Jade turned to her. “He did, Mrs. Griffith. When you came to Mitch Hearon’s funeral, Lamar apologized to me for it.” Looking back at Neal, she said, “So take your case to court if you want to. That’s what I’ll testify—that my pregnancy was the result of a gang rape instigated by you.”
“Nobody in hell would believe that.”
“Maybe not, but as your father said, it would certainly cause a stink.”
“For you.”
“And you. Do you remember a woman named Lola Garrison?”
“Who the hell is she?” Neal asked querulously.
“She remembers you quite well, Neal. She was scheduled to be a bridesmaid at your wedding, which never took place because of your accident. Just before you left the rehearsal dinner for your bachelor party, you had carnal knowledge of her in the restaurant powder room. Remember her now?”
“Vaguely. So what?”
“Ms. Garrison is a freelance journalist. Several weeks ago she spent a day interviewing me for an article in the Sunday supplement.”
“I saw it,” he said with affected boredom. “Again, so what?”
“She mentioned in passing that the only people she knew in Palmetto were named Patchett. She told me the circumstances under which you had met and called you a ‘slimy, sorry son of a bitch’ that she would love to get the goods on.
“It seems that after your intended broke the engagement, you spitefully flaunted having had her maid of honor, virtually right under her nose. Your confession ruined a friendship.”
“Friendship my ass,” he scoffed. “Lola, or whatever the hell her name is, went down on me. What kind of friend was she?”
“I wasn’t referring to the friendship between the two girls, but between their fathers. The men were business partners. The rift proved to be a costly one for Ms. Garrison’s father. He never recovered—either financially or emotionally. She holds you personally responsible for his decline. I’m sure she would love to hear my story about the night at the channel.”
There was a moment of taut silence, finally broken by Ivan. “I’m tired of jacking around with you,” he said. “If you want to have a mudslinging contest in the newspapers, fine. We’ll have one. While this gal is writing about blow jobs in public bathrooms, we’ll accuse you of fraud.”
“Fraud?”
Neal picked up for his father. “You drove up the price of the Parker property with no intention of buying it.”
“Prove it, Neal,” she challenged. “Otis Parker will testify that I put down a ten-thousand-dollar deposit on the sale of the property. So how are you going to prove that I didn’t intend to buy it?”
“I just gave him a million bucks,” Ivan shouted. “Otis will testify that his balls are sweet peas if I ask him to.”
“Except that the deposit was placed in an escrow account. There will be records. If you have in mind to tamper with them as you did with the medical evidence following the rape, don’t bother. The account was in my New York bank.”
Father and son exchanged anxious glances. They looked like two men holding on to a life raft that had a slow leak. What little they had to cling to was slowly slipping out of their grasp. Jade could smell their fear. It was sweet.
“Financially, you’re ruined,” she told them. “In a few months your plant will close down for lack of operating capital. You won’t be able to intimidate people with the threat of firing them, because TexTile will provide jobs with better working conditions and far better pay. I’ll campaign for an honest man to take over Hutch’s sheriff’s office. Your days as dictator of Palmetto are over, Ivan.”
She looked at Neal. “You don’t have the power to hurt people anymore. Your charm was exhausted a long time ago. I never thought you had any.”
He moved like a striking snake and caught her arm in a bone-crushing grip. “I can still claim the kid. That would give you plenty of misery.”
She worked her arm free, flinging him off. “I say again, the only way you can claim Graham is to plead guilty to a rape charge.”
Neal snickered. “Whatever the statute of limitations is, it must have expired by now.”
“In which case, I would file a civil suit against you. And I would, if you pushed me to it, no matter what scandal it might raise. You see, Neal, I didn’t believe it was possible to send you to prison for what you did, simply because I didn’t want to expose Graham to the truth. Now that you’ve forced me to reveal it to him, that’s no longer a deterrent. Go near him once more,” she threatened coldly, “and you go to jail for rape.”
“It would be your word against mine,” he sneered. “You could never prove it.”
Jade opened her handbag and withdrew a videotape. She held it up to them. “This has been in my safe ever since I came back to Palmetto. There’s a copy of it in a safe deposit box here in Palmetto and another in a bank in New York, which only my attorney has access to. It’s painful to watch. I hope I’ll never have to use it, but don’t think for a minute that I won’t if you force me to.”
Neal applauded drolly. “Good act, Jade. I’m shaking in my shoes with anticipation. What’s on the tape?”