Adam studied her. ‘Do you believe he would have resorted to violence to stop you?’
‘He did,’ Dianne insisted. She pulled her phone from her pocket, batting Candace’s hands away when she reached for it. ‘I’m going to show them. I wanted to report the fucking bastard three months ago. I took pictures the night Candy got here.’ She handed her phone to Trip, whose chair was closer.
Trip frowned, then passed the phone to Adam, who had to bite back a wince. Candace Voss sported a dark shiner in the photo, the bruise covering her eye and most of her cheek.
‘Were there any other injuries?’ Adam managed to ask levelly.
‘No.’ Candace looked away again. ‘Penny saw my face. I told her that I’d fallen down, but she didn’t believe me. She told me that she knew it was her daddy who’d done it. I couldn’t bear that she knew. That she was so certain. I was so ashamed that I let him hurt me like that. And scared he’d do it again. Or hurt Penny.’
‘Is that why she’s in therapy?’ Trip asked gently.
‘No. Well, yes, that too,’ she amended. ‘Also because I found out about the party because Penny heard it going on and saw . . . something.’
Adam couldn’t control his blink of shock. ‘He had prostitutes in your home with your daughter present?’
Candace shrugged, her shoulders rigid. ‘He thought she was asleep.’
‘Fucker,’ Dianne added under her breath.
Adam fully agreed with that statement. Poor kid. ‘What exactly did she see?’
‘We’re not sure,’ Dianne said. ‘She won’t talk about it, but she did tell Candy that there was a naked lady with pink hair in the bathroom when she got up to pee that night.’
‘Pink hair?’ Adam asked.
‘Pink hair and ponytails.’ Dianne shrugged. ‘That’s all we could get out of her.’
‘I was away for the evening,’ Candace said, her feelings of guilt still apparent. ‘I’d gone to a bachelorette party and we were all staying the night so that we could have wine. I was stunned when I got home the next day. Penny said she’d asked her daddy who the lady was once she was gone, but Broderick wouldn’t wake up. He was in a drunken stupor.’
And the mental picture of that was enough to banish any of Adam’s own need for a drink. For now, at least. One day at a time. One moment at a time.
Adam took his notebook from his pocket. ‘When was this?’
‘September thirteenth,’ Dianne said without hesitation. ‘Not a day I’ll ever forget.’
Candace sighed. ‘Me, either. Nor will Penny. I grabbed her and ran from the house. Came straight here because—’ Her voice cracked. ‘I didn’t know where else to go.’
Dianne leaned over Candace’s chair to wrap her arms around her sister. ‘It’s okay. You are always welcome here. You know that. Whatever stupid things we argue about, I love you. Like a sister,’ she added teasingly, but both women were close to tears.
Trip cleared his throat. ‘You said that you talked to one of the prostitutes, who said she was eighteen,’ he said, bringing the women back to the reason for the interview. ‘How did you know who to talk to and where to find her?’
Candace’s lips curved in a mirthless smile. ‘After I brought Penny here, I went back to the house. My plan was to get our things, but as I was coming up to the gate, I saw a bunch of cars going in and realized he was having another party. So I pulled out of security camera range and waited. Just before dawn, three cars emerged. One of the drivers had pink hair. I followed them back to the college campus, but could only follow one of the three cars when they split up to park. I picked Pink Hair. I . . . Well, I may have been a little threatening myself. I told the girl that I’d report her to the university police if she didn’t tell me what I wanted to know.’
‘Which was?’ Adam prompted.
‘First, how old were they? Second, how much had he paid them? Third, had he used condoms and, fourth, were they disease free? She swore they were all over eighteen, all students. He’d been hosting a party with some friends and the girls were the “entertainment.”’ More air quotes. ‘She said the men were all pretty high.’ Her mouth twisted. ‘There had been drugs in my home. She swore they hadn’t had drugs the night before, but I didn’t believe her. My baby was exposed to that.’ Her voice hoarsened, then broke. She blinked and tears ran down her cheeks.
‘How much had he paid them?’ Adam asked quietly.
‘A thousand each for the night. He’s been a regular big-time spender since Buzz Boys went IPO. He was always a prick, but once he got really rich? It was hell. So I left.’
‘Did you get this young woman’s name?’ Trip’s voice soothed once more.
Candace laughed bitterly. ‘She said it was Kandy – with a K. Kandy Kane.’
‘For God’s sake,’ Dianne muttered.
Again, Adam fully agreed. ‘Do you remember what kind of car she drove?’
Candace’s lips curved, this time with satisfaction. ‘I’ll do you one better. I got photos of the license plates for all three hooker-mobiles. I can email you the photos. Some are better quality than others.’ Her satisfied smile faded. ‘My hands were shaking.’
‘When did he hit you?’ Trip asked.
‘Later that morning. When I’d finished talking to the prostitute, I went back to the house to get our things, mine and Penny’s. It was almost dawn and all the cars were gone, so I figured the party was over. I was quiet, because he was drunk and wasted. Again. I just wanted to get our things before he woke up, because he could be vile when he was drunk.’
Yeah. I know all about that. His own father had been that way. Adam was working so hard to ensure he never became like his father. ‘But he woke up?’
Candace nodded. ‘I was loading the car when he caught me. He did that to my face.’ She gestured at her sister’s phone. ‘He was hauling back to hit me again, so I hit him. I just grabbed a bottle and hit him upside the head. He staggered enough for me to run. I got in the car and he was right behind me.’ She shuddered out a breath, shaken. ‘I barely got the door closed and got out of there.’
‘It was a good thing I unloaded her car as soon as she got here,’ her sister said, trembling with fury. ‘Because he had it taken away the next day. Towed right out of my driveway. Said it was his car and she wasn’t keeping it.’
‘But that was okay. Dianne’s leased a car for me.’ Candace rubbed her forehead fitfully. ‘I’m going to have to find a new therapist for Penny. I can’t imagine Dr Fallon will keep seeing her after this.’
‘I can’t imagine she’d turn Penny away,’ Adam said firmly. ‘That’s not who she is. Have you considered filing charges against your husband?’
Dianne arched her brows in an I-told-you-so look and Candace sighed.
‘Only a million times, but I’m afraid of him. And before you ask, I’ve also considered a restraining order, but that would be pointless. He’d just have one of his flunkies do his dirty work. I have consulted with a divorce attorney. We’re almost ready to file.’
‘And then?’ Adam tempered his tone because she seemed to grow more fragile with every word she spoke.
‘I haven’t thought that far out,’ she admitted. ‘I need to find a job first. But I’m afraid to leave the house without Dianne. I’ve been homeschooling Penny because I’m afraid to let her go to school.’ She looked up, her expression bleak. ‘We’re trapped.’
Adam leaned forward. ‘Okay, one thing at a time. Even if you feel a restraining order is pointless, you should still file one so that the situation can be documented.’ And her old house was under surveillance, so if her husband attempted to leave, he’d be followed. But he wasn’t going to tell her that on the off chance that she wasn’t as innocent as she claimed. Broderick Voss likely knew he was being watched, but Adam didn’t want to spell it out in the event he was unaware. ‘We can’t provide full-time security, but I can ask for drive-bys. In the meantime, if he does send a flunky, do you have an alarm system?’
‘Yes, we do,’ Dianne said.