Breath of Scandal(25)

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Sandra Browrn



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.

Breath of scandal



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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 na1ve 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.



Sandra Brown

"A long time." it, if we had to disassociate on "Be a shame, wouldn't



account of this misunderstanding." d intimidate her, Jade looked up at him. "Don't try an s another day Mr. Patchett. I hope my mother never work



in your stinking factory - I don't want money she eams 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 d animal, she was striking back. attack, and, like any injure - He frowned with Ivan flicked cigar ashes onto the floor



stem disapproval. "You'd better put a muzzle on your girt there, Velta. She's got a real smart mouth."

Velta turned to Jade and whispered, -Hush! Why are you trying to make things wom?"

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?"

nna Dee. " The sheriff nudged "Please step inside, Do ing chair for her. her forward and pulled up the only remain

"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 something9" 0 put the nervous

"Nothing like that," Fritz said, trying t