Detectives Kelly Buford and Carmen Sacco sat in their police SUV watching the house on Cavendish Street. They had done the ninety-minute drive to discover no one was home.

The neighbour was in her front garden. She told them Mrs Gladstone had gone to a doctor's appointment and would return soon. She knew this because she was looking after Mrs Gladstone's daughter.

Kelly shuffled in the driver's seat. "How about we find a McDonald's and get a coffee?"

"Okay. Sounds good." Carmen opened her phone and googled the closest drive-through. She pointed. "Three blocks that way."

When they returned, a car was parked in the driveway. A dark-haired woman dressed in jeans and a blue t-shirt stood talking to the neighbour. She lifted a little girl on her hip, waved and headed towards the door of number forty.

"We'll give her a minute." Carmen held out her cup. "Let's finish our coffee first."

Kelly took a sip and frowned. "Mine's not very hot."

"Nor is mine." Carmen grinned. "I think they have some regulation to do with temperature. I read somewhere a man bought a coffee and put it between his legs as he drove away. It spilt and gave him third-degree burns so, he sued. Since then, hot drinks can't be over a certain temp." She shrugged and took a mouthful.

Kelly huffed. "Whatever happened to people taking responsibility for their actions?" She shook her head. "Everybody's looking for someone else to blame for their stupidity and don't we see plenty of that."

"You got that right." Carmen laughed and put her cup in the holder. "Come on let's go talk to Paula Gladstone."

It took a while before the door opened. The woman had her fingers to her lips. "I've just got my daughter to sleep." She gave them a curious look. "If you're selling something I'm not interested."

Carmen pulled out her badge. Kelly did the same. "Are you Paula Gladstone?"

"Yes, what's this about? Ruby said someone was asking for me."

"I'm Detective Sacco and this is my partner Detective Buford. We'd like to talk to you about your brother, Cory Shevlin."

The woman jolted backwards and said, "What's he done now?"

"Can we come in for a chat?"

Paula hesitated and then nodded. "I guess, but I don't know why you'd want to talk to me. I have nothing to do with Cory." She stepped back to let them in.

The officers followed her along a hallway that was covered with childish drawings. "Your little girl's a real artist," Carmen said with a grin.

"Yeah." Paula smiled. "It's a special wallpaper made so kids can draw or paint on it. My husband thinks she has real talent." She stood at the door to the dining room and indicated they sat at the table. "I haven't seen Cory in four years so I'm not going to be able to help you."

Kelly settled on a chair and opened her notebook as she asked, "Do you know where he lives?"

"What part of, I haven't seen him in four years, didn't you get?"

Kelly noticed the cynicism in the comment and tucked her lips back in a sardonic grin. Why couldn't people answer police questions without all the angst? She said, "That doesn't mean you don't know where he lives."

"Well, I don't." Paula crossed her arms, tilted her head and gave Kelly an exasperated look.

"What about the rest of your family?" Kelly tweaked her eyebrows. This woman was too defensive not to know something. "If you could give us their names and contact details that'd be great."

"They won't know either."

"Please. Their names and numbers."

"Ok." Paula jerked her shoulders in defeat. "Mum and Dad have moved out of state." She rattled off their number. "My youngest brother Jackson lives in Perth." Once again, she gave them his phone number. Paula sighed as if she'd run out of distrust. "I don't know where Baum is and neither do the rest. He disappeared."

She looked from one Detective to the other. "He had the misfortune of looking a lot like Cory. So, a lot of Cory's shit came back on him. There are fourteen months between them. It affected him a lot so he disappeared. It's been two years since any of us have heard from him. So, good luck with that." Paula found more determination and added, "Like I said I haven't had anything to do with Cory in years and I don't intend to get involved in whatever he's done now."

"Why's that?" Carmen asked.

Paula's agitation rose once more. "Cause he's trouble, loopy, mentally deranged, whatever you want to call it. I don't want him near me or my family."

Carmen looked across at her with sympathy. She tweaked her mouth in a gentle grin. "Sounds a bit like my brother." She said, "You can't pick your family, can you?" She noticed Paula's face relax so added, "Paula we just need some background on your brother. He's not in any trouble but his name has come up in an ongoing investigation and we can't seem to find him or anyone prepared to talk about him."

"That's because they're scared of him." Paula leaned forward and put her forearms on the table. "Why do you think I live here? To get away from him. Why do you think my parents moved to New South Wales? Same reason. To get away from him. Why do you think I dye my hair black? So, he won't recognise me. Same for Baum and Jackson too."

Kelly let Carmen continue to talk. She wove her magic and always managed to get people to open up.

"Wow. Worse than my brother." Carmen said. "Would you tell us about him, Paula? We need some info on him."

"Alright, but if he's got to go to court or anything, I refuse to talk. Have we got that clear?" She looked from one to the other. "I don't want to be anywhere near him. Understood."

The two detectives nodded. "Of course," Carmen said. "We just want background so we know what kind of person we're dealing with."

"Okay." Paula took a breath. She released it with a heavy sigh.

Carmen checked to see if Kelly had her notebook and pen ready, and then said, "Can you describe him for us?"

"He's tall. Over six foot. Dad's six-three. I'm sure Cory is taller. Blonde hair. Brown eyes. Fit." Paula looked from one officer to the other. "At least that's what he looked like the last time I saw him."

"What about distinctive marks?" Kelly looked up from her pad. "Scars, moles, tattoos. Stuff like that."

"A tattoo." Paula touched her upper arm. "I can't remember which arm. I just remember he got one because Mum and Dad weren't happy about it at the time. It was the Grim Reaper or something like that. Horrible looking thing."

"Okay, great." Kelly took notes, and then looked at Paula and smiled. "Please tell us about him. Anything, so we can get a picture of the person he is."

Paula hesitated not sure where to start. "He's always been trouble. Even as a little kid. He had ADHD or something like that." She paused for a breath. "It's kinda sad because he could be cute when he wanted." Paula shrugged and looked from one to the other. "I guess it was because of his condition. He was diagnosed with Bipolar when he was fifteen. He's a real Jekyll and Hyde. Mum always said he had two different personalities and there was more to his problems than Bipolar. No doctor would diagnose him with anything else. They just kept putting him on different medications. Antipsychotic shit, Serotonin, Zoloft you name it he's been on it."

She studied each officer again. "Mum and Dad tried everything. Boxing and Kung Fu, to teach him discipline so he could control his anger. Meditation and music to soothe his soul." Paula used her fingers to invert her words. "They even took him to church. He could be great for months."

A sad look veiled her face as she said, "When he was, he was caring and kind. He has these amazing brown eyes that can get you to do anything. Then this evil side came out. The smallest things could trigger it, like changing the TV channel. Something stupid like that. He'd go into a rage, smash the place up and anyone who was in his way."

Paula stood and paced. "By the time he was twenty, he had hurt each of us, in one way or another. He started on drugs and got involved in a fighting club. That's when we all decided to split and the last time I saw him."

"How do you mean, hurt each of you?" Kelly asked.

Paula gripped her hands together as she moved around the room. "Just that." She opened her palms and paced again. "He backhanded Mum and split her lip. More than once. Punched Dad out. Again, more than once. Tortured our pets. More than once."

With each disclosure, Paula clenched her fists. She stopped moving and looked back at Kelly. "He broke Jackson's arm because he'd used his X-Box and stabbed Baum's leg with a pair of scissors because he'd eaten what Cory said was his chocolate and he bashed me around for stupid reasons. He'd make up stuff. Conspiracy theories. When he was at his worst, he always thought someone was after him, spying on him or intruding on his private affairs. Shit like that."

Paula shrugged. "He was always fucked up. Excuse my French but he said shit that just wasn't true." She sighed again. "Four years ago, we gave up on him and took off in different directions. None of us felt safe around him." Paula gripped the back of a chair and sucked in air. "Mum always blamed herself. To be honest I think he was born evil. He loved being cruel. His face changed. His eyes changed. They'd go blank. I saw joy in them when he hurt me."

A tear trickled down her cheek. Paula looked from one to the other. "We never reported any of the incidents. Mum made excuses for him when he was younger."

She gasped, covered her face with her hands, and then let them drop as she said, "It was easier to scatter when he got older. That's why you don't have a history of him. I've heard stories about how he treated girlfriends and the terrible things he did to other people. Poor Baum copped a lot of blame for the shit Cory did because people got them confused. He lost friends because of it. I can't blame him for disappearing," Paula sobbed. "I can't describe the fear Cory put into us as a family so I imagine it was the same for others. You didn't report it. You just ran."

More tears rolled down her face. "I'm sorry. I can't help you and I never want to see him again. I hope he hasn't hurt someone."

Kelly stood and put her arm around Paula. She understood now why she'd had her guard up. "Hey, it's okay. We didn't mean to upset you like this."

"I... I'm... the only girl. The oldest in the family. Cory is third." Paula gasped. "I... I... never told my parents but, the last time I saw him." She sucked in a huge breath of air and looked Kelly in the eye. "He raped me." 

Thank you all so much for the amazing support you have given me, not only with this book, but my others also. I can't tell you how much you have all inspired me. I had thought about setting my writing aside but Wattpad and the wonderful people I have met on here has been so uplifting and I truly can't thank you all enough. I hope 2025 brings you everything you hope for. ♥♥♥

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