across this kind of man before, but she’d not met men like Hawkins, who had the money to back up his killer tendencies.
“At first, I wasn’t aware he intended to kill her,” Edge continued. “She didn’t share that belief with me. Later, when she did, she told me she didn’t believe it at first. The realization came to her over time. She thought she was becoming paranoid or slowly going insane.”
Gedeon tugged at Meiling’s hair and then stroked one finger down the nape of her neck. “How did she come to understand he really was going to kill her? Did she say? Because her escape took careful planning on her part.”
“Laverne said when she was asleep with him, she would wake up and he would be standing over her with a knife, whispering that she needed to die. She would scramble off the bed and huddle on the floor, terrified. A few minutes later he would ask her what she was doing on the floor and act as if he hadn’t done anything. He would tell her he’d been in bed the entire time or that he’d gone into another room to read so as not to disturb her. Eventually, she was afraid to go to sleep.”
Sleep deprivation would only add to Laverne’s feelings of paranoia. Hawkins would know that. Laverne would question her sanity even more.
“He had cut her off from any friends. She had no family. She had no one to talk to. I realized she was in a bad way, so I approached her very carefully. I knew I was overstepping, but I was worried, and at that point I didn’t know half of what he was doing to her. When she eventually confessed the nighttime gaslighting and said she was afraid she was losing her mind, I offered to set up a camera he wouldn’t know about.”
Meiling could imagine how alone Laverne must have felt. Hawkins was the man she loved and trusted. Now she had to face believing either that she was losing her mind or that the man she loved was deliberately trying to drive her insane.
Lotus, I can feel you crying. You’re so soft inside. Sometimes I’m so angry with myself for exposing you to more of these cases. Not all people are this way. We just see the worst of the worst.
She felt Gedeon draw her closer, surround her with his strength. It might be in her mind, but it was very real. After being so alone all her life, she knew what it was like to share a real connection with the man she loved. That made it all the worse knowing Laverne and others like her had endured such betrayals.
I chose to be your partner, Gedeon. I want to work these cases with you. It gives me satisfaction to help these women if I can.
Edge continued his story. “The camera proved to her once and for all that she wasn’t losing her mind. It also convinced me that we were going to have to act fast. There was no doubt in my mind that Guy Hawkins was setting his wife up for murder. The subtle rumors planted in the media about her going to parties and using drugs made me think he would do it that way.”