Framed: Part III

 

Twelve years passed, and Mahone was transferred to another state as a captain. One day, he was having coffee at a restaurant when he saw a woman a couple of tables ahead of him with two of her friends. She looked familiar, but he couldn’t remember who she was. It was when she giggled at a joke that he recognised her.

When they left the place, he followed them at a distance. After her friends got into their cars and left, the woman got into a bus. Mahone also hurried into the same bus and got off it when she did. After about a minute’s walk, she walked into a house; and after she shut the door, he walked up to it and rang the bell. The one who answered the door was Mary. She was shocked the moment she recognised him.

“Officer Mahone! What’re you doing here?” she asked nervously.

“Don’t worry, I’m not here on official business. Your secret is safe with me.”

“What secret?”

“Isn’t Helena inside?”

That moment, Helena walked into the living room. “Are you here to arrest me?”

“No, I’m not… As a matter of fact, I’m glad you’re here. I’ve hated myself all these years thinking that I let a monster take the life of an innocent woman when I had the power to stop it. And even though this revelation still doesn’t help with the guilt, at least I’m glad you’re doing alright.”

“It’s okay… It’s all in the past now.”

“What exactly happened that night, Helena?”

“George was furious—more than he had been in weeks. He beat me till I fell unconscious and left me there to go sleep on the porch chair. One of my friends said she would visit me that day, but she got late. When she arrived, he was sleeping and I was unconscious. She quickly gave me some first aid treatment (she’s a doctor), before taking me to her place,” Helena said.

“One of her cousins had also gone through the same ordeal, so, with their help, I was able to vanish. I moved here without even informing Mary. I waited until a year had passed before contacting my family members. None of my friends back there know I’m alive,” she added.

“I see. I’m glad you managed to get away from him… And what about your child? Mary mentioned in court that you were pregnant at the time.”

“I have a daughter. Her name’s Sasha.”

“Oh, that’s a lovely name.”

“She will never know what it's like to grow up in fear, or experience or witness any type of abuse. Even before my ex-husband, Mary and I experienced terrible abuse at the hands of our father. He was the same as George. We used to cry ourselves to sleep while our mom’s cries echoed through our house. I ended up just like her, but everything changed when I found out I was pregnant with Sasha. I wasn’t going to let my child suffer the same fate I had been suffering all my life. She was the reason I agreed to run away and disappear, even if it meant leaving my old life behind.”

“And it was for the best that you did… Anyway, I’d love to meet Sasha. Is she here now or still at school?”

“She should be here any moment.”

Right then, a little girl walked through the door. She stopped the moment she saw Mahone and looked at Mary and Helena. “Who’s this?”

“This is one of our old friends, honey. His name is Mahone.”

Sasha greeted Mahone with a warm smile, and Helena asked him to stay for some tea. A few hours passed, and Mahone left their house feeling happy about the new revelation. Even though he was worried about George being locked up for a crime he didn't commit and, although as an officer of the law, he was bound to arrest Helena and put her on trial for falsifying her death, Mahone decided not to take any action against her, nor tell anyone about the information that had come to light.   

‘George may have been convicted over a crime he didn’t commit, but if he was allowed to go on, the cost would’ve been too high. He was a criminal nonetheless, and got what he deserved,’ he thought as he walked down the street.

Mahone never revealed that secret to anyone: not to Jerome, nor even his wife. He decided that it was best left buried.

—End—