“Yes.”
“I didn’t create anything!” Jade objected to Ivan’s making her mother his comrade against their misbehaving children. “This was done to me. I had nothing to do with it.”
“Oh, come on, Jade,” Neal said, speaking for the first time. “For Chris’ sake, do you honestly expect anybody to believe you were raped?”
“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 malevolence lurking behind the benign expression in his eyes. Neal 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.”
“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 o
f 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.”
Fritz addressed Neal. “What happened when you came up on Donna Dee and Jade?”