Their Stories

Gus nodded and she began her story. "I fell head over heels in love with Mark at first sight. We kept in touch after he left the ranch and his vacation ended. He asked me to marry him a month later and I did. We were together two years before I had any idea there might be something wrong. I received phone calls, if I answered the caller would hang up. They stopped. In hindsight, I should have questioned his buying power. A cop doesn't make much, but I wanted to trust him."

Miriam sipped her wine and rocked in the chair.

"One night he thought I found out something because I asked him a question I guess was a little too close for comfort to him. The next night he came home. I can sleep through a bomb, so I never felt him handcuff me to the bed.

He beat me enough to put me in the hospital for two weeks.