Divorced! Now what?
Chapter 126

Bethany

POV

'Take a break and have some dinner. It is getting late. Jacko said, and after Pam had paused the recording, I was nearly in tears. Cynthia had a horrible time. No child should have to go through that. Mother was an evil woman to do that to Cynthia. A person who you should trust is betraying and encouraging wrongdoings, and I thought they were both bad, but my heart broke for a child who could not escape the clutches of a possessed woman. But Cynthia turned into a bitter woman, too. You will become the same when you are used to being like she was. 'How are you doing, Bethany?' Pam asked, her warm hand gently resting on my arm. I looked into her eyes, pools of pure kindness, and felt a wave of comfort. If I had seen pity or sympathy, I would have most likely cried, but as it was, I just nodded at her and took a burger and water. I sat away from the paperwork on the table and started eating; the burger had no taste; it smelled good, but that was it. I could not bring myself to eat the chips and only managed half the burger; my stomach felt like twisted knots, and getting food down was proving too hard.

'If it gets too much, we can stop for the day and return tomorrow. Jacko suggested kindly, watching me struggle to eat. 'The office was informed to do it all today, so I will work as late as needed. Robson has the patient I was going to operate on on hold; her temperature has risen, and we cannot risk operating if she is coming down with a bug. So I can stay late. Dad will take Theo home tomorrow, as we planned to stay the night. It will be good for Dad and Theo to spend time with Thomas and his little growing family! After I had pushed the plate aside, I picked up the book, and Pam turned the recorder back on. It was like reading a horror story, not my sister's real life. Some seemed so fanciful and hard to believe, but I doubt Cynthia was writing down many lies. 'I had now killed twenty people, and I was getting the taste of it; every one of them so far has been on the contract list, and my husband praised me for my ingenuity in killing them and so far not getting caught. He said he might have a use for me after all, and it is incredible how nice it is to get praise, even a little bit, which makes most of the hurt go away!

'This book was the start of my freedom. The other books I had hidden in the last place she would start looking for and that was among Bethany's things. Mother would never have thought of looking there, and now I have some bargaining power, or so I thought. I carefully copied some, so I would still have a copy if she found them. The next thing I know, I am being hauled out of bed and down to the basement, where the Judge, Peter, and Bennett are all standing looking at me with venom in their eyes! 'Where are the books, Cynthia?' Mother slapped me across the face, and then the men had a turn to hit me; my eyes were black and blue, blood was pouring out of my nose and mouth, and my head was spinning. I could not answer them even if I wanted to. I was watched for months after that, and the man on my tail got to see me kill five other men, and I did not care. I was on the warpath; these men were annoyed I had them by the balls and would not let go; they could not risk. Things were on the up. 'Bethany and Bret were married; she is so gullible; I have been bedding him regularly, making sure not to be around him when my husband was in town; I am sure he had people following me. Part of why I needed him married off was that I did not want another beating or a bullet in the head. It amazes me how easy it is to get away with things under their noses. I wanted to hurt Bethany because she was not hurting like me, and I felt wronged by Mum and her ability to make me into what I was becoming and my life in so many ways; why could it not have been her that that prick liked and not me? One small slip-up and I was married off. I should have kept my mouth shut. I should not have threatened to tell Dad about her scams. She said if I were not of use to her anymore, she would be the one to put the bullet in my head and not Peter, my husband. I cleaned out the basement, looking for somewhere to hide my stuff; when I found Mother's books on the accounts offshore and copied them all, I would have all her money soon. Bethany, the cow, was home when I took Bret to the lounge floor, and she spoiled my fun; I had been spending her money like water. Bret gave me the card, so I could use it as I needed to. We had a great time at the pretend wedding, and we made a killing. I was in a perfect mood until the card did not work, and suddenly, we were stuck with a huge bill. Well, I was not going to pay for it. Why should I? My money was mine. I earned it.'

'What scared me was when she moved away, she took all her books and my gun, which I had hidden in the Christmas stuff that was Gran's. I had to find out where she had gone; the hospital would not tell me where she was going, and all my searches failed to locate her. I made Bret's life miserable when he moved in with me, and then Mother moved in, too; I did not want either of them living in my house, but at least with Mother in the house, Peter did not suspect anything was happening between me and Bret. He was in the guest room, and we kept our distance. We found her, but I could not get to her home to find the books; things were falling apart, so Peter and the Judge came up with a traffic accident. But the cow lived, and the guy who pulled her out hit her because she was awake, and he did not want her to know where we were taking her. Peter and the Judge went to the tunnel where she was being held, and all of us had a turn hitting her; why was she still alive? I had no idea; she should have died in the vehicle, and now she is still not dead. I needed to get into her penthouse suite, but the word was that Theo was living there with her; she did not keep her legs closed for long. I always thought she was unfaithful; it is in the blood, like mother, like daughter, and would you say?' 'Somehow, Bethany got out of the cave. I have no idea how, and I can't find where she is gone now. They are putting pressure on me to find her. None of the hospitals recorded her with them. Or an unidentified woman, Peter, and the Judge are going mental. I had to find her, or they would kill me!

'That is where the book ends. Cynthia did not have time to add any more, and the time frames were all over the place!' 'What do those numbers in different colors mean?' Pam asked as she pointed to the side of the page that had the number six in red. 'That is the book number; this one is book one, the book two was the killings, book three, the money accounts, and so on. 'Wow, okay, decode this book, please! Jacko said.

'Wait, here, have a coffee and a muffin; you need a break; we can start the next book shortly. You have done a lot already, and it is nearly midnight; take a break, please!' Pam urged, looking at Jacko as if daring him to argue with her.

'It is fine. It's best to get it all over in one go, I said, pulling the book to me and flipping it open to the first page.