A Changed Life (23 page)

“I heard his father was brought in as well,” mom had asked.

“Yes, it seems that Michael also attacked his father. He was knocked out by his son, and left bleeding until his housekeeper found him. She had called 911 and the ambulance brought him in. Clayton St. Clair, only suffered a minor concussion, and took 8 stitches to the head. He was treated and released.”

“Do you know if he is here at the moment?”

“I believe he tried to visit with his son, but we didn’t allow access at the time. We want to question Michael first. Mrs. Vanelle, I can’t even imagine what you are going through, but I can assure you that I have worked many cases like your daughter’s. I will stop at nothing to bring her attacker to justice. We need to speak with Nicolette, it’s time.”

I was awake by the time my parents, and the detectives entered my room. Wanting to get this interview over as quickly as possible, mom held my hand to comfort me. I was beginning to tremble with the thought of reliving that horrible night, and to have my mother and father listen to it, broke my heart.

“Hello Nicolette, I’m Detective Amy Lewis, and this is Detective Jim Westphall.” I nodded at the both of them, struggling to find my voice.

“Where’s Michael?” I asked. Detective Westphall answered me. “Nicolette we have him in another area of the hospital where he can’t get near you. As soon as he is questioned, he will be placed under arrest, and taken into police custody. Can you tell me your story?”

I didn’t know how much mom and dad knew from Simon, so I just started from the very beginning. I looked over at my dad, who was always my hero. He looked so sad and withdrawn. My eyes began to well up again with tears, and he held my other hand to give me the strength I needed.

“I had an argument with my boyfriend Thursday night, and skipped classes the next day. My parents had already gone to work, so instead of staying home, I went down to the beach, and sat by the marina all day.”

“You told no one where you were?” Asked Det. Lewis.

“Yes.”

“After briefly charging my phone, I had powered it down. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. When I finally decided to check my phone, I had seen missed calls and messages from Simon, and friends. I listened to my boyfriend’s message, and wanted to get home, so I could see him. I called him first, and told him where I was. Simon said he was with my father, and that they were out searching for me. I was surprised that they were together, but then my father told me that he knew about Michael. I told Simon where I was and I ended my phone call with my dad. He asked me to wait for them to arrive.”

“As I was making my way up the path, and back to my car, I was grabbed from behind. I didn’t realize it was Michael at first. He told me not to scream. He held my mouth so tight, I couldn’t scream if I wanted to. Michael dragged me back down the path to the docks where he had a boat. He lifted me onto the boat and dragged me down the stairs to the cabin below. He threw me inside, and I lost my balance, hitting my head.”

My father was gripping my hand to the point where it began to hurt. I looked over at him and when he realized how tightly he was holding my hand, he had let it go. I gave him a sympathetic look, he barely smiled back. I asked for some water before continuing. The detectives were extremely patient with me, and gave me the time I needed. I continued to tell them that after I had hit my head, Michael was yelling at me, grabbing me, and explaining in detail what he was going to do to make me his.

“I tried with all my strength to fight him back.” I turned to my father, and repeated the words again. “Daddy, I tried to fight. I swear I did.”

He leaned in to give me a hug. “Oh my brave girl… I know you did and I’m so proud of you.”

“Michael was just too strong, and I couldn’t fight him anymore. He tore my clothes from my body, and he raped me…he hurt me, but wouldn’t stop even though I was begging him. I cried and screamed, but he showed no mercy for me. When it was over, he was happy with himself. Michael had finally managed to get what he had wanted. He left me on the floor to cry, and whimper in pain. At that moment, I wanted to die, and make everything go away. I couldn’t believe this happened. I was questioning everything in my mind at that moment.

What I could have done to prevent this. Finally I got angry enough to move, and I just wanted to make him suffer, the way he made me suffer. While Michael’s back was turned, I scanned the room for anything I could fight him with. I only saw the trophy, and I was hoping it would be heavy enough to knock him out, so I could escape. My insides felt like they had been ripped into shreds. I was bleeding, and my head was throbbing, but I only had one chance to strike while his back was still turned to me. I reached for the trophy, and hit him as hard as I could. He dropped the glass onto the bar, and he stumbled …dazed. He tried to reach for me again, and that’s when I grabbed the scotch bottle, and hit him again on his head. This time knocking him out. I was still hitting Michael, when Simon came running through the door. I remember Simon pulling me off of Michael, and then I woke up here in the hospital.”

Detective Westphall began to speak, “Nicolette, thank you for telling us your story. Considering what you have been through, you are an incredibly strong young woman. As your doctor explained to you, a rape kit was performed. We have a substantial amount of evidence collected that will put your attacker away for many years. You fought him with everything you had, Nicolette. You will survive this, and Michael St. Clair will be prosecuted for his assault on you, I can promise you that.”

I just nodded at the detectives, and they walked outside with my parents to talk. My father was so angry. He wanted to find Michael, but Det. Westphall advised him to please stay with me, and let the police handle it. My father reluctantly agreed “
for now
”, he told the detectives.

“Mr. And Mrs. Vanelle, I have to make you aware that once Michael is arrested, and charged, the media will soon find out. You may want to obtain security until the media frenzy, that I’m sure will surround you, dies down a bit. Michael’s father is not just the head of a movie studio; he has business connections throughout all of California. I honestly don’t see how this can be contained. I am truly sorry, and we will assure you on our end to be discreet as possible. We will only release a statement, once we have your permission to do so.”

While my parents were still speaking with the detectives, my nurse had brought in a tray of food for me. I tried to eat something, but pushed the tray aside. I wasn’t hungry. All I wanted to do was sleep. My mind was plagued with memories of Michael raping me. I kept hearing Michael’s voice over and over again,
“You’re mine, Nicolette.”
I gripped at my blankets and squeezed my eyes shut as I tried to fall asleep.

“Mason, we have to call Jack, and let him know what has happened with Nicolette.”

“No. We are not calling my brother, Christina!” he shouted.

“Mason, Jack has a right to know what happened to Nicolette.”

“She’s our little girl, and we will take care of her, not him!”

“Mason he’s been calling all our phones, and if we don’t reach out to him soon, he’s going to get worried, and fly out here. Do you want that? We can’t afford to have Jack flying off the handle.”

“Of course not Christina but I can’t deal with Jack right now. Just when he was finally beginning to accept our decision to move here, this tragedy happens to Nicolette. The minute Jack finds about Nicolette, he will go insane, and you know what he is capable of Christina. We can’t tell Jack about Nicolette.”

“What about Nicolette, and what she wants Mason? She is going to want to speak with him, and how are we going to explain to Nicolette why she can’t talk with her uncle?”

“I don’t know Christina, I just don’t know! I will not lose my daughter.” My father fell to his knees, and cried holding his head into his hands. My mother knelt down to comfort him, she cried along with him.

Holding him in her arms, she whispered. “Mason, she’s his daughter, too, we have to call Jack. You know it’s the right thing to do.”

I had awakened from my nap, and my head was still fuzzy from the pain medicine I was given. I thought I had heard voices outside of my room, but everything sounded mumbled. I rolled over to my side, and saw a note sitting on the table addressed to me. It was from Simon, it read:

Peaceful? I was far from feeling at peace. Leave it to Simon, for trying to make me feel better. I clutched his note to my chest, and sobbed again into my pillow. How could Simon still love, and want me after what Michael did to me? I felt sick just thinking about him when my stomach rumbled. I grabbed the bowl off the table, and emptied what I had in my stomach. I needed another shower. I felt dirty, and wanted to wash away Michael.

“Thank you for calling the Neighborhood, this is Tommy speaking.”

“Hi, Tommy, this is Christina Vanelle calling.”

“Well, hello, stranger, how are you? And how’s California these days?”
I didn’t have time for chit chat. I wasn’t ok and neither was my daughter.

“Tommy, I need to speak to Jack, is he there?”

“Yeah sure, let me get him for you.”

Jack’s tone was short, and clipped with me. He was angry. “I have been calling you for days, Christina. Why haven’t you returned any of my phone calls? It’s not like Nicolette, to avoid me.” It was too late to turn back now. I was dreading what I had to tell my brother-in-law about Nicolette, but he needed to know.
Please Mason forgive me.

“Jack, please let me speak and don’t interrupt me. This call to you is hard enough and yelling at me will just make it more difficult to tell you.”

“Oh hell, I’m sorry Christina. I’ve been worried. When I don’t hear from any of you, especially Nicolette, it stresses me out. Talk to me, Christina. What’s going on? Struggling to speak in between her sobs.

“Jack.”

“Damn it woman, you are scaring the hell out of me. Just say it!

“It’s Nicolette, she’s in the hospital.”

“Hospital? Is she ok? Was she in an accident? Sighing deeply and trying to calm down, Jack asked again. What happened to my girl?”

“She was raped.”

No need to say anything else. My mother knew Jack heard her right, and then she heard sounds of glass shattering. Waiting for Uncle Jack to say something, he got back on the line and simply said, “I’m on my way.” Leaving my Aunt Sara behind without even an explanation, Uncle Jack took the next flight out to California.