Breath of Scandal(24)
"Nobody has to take my word for it. They can look at the pictures of me they took at the hospital. The laboratory evidence will bear out what I'm saying."
. He sat down on the corner of the table. "I'm not saying it didn't happen," he said smoothly. "I'm only saying that you're taking liberties with how it happened."
"I'm not!" She would have backed farther away from him if the back of her chair would have given way. As good-looking as he was, he was thoroughly repellant to her.
"Okay, let's all settle down," Sheriff Jolly said, taking command. "Neal, move over here, please." He indicated a place against the wall. "Ivan, you take that chair."
Ivan sat down. He glanced at Velta. "You'll get the day off with pay."
"Thank you."
Jade glared at her mother, furious at her for the deference she showed Ivan Patchett.
"Now, Jade," Fritz said, drawing her attention back to him. "Please tell your story again for Ivan and Neal's benefit. "
That was a daunting request. She didn't know if she could speak aloud the intimate details of the rape with Neal and his father present. However, when the case came to trial, she would have an even larger audience.
Ivan was watching her indulgently, but she saw malev-
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olence lurking behind the benign expression in his eyesNeal was propped against the opposite wall, arms folded across his chest. He was smirking with complacence.
"Yeah, Jade. I'd like to hear all about how I raped you. His scoffing tone spurred her on. He wasn't going to get away with what he'd done to her, not if she had to repeat the ugly truth a thousand times.
After taking a sip of the tepid soda the deputy had brought her earlier, she began with Donna Dee's car running out of gas and ended with her arrival at the hospital. "The rest of it," she finished quietly, "is now a matter of record."
"Have you found this mysterious nigger yet?" Ivan asked Fritz.
The sheriff shook his head. "She couldn't give us anything that would identify him."
"Hmm." A satisfied smile sat upon Ivan's lips.
"He was real," Jade insisted. "In the condition I was in, I couldn't have walked all the way back into town. I I "That's Daddy's point," Neal said. "Your 'condition'
wasn't nearly as bad as you're making it out to be. You had plenty of time to walk back to town, and that's what you did. On the way here, you got cold feet. You got to thinking about Parker and what he would think when he heard about our little party."
Jade jumped from her chair. "Don't you dare speak his name! You're not worthy to. I'd rather you rape me again than drag Gary into this."
"Jade, for heaven's sake, sit down." Velta grabbed her arm and pulled her back into her chair.
Ivan lit a cigar and negligently fanned out the match before tossing it to the floor.
Sheriff Jolly said, "Neal, you don't have to answer to any charges."
"I don't mind. She's lying.-
"Ivan, are you sure you don't want to call your lawyer?" "We waived that right, Fritz. Why bother him this early in the morning? We've got nothing to hide. Ask the boy any damn thing you please."
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Fritz addressed Neal. "What happened when you came up on Donna Dee and Jade?"
"It's just like Jade said," he replied. "We offered her a ride. She got in my car of her own free will. She even had to climb over the seat to get in the back with Lamar."
"You didn't force her into the car?" "Hell no. "
"That's because I thought Donna Dee was coming too," Jade amended quickly. "When I saw that they intended to leave her, I tried to get out. They held me. They wouldn't let her in or me out."
Neal laughed. "It was all in fun. A fake kidnapping, you know? W were just messing around.-
He picked up the story from there and told them about arriving at the spot near the channel. "Jade got out and sat there while we drank a beer."
"There wasn't anywhere else to go," she explained. "When you said what you did, and I realized what you intended to do, I ran. Tell them, Neal. You know it's the truth. I tried to run away from you. I I
"Neal, what did you say to her?" Fritz asked. "I told her we were going to f*ck her."
Velta laid her hand against her chest and crossed her legs. Ivan puffed on his cigar. Fritz rubbed his temple. "That corroborates Jade's story. "
"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. I I
"That's a lie," Jade whispered hoarsely, shaking her