CHAPTER 27

RALEY DROVE AS FAST AS HE DARED, WANTING TO PUT DISTANCE between them and the city of Columbia. He avoided main highways and kept to back roads that he’d come to know well during his exile.

He kept one eye on the rearview mirror, but if anyone was in pursuit, he hadn’t spotted them. They weren’t being chased by a convoy of squad cars running hot, but then he hadn’t expected Fordyce to send police cars after them. More like innocuous sedans. A private posse.

“I believed that smooth-talking son of a bitch,” he said angrily as they blew through a sleepy town with only a caution light at its main intersection.

“So did I,” Britt said, “and I can usually detect when someone’s trying to bamboozle me.”

“Lying bastard.”

“He seemed so contrite when he apologized to you.”

“I’m sure he couldn’t believe his good luck. His goons have been chasing us all over kingdom come, trying to kill us, and we showed up at his house! That so-called guard was probably lying in wait somewhere near the capitol, waiting for us to arrive at eleven o’clock. We would never have made it into the building.”

“You were smart to deviate from that plan.”

“But not smart enough to see through Fordyce’s bullshit. Marriott, my ass,” he snarled. “While we were standing in the hallway, grateful that we had an ally and protection, he was calling his hired hand, alerting him to a sudden change of plan.”

“I may have killed him,” she said shakily.

“I don’t think so, but…” He gave her a glance. “But it might not be a bad idea for you to go to the police and turn yourself in. We have the videotape. We have Fordyce saying-”

“Nothing, Raley. Nothing substantive. The tape is useless. Fordyce played straight to the camera. On this video, our earnest attorney general was full of remorse and apology. We have contrition, but in no way, shape, or form did he incriminate himself in the matter of the fire, Suzi Monroe, or anything else.”

Realizing she was right, he cursed.

“He knew exactly what he was doing,” she said, “and we fell for his manipulation.”

It infuriated Raley to realize how easily they’d been duped. “If we went to the police now, making accusations, Fordyce would say that we barged into his home, armed-Aw, fuck! I left the pistol on that table.”

He berated himself for that oversight, but there was nothing he could do about it now. Besides, he doubted that he could ever actually shoot someone. But none of his enemies knew that, and he missed the false sense of security that came with having a loaded piece.

“Fordyce would say we told him a story that deserved further discussion, at the very least. But then when he summoned a guard to protect us until he could check into it, you-unprovoked-clouted the man with a vase.”

“I can’t prove that the guard killed Jay,” she said. “But I know he was there.”

“Do you remember seeing him at The Wheelhouse?”

“No. But I’m positive he was at Jay’s town house, and that he had a partner.”

“Butch? Sundance?”

“Neither. Another man.”

“So we’ve got Butch and Sundance, the guy who came to Fordyce’s rescue, and another we haven’t seen yet. Four total, working in two pairs.”

“I suppose,” she said. “I’ll be able to identify the fourth man when I see him again, because now I have a vivid mental image of him, bending over me-”

When she stopped abruptly, Raley snapped his head toward her. “A mental image of him bending over you…What? Did he rape you?”

“No, just…” She shuddered, took a moment, then plugged the camcorder into the cigarette lighter again. “In case something happens to me, to us, this should be recorded.”

It was a sobering thought, but Raley agreed with a nod.

She began. “Jay and I went into his apartment. I sat down on his sofa, where he joined me. He offered me scotch, but I told him that I wasn’t feeling well, that the wine had hit me hard. He said he was feeling the effects of his drinks, too, and blamed his medications. We were more or less sprawled there, side by side, our heads back.

“He took my hand and told me again that he had a story that was going to blow a huge hole through the PD and city hall. I remember asking him to let me get my notepad out of my purse before he began, but I lacked the wherewithal to do it.

“He said, ‘You won’t need notes, you’ll remember this.’ I didn’t argue. Actually, I was too far gone to care about accuracy, about anything. Jay took off my sandals, put my feet in his lap, and began massaging them. He asked if I was comfy because it was going to be a long story.

“I told him I was almost too comfy, that I could barely keep my eyes open. He laughed and said, ‘Then how ’bout one last roll in the sack for old times’ sake?’ I said no thank you. He said, ‘Ah well, I’m so drunk I don’t think I can get it up anyway.’ And I said, ‘That’s a first, isn’t it?’

“We were still laughing over that when the two men walked in. The one we saw today, and another. They came in by way of the back terrace. One minute they weren’t there. The next they were, as though they had materialized through the French doors.

“My first thought was to wonder why in the world they were wearing gloves on such a warm night. Then I noticed they were latex gloves, but that didn’t particularly alarm me. I don’t remember being afraid. Instead, I remember being unafraid. I felt euphoric, indifferent.

“But Jay was sober enough to be concerned. He stood up and confronted them. ‘Who are you? What do you want?’ The one who came to Fordyce’s house said, ‘We’re here to party,’ and pushed Jay back down onto the sofa.

“They ordered him to pour each of us a glass of scotch. They forced us to drink it. Then another. I remember feeling terribly sick. They didn’t give me any more, but they made Jay continue drinking until most of the bottle was empty.”

She stopped talking. Raley looked over at her; her eyes were closed. He reached out and took her hand. “Save the rest for the authorities. You don’t have to tell me any more.”

“Yes, I do.” Giving him a wan smile, she held up the camcorder, reminding him that the whole story needed to be recorded. “Since that night, I have imagined horrible things that could have been done to me. I’m relieved to remember. It was bad, but it could have been much, much worse.

“They made us undress, first Jay and then me. They had to help both of us. Neither of us could stand on our own. I lost minutes of time I’ll probably never get back, because I don’t actually remember getting from the living room to the bedroom, but I remember lying naked on the bed.

“Then one of them-not the one who came to Fordyce’s house, the other one-fondled me. Between my legs. It wasn’t even sexual, it was…like the most demeaning insult. He leered down at me, saying directly into my face, ‘It’s a shame having to waste this nice-’”

She stopped, unable to go on. Raley squeezed her hand. He thought he might be able to shoot somebody after all. If he ever got a chance with either one of these creeps, he could kill them. Easy.

Britt looked away from him, out the passenger window, speaking softly. “His friend laughed all the time he was doing it. That’s probably why I recognized him instantly. I remembered his grin, his obscene laugh. I don’t know how I kept from crying out when he stepped through Fordyce’s front door. I guess because I knew we had to get out of there. I realized if we didn’t, we’d soon be dead. But if I didn’t kill him with that vase, I hope I hurt him very bad. Anyway, back to that night, his partner told him he couldn’t be a Romeo. ‘One smear of spunk other that this guy’s and the plan is blown.’”

“They knew better than to leave DNA evidence.”

“That’s probably what saved me from being raped. It certainly wasn’t a matter of conscience.”