Overkill(86)

“He was put away,” Kate gently reminded him.

“Not for long enough,” he said. “He all but killed that girl.”

She looked at Theo, who confirmed Cal’s incriminating statement with a nod.

Without having realized that she’d been holding her breath, Kate now exhaled slowly. “Are you waiving your right to have counsel present? Please respond audibly.”

Both said yes.

From a personal standpoint, she was exultant.She’d been given an opportunity to atone for her cowardice, her silence and failure to act after she’d been attacked, which had enabled a sexual predator to victimize other women. The personal aspect notwithstanding, it was vital that she make the most of this chance to shut down Eban Clarke.

She took a deep breath and said, “Theo, why did you lie to cover for Eban?”

“Well, first off, we didn’t want to go to jail. But we also owed Eban and his dad.”

“Explain that to me.”

Between them, they confirmed what Melinda had said about the Clarkes’ hefty bribes.

Theo said, “Eban rarely comes right out and says what he wants you to do. It’s always implied, but clearly understood. In exchange for those financial favors, Cal and I knew what was expected of us when we testified. We went along. Like always.”

“Like you did the night of the party,” Kate said.

The two men looked at each other, then both looked uneasily at Zach. He gave them an opening by asking, “Who suggested the experiment?”

They answered simultaneously. “Eban.”

“Was Rebecca coerced, cajoled, forced?” Zach asked.

“No. No. I swear it,” Cal said. “You gotta imagine the scene. It was one of Eban’s typical orgies. Open house to anyone who drove an expensive car and was wearing designer labels.”

“Even Cal and me,” Theo said. “Eban bought us new clothes for that night.”

Cal continued. “He hired bouncers to pick and choose who got inside the gate. Unlimited food, drink, sex, and drugs. Name your preference, your poison, it was there, readily available.”

“Was Rebecca Eban’s date for the night?” Zach asked.

“No, she just showed up,” Theo said, “like most everybody. But she stood out. She was a stunner.”

“Not anymore.” Zach’s sharp retort caused both men to cast their eyes downward. He waited a beat, then continued. “Had you ever seen her with Eban before that night?”

“No,” Theo said. “I didn’t even learn her name until the next day when the police questioned me. That’s when I found out she was your ex.”

“I was with Eban when he spotted her,” Cal said. “He made a crude remark, guy talk, you know, then he homed in on her. Later, I saw them doing lines of cocaine together. They were drinking vodka from the bottle.”

With a trace of impatience, Kate stopped them there. “This much you testified to in court. Zach and I have read the transcript. It’s from this point forward that your story turned murky. You claimed to be hazy on the details because you were so stoned that night. But you remember more than you told the court and more than you’re telling us now.”

“Get to the part that you lied about,” Zach said.

The two men remained silent. Kate had to bite her tongue, but she wanted to wait them out and give them no prompts. She could tell that Zach was on the verge of saying more. She subtly squeezed his knee.

Cal spoke up first. “The party got wilder. Louder. More…” When he paused to find the right word, Theo said, “Orgiastic.”

“Right,” Cal said. “Eban and Rebecca came over to Theo and me and suggested that the four of us go to one of the guest bedrooms upstairs for ‘some grown-up fun and games.’”

Theo nodded. “His words exactly.”

“You testified that this invitation was nothing remarkable,” Kate said.

“It wasn’t. We’d had group sex before,” Cal said.

“To each his own,” Zach said. “I don’t care about that. How did Rebecca come to be oxygen deprived?”

Theo looked pained. He hunched forward and hugged his elbows, leaving Cal to be the narrator. Kate looked at him inquiringly. He said, “Eban likes to watch. He likes to call the shots, direct the action. Like a play.”

“For his gratification,” Zach said.

Cal shrugged. “A warm-up anyway.”

“What happened when you got to the bedroom?” Kate asked.

“She let her dress drop. There was nothing underneath. Then Eban and the two of us stripped. Eban told us we could go first.”

“You had sex with Rebecca,” Kate said.

Cal cut a look toward Zach before coming back to her. “Yes. Together. We admitted that at the trial.”

Zach said, “You testified that she was conscious. True or false?”

“Yes, she was conscious,” he said, testiness creeping into his voice. “Hell, yes. She was stoned, but willing. No, make that eager. She was giggly, flirty, inviting. Uninhibited,” he said with emphasis and defiance.

Going back to Kate, he said, “She was conscious enough to support herself on her hands and knees, okay? Eban staged it. Theo in front of her, me behind. He told us not to let up and not to finish until after she’d had an orgasm.”