Breath of Scandal Page 8

  “That’s when I turned and ran toward the road,” she said. “I didn’t get far. Neal grabbed me by the hair and pulled me down.”

  He gave a helpless little shrug. “She said something to the effect of, ‘Like hell you are,’ but she was laughing.”

  “I said nothing of the sort, and I certainly wasn’t laughing. I was terrified.”

  “Of three friends?” Ivan snorted incredulously.

  “She did start running,” Neal said, “but not full out, not like she didn’t want to be caught. I did grab her by the hair. We had a tussle. She put up token resistance—all for show.”

  “That’s a lie,” Jade whispered hoarsely, shaking her head in adamant denial. “That’s a lie. He hurt me. He ripped off my—” A thought struck her. She looked at Neal’s mud-stained jeans—they were the ones he’d been wearing the night before. “He ripped off my pantyhose, then my panties. He put them in the pocket of his jeans. Check his pocket.”

  “Neal?” Fritz signaled with his head for the boy to comply.

  Ivan turned his head and looked over his shoulder at Neal as he fished into his right pocket. He produced a pair of yellow bikini panties. Velta, recognizing them, covered her mouth to stifle a startled gasp.

  Neal gazed at Jade, his eyes full of regret. Softly he said, “You told me to keep them as a souvenir, honey. Remember?”

  “He’s lying!” She shot from her chair and rounded the table, her fingers curled into claws aimed at his sardonic face. Fritz caught her around the waist and held her back.

  The door opened and a deputy peered in. “Sheriff, everything all right in here?”

  “Everything’s fine,” he assured his deputy.

  “Uh, sheriff, about those records at the lab.”

  “Yeah, I’d like to read the official report as soon as it’s available.”

  “That’s just it, Sheriff Jolly.” He shifted his weight nervously. “That’s what I come to tell you. The smears and all got throwed out by mistake. The whole kit on Miss Sperry got burned up in the hospital incinerator this morning.”

  When she heard that, the fight went out of Jade. She wilted over Fritz’s arm and allowed him to direct her back to her chair. With a tortured cry, she slumped forward. All the physical evidence of the rape had been destroyed. Even if the emergency-room doctor testified on her behalf, all he could actually attest to was that she had had sexual intercourse and that—seemingly—it had been rough. Under cross-examination, his testimony could be rendered useless. Besides, he couldn’t identify her attackers.

  Nothing that was said in this room would ever be permissible evidence in a court of law—not even Neal’s confession that he’d had carnal knowledge of her. He could change his story entirely and deny that he had been involved in the incident at all. From now on, it would be Jade’s word against theirs.

  But out of the blanket of black despair that was about to suffocate her, there glimmered a ray of new hope. Suddenly she raised her head. “Donna Dee.”

  “What?” Sheriff Jolly turned to her.

  “Call Donna Dee. She’ll tell you that I resisted. She saw me struggling to get out of Neal’s car. She’ll verify that I didn’t go with them voluntarily.”

  Fritz consulted his wristwatch, then said to the deputy, “Call Joe Monroe’s house. Try and catch his girl before she leaves for school. Tell her I want her to stop by here, but don’t tell her why.”

  The deputy doffed his hat and ducked out the door. They settled in to wait. Velta retrieved Jade’s panties from the table and stuffed them into her purse. Ivan requested coffee, which was served to him by an obsequious female clerk. Neal left only long enough to get a Coke from the vending machine in the squad room. To keep from looking at him, Jade laid her head on her arms again and kept her eyes closed.

  She longed for sleep. She wanted to take off the green operating-room scrubs and the ridiculous booties. She wanted to comb her hair and brush her teeth. She wanted privacy to weep for what was irretrievably lost—her virginity.

  Gary, Gary, she silently groaned. He wouldn’t blame her for the rape, but she wasn’t so naïve as to believe that this wouldn’t adversely affect their relationship. Thinking about to what extent was so heart-wrenching that she tried to concentrate on something else.

  “How long have you been working for me, Velta?” she heard Ivan ask her mother. He was still puffing on his vile cigar. The smoke made Jade nauseated.

  “A long time.”

  “Be a shame, wouldn’t it, if we had to disassociate on account of this misunderstanding.”

  Jade looked up at him. “Don’t try and intimidate her, Mr. Patchett. I hope my mother never works another day in your stinking factory. I don’t want money she earns there paying for the food I eat and the clothes I wear.”

  Ordinarily Jade would never have spoken like that to an adult. But she had been the victim of a cruel and painful attack, and, like any injured animal, she was striking back.

  Ivan flicked cigar ashes onto the floor. He frowned with stern disapproval. “You’d better put a muzzle on your girl there, Velta. She’s got a real smart mouth.”

  Velta turned to Jade and whispered, “Hush! Why are you trying to make things worse?”

  At that moment, Sheriff Jolly ushered in Donna Dee. Timidly, she hesitated before moving into the room. Her dark eyes bounced from one face to another. They finally landed on Jade. “What’s going on? What happened? How come you’re dressed like that?”

  “Please step inside, Donna Dee.” The sheriff nudged her forward and pulled up the only remaining chair for her. “Sit down. We want to ask you some questions.”

  “About what?” Her voice was quavering with fear of the unknown. “What’s the matter? Did somebody get killed or something?”

  “Nothing like that,” Fritz said, trying to put the nervous girl at ease. “There was some trouble last night. You might be able to straighten out a few facts for us.”

  “Me? What kind of trouble?”

  “Something happened after you ran out of gas late yesterday evening,” he said.

  “I made it home okay.”

  “But Jade didn’t.”

  Donna Dee turned toward Jade. “What happened? You look terrible.”

  “I was raped.”

  Donna Dee sucked in a sharp gasp. Her small eyes popped wide. “Raped? Oh my God, Jade, for real? Raped?”

  “So she says,” Neal drawled.

  Donna Dee’s head snapped around toward him. “She was with you. How could she get raped?”

  “He did it! He, Hutch, and Lamar raped me.”

  For the second time in the space of seconds, Donna Dee registered utter shock. “Hutch raped you?” she wheezed.

  “She’s a liar,” Neal said.

  “Shut up!” Sheriff Jolly’s voice cracked like a whip. “All of you. This is my department. I’m in charge here. I’m asking the questions.” He paused to make certain that Jade and Neal were properly quelled before addressing Donna Dee, who was looking at Jade, rapidly blinking her eyes.

  Jade watched her friend’s dark eyes move over her disarrayed hair, the scratches on her arms, her hospital scrubs.

  “Raped?” She mouthed the word, but didn’t utter a sound, either out of fear of the sheriff or profound disbelief. Emotion clogged Jade’s throat. Forlornly, she nodded.

  “Donna Dee?” The sheriff waited until she had turned her attention back to him. “Jade claims that the boys came along while y’all were stranded out there on the coastal highway. She said they talked her into Neal’s car, then wouldn’t let her out when it became obvious that they were going to leave you behind. Jade says she put up quite a fight to get out of the car. She said she was screaming and kicking against the rear window. Neal claims that it was all in fun. He says Jade was bound to know it was just a prank.

  “Now, I know you can’t testify to what took place after that, but I’d like to hear what you have to say about the mood everybody was in when the boys drove off with Jade in the
car.”

  Ivan leaned across the table and placed his hand on Donna Dee’s arm. “We’re not denying that the boys had their fun with her, you understand.” Donna Dee’s gaze swung to Jade. She gave her a sharp, piercing look. “They all took a turn. Neal’s admitted that. But now that Jade’s had time to think about it, she’s had a change of heart and is accusing these boys of taking her by force. Do you think that’s fair?”

  “Ivan,” Fritz said sharply. “I’ll take it from here.”

  With growing anxiety, Jade watched Donna Dee’s expression gradually change. When she had first come into the room, she had been startled and puzzled. Then, upon hearing that Jade had been assaulted, Donna Dee had looked at her with compassion. Now, however, Donna Dee was regarding her with something akin to suspicion. Ivan Patchett had deliberately fed that suspicion by giving what had happened a sexual complexion and mitigating the violence. He, like everyone else, knew how Donna Dee felt about Hutch and had successfully kindled a fire of jealousy within her.

  “Donna Dee, it wasn’t my fault,” Jade said earnestly, her voice cracking. “I didn’t do anything to provoke them. I didn’t even want to leave with them. You were there. You know that. They forced me.”

  “Donna Dee?”

  She kept her eyes fastened on Jade’s imploring face even as she turned her head toward the sheriff. Finally she looked at him. “They’d been drinking, I think.”

  “Neal has admitted that, too. Were they being abusive? Hostile? Threatening in any way?”

  Donna Dee nervously licked her lips. “No. They were just being themselves. Acting smart-alecky. You know. Like always.”

  “Tell them about after I got into the car,” Jade prompted. “You saw me fighting them, Donna Dee.”

  She shot Jade an impatient look before saying, “She’s right.”

  Jade slumped with relief. She closed her eyes and pulled in the first deep, calming breath she had drawn for hours. At last, someone was taking her side and backing up her story.

  “After Jade got into the car,” Donna Dee said, “she started banging on the windows.”

  “That’s right. I told you that, remember?”

  “Would you say she was struggling to get out?” the sheriff asked, ignoring Jade.

  “Uh-huh. Lamar was holding her in the back. She was trying to reach between the seats and grab the door handle or the gear shift. Neal was swatting at her hands. I think Hutch grabbed hold of her wrists.”

  “He did. Look.” Jade thrust out her wrists, each of which had a ring of dark bruises around it.

  When he saw her wrists, Sheriff Jolly frowned. He stared at the floor tiles between his boots while mercilessly gnawing on his lower lip. He glanced up at Ivan. “Then they did take her by force.”

  “Yes!” Jade cried.

  “I didn’t say that.”

  Following Jade’s exultant exclamation, Donna Dee’s words echoed dully.

  “What?” Jade focused on Donna Dee with dismay.

  “There was a struggle inside the car,” the other girl hastened to say, “but the boys were just jacking around, you know? They were teasing with Jade the same way they were teasing me by leaving me behind.”

  Jade came out of her chair. “What are you saying, Donna Dee?”

  “Sit down, Jade.”

  “Give it up, will you?” Neal remarked with a bored inflection.

  “Jade, you’re not behaving rationally,” said Velta.

  “She’s not telling the truth and she knows it!” Jade, beside herself with distress, aimed an accusing finger at Donna Dee.

  Since the physical evidence had been destroyed—and she was convinced that that was no accident—her only hope of getting a conviction was to have an eyewitness. Donna Dee hadn’t witnessed the actual attack, but she could substantiate Jade’s claim that she had been forced to remain in Neal’s car. That, combined with the doctor’s testimony, would provide any jury with reasonable doubt.

  Jade slapped her abraded palms on the tabletop and bent over Donna Dee. “I know you’re trying to protect Hutch, but he’s a rapist. He raped me,” she said, enunciating each harsh word.

  “Hutch wouldn’t do that.”

  “He did!”

  Donna Dee recoiled from Jade and glanced warily at Sheriff Jolly. “That’s all I know. Can I go now?”

  “Donna Dee, don’t do this,” Jade pleaded as the sheriff moved her aside and assisted Donna Dee from her chair. She reached for the other girl’s arm, but Donna Dee shook off her clutching hands. “Hutch doesn’t deserve your protection,” Jade screamed. “He violated me. For God’s sake, Donna Dee, please tell them the truth.”

  Donna Dee spun around, her eyes flashing. “The truth? Okay, I’ll tell them the truth.” She addressed the others. “A few weeks ago, Jade said that she was tired of waiting on marriage to have sex. She said she wished she could talk Gary Parker into doing it.” She turned a vicious gaze onto Jade. “I guess you got your chance last night, didn’t you? Three times! Once with Neal. Once with Lamar. And once with… with Hutch.”

  Jade opened her mouth to speak but was too overwrought to utter a sound. Donna Dee gave her one last, hateful glare before opening the door and stamping out.

  After she slammed the door behind her, the silence was deafening. Neal was the first to speak. “I told you she was hot for it.”

  The sheriff shot him a dirty look, but Jade was too numb to notice. “Neal,” Fritz said, “you’re free to go. Ivan, wait for me outside. I want to talk to you before you leave.”

  As he stood, Ivan laid a consoling hand on Velta’s shoulder. “Damn shame what our young ’uns put us through, isn’t it?” He walked out behind Neal.

  “You still have the option to file formal charges, Jade.”

  It took a moment for the sheriff’s words to register. She was still numb from the blow of Donna Dee’s betrayal. “What?”

  “Do you want to formally charge the boys with rape?”

  “Yes.”

  Fritz looked at Velta quickly, then back at Jade. “You’d better think about it long and hard before you sign the papers.”

  “I don’t have to think about it,” she said. “They raped me. They’re going to suffer for this as much as I have.” She was almost as hurt by Donna Dee’s vilification as by the rape itself. In her heart, she included Donna Dee when she said, “They’re going to pay for what they’ve done.”

  He sighed wearily and moved toward the door. “All right then. Get on home. I’ll have the paperwork typed up and sent over later.”

  Chapter Five

  Sheriff Jolly wended his way through the squad room, which was busy now that the day shift had reported for work. Sensing the boss’s ill temper, no one blocked his path. Indeed, everybody gave him wide berth and kept his eyes averted as he moved to his private office, where Ivan Patchett was waiting.

  Fritz went in and closed the door. Ivan was devouring a doughnut. He dunked it into his coffee and bit off a third of it in one bite. “Damn good doughnuts, Fritz.”

  “Is that all that’s on your mind this morning, Ivan? Doughnuts?”

  Fritz dropped into his chair. Propping his elbows on his desk, he ran all ten fingers through his thick, wavy hair. In junior high school some smart-aleck had taunted Fritz by calling out, “Hey, Red!” He’d barely lived to tell about it. Nobody had ever dared try out the nickname on Fritz again.

  Ivan Patchett wasn’t intimidated either by Fritz’s brawn or by the position he held in the community. On nothing more than a whim, Ivan could have Fritz voted into or out of office. Both were well aware of that.

  From a physical standpoint, Ivan was far less prepossessing. His gray hair was thinning, but not drastically. He was of average height and weight. He wasn’t particularly muscular, but he didn’t look soft. His wardrobe was neither conservative or flamboyant, merely comfortable.

  Ivan’s mediocrity ended with his eyes. They reflected the arrogance of his knowing that he was indisputably the wealthiest, most influe
ntial individual in the tricounty area and that he could rule it like a principality if he pleased. His eyes glittered like ice, shot through with fire. That fire was a manifestation of the rapacious greed that governed him.

  Ivan Patchett liked who and what he was and would do anything to protect the tyrannical control he wielded over his kingdom. He loved being feared more than he loved sex and gambling and even money. He had groomed his son to be exactly like him.

  He sucked the sugar glaze off his ringless fingers. In Ivan’s opinion, only fairies wore jewelry. “I don’t mind telling you, Fritz, that I don’t like what I’m seeing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Your eyebrows are twitching. Whenever you get worried about something, your eyebrows twitch.”

  “Well, I’m damned sorry about that, Ivan,” Fritz said testily, “But I tend to worry when my boy has been accused of raping a girl. That worries me something terrible.”

  “That charge won’t stick for a minute.”

  “It might. She’s just about made a believer out of me. Jade isn’t some white-trash girl trying to get the goods on three prominent boys. Why would she make up a tale like that? She’s pretty and smart and on her way to making something of herself. What’s she got to gain by raising a stink if there’s no truth to it?”

  “How the hell do I know?” Ivan said, giving off the first signs of anger. “Attention, maybe. Or maybe she was pissed off at her boyfriend and saw a way to get back at him.”

  “You don’t believe that any more than I do, Ivan. You know damn well there’s more to this than some playfulness that got a little out of hand.” Fritz eyed him closely. “Somebody over at the hospital owed you a favor, right? And this morning you called in the marker.”

  Ivan didn’t even blink. “You sure you want to ask that, Sheriff? Are you sure you want to know?”

  “I hate to think of police evidence being tampered with. It makes me want to puke.”

  Ivan leaned forward. His eyes shone. “Do you want Hutch’s name linked to a rape charge?”

  “Goddammit, of course not.”