The photographer has snapped pictures of the group and I’ve collected the picture Nora agreed to let us have, a selfie of her, The Tutor and Charlotte. We’re seated in Nora’s living room. My recorder, ready to turn on. My pad on my lap, pen in hand. I look Nora over, she’s pretty in a natural way. Red hair, milky skin and bright clear eyes. She doesn’t wear much makeup and her hair is tucked behind her ears.
“I want to thank all of you for opening your home to me and taking the time to meet with me. Do you mind if I record the interview?”
“Not at all,” Nora says. I press record and set it on the coffee table in the middle of us all.
“For understandable reasons, you and those closest to you have been very private about what’s happened. It’s been just over a year since your living nightmare ended in the early morning of February 20th, 2016. For the first time ever, you’ve agreed to an exclusive interview with me. Why is that, Nora?” I could answer this one myself, because I am Meredith Walters of People Weekly Magazine and we are paying Nora Robertson a boat load for the exclusive. People vie for my human interest pieces. I normally wouldn’t have picked this interview up, but the whole team agreed to speak. The FBI agent, the detective, the captives themselves. It makes for a sensational piece, that even I couldn’t turn down.
She looks around the room, taking in each face as she goes. A soft smile plays on her lips.
“I want to raise awareness about emotional abuse . . . the struggle to return to normalcy and the unlikely people who have made that possible for me. I think, too often, young women are lured into emotionally unstable relationships that are toxic. It is very easy to justify behaviors that are wrong when you care for someone.”
“That is commendable. How are you, besides this interview, doing that?”
“Along with everyone in this room, I’ve started a charity that aids victims of emotional abuse or physical abuse in their recovery.”
“That’s wonderful. What’s it called?” I ask.
“NEL for Nora, Eve, Lotte. I’ll be sure to give you our business card, so you can run all the information with the article.” I grin at Nora and nod.
“Tell me about The Tutor. What was he like?”
Nora’s face bunches up. “My goal today is to open up about the experience afterward, not to discuss Holden,” she says. Bingo. She called him by his name. I make a quick note to highlight that fact in the write up.
I change the topic. “At twenty, you took a job as a summer live-in tutor at a remote cabin on Mount Arat, correct? I just want to establish a timeline for our readers.”
Nora nods. “Yes, that’s right.”
“You were young and impressionable,” I offer. She nods again. “Let’s go back to February of 2016, then. What transpired that day?” I ask.
“I escaped with Charlotte. It was a terrible blizzard that morning and I lost control of the truck and crashed. When I came to, I was in the hospital and Lotte wasn’t with me.”
“And from then on, it was a race against time to recover Charlotte, yes?”
“Yes,” Agent Brown answers. Detective Salve leans over and puts a hand on her shoulder.
“Knowing Charlotte was still missing was torturous. I’d been looking for her for so long. I got the call that someone was in the hospital and had probably lived with The Tutor and I thought it was Lotte. I was sure of it. It was devastating learning she didn’t make it away from him,” Eve says. She’s curled on the couch, knees tucked beneath her. Casual. Collected. I nod while making notes.
“And Charlotte, that day was fateful for you as well. What happened while Nora was unconscious? What made you pick that morning to escape?”
She looks to Nora and Eve, both nod their encouragement for her to answer. Interesting—she doesn’t speak without their permission.
“I tried to wake Nora. I was scared. I heard noises in the brush and I knew he was close. I was banged up and hurt. I couldn’t get away from him. I didn’t pick. Nora did. He . . . he hurt me. Hit me. Nora didn’t like that. It broke the spell.”
“So, you went back to the cabin with him?”
“Yes,” Charlotte answers.
“Did you try and run?” I ask Charlotte.
Nora motions for Charlotte to stay quiet.
“It is wrong to judge someone in any situation asking, ‘Well, why didn’t you try to run? Why didn’t you scream? Why didn’t you try to do something?” Nora says. “That is so fallacious and frankly, derogatory. You can’t know until you’re subjected to it yourself.”
“I did, though. I almost made it to the cliff,” Charlotte interjects. “But he grabbed me and pulled me back. And I’m thankful for that because I’m here and I wouldn’t be, if he had let me jump, like I planned.”
I watch Charlotte carefully. Her expression is sincere. She is grateful to the man who ruined years of her life.
“Tell me about ‘the spell’ you mentioned. How did you maintain your sanity?” I ask her. She looks a lot like Eve but younger. She’s a budding young lady, who will soon be a beautiful woman and people will want to know how she’s doing.
Lotte bites her lip before speaking. “I had Eve, then Nora,” she says softly. “I stayed hopeful. I thought of Eve and seeing her again. The spell was . . . it was Nora playing along with him. Playing nice. Thinking we were one big happy family. But when he hurt me, she saw the truth.”
“How are you doing today? What is life like for you now?”
Charlotte grins. “I am in private school, which I love and I live with the two best people who take care of me. And I have Dr. Richardson to talk to. I do track and am learning the piano and I joined art club!” Charlotte’s words spill from her mouth in rapid succession. Her excitement is palpable.
“How about you, Nora?”
Nora looks from Charlotte to me. “I am doing well. Working, therapy and keeping up with Lotte helps me stay grounded and busy.”
“Have you met anyone special?”
She shakes her head. “No.”
“Eve, how has your life changed?”
Eve sighs. “I’m grateful every day for these two.” She points at Charlotte and Nora. “But I’m still angry about what happened. I still feel fearful sometimes that it could all slip away.”
I nod at Eve. “I think that is understandable.”
“Nora, do you blame yourself for anything that happened?” I ask. Nora stiffens.
“No. Why would I?”
“It’s my understanding that initially you were . . . difficult to work with.”
Nora rolls her eyes, but it doesn’t faze me.
“I had been held captive and manipulated for months. I didn’t trust anyone and I still believed Hol- The Tutor would make good on his threats, if I spoke.”
I write down Nora’s body language for reference.
“Speaking of that, Agent Brown, did you understand why Nora acted the way she did or was it a challenge to work together?”
“I was frustrated many, many times by Nora. But thankfully, I grew to understand her hesitations and state of mind through Detective Salve and Dr. Richardson.”
I look to the doctor. “Dr. Richardson you’re credited with helping Nora let go. You really seemed to get through to her. How did you do it?”
“Time and patience. In these types of situations, you need to let the patient tell you their story. Only then, can you use their words to help them understand what is normal and what is not. It helps that Nora trusted me after a while and wanted to tell me what she went through.”
“Eve you shot and killed The Tutor on that fateful night he returned to kidnap Nora—correct?” Eve looks to Charlotte then Nora, as if they have an inside joke or secret they aren’t telling.
“I did. He had Nora. He broke into our home. I did what I had to in order to defend us,” Eve says. She crosses her arms over her chest.
“It looks as though you and Nora are very close. Do you think you share a bond, having both been victims of The Tutor?”
“I hate that nickname. I was the tutor. Nora was the tutor—not him. But yes, we are close. Our time with him was different but there are commonalities that we share. But that’s not what makes us close. It was our devotion to Lotte, our love for her. From there, becoming good friends was the next logical step.”
“Many applaud your conviction to continue to search for your sister so vigilantly after your escape, but you took a huge risk in the future of your and Charlotte’s lives when you shot and ultimately killed Holden Douglas. What prompted you to make that decision, when you had Charlotte in your arms?”
“Like I said. It was self-defense and Nora was being strangled.”
I switch to the therapist. “Dr. Richardson, tell me about how you came into the picture and why you’ve maintained such a close relationship with Nora.”
“I was called in by Agent Brown because I am a specialist in psychological trauma associated with hostage situations. Nora and I still meet once a month to make sure she’s on track. And Eve, and Charlotte. These women are smart enough to know that all of them living together and having difficult pasts to work through, that they need someone to speak with and help guide them when needed.”
“Agent Brown, your accolades speak for themselves. You were in the news for this case and as I understand it—you were promoted afterward. Why was this case so important to your career and you?”
“It was important because there was a serial kidnapper on the loose and a young lady missing. But that’s not what you want to hear, is it? I was up for promotion when I botched a case and lost a victim years before and it stuck with me. It’s hard to let go of what you see daily in this line of work. I channeled that failure into Nora’s case—right or wrong, and I wasn’t going to let anything stop me from making sure the outcome of this case was a good one. A just one.” Salve squeezes Brown’s hand. I make note. I find it interesting that they are so close.
“Detective Salve, Nora and Eve say you have been a constant in their lives. Did this case change you in any way?”
“This case changed everything. Look around, Meredith, these women are strong. Fighters. They’ve lived through an ordeal you can’t wrap your mind around. This case brought me Agent Brown. That was a surprise none of us saw coming,” he laughs. Brown playfully slaps his shoulder and Nora and Eve laugh.
“Sorry, I’m late. Class ran over!” Aubry Clark, the best friend, blows into the room like a storm. She’s all arms and bag straps. Two pens stick out of her messy bun. She sits on the couch with a light thud.
“Aubry, hi,” I greet. She lifts her hand in a slight wave. “Nora credits your friendship with helping her survive. That she wrote you letters while captive. Also, that your friendship greatly helped her once she escaped. How does that ring true for you?”
Aubry grins. “We were best friends before and we’ll be best friends long into the future. Like her, I had a letter from Nora, I must have read it a gazillion times before she escaped. It made me hopeful reading it. Knowing her fingers had touched that same paper. Knowing she’d taken the time to write it. I don’t know. Isn’t friendship supposed to be something you can count on in those darkest times in life?”
Nora reaches out and puts a hand on Aubry’s knee.
“Nora, what is different for you now?”
“I am more shy. I like peace and quiet. I can’t wear sun dresses anymore. I wonder if I will ever be able to meet a man and have a normal relationship or if I will secretly wonder if he is manipulating me.” She sighs. “I don’t know. Outside of the people in this room, I keep a lot to myself. But I am working on all this with Dr. R. She, at least, seems confident that I will live out a perfectly healthy, normal life. And if she predicts it—I believe it. Time and effort. That’s all it takes.” Nora fidgets with the hem of her sleeve under the beaming smile from Dr. Richardson.
“Can you explain the sundress comment?” I ask.
The room grows tense and with it, I hold my breath.
Nora gives me an intense look. “I am marked. The Tutor used my back—my skin as his canvas.”
I wrinkle my brow. I did not know this part. I look to Eve.
“Eve, are you also scarred?”
She shakes her head. “Not really. I refused him. Fought back. I didn’t like his cutting.”
“Are you suggesting Nora liked it?” I ask.
“I’m suggesting you ask Nora,” Eve grits out.
“I thought it was part of the deal. Part of the relationship. I thought it was survival. I let him.” Nora says. She looks to the carpet. “I let him cut me.”
“There is nothing wrong with that,” Dr. Richardson says. “Nora, do not let shame shape you.”
I am trying to make my notes so fast that the paper looks like scribbles. I know some of it I will be able to decipher later when I playback the recording and some of my hand written notes will be lost to the wind.
“I think that’s enough questioning about the cutting,” Agent Brown says. I have a thousand more questions, but there are a room full of people who look ready to jump me, if I piss off Nora any more.
“Eve, Charlotte and Nora, if you could say one thing to The Tutor—Holden Douglas—today, what would you say?”
“Fuck you,” Eve says.
Aubry tries to stifle a laugh.
Charlotte shakes her head and clamps her mouth shut.
I let her pass and look to Nora.
Her eyes look wet with unshed tears, as she says, “Only ever you.”