Promise You Won't Tell? (22 page)

“Stepdaughter. And his surveillance equipment was running when Riley passed out in Kelli’s room.”

Though the parking lot is dimly lit, I can see Gavin aging again, right before my eyes. Like one of those time-lapse videos that takes less than a minute to see a guy losing weight over the course of a year.

“Have the police seen this?”

“I only have personal knowledge of two copies existing in the world. And this is one of them.”

“Have you seen it?”

“I have not. Riley made me swear a solemn oath not to look at it. Even with you.”

“It must be really bad.”

“I can’t imagine her giving it to you if it wasn’t.”

“I’ll watch it tonight, and let you know tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

He turns and walks back toward the front of his office building, each step slower than the preceding one. As if he doesn’t really want to reach his destination. In fact, he’s walking so slowly I fear he might die of old age before he gets to the door.

I put my car in gear and head back to my office.

When I get there, I find the place ransacked. The door of my safe has been pried open. There’s nothing inside.

It takes a moment before I realize I’m never going to know what was on that tape.

I’ll never know the truth of what happened to Riley at the slumber party.

And neither will you.

I’m lying.

No one’s been in my office, no one broke into my safe, no one stole my CD.

I was just messing with you.

I open the safe, remove the CD, take it to my computer, and pop it in the slot.

The tape has been edited to show only the Riley clip. In other words, whatever happened before and after is not shown.

But the tape shows everything that happened to Riley.

In graphic detail.

Since you’re not likely to ever see it, I’ll go through it for you, step-by-step, in Chapter 43. I won’t give vivid explanations of the most extreme parts, but I won’t omit them, either. I’ll explain what’s happening in a clinical, non-erotic way, wherever possible. But in the event you have no interest in hearing what’s on the tape, please skip Chapter 43 and go directly to Chapter 44.

Riley told the truth.

There are two camera angles, merged into a split-screen. The left side shows the view from the dresser, ten feet from the foot of Kelli’s bed. The right side shows an overhead view. If you want to see what happened in general, without the graphic detail, you can cover the right side of the screen.

The cameras begin rolling when the light comes on, and what you see at the beginning is a young girl in pajamas, clearly Riley Freeman, entering the room. She stops a moment to sit on the corner of the bed. She’s holding her stomach. There is sound, but she’s silent, except for an occasional heavy sigh, as if she’s in mild discomfort. She leans her head down, hair covering her face, then puts her head in her hands.

From the left camera you can see the bathroom door is open. Riley gets up on shaky legs, and makes her way to the bathroom, where she puts a hand against the wall to steady herself before entering. She goes in, and closes the bathroom door behind her.

Since the lights are still on, the cameras continue to run. Minutes go by, without a sound. There is no sound of a toilet flushing, but I hear water running for a few seconds. Then it stops, and the door opens. As Riley comes out I notice a hand towel in her left hand that falls to the floor behind her. She staggers to the bed and sits there a minute, staring blankly. Then she slowly eases herself onto her right side, facing the bedroom door, and lies there fifteen seconds before scooting to the middle of the bed.

When Riley gave me her explanation of these events, limited as it was, for some reason I envisioned her lying on her back the entire time. But that’s not what happened. She’s on her side, knees close to her stomach. Both cameras show her pajama shirt riding up slightly in the back, revealing approximately three inches of her lower back.

She has not positioned herself in a sexy manner. In other words, if this had been staged, I would expect the presentation to be far more erotic.

Within minutes, she’s clearly unconscious.

Ethan Lied.

By my count, six minutes pass before the door is opened. I’m expecting the light to go off and the camera to shut down, which would indicate Parker Page has entered the room to check on Riley. I study the video very carefully to see the break in the tape that shows the camera went off and then back on.

To my surprise, the cameras continue to roll. There is no break or gap in the video because the light is never turned off. As further evidence the cameras have not stopped, I hear someone speaking just before the door opens. The voice is male, and melodic in a creepy sing-song way, as if he’s playing hide-and-seek. He says, “
Ri
-ley, oh
Ri
-ley! Where
are
you, Riley? Are you in here?”

Two teenage boys, our own Ethan Clark and Ronnie English—enter the room. Ethan’s doing the talking.

“Ri-ley,” he says, clearly inebriated. He notices her on the bed and says, “Well, what do we have here?”

“Holy shit!” Ronnie says. “Dude!”

“
Ri
-ley,” Ethan sings.

He slaps her ass.

“Damn!” he says. “She didn’t even move!”

“No way!” Ronnie says.

“Dude! Shut the door!”

Ronnie does. Then, in a voice quivering with excitement, says, “Oh, my God! This is great. Wait. She’s probably faking.”

“I don’t think so, man. Check this out.”

The overhead camera shows Ethan shaking her shoulder. He says, “Dude, this is one fucked-up bitch!”

“No way!”

“You know what this is?” Ethan says. “A gift from God.”

“Like sacrificing a virgin,” Ronnie says. “Except backwards.”

Ethan looks at his friend and says, “Dude. You’re killing the mood with that shit. That is just weird.”

“What if we’re being set up?”

“It’ll be
worth
it!”

“Man, I don’t trust anyone. Look under the bed.”

“
You
look under the bed, asshole.”

“Fine. But you should check the closet, just to be sure.”

“I’ll check the bathroom,
you
check the closet.”

Ronnie looks under the bed, then checks the closet. The left camera shows Ethan disappear into the bathroom a few seconds. Then he comes out and sits on the bed to Riley’s right, facing her back.

“You know how many times I’ve checked out your ass, Miss Riley?” Ethan says.

“A million times?” Ronnie offers.

“A million and six.”

“But you never saw it.”

“No one has, I don’t think.”

“She’s probably faking,” Ronnie says.

“I can find out.”

“Do it.”

Ethan pauses. “Promise you won’t tell?”

“Who the fuck would I tell?”

“Ri-ley,” Ethan sings, “Last chance, baby doll. If you’re faking, tell me now, ’cause I’m gonna pull your pants down.”

“Do it!” Ronnie says. “I dare you!”

Ethan hesitates. Says, “I’ll leave it up to Riley.” He whispers, “Riley?” Then says, in a louder voice, “If it’s okay, don’t say a word. If you’re okay with me pulling your pants down, keep quiet. If you
don’t
want me to touch you, just say so.”

Ronnie raises his voice an octave, imitating a girl. “Pull my pants down, Ethan!”

“If you insist,” he says.

Ronnie moves across the room to Ethan’s side. “Do it!” he whispers.

“Check it out!” Ethan whispers back, as he slides her pants and panties down.

“Oh, my God!” Ronnie says. “I’m gonna blow a load right here!”

“
Dude
!” Ethan whispers. “Act like you’ve been here before. What’s your problem?”

He says, “Go outside and guard the door.”

“No way!”

“Dude! Guard the fuckin’ door! We’ll take turns.”

“How long till my turn?”

“Five minutes.”

“Bullshit! One minute.”

“Two.”

Ronnie says, “All right. Two. Then it’s my turn.”

Ethan says, “Don’t rush the count.”

Ronnie moves swiftly to the door, saying, “Want me to turn the lights off?”

“No way, Man. I want to see what she’s been keeping from me all these years.”

After further consideration…

I’ve decided to sum up. Some things are better left unsaid. Here’s the short version: over the next two-and-a-half minutes, Ethan pulls up Riley’s shirt, pulls her pants and panties down to her ankles, touches her, fondles her, performs oral.

Then something happens.

Riley starts to move.

Ethan jumps back.

Riley murmurs, “What are you doing?”

Ethan whispers, “Shhh. Nothing. Go back to sleep.”

He pauses while she seems to drift unconscious again. He uses his mouth again and she murmurs. “Don’t. Please. Please…stop.”

Her words are hard to make out, because they seem to come from a far-away place. And yet, they’re clear enough to me, watching the video, which means Ethan had no problem hearing and understanding her.

But he doesn’t stop. He says, “What did you say, baby? You
like
it? Huh? You
like
it? Well, I like it
too
! I like it a lot!”

Riley murmurs something I can’t make out. Ethan says, “Oh, I’ll stop. Yeah, that’s right, baby, I’ll stop. When I’m good and ready!”

The door opens. Ronnie comes in and says, “Holy shit, Dude! That’s enough!
My
turn.”

Ethan looks up and says, “Can’t do it, man.”

“What?”

“I can’t let you do it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll let you see her. That’s only fair. But I can’t let you touch her.”

“But—”

“Sorry, Dude. Not gonna happen. It’s not cool.”

“What the fuck are you
talkin’
about?”

“Close the door and come here. I’ll give you a quick look.”

Ronnie closes the door, rushes back. “I’m taking pictures.”

“Good idea.”

Ethan says, “Want to see her snatch? Of course you do. Show him your snatch, Riley. Yeah, that’s right. Photo op!”

They take several shots from different angles.

Ethan says, “Check it out, Ron.”

“Bingo!”

They take another shot.

“Boobs?” Ethan says. “Nice, right? Photo op!”

He rolls her over.

“It’s all nice, my man. From top to bottom. Wait. One more. Don’t be modest, Riley, you’re among friends. Photo op!”

He pauses a second, then says, “Okay, you’re done, Ronald. Guard the door, I’ll get her dressed.”

He does. Then takes a photo of her fully dressed, on her back. This is the photo Rick Hooper sent. I never would have believed Gavin’s claim that Ethan dressed her first, then took the picture, could possibly be true. Of course, Gavin never would have believed everything else his son did.

Do I feel sorry for Gavin?

I do, a little.

No parent should have to see his son committing a sex crime.

A minute goes by, then the tape cuts off.

Bottom line?

One, Parker was not involved. Two, Ethan committed sexual assault. Forcibly, since Riley clearly asked him to stop. Three, he also committed forcible oral sexual intercourse. Four, Ronnie is guilty of voyeurism.