Free My Only One by Lindsay McKenna Page A

Poetic? Not threatened by a woman such as myself? I can’t believe they are.”
    He shook his head. “Not many are. They see women as something to be used.”
    “Or abused,” Abby said grimly. “Do you know that rape of women is on an alarming rise in our country? That one out of three women in the U.S. will be raped in their lifetime? And that one quarter of all girls have been sexually abused by the time they’re eighteen, usually by a family member? I’ll never forget those statistics. They’ve stuck in my mind since I heard them seven years ago. I shudder to think how much higher they’ve risen since then. Sad, isn’t it? As women gain credibility and some equality, we have other threats to worry about.”
    “That’s a high price to pay,” Alec said.
    “The price for freedom is always high.” Abby got up. “I know Lieutenant Atkin wanted me to paint a rosy picture of life in American, but I believe in telling the truth. Especially about women’s rights. I’m known as a feminist, a woman who demands her rights.”
    Alec felt the tension in her tall, proud body. He saw the anguish in her eyes and heard the vibrating anger in her voice. “I have no idea what it’s like for women in my country. To be frank, I’ve had little contact with that side of life.”
    “You’re lucky. My best friend, Susan Stone, who lives across the hall from me in Washington, is a case in point.” Abby came and sat down on the couch with Alec. She crossed her legs and rested her wineglass on one of her knees. “The way I met Susan four years ago was when she pounded on my apartment door at two in the morning. Her husband, Steve, was beating up on her.” Abby shook her head, unable to stand the sympathy in Alec’s shadowed eyes. “Susan took him to court and started divorce proceedings. To show you how sick the justice system is in our country, the damned judge decided to block the injunction to keep Steve out of the apartment. The judge, who was also a man, a part of the good-old-boy network, said Susan didn’t have enough evidence as to Steve’s abuse. It was her word against his. So Steve was able to stay.
    “Susan asked if I’d allow her and her daughter Courtney, who was only a year old at that time, to sleep in my apartment until she could get some kind of legal protection. I said yes after hearing what had happened. When Steve got home and found out what Susan had done, he flew into a rage and started beating her up again.” With a tremulous sigh, Abby whispered, “I had to take Susan to the emergency room. Alec, she had two black eyes and a broken rib. Can you believe that? I was so angry at her idiot husband that, if I’d had a gun, I’d probably have shot him.”
    Alec remained silent, watching the fury and hurt in Abby’s face. Finally, after a minute, he murmured, “No, it’s not in your blood to kill anyone.”
    She glanced up at him. “Don’t be so sure. I can’t stand men who would assault any woman or child who cannot physically defend themselves against that kind of superior strength.”
    He shook his head, sharing her disgust. “So what happened to your friend Susan?”
    “I called the cops right away. They took one look at Susan and hauled Steve off to jail.” She flashed him an angry look. “I took care of Courtney and had a lawyer friend from SOWF represent Susan. Bill got that injunction and then he went after Steve with a vengeance.”
    “What happened?”
    “Nothing,” Abby said flatly. “The judge threw out Susan’s testimony in court. Can you believe that? And this isn’t an isolated incident, Alec. Women go through this all over the U.S.!”
    “Where is she now?”
    “Susan’s working very hard to be a successful stock broker in Washington, D.C. In the last three years, she’s pulled herself up by her bootstraps and made something of herself.”
    “And Courtney?”
    “Adjusting. Susan takes her to a therapist but Courtney is still wary around men. She’s getting