Southern Fried (30 page)

Sissy frowned. “I didn’t now any of that,” she said. “But I

do know the girl that was raped. She’s a distant cousin of mine.”

“Is?” I asked, with a gulp. “So she’s still alive?”

Sissy’s frown turned upside down. “Very much so. Alive and

kicking, in fact. Lives not too far from you all. Maybe a half hour

away from the mansion.”

I looked to my friends and they looked at me. “Do you think

we could have her address?” I asked.

She eyed me, unsure of how to reply. “You want to ask her

about a decades-old rape? Why forever for, my dear?”

“It’s a long story,” I told her. “But suffice it to say, many lives

hang in the balance, including our own.” My friends nodded.

“But we need to know if Walter was involved.”

Again she stared at each of us in turn. I knew I’d thrown

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her a curve ball, but I had little choice; this was a piece to that

miserable puzzle of ours that had seemingly been swept under

the rug. Thankfully, she took the pitch and swung at it. “I’ll call

her and ask, ya’ll. It’s the best I can do.” She stood, straightened

her slacks, and walked out of the room.

“Nerve-wracking,” I whispered as we waited.

“Definitely,” Zeb whispered back, squeezing my hand in

support. I gratefully squeezed back as Stella and even Jake

reached over to pat my shoulder. “Here she comes,” he soon

added. “Fingers crossed.”

And in she walked, neither smiling nor frowning as a lone

bead of sweat trickled down my forehead. “Please say she’ll see

us,” I pled.

The smile on her face at last broke free. “It took some

maneuvering on my part, but the old bag owes me, so, yes, she’ll

see you.” Sissy allowed herself a small clap. “But good luck with

that one. Jenny makes a lemon seem sweet in comparison.” She

handed us the address. “Now then, anything else I can do you

for?”

I was already up and hugging her before she got the last word

out. “You’ve done more than enough, Sissy,” I said. My friends

hugged her as well.

“Any time, ya’ll,” she said, as she showed us to the door. “And

like I said, good luck.”

And luck is exactly what we’d need.

§ § § §

Jenny greeted us at the door later that day. “You have five

minutes,” she said, lips pursed, eyes in a squint. She looked and

sounded like Nancy Grace, CNN’s resident loony, only with

bigger hair and an unfiltered Marlboro dangling from between

her well-manicured fingers. A chill ran up my spine despite the

broiling, late-afternoon heat. Sissy, I figured, was being kind

when she compared Jenny to a lemon. In fact, it was an insult to

lemons everywhere.

196 Rob Rosen

In any case, we were shown inside, the door clicking behind

us, Jenny’s short heels clicking, too. We were taken to the kitchen

table. No iced tea offered this time. Not even,
blech
, any peach

brandy. Not even a smile. Just Jenny, arms akimbo, looking

mighty pissed at the intrusion.

“Thank you for seeing us,” I began.

“Don’t thank me,” said she. “I owed Sissy a favor. Now

we’re even.” She looked at her watch. “And you’re down to four

minutes.”

And so I spit it out. No sense beating around the bush.

Especially since this bush was so full of thorns. “We’d like to

know if you think Walter Smithy was the man who raped you

back when you were in college.”

Even though Sissy had warned Jenny, it still appeared that

I’d taken her by surprise. Her arms briefly fell to her sides and

her face went semi-slack. “That’s not a name I’ve heard in a long

time,” she finally said.

“So you knew him?” I asked.

She didn’t reply, her gaze a million miles away now. But she

shook it off soon enough. “No,” she said. “Only by name.” Her

steely demeanor returned.

“He was accused of… it?” Stella asked.

“They all were,” Jenny replied. “All the brothers, but him

especially.”

“Because?” asked Jake.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Because they found me in his

room. Little good that information did me, though”

“Let me guess,” Zeb tossed in. “He had an alibi. Namely his

roommate.” All in all, it was a smart guess.

She nodded, anger clearly boiling at the surface now. “The

roommate claimed they left the party early. Earlier than when I

arrived there. Conveniently earlier.”

“So you didn’t believe him?” I asked.

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197

“It didn’t matter. His last name was all he needed.”

“Pellingham,” said Stella.

“Pellingham,” Jenny echoed. “He said they weren’t there and

so they weren’t there.”

Again Jake spoke up. “Even though the boy whose room you

were in had the tattoo you described?”

Her eyes squinted even tighter. “How on earth are you coming

up with all this information?” she practically growled. “I mean,

it’s ancient history.”

As I said to Sissy, “It’s a long story.” I cast my eyes to my

watch. “And our four minutes are up.”

She shrugged, her shoulders loosening as she slumped into

a chair. “Doesn’t matter anyway,” she said. “But, no, the tattoo

didn’t count for anything. Lots of folks have that same tattoo.

And without a face to identify, it didn’t go anywhere. In the end,

no one believed me. I was just a drunk girl in a place I shouldn’t

have been to begin with.”

We stood up to leave. But it was then I thought of one more

question. “But how did you end up in their room then? Especially

if they weren’t there?”

“Ah,” she said, also standing up. “The million dollar question.

And for that I have no answer. See, I can’t remember. I just woke

up there, alone, the party long-over. It was close to midnight.

Late for back then. The roommates returned at about one in the

morning, I was told.”

“But the rape you remembered?” Stella asked, as gently as

possible. “And the tattoo?”

Jenny nodded, walking us to the front door, hurriedly now.

“Hazily, but yes. It’s not something easily forgotten. Drunk

or not.” She opened the front door. “Please don’t come back

here,” she added, escorting us out. “That’s the last time I want to

remember that night. Ever.”

And with that, our five minutes were long up. The door again

went click, with us on the other side of it. We walked back to

198 Rob Rosen

the car and continued the conversation. “So,” I said. “Two alibis

from Robert E. that saved Jeeves both times. And Robert E., to

boot. What do we make of that?”

“Like Jenny said,
convenient
,” offered Jake.

“Too convenient,” said I. “And where were they, supposedly,

until one in the morning?”

“And why did they skip the party?” added Zeb.

“And how did Jenny end up in their room?” Stella piled on.

I looked at each of them and lifted up my cell phone. “I hate

to do it, but I’m going to have to go to the source now. We’re out

of any other options.”

“Robert E.?” asked Stella, with a shake of her head and a

frown.

“Jeeves,” I corrected her. “And not in disguise. Just me.

Alone.”

Zeb once again squeezed my hand. “But what if he is a rapist?

Or a murderer? Or both?” he asked, with a noticeable gulp that

made his Adam’s apple bob. “It could be dangerous.”

I nodded. “Could be, but I don’t think so. If he was dangerous,

Granny wouldn’t have had him around me since I was a baby. No

way, no how.”

Though the way and the how was barreling down on us.

Rushing headlong like a bullet. And, yes, I’m speaking literally for

a change. Too bad, huh?

I called him as we drove. He picked up, my name obviously

appearing on his cell. “How’s New York?” he asked, dryly.

“Cut the crap,” I replied. “By now you know I’m not in New

York.”

“And how would I know that?” he asked, smugly.

“Because your old roommate must’ve told you, I’d think. Told

you too keep an eye out for me.”

He coughed, then paused for a moment. “My boy, I haven’t a

clue what you’re talking about.”

I snickered. “Jeeves, just so you know, I don’t think you killed

my parents or raped that girl at Emory.
Now
do you have a clue

what I’m talking about?”

Again he coughed, louder this time, but still managed to say,

“Meet me at my apartment in thirty minutes.”

“Deal,” I readily agreed. “But if you call Robert E. right now,

I’ll know. And we’re watching you, so nothing funny.” I flicked

my phone shut and stared out at the road as Zeb sped to Jeeves’

apartment house, my mind racing faster than the car.

“Risky,” said Stella. “Neither of those things you closed with

are true.”

“But he doesn’t know that,” I countered with. “And he must

think we’re holding more cards then we are, seeing as I know

about the murders and the rape.”

She nodded. “Smart move on your part, boss. But what

will we be doing while you’re talking with the supposed non-

murderer, non-rapist?”

“I don’t know,” I replied. “It could take a while. Plus, it might

200 Rob Rosen

not be smart for him to catch sight of the three of you. So maybe

just head over to Pearl’s for now. That’s the one place you’re

safe.” I turned around and smiled at Stella and Jake. “I’ll call you

to come and get me or have Jeeves bring me over there once the

meeting is over.”

Zeb groaned. “I’d feel better waiting for you.”

My smile brightened. “I know. And thanks. But if he wants

to harm me, he will, whether you’re downstairs or not. This way,

we won’t spook him. And we need him now; he’s really our only

hope.” Sad, but true.

Again Zeb groaned, but relented. “Point taken.”

Heart taken, too
, I thought. Then I called Pearl and told her

to head on home and wait for the troops. A short while later,

we pulled up to Jeeves’ building and I was let out. My cohorts

pulled away with a wave and thumbs up, with Jeeves driving up

not three minutes later. “Show time,” I whispered, legs fairly

trembling. Then I looked up to the heavens and added, “You

better be looking out for me now, Granny.”

He nodded as he approached and led me upstairs. And then,

once again, I was inside his apartment. Only, this time I didn’t

have any tricks up my sleeve. Not even,
blech
, any peach brandy,

which, truth be told, I could’ve used right at that very moment.

“You know what you’re up against, don’t you, Trip?” he asked

right off the bat, a world-weary frown cast wide across his face.

“The Pellinghams,” I glumly replied. “Yes, I know.”

He nodded. “Smart, Trip,” he said, a hint of a smile appearing.

“I always knew you were. Your Granny didn’t raise no idiots.”

“Or hire any,” I was quick to add. “Though treacherous is not

the same as stupid.”

He sighed, his smile just as quickly fading. “We all had our

reasons, Trip.”

“Blackmail,” I said, spitting the word out.

Again he nodded. “Blackmail, yes. And I won’t even hazard

a guess as to how you found out about all of this. But I will give

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you a piece of advice: if you just go back to New York until after

the election, you and the others, Beau included, we’ll all be a hell

of a lot safer. In fact, all of us will, you, your friends, the entire

mansion staff, everyone.”

I picked up on the Beau part. “You knew he was my brother

all along?”

“Of course. As you said, Robbie and I were college

roommates.”

“And law school roommates, too,” I tossed in.

His sigh returned. “Yes, and that.” His gaze met mine, his

eyes so full of sadness as to break your very heart. Though, by

then, mine was steely cold. “In any case, I knew about Beau. But

he was forgotten about by everyone once he was given up for

adoption. Then you came along and Robbie eased up a bit.”

“And you were almost home-free. Almost able to go back to

work as a lawyer.”

“Until your mother decided to try and get the baby back,” he

said. “That I had to tell Robbie about.”

My skin was sizzling at the comment, my brain shooting off

fireworks. “And then my parents… they were killed.”

He shook his head. “Not killed,
died
. Tragically, but

accidentally.”

My hands were now balled up into fists. “Their car exploded

accidentally? How often does that happen?”

And his head kept right on shaking. “It doesn’t matter how

often. Once was enough. In any case, as you said on the phone, I

didn’t have anything to do with it. And I did have an alibi, as you

well know. I was at Robbie’s lake house the two days leading up

to the explosion. And your parent’s car was driving fine before

then.”

I waited, collecting my thoughts, trying to quell that anger

that was rising up like lava inside a volcano. “Walter,” I said, a

few seconds later, gritting my teeth until my jaw ached. “Doesn’t

it seem odd to you that
Robbie
was your alibi for both a murder