Breath of Scandal(21)

" Shit, lady. You just named my boss's kid as a rapist." "That's right. Hutch went second. He was the roughest. And the biggest. He nearly smothered me." She didn't realize she was clenching her hands so tightly, until they began to hurt. She glanced down at them and saw four halfmoons gouged into her abraded palms.

"You'd better call the sheriff," the doctor told the deputy.

"Christ almighty," he said as he reluctantly stood up. He dragged his hand down his youthful, pudgy face. "I ain't looking forward to this, a'tall. The shit's going to hit the fan when I tell Sheriff Jolly that his and Ivan Patchett's boy have been accused of rape."

6LIAV,

An hour later, Jade sat alone in the interrogation room. It smelled of stale tobacco smoke and anxious sweat. The deputy had driven her straight from the hospital to the court-

house and deposited her in the cubicle as though washing his hands of the whole nasty affair.

Jade was certain that before it was over with, things were going to get nastier. The legal ramifications were overwhelming, but they were diminished by the personal affronts she would have to endure. How would she tell Gary?

She couldn't think about that now or she would go crazy. She had to deal with the here and now-Donna Dee, for instance. Jade was concerned for her safety. It was conceivable that after the boys left her, they had gone back and done the same thing to Donna Dee. Perhaps that had been Neal's plan-to separate them and render them virtually helpless. Donna Dee could be severely hurt, lying unconscious somewhere along the highway. Even dead.

Her anxious thoughts were interrupted when Sheriff Fritz Jolly entered the room. Instead of his uniform, he was wearing blue jeans and a flannel pajama top beneath a camouflage hunting vest. Obviously he had been roused from his bed. Rust-colored whiskers sprouted from his chin and cheeks.

"Evenin', Jade." "Hello, Sheriff Jolly."

She frequently sold him chewing tobacco at the store. They were always friendly with each other. Now, he lowered his large, imposing frame into the chair across from hers and folded his hands on the scarred table between them. "I understand you got into some trouble tonight."

"I didn't get into trouble, Sheriff Jolly." "Tell me about it."

"Can I wait until my mother gets here?" She didn't want to have to tell her story more than once. "The doctor at the hospital promised to call her and tell her to meet me here." The deputy hadn't given Jade time to place the call herself.

" Velta's already in the squad room, chomping at the bit," he said. "But I'd like to hear what you've got to say before we bring her in."



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Sandra Brown

"Why was I put in this interrogation room?" " 'Cause it's convenient and private."

She gazed at him mistrustfully. "I didn't do anything wrong. "

"No one said you did. What happened?"

He won their staring contest. Jade glanced down at her tightly clasped hands and took a deep breath. "Neal, Lamar, and Hutch came up on Donna Dee and me where we had run out of gas. They took me away in Neal's car against my will. They drove to a place where they had been drinking beer and fishing earlier this afternoon and they . . . " She raised her head and met his eyes. "They took turns raping me."

He stared at her for several long moments but said nothing.

Jade added, "I'm afraid Donna Dee might have been hurt, too. I I

"The deputy told me you had asked about her. I called her house. She's at home. Unharmed."

She took a deep breath of relief. "Thank heaven."

His voice was low and confidence-inspiring when he spoke again. "That's a real serious charge to be making against those boys, Jade."

"Rape is a serious crime."

"It's hard for me to believe they would do something like that."

"It was hard for me to believe, too. This time yesterday, I would never have thought it possible. "

"Well then," he said, "why don't you tell me what really happened?"

CHAPTER Four



Neal's room was still dark when his father flung open the door and stormed in. Ivan moved straight to the bed, whipped back the covers, and brought his hand down hard on Neal's bare buttocks.

"You little shit!"

Neal rolled to the other side of the bed and leaped up. Father and son confronted each other across the rumpled bed. Neal was naked. Ivan was wearing boxer shorts and an old-fashioned white tank T-shirt. His iron-gray hair was standing on end at various points around his head. Even so, he didn't cut a comic figure. His scowl was fearsome.

"What the f*ck got into you?" Neal demanded, settling his hands on his narrow hips. He looked tousled, drowsy, and sullen. His fine, hard body was a product of genetics rather than conditioning. It performed well in sports arenas, but Neal didn't exert it unless it was absolutely necessary. He took his lean, strong physique as his due.

"I just got a telephone call from Fritz," Ivan told him. "So? It's the middle of the night. I'm going back to bed. "

"Like hell you are."

Neal's head was halfway back to his pillow when Ivan caught him by the hair and pulled him up. He gave him a swift kick in the rear. Neal careened into the nearest wall. He spun around, fists raised, ready to do combat.