Redress of Grievances (24 page)

"You
know," Harriett said, "I'm surprised you let Sharon control what you
do so much."

"She
doesn't control what I do. I just respect her wishes...most of the time."

"Can
you tell me about Parker?"

Jan
blinked hard several times and looked at Harriett.

"Depends
on what you want to know."

"Did
Parker ever hurt Sharon?"

"No."

"Did
he hurt you?"

Jan
smiled slightly. "That's pretty slick, Harriett. Must be why good old Mom
and Dad are so willing to paying your substantial fee."

"Actually,
Parker is paying my fee."

"No,
shit!" Jan laughed. "That cocky bastard."

"Well,
he knows Sharon wouldn't do anything to hurt him. Isn't that what her mother
taught her?"

"Sharon
learned that lesson better than he did."

"Did
he hurt you?"

"He
didn't mean to. It was an accident."

"Will
you tell me about it?"

"Nope,"
Jan said inhaling more smoke.

"So
I guess Sharon is still in control then. Maybe you're not as strong as you
think?"

Jan
stood and glared at Harriett.

"She
should be careful," Talbot said. "She might have stepped over the
line with that question."

"You
told her not to attack Sharon," Nick said.

"It's
not a good idea to attack Jan, either. She's the violent one, remember?"

Jan's
face softened slightly. "Are you deliberately trying to provoke me,
Harriett?"

"I'm
trying to get to the truth, and you're not helping."

"I
told you I did it, for God's sake. What else do you want?"

"I
want to know why you did it. I demand to know why. Otherwise, they can wheel a
gurney in here right now and stick the needle into Sharon's arm."

"They
ain't gonna do that. She didn't do anything."

"I
thought you were supposed to protect Sharon. If you don't cooperate with me,
you're going to be responsible for killing her. Maybe you're mad at her because
she palmed off all her pain on you. Are you trying to kill Sharon?"

Jan
ignored the question, lighting a second cigarette with the butt of the first
one.

"Proof
of your existence is the only thing that might save Sharon. Otherwise, the DA will
slam dunk her ass at trial."

"Who
cares," Jan said in a bored voice.

"I
care, the people at Winston and Dunne care, her brother cares."

"Parker
doesn't give a shit," Jan retorted sharply. "He's just trying to
cover his own ass. They're all trying to cover their asses and that includes
those friendly fuckers over at Winston and Dunne. Especially that bitch
Alex."

Harriett
was surprised by the seething anger in Jan's voice. "Do you think they're
all out to get you?"

"Fuck
no!" Jan laughed. "They're just doin' what they do and bein' who they
are." Staring intently at Harriett, Jan asked, "You know Alexis Dunne
pretty good, don't you?"

"I
was an associate with her firm a long time ago."

"Yeah?"
Jan grinned as she leaned closer to Harriett. "I heard it was a lot closer
relationship than that, counselor."

"Shit,"
Talbot breathed.

"What?"
Nick asked.

"She
knows something that she thinks will give her an advantage over Harriett."

"I'm
not here to discuss my former employer, Jan," Harriett said.

"Don't
you want to discuss Alex?"

"I'd
rather discuss your relationship with Parker."

"It
was close. Real close," Jan smiled. "Like your relationship with
Alex. Did Alex ever hurt you when she fucked you?"

Harriett
was unsure where to take her discussion with Jan.

"How
did Parker hurt you?" she continued.

"I
already told you that it was an accident," Jan said with a dismissive wave
of her hand. "Alex is an attractive woman. A little older than I like, but
still very sensual, in her own way."

"What
was Parker doing when he accidentally hurt you, Jan?" Harriett asked,
still trying to direct the conversation away from Alexis Dunne and their past
relationship.

Jan
smiled at Harriett, allowing smoke to slowly escape through her mouth and
nostrils.

"He
just got a little carried away," Jan finally said.

"How
old were you?"

"Five
or six."

"What
did he do that hurt you, Jan?" Harriett asked, grateful the subject had
swung back to Parker.

"Well,
I'll tell you, Harriett. He stuck his dick a little too far down my throat, and
I couldn't breathe, so I bit him. That what you're looking for?"

"I'm
sorry, Jan. I know it must be a painful memory for you."

"Not
as painful as it was for Parker," Jan laughed. "Neither of us ever
made that mistake again."

"Then
it wasn't an isolated incident."

"Hell,
no. And I got so good at giving blow jobs that he started inviting his friends
over to join us."

Anger
was beginning to strain Jan's voice even though she seemed relaxed and kept a
faint smile on her lips. Crushing out her cigarette, she leaned back in her
chair and held Harriett's eyes with hers.

"This
is the way it went, okay. All his buddies would line up and pull their pathetic
little dicks out. Then Sharon would go from one to the next on her knees,
making them all salute. She usually managed to go away after the first
one."

"Where
was Parker?"

"Watching
to make sure she didn't get hurt again even though it really wasn't Sharon.
He's a very caring brother, and he never knew the difference."

"Jesus,"
Harriett muttered under her breath.

"Besides
she could do him anytime."

Harriett
turned away from Jan and looked at the mirror while taking a deep breath.

"Of
course, later there weren't as many blow jobs," Jan said.

"I'm
sorry," Harriett said, turning back toward Jan.

"I
said, later there weren't as many blow jobs."

"When
did they stop?"

"Oh,
they didn't stop. But when Parker and his buddies started fuckin' Sharon, there
wasn't as much time for other things."

"How
old was she when that started?"

"Eleven.
No, twelve. Parker said she wasn't ready until then."

"How
did the sex start?"

"Same
as the blow jobs. Parker taught her what to do and I did it."

"She
had sex with Parker first?"

"You
gotta learn somewhere," Jan said casually. "Hurt like a son of a
bitch. But after the first few times, it wasn't so bad."

"Did
you enjoy it?"

"Well,
that's a little personal, don't you think?" Jan said with a smirk.
"Do you enjoy it?"

"I
wasn't having sex when I was twelve."

"When
did
you start having sex, Harriett?"

"When
I was an adult and could consent to it."

"I'll
bet there were still a couple of times when you really didn't want to though,
but did it just to satisfy your lover. Times when you knew you shouldn't but
did anyway."

"No,
there wasn't."

"You
knew you shouldn't with Alex, but you did. I guess you must have wanted it real
bad since you knew she was already taken."

"Why
do you keep bringing Alexis Dunne into this, Jan? Just to rattle me?"

"Maybe,"
Jan shrugged. "It's not much fun being the only one on the hot seat."

"If
I'm honest with you, will you be honest with me?"

"You
mean trade secrets?" Jan smiled.

"Yes."

"Cool.
You first."

Taking
a deep breath, Harriett glanced at the mirror and said, "You're right. I did
sleep with Alex while she had a partner, and I knew it was wrong, but I did it
anyway. That good enough?"

"And
did you crave it? Couldn't get enough of it?" Jan asked in a low sultry
voice.

Harriett
could feel the heat rising up her neck as she saw Jan's pleasure in her
discomfort. "Yes," she finally stated.

"Well,
of course you did! Otherwise you wouldn't have kept going back to her for more.
Honesty is the best policy, don't you think?"

"It
can be very therapeutic, yes."

"Guess
it's my turn," Jan smiled broadly, sitting up in her chair and leaning her
elbows on the table.

"I
fucked her, too," Jan announced.

"Who?"

"Alex.
I fucked her, too," Jan answered with a smile. "Or I should say she
fucked me."

"What!"

"You're
right, Harriett," Jan said exhaling loudly. "The truth is
therapeutic, even if it hurts like hell. God damn! I feel better already, don't
you?"

Harriett
stood up and went to the door of the interview room.

"Don't
you want to know how good she felt, Harriett? Or maybe how good she made me
feel, over and over again," Jan purred. "An incredible lover, but
then, you already know that. And that delicate little tattoo on her thigh was
delicious."

Jan
began laughing as the door opened and Harriett left the room. She had to get
out of the building to breathe again. She heard Nick's voice behind her but
didn't stop until she was standing outside the attorney's entrance. She wasn't
sure whether to believe what she had just heard. She had allowed a client to
get to her and felt like she was being sucked down by quicksand.

"Harriett,"
Nick said softly from behind her.

Harriett
held a hand up to stop him from talking without turning around.

"I
just need...a moment," she managed to say as she took in oxygen through
her mouth.

Turning
slightly, Harriett put her hands out and leaned against the wall.

"Thinking
about stepping away from this one?" Nick asked.

"Yeah,"
she said as she pushed away from the wall. "But what reason would I offer
the judge? I'm sorry your Honor, I request a release as defense counsel because
I just found out my client was fucking my ex-lover." Crossing her arms in
front of her and stepping into the sunlight, she squinted as she looked up.
"A conflict of interest my ass. What a joke."

Looking
back at Nick, she smiled. "I walked into that like a beginner.
Incredible."

"We
knew she was very smart, Harriett."

"She's
sadistic. She enjoyed watching me squirm."

"She's
probably lying just to get a rise out of you. You were pushing her pretty
hard."

"Then
she could be lying about Parker, which shoots the shit out of my case.
But," Harriett said, shaking her head, "I don't think she's lying
about either one. I need Wayne to find out whom Parker's friends were in high
school and check them out. I can't just take her word for it. Maybe he can
track down someone who'll be willing to admit they sodomized and had
intercourse with a child."

"And
the thing with Alex?"

With
the still vivid memory of Alex touching her, inside her, less than twenty-four
hours earlier, Harriett said, "I'll deal with that one." Turning
away, she walked back toward the entrance of the county jail.

Chapter
Twenty-Four

HARRIETT
WAS QUIET most of the way back to Austin that afternoon. Nick wished there was
something he could say to make her feel better, but didn't have a clue where to
start. He spent over an hour reading and re-reading the information on
dissociative identity disorder Harriett had collected. Finally, Nick pulled his
glasses off and closed the folder, stuffing it back into his briefcase.

"The
criteria for DID seem clear-cut enough," Nick said.

She
looked at him, and said, "It's the sudden appearance of the second
personality that bothers me. If Sharon developed this alter personality as a
child, where the hell was Jan all these years?"

"Maybe
she wasn't stressed enough between fifteen and twenty-eight to bring her out.
Besides, there are statements by the mother, a friend, and one co-worker that
might imply Jan has come out sporadically before."

"You
mean when she was angry?"

"Yeah."

"Even
if that's true, there's no way those people would have known they were dealing
with a different personality. I'll have to stick pretty much to what we know
happened in the last couple of years."

"Looks
that way. Have you thought of a way to get around the only important thing you
have to show in the trial?"

"You
mean the right and wrong standard?" Harriett asked as she signaled to
change lanes.