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 naïve 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.
“A long time.”
“Be a shame, wouldn’t it, if we had to disassociate on account of this misunderstanding.”
Jade looked up at him. “Don’t try and intimidate her, Mr. Patchett. I hope my mother never works another day in your stinking factory. I don’t want money she earns 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 attack, and, like any injured animal, she was striking back.
Ivan flicked cigar ashes onto the floor. He frowned with stern disapproval. “You’d better put a muzzle on your girl there, Velta. She’s got a real smart mouth.”
Velta turned to Jade and whispered, “Hush! Why are you trying to make things worse?”
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?”
“Please step inside, Donna Dee.” The sheriff nudged her forward and pulled up the only remaining chair for her. “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 something?”
“Nothing like that,” Fritz said, trying to put the nervous girl at ease. “There was some trouble last night. You might be able to straighten out a few facts for us.”
“Me? What kind of trouble?”
“Something happened after you ran out of gas late yesterday evening,” he said.
“I made it home okay.”
“But Jade didn’t.”
Donna Dee turned toward Jade. “What happened? You look terrible.”
“I was raped.”
Donna Dee sucked in a sharp gasp. Her small eyes popped wide. “Raped? Oh my God, Jade, for real? Raped?”
“So she says,” Neal drawled.
Donna Dee’s head snapped around toward him. “She was with you. How could she get raped?”
“He did it! He, Hutch, and Lamar raped me.”
For the second time in the space of seconds, Donna Dee registered utter shock. “Hutch raped you?” she wheezed.
“She’s a liar,” Neal said.
“Shut up!” Sheriff Jolly’s voice cracked like a whip. “All of you. This is my department. I’m in charge here. I’m asking the questions.” He paused to make certain that Jade and Neal were properly quelled before addressing Donna Dee, who was looking at Jade, rapidly blinking her eyes.
Jade watched her friend’s dark eyes move over her disarrayed hair, the scratches on her arms, her hospital scrubs.
“Raped?” She mouthed the word, but didn’t utter a sound, either out of fear of the sheriff or profound disbelief. Emotion clogged Jade’s throat. Forlornly, she nodded.