Redress of Grievances (44 page)

Nodding
silently, Jess helped her out of bed and could tell by the way she moved that
she was hurting and wished there was something more she could do. She knew from
experience that Harriett would remain in the shower, running the hot water over
her body, for a long time, attempting to wash away the memory of what had
happened. It was nearly half an hour before she emerged from the bathroom,
holding a hospital gown tightly around her body and crawled back into the
hospital bed.

As
she settled back against a pillow, she looked at Jess. "When did he get
out?"

"Last
month," Jess answered, stroking Harriett's damp hair.

"I
don't remember how I got here," Harriett said, her voice wavering
slightly. "I only remember his hands around my throat...him...inside
me...I..."

Jess
gathered Harriett in her arms and held her. "Don't talk about it right
now, honey," Jess whispered. "Just rest. You're safe now."

"Call
Wayne and ask him to stay with Lacey," Harriett said, struggling to keep
her mind clear. "I'll need a continuance. Get Nick to contact Judge
Landers."

"Don't
think about the case tonight," Jess said.

Harriett
drifted off to sleep a few minutes later, and Jess slipped out of the room.

PACING
LIKE A caged animal outside the emergency room, Jess wished she hadn't given up
smoking. A car pulled quickly into the parking lot and stopped abruptly. Nick
and Lacey jumped out of the vehicle and ran toward her.

"Where
is she?" Nick asked breathlessly.

"In
her room. They gave her a sedative, and she's sleeping," Jess answered.

"What
the hell happened?" Nick demanded as Wayne joined them.

"I'm
sorry. It's my fault," Jess said quietly, shaking her head. "I should
have been watching her more closely."

"I
want to see her right now!" Lacey said forcefully and Jess could see the
fear and anger in the girl's eyes.

"She's
in Room 442, but she's asleep."

Lacey
pushed past her and entered the emergency room doors with Nick close behind
her.

Taking
in a deep breath and exhaling slowly, Jess asked Wayne, "Does Lacey know
what happened?"

"We
only told her Harriett had been assaulted," Wayne answered as he pulled a
pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket and offered her one. Every fiber of her
body wanted to take it, but she shook her head.

"So
what went down tonight?" Wayne said as he exhaled a cloud of smoke.

"When
it started to get dark and Harriett hadn't come home yet, I figured she was
still at her office." Jessie leaned back against the building and rubbed
her face with both hands. "The tail I had on Collins didn't report
anything. Then I got a call from my office. They finally matched one of the
partials from the stolen car to Wilkes's prints and matched DNA from the semen
on Harriett's truck with that from the two girls who were murdered here not
long before that."

"Go
on," Wayne said as he flipped his cigarette away.

Clearing
her throat, she continued, "I called for back up and drove
to Harriett's office. Her rental was still in the driveway, but there
weren't any lights on inside. We went into the house as quietly as
possible and saw a light from under an upstairs door, but by the time
we broke in.... "

"You
saved her life, Jess," Wayne said, resting a big hand on her shoulder,
"That's all that matters."

Jess
smiled weakly at him, "Hope she'll feel the same way. What hospital did
they take Wilkes to?"

"None.
Croaked in the ambulance. DOA," Wayne answered with a smile. "Good
shootin'."

"No
great loss to humanity," Jess said, pushing her body away from the wall.
"There'll be a shitload of paperwork to fill out since he died and a
shooting review board. I need to turn in my weapon. I'm...I'm so sorry,
Wayne."

"No
way you could have known," he said gently.

Chapter
Forty-Five

JESS
AND LACEY helped Harriett out of the Durango the next afternoon as Wayne and
Nick pulled in behind them. Lacey put her arm around her aunt's shoulders while
Jess walked ahead to unlock the front door.

As
they reached the front steps, Wayne put his arm around Harriett and hugged her
briefly before escorting her inside.

"Can
I get you anything, honey?" Wayne asked as they entered Jess's living
room.

Managing
a small smile, she said, "I could use a double bourbon, straight up."

"I'll
get it," Lacey volunteered.

Harriett
looked around before moving to the overstuffed sofa near the fireplace. Sitting
gingerly, she drew her legs up under her and leaned her head back. Lacey
returned with her drink as Jess came down the stairs from the bedroom.

"You
should get some rest," Jess said as she stood behind Harriett and placed
her hand on he shoulder, feeling her body flinch slightly at being touched.

Harriett
shook her head and frowned. "I'm all right."

"No,
you're not," Wayne said.

Harriett
shot him a look and snapped, "It happened, okay. I'll get over it."

"Not
alone you won't, and you know it," he said.

Setting
her drink down, Harriett got up quickly from the couch to confront him, biting
her lower lip to control her pain.

"I
don't want you here!" she said loudly, her voice quivering slightly.
"I don't want anyone with me! Or are you too fucking stupid to understand
that?"

"Take
it easy, Harriett," Jess said, glancing at Lacey. "You're mad as hell
and have a good reason to be, but Wayne's right. The sooner you can talk about
it, the better off you'll be."

"And
who came up with that brilliant piece of bullshit," she said as she wiped
her nose with the sleeve of her sweatshirt.

"Actually,
Helen told me that when I called her from the hospital," Jess replied
calmly.

"Fabulous!
Is she going to drop by, too?" she snapped.

"If
you need her to. None of us can begin to imagine what you've gone through. If
you can't talk to us, then call her."

"You're
damn right you can't imagine it, Jess. Shit! I couldn't imagine it either. But
when it happened, there wasn't a goddamn thing I could do about it."

"You're
alive, Harriett. That's what's important," Jess said, placing her hand on
Harriett's arm.

Harriett
slapped Jess's hand away and struck her chest with her fist. "And where
the fuck were you?" she said loudly. "You were supposed to protect
me! You promised you wouldn't let anyone hurt me!"

Stunned
by the outburst, Jess started to reach out to pull her into her arms, but the
anger in Harriett's eyes stopped her.

"I
know. I'm sorry," Jess said softly. She knew she had let Harriett down.
Just the way she had let Renee and Clayton down. The only difference was that
Harriett had survived.

"Sorry?
Sorry doesn't quite cut it, Jess! I trusted you," Harriett snapped as she
pushed past Jess and went up the stairs.

"She'll
be okay," Jess said calmly.

"I'll
call Landers for a week's continuance," Nick said.

"She
just needs some rest," Wayne grumbled. "And so do I. I'll be at
Harriett's if you need anything, Jess."

Jess
walked out with Wayne and Nick. When she returned to the house, she saw Lacey
leaning against the front door.

"You
okay?" Jess asked.

"I
don't know what I'm supposed to do," Lacey said quietly.

"Just
be there for her. You're all she has, so you'll have to be strong for
her."

Lacey
stuck her hands in the pockets of her jeans and walked slowly back into the
house. "She shouldn't have said what she did to you, Jess."

"She's
upset and has a reason to be, but she's a strong woman surrounded by people who
love her. It might take a while, but she'll be okay, Lacey."

"I
hope so."

HARRIETT
SLEPT UNTIL early evening. She felt sore all over and walked into the bathroom to
wash her face, carefully avoiding looking at herself in the mirror. She found
Jess and Lacey standing at a kitchen counter peeling potatoes when she finally
went downstairs.

"Feeling
better?" Jess asked when she saw Harriett enter the kitchen.

"Much,"
Harriett said nervously, glancing between Jess and Lacey. "I'm sorry about
earlier, Jess," she said quietly. "I didn't mean..."

"You
don't have to apologize, Harriett. Especially not to me. You have every right
to be mad."

"I'm
not mad at you."

"I
know that," Jess smiled as she pushed her glasses up with the back of her
hand. "Right now you need to eat a good meal."

Harriett
smiled back at her. "Can I help?"

"Sure.
Why don't you whip up a salad? I think Lacey and I have everything else under
control."

"What
are you concocting?" Harriett asked as she looked in the refrigerator.

"I
have no idea," Lacey laughed. "This is sort of free form cooking
using whatever we could find."

"Sounds
delicious," Harriett said sarcastically.

Harriett
carried lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and green onions to the counter and
pulled a knife from a drawer. Jess glanced at her and saw her staring at the
knife.

"Nick
called Judge Landers at home earlier," Jess said, breaking Harriett's
trance. "He's granting a week's continuance. Said he'd contact Lassiter's
people about it."

"I'm
sure that will piss Lassiter off. He probably thinks I conjured this up as a
delaying tactic," Harriett said.

"He's
an asshole, in case you hadn't noticed."

Harriett
laughed lightly. "It's crossed my mind."

"Landers
said he'd be open to a longer continuance if you needed it."

"I
have to face people sooner or later, Jess, so they can all stare at me and get
it over with."

"It
wasn't your fault, Aunt Harriett," Lacey said. "It was that asshole
Wilkes's fault."

"When
I took his case twelve years ago, I set all this in motion."

"That's
ridiculous," Lacey protested. "Personally, I think you have a
legitimate lawsuit against the State. They were supposed to warn you that he
was out and they didn't."

"How's
that salad coming?" Jess asked. "We're almost ready here."

"If
I ask a question, will you two give me a truthful answer?" Harriett asked.

"Depends
on the question," Jess said as she set plates on the kitchen table.

"How
bad do I look? I haven't had the guts to look in a mirror yet."

"I've
seen you look better," Jess smiled. "Purple isn't really your
color."

"Makeup
can do miracles these days," Lacey shrugged.

Harriett
laughed as she put salad into three bowls and set them on the center kitchen
island. Turning around, she moved behind Jess and placed her hands on her
shoulders and leaned forward against her.

"Well,
it smells delicious, whatever the hell it is," she said.

AT
ELEVEN-THIRTY that night, Jess was sitting cross-legged on the sofa going over paperwork.
They had talked for a long time over dinner, and she was glad that Harriett had
been able to laugh even though she knew that Wilkes was never out of her mind.
She had insisted that Lacey keep her date with Devon and the house was quiet.

Pulling
her glasses off, she leaned back on a stack of pillows to rub her eyes when she
heard Harriett's voice coming from the bedroom. Bolting up, she took the stairs
two at a time and slowly pushed the door open. Harriett was thrashing around in
the bed and talking in her sleep. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Jess called
her name quietly and shook her gently, her nightshirt damp to the touch.
Harriett jerked up in bed, breathing heavily as Jess turned on the lamp on the
nightstand. As soon as she recognized her, Harriett covered her face with her
hands.

"Bad
dream?" Jess asked softly as she pushed damp hair away from Harriett's
face.

"He
was right here. I saw him as clearly as I see you now," Harriett said
exhaling loudly.

"Maybe
you should take a sedative."

Harriett
shook her head. "Not unless I want to spend the rest of my life on
them."

"Your
clothes are soaking wet and so are the sheets. Why don't you change while I
take care of these?"

Harriett
carried dry clothes into the bathroom, and Jess pulled the sheets off the bed
and had replaced them by the time Harriett returned.

"There
you go," she said. "Good as new."

Harriett
climbed back in bed and laid back as Jess took the old sheets into the bathroom
and placed them in a hamper. Returning, she stood over Harriett, smiling down
at her.