Last part of The Forgotten Angel

A few days later, a notice in the newspaper caught Sage’s mother’s eyes. A notice in the obituaries. A death notice. She gasped, then went out to the garage where her husband was working on his car.
“You killed her, didn’t you!” she exclaimed loudly. Her husband looked at her like she had three heads.
“What in hell are you talking about??” he asked, standing up and wiping his hands. He took the paper from her, then blinked, shrugged and handed the paper back to his wife. He turned and continued working. His wife moved so she was in front of him.
“You killed her last night while I was out! Then you hid her, but unfortunately they found her! YOU KILLED HER!!” she screamed, slapping her husband across the face. Large tears poured down her cheeks. “YOU KILLED MY DAUGHTER!!!” she wailed loudly. He turned, about to say something, but was stopped by a police car pulling into the yard. He looked away, annoyance showing in his face. The police officer and his partner came up into the garage and took off their hats. They looked first at the man, then his wife, then the man again.
“Something you want to tell us sir?” one officer asked, placing his hat back on and crossing his arms. The man shook his head. His wife shook her head also, still sobbing. She turned to the officer and wailed.
“He killed our daughter” she sputtered out through sobs. The police officer blinked, then looked at his equally astounded partner, then back at the man.
“Is that true sir?”
“I didn’t lay a hand on her! She got locked outside, I tried to look for her, I couldn’t find her!” he lied through his teeth, his back turned to the officers and his wife. The first officer stepped forward, pulling out a pair of handcuffs.
“Hands behind your back sir.”
“I told ya! I didn’t do nothing!” the man yelled angrily, turning around, facing the officer. The man’s wife left the garage, still sobbing. The second officer followed her out.
“Mind if I ask ya some questions?” he asked softly, helping her to the steps and standing in front of her when she sat down. She nodded.
“Go ahead..” she said in a soft, teary sounding voice. The officer nodded and pulled out a small tiny notebook and a pen.
“Was your husband at all abusive toward you or your daughter?”
The woman looked at the officer.
“Wh.. Why do you ask?”
The officer pulled out a picture of Sage, her skin a soft white/grey colour, making her look like a life-sized porcelain doll. Bruises marked her face and arms, and a large unhealed cut sat on her cheekbone.
“We found multiple bruises on her arms, and torso. We also found lacerations to her back, did your husband ever beat your daughter with a whip, or a belt?”
Sage’s mother stayed silent, her eyes fixed on the photo of her daughter. Then she looked up at the officer, then began sobbing once again. She nodded quickly, afraid of what was going to happen. The first officer came out of the garage, pushing the man ahead of him. He led him to the car and helped him in before shutting the door. He came over to Sage’s mother and his partner.
“Ma’am, anything you can tell us about him, or your daughter will be very helpful” he said softly, kneeling down before her. She stopped sobbing long enough to look at him, then she took a deep breath and cleared her throat.
“He… he would lock her out of the house if she didn’t do what he told her to do. He would.. call her stupid… and blame her for everything.” she said, wiping tears away as best she could. “That-that’s all I can remember right now”
The second officer quickly wrote down what she was saying. The first officer nodded.
“Alright ma’am. Thank you. We’re sorry for your loss.” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder gently. “If there’s anything else, you come and tell us, ok?”
She nodded, then stood up and went into her house as the officers got back into their cruiser and headed back to the station.

The day started out bright and sunny. Sage’s mother got up slowly, keeping a tissue with her at all times as her eyes kept spilling tears. She got ready at a slow pace, pulling on a long plain black dress. She looked in the mirror and sighed as she put a black hat with a black lace veil on her head gently. The veil hung loosely over her eyes. She attempted to put make up on, but it ended up running everywhere before she had even left the house. By the time she got to the cemetery, the day had gotten dark, rain clouds threatened to pour down rain. A fitting scene for the events taking place. She stood near a small rectangular hole dug deep into the ground. The reverend started the service. A small graveside service with only friends. That’s what Sage’s mother had requested. Her mother looked around, then at the small casket slowly being lowered into the grave. Tears began spilling over and down her cheeks once more as she thought of her little girl in that casket.
     “I’m sorry.” she whispered as dirt was thrown in on top of the casket, burying it for good. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you from him.. I’m sorry I helped him break you” she said, her voice a bit louder then a whisper. As she said this, the sun peeked out from behind the clouds. The light fell on a small pot of white roses sitting beside the gravesite. Beside the roses was a small table with Sage’s picture on it also lit up in the sunlight. The picture was facing opposite the sun, making the light shine through. It lit up the picture, making it look like Sage was glowing. Her mother noticed this. Even more tears began to fall as she stared at the what now seemed to be glowing picture.
“My angel…” she said softly before looking up to the sky. “I love you”

[~*~Tell me what ya think! ^.^]