209

After a short time Myron told him to stop. Reluctantly Win stepped away.

They left.

210

39

Rickv Lane lived in a New Jersey condo development similar to Christian's.

Win waited in the car. As Myron approached the door, he felt rather than heard the bass from Ricky's stereo. It took three rings of the bell and several knocks before Ricky appeared.

'Hey, Myron.'

He was wearing a silk shirt that was either very fashionable or a pajama top. Hard to tell. The shirt was unbuttoned, revealing a well-defined physique. His pants were held up by a drawstring. He was also wearing slippers. Maybe they were pajamas. Or lounging clothes. Or he was trying out for a walk-on role on I Dream ofjeannie.

'We need to talk,' Myron said.

'Come on in.'

The music was deafening and awful. Made Pap Smear sound like Brahms.

The motif was sleek modern. Lots of Fiberglas. Lots of black and white. Lots of rounded edges. The stereo took up a whole wall. The lights on the equalizer looked like something on Star Trek.

Ricky flipped the stereo off. The silence was abrupt. Myron felt his chest stop vibrating.

'So what's up?' Ricky asked.

Myron tossed him a glass jar. Ricky caught it, looked a question.

'Pee in it,' Myron said.

'What?'

'I want you to urinate into this jar.'

Ricky looked at the jar. Then at Myron. I don't get it.'

'Your new size,' Myron said. 'You're taking steroids.'

'No way, man. Not me.'

Then give me a urine sample. Right now. I'll have it tested at a lab.'

Ricky stared at the jar. He said nothing.

'Go ahead, Ricky. I don't have all day.'

'You're my agent, Myron. You ain't my mother.' (True enough. Are you taking steroids?'

It's none of your business.'

'I'll take that as a yes.'

211

'Take it any way you'd like.'

'Did Horty sell them to you? Or have you gotten a new supplier since college?'

Silence.

Ricky said, 'You're fired, Myron.'

'I'm devastated. Now tell me about raping Kathy Culver.'

More silence. Ricky was struggling to look casual, but his body language was all wrong.

'I know all about it,' Myron continued. 'Your buddy Horty told all. Nice guy, by the way. A real sweetheart.'

Ricky stumbled back. He put the jar down on a shiny cube that Myron guessed was a table. He turned away. His voice was barely audible. 'I never touched her.'

'Bullshit. You and five other guys jumped her in the locker room. You took turns raping her.'

'No. That's not how it happened.'

Myron waited. Ricky buttoned his shirt, his back still facing Myron. He took a CD out of the stereo and tucked it back into its case.

'I was there,' Ricky began, his voice low. 'In the locker room. I was stoned. We all were. Stoned out of our minds. Horty had just gotten in a new supply, and…' He sort of shrugged away the rest of the sentence.

'It started as a dare, you know. We knew we'd never go through with it.

We figured we'd walk right to the edge but never jump. We kept waiting for someone to call it off.' He stopped again.

Myron said, 'But no one called it off.'

He nodded slowly. 'It stopped. But too late. It stopped when it was my turn, and I said no.'

'After all the others had gone?'

'Yes. I stood there and watched them. I even cheered.'

Silence.

'You kept her panties?'

'Yes.'

'When you heard the police were investigating, you tossed them in a garbage bin.'

He faced Myron. 'No,' he said with something close to a hint of a smile, 'I wouldn't have been stupid enough to leave them on top of a Dumpster. I'd have burned them.'

Myron considered that for a moment. It was, he thought, an excellent point. 'Then who threw them away?'

Ricky shrugged. 'Kathy, I guess. I gave them to her.'

'When?'

'Later.'

'What time later?'

'Around midnight, I think. After it happened… after she left the

212

room, it was like someone had given us the antidote. Or like someone turned on the lights, and we finally saw what we'd done. We all went silent and just drifted away. Except Horty. He was laughing like a goddamn hyena, getting more and more stoned. The rest of us went back to our rooms. None of us said one word. I got into bed, for a little while anyway.

Then I got dressed and went back out. I didn't have a plan. Not really. I just wanted to find her. Say something to her. I just wanted to… shit, I don't know.'

His fingers were playing with his hair, twisting it like a little kid. He looked smaller now. 'I finally found her.'

'Where?'

'Crossing the campus.'

'Where specifically?'

'The middle, I guess. On the commons.'

'What direction was she walking in?'

He thought a moment. 'South.'

'Like maybe she was coming from the faculty housing?'

'Yes.'

After she left Dean Gordon's, he thought.

'Go on.'

'I approached her. Called out her name. I thought she'd just run away, you know. It was dark and all. But she didn't. She just turned and stared at me. She wasn't scared. She wasn't shaking. She just stood there and stared me down. I said I was sorry. She didn't say anything. I gave her the panties. I told her she could use them as evidence. I even told her I'd testify. I didn't plan on saying that. It just came out. Kathy took the panties and walked away. She never said anything.'

'Was that the last time you saw her?'

'Yes.'

'What was she wearing?'

'Wearing?'

'When you last saw her?'

He looked up, trying to recall. 'Something blue, I think.'

'Not yellow?'

'No. Definitely not yellow.'

'She hadn't changed clothes since the rape?'

I don't think so. No, they were the same clothes.'

Myron headed for the door. 'You're going to need more than a new agent, Ricky. You're also going to need a good lawyer.'

213

40

Jake was sitting next to Esperanza in the waiting area. He stood when Myron and Win entered.

'Got a minute?'

Myron nodded. 'My office.'

Jake said, 'Alone.'

Without a word Win spun and left.

'Nothing personal,' Jake said. 'But the guy gives me the creeps.'

'Come on in.' He stopped at Esperanza's desk.

'Did you reach Chaz?'

'Not yet.'

He handed her an envelope. 'There's a photograph inside. Bring it to Lucy. See if she recognizes him.'

Esperanza nodded.

Myron followed Jake into his office. The air conditioning was on full blast. It felt good.

'So what brings you to the Big Apple, Jake?'

'I was over at John Jay,' he said, 'checking something out.'

'The crime lab?'

'Yup.'

'Find something?' Myron asked.

Jake did not reply. He examined the pictures on the client wall, leaning forward and squinting. 'Heard of some of these guys,' he said. 'But no superstars up here.'

'No, no superstars.'

'Nothing like Christian Steele.'

Myron sat down. He threw his legs up on the desk. 'You still think he killed Nancy Serat?'

Jake did something with his shoulders. Might have been a shrug. I just say Christian is no longer our main suspect.'