The Perfect Alibi (Robin Lockwood #2)(3)
Randi relaxed as soon as her mother left the room.
“This has to be a terrible ordeal for you,” Robin said when her office door closed.
“She won’t leave me alone,” Randi answered, not realizing that Robin was talking about the rape. “All she wants is the money.”
“And what do you want?”
For the first time since entering her lawyer’s office, Randi came alive. She sat up and stared into Robin’s eyes. “I want that bastard to pay. Money won’t ever make up for what Blaine did to me. That’s not why I’m here. But the Hastingses think they can get away with anything, and I want them to know that for once, they’re not going to be Kings of the Universe.”
Robin frowned. “Do you have a history with Blaine Hastings and his family?”
“We went to the same high school.”
“Did you date?” she asked.
“Are you kidding? I don’t live in a mansion, and I don’t drive a fancy car or dress like the stuck-up princesses who gave him blow jobs at their sorority parties.”
“You sound like you really hate Hastings. Did something specific happen to you before the rape?”
“There was a guy I was dating in high school, Ryan Tucker,” Randi answered quietly. “Blaine baited him. Then he beat the hell out of him. But he didn’t stop there. He called the cops and got his buddies to swear that Ryan started the fight.
“Mr. Hastings gives money to every politician’s campaign. So, no charges for Mr. Perfect, and juvie for Ryan. I don’t know what happened to him in there, but Ryan wasn’t the same when he got out—and Blaine just kept moving toward silver spoon heaven.”
Randi’s outburst seemed to have exhausted her. Robin made some notes so Randi would have some quiet time to pull herself together.
“Are you still in contact with Ryan, in case we want to interview him?”
Randi choked up. “A month after he got out, he … he killed himself.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, well…” Randi shrugged.
“Do you want some water?” Robin asked.
“No, I’m okay,” Randi said, but she didn’t sound okay.
“What does Blaine Hastings do now?” Robin asked when Randi had regained her composure. “Is he working or in school?”
“Blaine is a big football star at Oregon. I hear he’s probably gonna go pro.”
“What year is he in?”
“Senior.”
“I take it you want me to sue Blaine Hastings for damages and pain and suffering because he raped you?”
“Yes.”
“If Hastings is a student, he won’t have much money. We might sue him, but you might not get anything.”
Randi looked embarrassed. “My mom did some research on the Hastingses. There was a trust fund he’d get when he turned twenty-one, and he just had his birthday.”
Robin studied her client. Randi seemed convincing. She probably did want a measure of justice. But Robin thought that her mother was probably motivated by money.
“Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself.”
Randi shrugged. “Not much to tell. I’m twenty, I graduated high school, and I’m in community college, studying to be a nurse. Still living with my mother.”
“Where’s your home?”
“We used to live in a housing project, but Mom got this insurance settlement and she used some of it to buy a place in Northeast Portland.”
“Is your mom married?”
“Divorced. He walked out on us when I was two, and we haven’t seen him since. Good riddance, like Mom says.”
“So, you two live alone?”
Randi nodded.
“Does your mom work?”
“She used to, but she was in a car crash and she’s been on disability ever since. I work. School’s part-time.”
“What do you do?”
“I’m a waitress.”
“Okay. Now, where did the rape occur?”
“At a frat party. Annie Roche, my girlfriend, found out about it. We weren’t doing anything, so we went.”
“Did Annie see what happened?”
“Not all of it, but some.”
“Have the police interviewed Annie?”
Randi nodded.
“Is she going to be a witness for the State?”
Randi nodded again.
“You’re going to be the star witness at Blaine Hastings’s trial, and in your lawsuit, so I have to ask you some personal questions.”
“I told the cops. I got probation for shoplifting once.”
“Is there anything else Hastings’s lawyer can dig up?”
“Not on me.”
“Have you been sexually active?”
“I’m not a virgin, if that’s what you mean.”
“Exactly,” Robin said as she flashed a kindly smile. “But let me ask you this. Hastings is going to say that you’re making up the rape so you can get his money. Have you ever accused another boy of rape?”
“No. I wouldn’t do that.”
“Why don’t you tell me what happened at the frat party.”
“Annie and me went to the PSU–Oregon game. We knew some of the guys on both teams from high school. Annie found out that there was a party that night at one of the PSU frat houses, and we decided to go.