Split Image js-9

by Robert B. Parker

  "But we have to talk. We have to make some arrangement," he said. "First of all, no such thing has ever happened. In fact, I categorically deny everything."

  "Categorically," Sunny said.

  He shook his head as if there was something in his ear. "Who on earth," he said, "has told you such a terrible thing?"

  Sunny shook her head sadly.

  "Jarrod," she said. "Jarrod. Don't any of you jerks ever learn? What gets you in trouble, remember, is not so much the crime, it's the damn cover-up."

  "You called me Jarrod," he said.

  "I feel that I know you," Sunny said.

  "I prefer to be called Patriarch," he said.

  "Frankly, Jarrod," Sunny said, "I don't give a rat's ass." The Patriarch blinked again.

  "What are you going to do?" he said.

  "When your minions bring it to me," Sunny said, "I'm going to take Cheryl's stuff and leave."

  Blink.

  "Are you . . ." he said. "What are you . . . Are you going to cause trouble?"

  "Oh, absolutely," Sunny said.

  Two blinks.

  "Surely," he said, "we can work something out."

  The door opened and a short woman in jeans and a T-shirt came in carrying a black plastic trash bag. She looked at the Patriarch. He nodded, and the woman put the bag in front of the desk and backed out of the room.

  "It would be good if you gave me a list of your principal donors," Sunny said.

  "Oh my God," he said, "no. That's privileged information."

  " 'Privileged,' " Sunny said, and shook her head. "It should be available in your annual report. Have a copy of that handy?"

  "We, ah, don't do an annual report," he said.

  "I think you're supposed to," Sunny said. "I'll check with the IRS."

  "IRS?"

  "You do annual taxes?" Sunny said.

  "We're simply a small, private spiritual organization," the Patriarch said.

  Sunny picked up the trash bag. It was light. Cheryl didn't seem to have much stuff.

  "And whorehouse," Sunny said, and carried the bag out of the office.

  59

  THIS TIME IT WAS Normie who brought Jesse in to see Reggie. He didn't say anything, but Jesse could feel Normie's attitude like an aura.

  Reggie was sitting in the backyard under an awning with a glass of iced coffee. Both the Bang Bang Twins were with him, dressed alike in yellow sundresses. If they had any memory of appearing naked before him, Jesse couldn't detect it. They were as charming and composed as they were before the incident.

  "Can I get you some iced coffee, Chief Stone?" one of the twins said.

  "Yes," Jesse said. "Thank you."

  She went to get it. Jesse looked at the remaining twin.

  "Robbie?" he said.

  She laughed.

  "You had a fifty-fifty chance," she said. "Actually, I'm Rebecca."

  "Mrs. Galen," Jesse said.

  "Got that right," Reggie said. "I think."

  Everybody laughed. Robbie came back with the iced coffee. Jesse added sugar and milk.

  "Why I stopped by," Jesse said, "is to inquire after Bob Davis."

  "Bobby," Reggie said.

  Jesse nodded.

  "Damn, I miss him," Reggie said.

  "Where is he?" Jesse said.

  "Don't know."

  "Why isn't he here?" Jesse said.

  "He quit," Reggie said. "Told me he wanted to kick back a little. Go to the track, play golf, look at the ocean."

  "Golf," Jesse said.

  "What he said."

  "You have a replacement?" Jesse said.

  "Normie Salerno," Reggie said. "For the moment."

  "Seems to me that he's no Bob Davis," Jesse said.

  "No," Reggie said. "He's not. But he's here until I get somebody else."

  "You know where Bob is?"

  "Nope."

  "No forwarding address?" Jesse said.

  "Nope. Told me he wanted a clean break. Shook my hand and"--Reggie shrugged--"went."

  "We all miss him," one of the twins said.

  "He was sweet," the other twin said.

  "Knocko's guy goes," Jesse said. "Then yours."

  "Yeah."

  "Then Knocko went," Jesse said.

  Reggie looked at Jesse in silence for a long time.

  Finally he said, "Meaning?"

  Jesse made an airy motion with his hand.

  "Just reviewing the facts of the situation," he said.

  Reggie nodded.

  "Well," he said. "If there's nothing else . . ."

  "No," Jesse said. "Nothing else. I'll find my way out."

  All three of them watched him leave. As he reached the corner of the house, Jesse turned and looked back.

  "Watch your back, Reggie," he said.

  None of them spoke.

  60

  JESSE GATHERED the eight women in the Bond of the Renewal in the living room of the Renewal House. Sunny was with him, and Suit, and Molly, and the Patriarch.

  "I don't understand," the Patriarch said. "I don't understand why you are doing this."

  "I'm investigating a reported felony," Jesse said.

  "Do I need a lawyer?"

  "You know that better than I do," Jesse said.

  "I don't know any lawyers," the Patriarch said.

  "If I arrest you," Jesse said, "a lawyer will be provided."

  "Arrest?"

  The Patriarch was horrified.

  "I need to talk to these ladies now, sir," Jesse said. "I'll ask you to join Officer Simpson outside."

  The Patriarch hesitated. Suit took his arm, and they left the room. Molly closed the door and leaned against the wall beside it.

  "I'm Jesse Stone," he said to the women. "I am the chief of police here in Paradise. The officer by the door is Molly Crane. And the other woman is a private detective from Boston named Sunny Randall, who is working with us."

  The eight women looked dutifully at each of the people as Jesse introduced them.

  "As you may know," Jesse said, "a member of the Bond, Cheryl DeMarco, has reported to us that she was forced to have sex with one or more of the donors at a fund-raising event here recently."

  No one said anything.

  "We are not accusing anyone here of any wrongdoing. We have no intention of arresting you or anything unpleasant. We are just trying to establish what has happened here."

  All the women looked at him solemnly. One of them, a very young-looking woman with a single long black braid, raised her hand.

  Jesse nodded at her.

  "Where is Cheryl now?" she said.

  "What is your name?" Jesse said.

  "Billie."

  "She's fine, Billie," Jesse said. "She's staying with a friend."

  Billie nodded. No one else spoke.

  "What I need to know is was she telling the truth, and have any of you been required to have sex with a donor, or with anyone else."

  No one said anything. No one moved.

  "I'm not interested in consensual sex. I'm interested in sex that, had it not been urged on you, you wouldn't have had."

  Nothing.

  "And I'm not limiting the definition of sex; any of the variety of sexual activities that are available would do."

  Billie looked a little uncomfortable, Jesse thought. And an older woman, maybe thirty, in a gauzy white dress, looked down at the floor.

  "Okay," Jesse said. "It's kind of embarrassing, isn't it. Might be easier if I left the room."

  He looked at Sunny. She nodded. Jesse turned and walked out of the living room and closed the door behind him. He was in the entry hall. At the end of the hall was the patriarchal office, where Suit was standing by the door.

  Jesse walked down. The Patriarch was sitting at his desk, looking at his hands.

  "How's everything?" Jesse said.

  "He's mentioned several times that he doesn't understand what's going on," Suit said.

  "And your reply?" Jesse said.

  "I told h
im that was the story of my life," Suit said.

  "Consoling," Jesse said.

  "What's going on now," the Patriarch said, still staring down at his hands.

  "My ladies are talking with your ladies," Jesse said.

  "Girl talk," Suit said.

  "I think woman talk is more correct," Jesse said.

  "I'm sure it is," Suit said.

  "Why are the women talking?" the Patriarch said.

  "We're trying to establish who else you pimped off to your high rollers," Jesse said. "They seemed a little embarrassed in front of me."

  "I wish you wouldn't speak that way," the Patriarch said.

  "Sure you do," Jesse said.

  "I have done nothing," the Patriarch said, "except in the service of simple spiritual values."

  "That's true for all of us, I'm sure," Jesse said. "Especially if you see money as a spiritual value."

  "Any money I have raised has been in the service of the Renewal."

  "I sense that a discussion of ends versus means is about to break out," Jesse said.

  "Jesse?" Suit said, and nodded toward the hall.

  The living-room door was open, and Molly was standing in the doorway. Jesse looked at her, and she nodded toward the living room behind her. Then she went back in, leaving the door open.

  "Make sure Mr. Patriarch stays here," Jesse said to Suit. "We may have a verdict."

  He walked down the door and into the living room. The women were seated as they had been before. None looked at Jesse. Molly winked at him. Jesse looked at Sunny.

  "Anybody?" he said.

  "All of them," Sunny said.

  61

  JESSE TOOK HIM into a cell, for dramatic effect. He held the tape recorder in front of the Patriarch and punched it on. Sunny sat on the bunk. Molly leaned against the cell door.

  "Please give your name," Jesse said to the Patriarch.

  "I am the Patriarch of the Bond of the Renewal," the Patriarch said.

  "That's what you do," Jesse said. "I want your name."

  "Jarrod Russell."

  "Okay," Jesse said. "From here on, we will all refer to you as Jarrod Russell."

  "Yes, sir."

  Jesse gave the date and location of the interview. Then he shut off the tape recorder.

  "We got you, Jarrod," Jesse said. "You know that."

  Russell nodded. Then he put his face in his hands and began to cry.

  "Every one of those women will testify against you," Jesse said. "Right, Moll?"

  "They will," Molly said.

  "Every one of them was coerced into sexual activity with donors," Jesse said.

  "They were," Sunny said.

  "We have statements from all of them," Jesse said.

  "We do," Molly said.

  "You're going to jail," Jesse said.

  Jarrod Russell sobbed into his hands. Everyone else was quiet.

  After a time Jesse said, "Unless we can work some kind of deal."

  Russell raised his face from his hands. Salvation?

  "I'll do anything you want," he said.

  Jesse was silent for a long time while Russell looked at him.

  Then he said, "How'd you get yourself into this mess?"

  "I founded this little group," Russell said in a thick, shaky voice. "I had some money from my family, and I wanted to do good. And it was good for a while, but eventually . . ."

  Jesse waited. Russell seemed to have trouble getting enough air. He took a couple of big inhales.

  "I really was happy," he said.

  No one said anything.

  "But eventually the money ran out, and I started trying to raise money. At first I had the girls making cookies and things. . . . Then one man offered one of the girls money to have sex with him . . . and she did and gave the money to me . . ."

  "Which girl?" Sunny said.

  Russell shook his head.

  "She has since left us," he said.

  "Gone but not forgotten," Sunny said.

  Russell dropped his head and nodded. When he spoke, his voice was shaky.

  "It was all in the service of good," he said.

  "Except when it wasn't," Molly said.

  No one said anything. Russell had stopped crying. But his breathing was still shaky. Jesse stood and walked to the cell door and looked into the corridor for a time. Then he turned back toward Russell.

  "Okay," Jesse said. "Here's the deal. You tell me who was having sex with your girls, and I'll help you with the DA. Maybe you won't have to do time if you are cooperative."

  "If you let me go back to my office," Russell said, "I can give you a list."

  62

  MOLLY AND STEVE FRIEDMAN took Russell to his office to make his list. Jesse and Sunny sat in Jesse's office.

  "You played him like a mackerel," Sunny said.

  "I know."

  "I felt kind of sorry for him," Sunny said.

  "I did, too, but that wasn't the time to show it."

  "No," Sunny said. "It was a pleasure to watch you work."

  "Thank you."

  "There is one thing that bothers me a little," Sunny said.

  "Which is?"

  "You never quite said what crime we got him on."

  Jesse smiled and put his finger to his lips.

  "Shhh," he said.

  "You didn't actually arrest him, did you?" Sunny said.

  Jesse shook his head.

  "Are you going to?" Sunny said.

  "I'll consult with the DA's office," Jesse said. "But something wrong went on there. I'm sure we can come up with a charge if we want to."

  "None of the girls wanted to have sex with any of the men," Sunny said.

  "If they are telling the truth," Jesse said.

  "I think they are," Sunny said. "But I'm not sure the men who had sex with them knew it was involuntary."

  "There was an implicit agreement to trade sex for money," Jesse said.

  "Which would be prostitution," Sunny said.

  "There was coercion," Jesse said.

  "Which is rarely admirable," Sunny said. "But not always illegal."

  "And at some level, pretty common," Jesse said.

  "Oh, God," Sunny said. "Most women have experienced some . . . 'What are you, frigid?' . . . 'What am I supposed to do with these feelings?' And my personal favorite, 'Hey, I bought you dinner. . . .' Like I'm supposed to bop you for a lobster roll?"

  "I never used any of those on you," Jesse said.

  "You never had to," Sunny said.

  "It is my impression that most women are willing these days," Jesse said.

  "I think that's true," Sunny said.

  "I doubt that there were many virgins working for the donors' dollars," Jesse said.

  "I think that's probably true also," Sunny said. "But . . ."

  Jesse nodded.

  "If you don't want to, you shouldn't have to," he said.

  "Whether you're a virgin or a whore," Sunny said.

  Jesse nodded.

  "On the other hand," he said, "didn't I buy you dinner the other night?"

  "Oh, oink," Sunny said. "What are you going to do now?"

  "I'll buy you dinner again," Jesse said. "I'm not a quitter."

  "I meant with Russell and the Renewal and all that."

  "I'm hoping you and Molly will talk to the people on Russell's list and see what you get," Jesse said. "Molly will provide police authority. It's your case more than mine."

  "Molly's smart," Sunny said.

  "She is," Jesse said. "Best cop I got."

  Sunny smiled.

  "Don't tell Suit," she said.

  "Suit's got potential," Jesse said.

  "And what do we do about Cheryl?" Sunny said. "Now that her career at the Bond of the Renewal appears finished?"

  "She's eighteen?" Jesse said.

  "Yes."

  "Can she stay with Spike?" Jesse said.

  "For a while," Sunny said. "But then what?"

  "Sink or swim?" Jesse said.

&nbs
p; "Sooner or later," Sunny said. "But she's not ready for that yet."

  "Some people are at eighteen," Jesse said.

  "Some eighteen-year-olds are better trained," Sunny said.

  "So, what do we do with her until she's trained?" Jesse said.

  "Well, her parents continue to send her money," Sunny said.

  "Under the threat of blackmail, I believe."

  "Exactly," Sunny said. "So we know we can count on it."

  "Fear is good," Jesse said.

  "And what makes it so satisfying is that they did the wrong thing because they were so status-conscious," Sunny said.

  "And you're now able to use that to make them do the right thing," Jesse said.

  "Yes."

  "Plus the fear of criminal prosecution," Jesse said.

  "Plus that."

  "But she can't simply live with Spike and subsist on her allowance," Sunny said.

  "No."

  "So, what do we do with her?" Sunny said.

  " 'We'?" Jesse said.

  "Of course 'we,' " Sunny said. "You're the chief of police."

  "A heavy burden," Jesse said.

  "And my special friend," Sunny said.

  "Not so heavy a burden," Jesse said.

  "So, what do we do?"

  Jesse was quiet for a time.

  Then he said, "I don't know."

  "Me, either," Sunny said.

  63

  NEITHER HEALY NOR LIQUORI knew where Bob Davis was.

  "He ain't even in the system," Healy said on the phone. "I know he's been with Reggie for a long time. But we got no record he's ever been arrested."

  Jesse hung up and put his feet on his desk. A drink would be good. He was pleased with helping Sunny with the Bond of the Renewal. Whatever the disposition, the Bond was gone. The selectmen would be happy. Funny how he often felt more like drinking when he was happy than when he was sad. Maybe Sunny was right. Maybe he wasn't an alcoholic; maybe he just enjoyed drinking. Except for the bender I went on over the Bang Bang Twins. Maybe he was an alcoholic only when he was unhappy. He smiled at himself and shook his head. I only drink under two circumstances: when I'm happy and when I'm not. Bob Davis had been with Reggie a long time. He was a bad guy, but he was a loyal guy. Ray Mulligan was the same way. And he'd been close enough to Davis for Davis to tell him about the twins' assault on his chastity.