Crash Into Me (32 page)

“Why
would you say that?”

Her
pretty face crumpled. “I don’t know!”

“You
knew she came into my room that night?”

Carly
covered her ears with her hands. “No! I don’t want to know, okay?”

Ben
looked around the parking lot uneasily. James and an older boy were standing by
a tree-lined median, and for once, Carly’s boyfriend was a welcome distraction.
“We have to talk about this, but now is not the time. And here is definitely
not the place.” He nodded toward James. “What’s up with them?”

“That’s
James’ brother, Stephen,” she said miserably. “I guess they’re having a family
crisis of their own.”

Ben
grunted, feeling less than generous toward James. “Say good-bye. We’re
leaving.” When she started to comply, dragging her feet, he added, “And tell
James you won’t be seeing him for a while. You’re grounded.”

She
whirled around. “What for?”

“For
what you got caught doing in the movie theater.”

Carly’s
face flushed pink. “They’re fucking liars, Dad.”

“Yeah,
right. Tell your boyfriend bye-bye.”

She
crossed her arms over her chest. “No.”

Ben saw
red. “No?”

“I
wasn’t doing anything! Especially compared to what you did upstairs with
Summer.” Her voice lowered to a hiss. “And Lisette!”

Fueled
by a dangerous mix of fury and shame, Ben dragged Carly over to where James and
Stephen were talking quietly underneath a gorgeously blooming jacaranda. “What
were you doing to my daughter in the movie theater, you ballsy little
white-trash bastard?”

James
blanched against the sudden onslaught. He looked from Ben to Carly. “Why don’t
you take your hands off her? Can’t you see you’re hurting her?”

Ben
released her abruptly. The red marks on her skin were a testament to his loss
of control, and having a boy half his age call him on it did not improve his
mood. He stepped up to James, towering over him. “Start talking, before I put
my hands on you.”

Stephen
inched closer, trying to play mediator. “Sir, my brother was just telling me
what a nice girl your daughter is—”

“Shut
up!” James and Ben said in unison.

Carly
covered her face with her hands and wailed.

“I’m
not a bastard,” James said. “I might be trash, but I’m not a bastard. My
parents were married. Unlike you and Carly’s mother when she was born.”

The
cigarette fell, forgotten, from Stephen’s bewhiskered mouth.

Ben
felt the heat of rage suffuse his face. “Are you calling my daughter a
bastard?” he asked in a low voice.

James
sent Carly an apology with his eyes. “No, sir. I’m just letting you know I
don’t care for that label.”

“Let
me tell you what I don’t care for, James. Last night you said you had good intentions.
Today, some asshole cop tells me my sixteen-year-old daughter was going down on
you in the movie theater!”

It
was James’ turn to flush. “No. That didn’t happen. She’s never done anything
like that.”

“I
told you, Dad.”

Ben
looked from one solemn young face to the other. Carly had lied to him on
numerous occasions, and he trusted James about as far as he could throw him,
which was probably at least ten feet, in his current state of mind.

“We
were just kissing,” James said. “She was sitting on my lap, and I told her to
get up because I was getting…uncomfortable. She thought she’d hurt me, because
she’s so innocent she didn’t understand.”

James
was staring at Ben, honest and steely-eyed. Carly was sitting on the curb,
shaking with mortification. Stephen, having located his cigarette, was smoking
quietly, analyzing Ben through dark blue eyes identical to James’.

Ben
was the only real adult present, but damned if he felt like one. Sometimes this
responsible parenting crap was a real pain in the ass. “Why did they say you
were on your knees?” he asked Carly.

She
looked up. “He put a cup of soda in his lap. I thought I’d squashed something,
and he had to ice it. I was only trying to help.”

Stephen
laughed softly, and that sound echoed across the quiet corner of the parking
lot. Three pairs of eyes glared at him.

Ben
rubbed a hand down his face, feeling like the biggest idiot in the world,
because he actually believed their story. James had probably edited a few
details, for Carly’s sake, but Ben couldn’t fault him for it. Nor did he fool
himself into thinking that youthful lust wouldn’t win out eventually over
restraint. “You two are going to be the death of me,” he said with a sigh. “I
thought Carly was accident-prone enough on her own.”

“Is
Nathan here?” James asked.

“He’s
inside, filing some paperwork. Why?”

“I
was wondering if I could borrow him. I could use a lawyer.”

The
tension that had eased from Ben’s shoulders returned, with reinforcements. “You
in some kind of trouble?”

James
eyed Ben warily. “Maybe. I guess they think I killed my dad.”

After requesting that the slab in the
Matthews’ backyard be excavated, and turning in Olivia Fortune’s bracelet to
Grant, Sonny had a sit-down with Paula DeGrassi, bringing her up to speed on
the federal case.

Ben
and Carly had been released pending further investigation. With the new
evidence linking Arlen Matthews to the SoCal murders, and to Olivia Fortune’s
death, Grant had decided to focus their efforts on him. He and Mitchell went to
the Matthews residence to oversee the excavation.

Sonny
had no choice but to divulge the truth about James, explaining that he had made
the Christmas Eve phone call reporting Lisette’s body.

She
knew better than to air her concerns that the evidence against Arlen had been
planted, reveal the details of their unfortunate biological connection, or
confess that she may have been responsible for his death.

If
James didn’t tell either, the point would be moot. DeGrassi said she’d been
aware of Arlen Matthews for years. Although none of the prostitutes he’d beaten
up had pressed charges, he had an incredibly violent reputation. Any number of
wronged women could have done the world a favor and taken him out.

Sonny
was weaving a fine web of deception, one that might wrap her up and suffocate
her, but she could see no other alternative. Revealing more at this juncture
would only draw suspicion to Ben, James, or herself.

Complicating
matters, Nathan Fortune had agreed to represent James. Sonny wasn’t looking
forward to meeting him across the interrogation table, considering what Ben had
just gone through because of her.

She
followed DeGrassi down the hall, every nerve in her body on edge.

In
the interview room, Nathan was sitting next to James, looking windswept and
elegant in navy trousers and a cream-colored sweater with maroon pinstripes. He
could have just stepped off the pages of a cologne ad with a nautical theme.

“Ladies,”
he said pleasantly.

DeGrassi
introduced herself to James, who shook her hand in sullen silence. Sonny studied
him as she took her seat. He didn’t look happy to see her.

Neither
did Nathan. She supposed he didn’t care for liars infiltrating his family’s
ranks. “Is my client under suspicion of committing a crime?” he asked.

“At
this time we have no charges pending against him,” DeGrassi hedged.

“Why
is he here?”

“His
father is a suspect in the murder of Lisette Bruebaker.”

Nathan
glanced at James, whose face registered neither relief nor surprise. Even so,
the blank expression was telling. It was unusual for a seventeen-year-old boy
to wear such an impenetrable mask. With a jerk of his chin, James consented to
the interview.

“Did
you see your father last night?”

He
shifted in his chair. “Sure.”

“What
time?”

“Around
midnight.”

“Had
he been drinking heavily?”

“As always.”

“Did
anything unusual happen?”

His
blue eyes cut to Sonny and back. “Like what?”

“Late-night
visitors…scuffles…accidents?”

Sonny
couldn’t help it. She closed her eyes and held her breath, waiting to be outed.

“No,”
James said. “When I left, he was asleep.”

Relief
washed over her, along with a measure of shame. She was amazed that he would
cover for her, appalled that she would let him.

DeGrassi
asked about Lisette, and in this, James told the truth. He described every
detail of the morning her body was caught in the fishing net, omitting nothing,
from his regurgitated Fruit Loops to his father’s callous treatment of the
remains. If anyone had been in doubt about what kind of man Arlen Matthews was,
they weren’t any longer.

“When
did you last see Lisette alive?” DeGrassi asked.

“A
few weeks ago, she was at my brother’s.”

“What
happened?”

“We
talked,” he said shortly, fooling no one.

“You
had sex?” DeGrassi interpreted.

“Just
oral,” he muttered.

“She
performed oral sex on you? Then what?”

He
shrugged. “Then nothing.”

“Did
you get her phone number? Arrange to meet again?”

“No.
It was a one-time thing.”

DeGrassi
was speculative. “How do you know she felt the same way?”

Color
stained his cheekbones. “She was kind of mad at me when she left. I said
‘Carly’ when I, uh—at the wrong moment.”

“Who’s
Carly?”

“My
girlfriend.”

DeGrassi
didn’t mince words. “You said her name when you ejaculated into Lisette
Bruebaker’s mouth?”

James
put a shaky hand over his face. “Yeah,” he said, almost inaudibly. He glanced
at Nathan. “This was before I started dating Carly, but Lisette knew I liked
her. I think that’s why she did…what she did. Anyway, when she left, she said,
‘I’ll tell Carly you said hi.’ So she was threatening me, I guess, saying she
was going to tell Carly about it, to embarrass me.”

DeGrassi’s
brows lifted. “Did she?”

“Probably
not. Carly didn’t even know I existed back then. It wouldn’t have meant
anything to her.”

“Did
your father know about you and Lisette?”

“No.
Why would he?”

“This
incident occurred at your brother’s house, correct?”

He
followed her logic. “Yeah, but not in front of anyone. We were in the closet.
Stephen didn’t know, either.”

“Do
you meet a lot of girls at Stephen’s?”

“Some,”
he admitted. “But it’s not what you think. Stephen’s girlfriend teases me. My
dad called me queer all the time. I felt pressure, you know? To prove myself.
Act like a man.”

“Is
that how you felt in the closet with Lisette? Like a man?”

“No.
I felt like a jerk. That’s why I didn’t tell anyone.”

DeGrassi
studied his handsome face. “Do you like boys, too, James?”

James’
eyes darkened. “No.” He leaned back in his chair, distancing himself from the
very idea. “Hell, no.” As an afterthought, he turned to Nathan, aware that his
attitude had been insulting. “No offense.”

“None
taken,” Nathan replied amiably.

“Why
do you think your dad accused you of that?”

James
stared at the wall behind her head. “Maybe he wished I was queer, so he’d have
an excuse to beat me up.” He let out a harsh laugh. “Like he needed an excuse.”

“He
physically abused you?”

“Every
day,” he said, meeting her eyes.

“Sexually?”

James
looked at Sonny. Her heart broke for him, but she couldn’t offer him any words
of comfort. DeGrassi had threatened her with bodily harm if she interfered. “He
didn’t touch me or anything like that. But he did other stuff that I would call
sexual abuse.”

“Like
what?”

James
studied his hands. “He made me watch, when he was with prostitutes. He made me
participate.”

“He
made you participate in sex with them?”

“No,”
he replied with a shudder. “I couldn’t. He made me tie them up. I guess he
thought that if I helped, I was just as guilty as he was.”

“Tying
up a woman for sex, if she consents, isn’t a crime.”

“Yeah,
well, what he did to them should be, if it isn’t.” He put his head in his
hands, humiliated to voice his father’s atrocities.

“James,
I know this is difficult for you,” DeGrassi said, and gave him a moment. Then
she asked, “Are you ready to continue?” When he nodded, DeGrassi brought out
the photos of the previous victims. “Did your father ever have contact with
these girls?”