by Eve Gaddy
“What is it?”
She got up and paced the room before coming back and standing in front of him. “When I told you the story, I didn’t talk much about the actual trial.”
“No.” She’d said it was bad, and the rapist had gotten off on a technicality, but that’s all she’d mentioned. “You want to tell me now?”
She closed her eyes, then opened them. “I don’t want to even think about it, but I don’t have that choice. The trial was a media circus. It didn’t start out that way, but by the time it was over it had even hit the national news.”
“Why? Was he well known?”
“No, it had very little to do with him. There was a reporter who had problems with the hospital where I worked. He and the administrators didn’t get along. He wanted to give the administrators and the hospital a bad reputation. Unfortunately, I got caught in the fallout.”
“Great.”
“Yes, he was ecstatic. That technicality I told you about? It was a little more than that. I just said that to avoid going into all the details.”
“The hospital was at fault?”
“Technically, yes. The doctor who took the sample from me had another emergency roll in right after me. He had to step out of the room for a minute before the police took charge of the evidence to send it to the crime lab. That broke the chain of custody. So the results were disallowed and we had no DNA evidence to directly link the suspect to me. Which helped convince a jury to let him off. And since I never saw his face, they didn’t believe I could positively identify him. Even though I knew it was him.” She looked at Gabe grimly. “I recognized his voice. I testified to that, but it wasn’t enough.”
“God, Lana, I’m sorry. That must have been hell for you.”
“Hell doesn’t begin to describe it. The trial was in all the papers. Because of the hospital, not because of me. The reporter made it sound as if these things happened all the time at that hospital, which wasn’t the case. And then when reporters learned that I was on staff there, they said the hospital couldn’t even get it right for one of their own.”
“Tell me they didn’t release your name. I thought rape victims’ identities were protected.”
“Supposedly they are. My identity wasn’t disclosed in the press, other than that I worked at the hospital, but everyone knew. That’s one of the reasons I moved, you know. I was so tired of everyone knowing—or thinking they knew—everything about me. Speculating about me, about my marriage. It was too much.”
“You’re afraid if this goes to trial it will be another media circus.”
“Do you blame me?”
“No, but Aransas City’s awfully small. And this is a civil case, not a criminal one. I can’t see that happening here.” He was trying to reassure her, but he didn’t think it was working.
“I hope you’re right.” She laughed without humor. “I didn’t want to ever go into a courtroom again after my last experience. Way to blow that one, huh?”
He stroked a hand over her hair. “You didn’t blow anything, honey. Try not to worry. It won’t be like the last time.”
She sighed and moved away from him. “I’m going to call my lawyer now. I hope she can make time for me soon.”
He hoped the lawyer could ease her fears. But in the meantime, he had an idea that might just help her.
GABE PULLED UP outside Winters’ place early the next morning and took a deep breath, steeling himself for the meeting to come. Winters wouldn’t cave easily. And once he realized how much Gabe wanted him to drop the charges, he’d twist the knife in deep. Gabe had never imagined begging the man for anything, but if that’s what it took, that’s what he’d do.
The place was a dump, with garbage littering a yard choked with weeds. The house hadn’t seen new paint in years and what was left was flaked and peeled. The gravel drive needed more gravel and the truck that was parked in it could have used work, too. Gabe had heard that business hadn’t been so good for Winters lately, and it looked as if the rumor was true.
Might as well get it over with. He limped up the broken walkway, glad that he’d been cleared for the cane again. He’d have gone down for sure using crutches. He rang the bell and waited.
Winters—a bandage on his nose and his arm in a sling—opened the door and stared at him. “What the hell do you want?”
Gabe didn’t wait for an invitation. He stuck his cane in the door in case Winters tried to shut it in his face and limped inside. “I need to talk to you.”
The inside wasn’t much better than the outside. Newspapers lay scattered on the floor and it looked as if nobody had washed dishes in the last month, or even taken them to the kitchen.
Since his leg was killing him, he took a seat in the armchair. Much as he hated to put himself in a weak position so quickly, he didn’t have a choice.
“Have a seat. Make yourself right at home,” Winters said sarcastically. “What do you want, Randolph?”
He just said it, straight out. “I want you to drop the civil suit against Lana.”
Winters stared at him incredulously for a minute then laughed. “Yeah, right. Funny.”
“I’m serious.”
“What you are is crazy. Don’t waste your breath, loser. No way am I going to drop the case against that bitch. In case you didn’t notice not only did she break my nose—” he pointed to the bandages on his face “—but check this out.”With his good hand, he tapped his arm that rested in a sling. “I can’t work with one arm.”
“What’s wrong with your arm?”
“You know what’s wrong with it. That bitch you were with damn near broke it.”
“But it’s not broken.” Trust Winters to play up a minor injury for all it was worth. He was surprised he wasn’t wearing a neck brace.
“It could have been. The doctor said it was the worst sprain he’d ever seen.”
Yeah, he believed that. “I’m asking you to drop the civil suit,” Gabe repeated.
“Give me one good reason why I should.”
“Because she doesn’t deserve it.”
Winters took a seat on his couch. Picked up a cigarette from the crumpled pack on the coffee table and lit it, blowing the smoke out with evident enjoyment. “She deserves everything she gets. She assaulted me for no reason. Look at my freaking nose. She did break that.”
It gave Gabe a great deal of satisfaction to see the nose in question was still swollen beneath the tape. If Winters hadn’t accosted Lana in the first place, he wouldn’t have gotten what was coming to him. “Your lawyer must have explained the situation to you when the D.A. dropped the charges. Lana thought you had a knife. She was defending herself.”
Winters’eyes narrowed as he squinted against the smoke. He leaned back and gave him a lazy smile, then sucked in more smoke. “Yeah, yeah. Tell it to the judge when I see her in court. For all I know, she made up that story about being attacked. Trying to cover her ass.”
Gabe’s lips tightened as he fought for control of his temper. “The case went to trial in Los Angeles. She didn’t make it up. That was one of the things that persuaded the D.A. to drop the criminal charges.”
Winters shrugged. “Even so, it’s not my problem.” He tapped his sprained arm. “My problem is I’ll have to hire extra help and be off work a lot until this heals. And there’s no telling how long until it does. I’m supposed to just let that go? Because you said ‘pretty please’?” He laughed again. “I don’t think so.”
“I’ll compensate you until you’re recovered.” Now that he’d sold the boat, he had money. Not that he wanted to give it to Winters, but if it kept Lana out of court, he’d be more than willing.
“I don’t know.” He pretended to consider it. Ground out his cigarette and lit another. “What about my pain and suffering? You gonna compensate me for that, too?”
Pain and suffering, his ass. Lana’s pain and suffering was infinitely worse than Winters’ could ever be. But he knew better than to say that.
“You don’t
know that you’ll get anything if you pursue it. She’ll testify she thought you were armed. And you came after her, anyway. Seems to me the sympathy would be toward her. You want to risk coming away with nothing?”
“The bitch assaulted me. I ought to get something out of that. And I shouldn’t lose money because of what she did to me. No sir, I damn well shouldn’t.”
“Cut to the chase, Winters. What will it take to make this all go away?”
He considered him and smiled. “She’s really got you whipped, doesn’t she?”
“What will it take?” Gabe repeated, not taking the bait. Winters didn’t understand what he had with Lana. Hell, Gabe wasn’t sure he understood it, but he knew he’d do anything he had to, to make sure Lana didn’t have to set foot in a courtroom again.
Winters crushed his cigarette out in the overflowing ashtray. Shot him a crafty look and said, “So you’ll do whatever I want?”
“Yeah. Whatever you want.”
“Anything at all, huh?” He rubbed his jaw, clearly enjoying himself. “Well, now, I’ve been thinking of expanding my operation. Another boat would be nice. Seems to me you have one for sale.”
For once he was happy he’d closed the deal. “Nope. I just sold El Jugador. Closed on it yesterday. It’ll have to be something else.”
“Too bad.” He rubbed his jaw again. “You’ll pay me?”
Gabe nodded. “Enough so you can hire someone to help until you’re ready to work again.” And God knew how long that would be since Winters was bound to milk this for all it was worth.
“And drop those bogus charges against me?”
“I can’t drop the charges. That’s up to the cops. But if I don’t show up in court, they have no case. I’ll do that, if you don’t take Lana to civil court over this.”
Winters leaned back and propped his feet on the coffee table. Rested his good hand on his stomach. “You still got your tackle? Or did you sell it with the boat?”
His fishing tackle. His stomach sank. He should have known Winters would want it, but he’d never even thought of it. Thousands of dollars worth of expensive equipment, rods, reels, belts, everything needed to run a charter service, accumulated over years of working.
If he gave all that to Winters he could kiss goodbye any chance of ever running a charter service again. He could never afford to replace both the boat and the equipment, not on the money he’d be likely to make.
But what choice did he have?
“I have it.”
Winters smiled. “What’s she worth to you, Randolph?” he asked softly. “Is she that good? Good enough you’re willing to part with that tackle?”
Though he wanted to smash his fist into the man’s face, Gabe ignored the provocative comment. “I’m willing. So is it a deal?”
Winters stared at him a long moment, then shrugged. “Yeah, it’s a deal.”
“Good. I have a few conditions.”
“Conditions? Like what?”
“This deal stays between you and me. For all anyone knows, you just had an attack of decency and decided to let Lana off the hook.”
Of course, no one who knew Winters would believe it, but as long as Lana didn’t find out, Gabe didn’t care. She’d have a fit if she discovered what he was doing.
“All right. What else?”
“You don’t talk about the situation. You act like it never even happened. And you don’t so much as look at Lana again, much less go near her.”
“Say I agree, how do I know you’ll keep your end of the deal?”
Gabe pulled out a checkbook and wrote him a check. “First payment. You can bring someone over to my place tomorrow to help you load the tackle.” He tore the check out and held it. “But first, I want to hear you tell your lawyer to drop that suit.”
Winters rolled his eyes but he picked up the phone and dialed a number. A short time later he looked at Gabe. “Okay, the suit’s gone away.”
Winters took the check and scanned it, then looked at Gabe. “You’re crazy. No woman’s worth all this.”
“Lana is.” It was worth anything he had to do to keep Lana out of court. He got up to leave. At the door, he paused. “One more thing, Winters. If I hear that you’ve so much as mentioned her name, you’re a dead man.”
“Oh, come on, Randolph. Don’t you think that’s a little melodramatic?”
“Is it? If I was you, I wouldn’t push my luck and try to find out.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
FORTUNATELY, Ramona Simon was able to meet with Lana the next morning. After the meeting, she went back to work. Though she went through the motions, her mind was on the upcoming lawsuit, not on medicine. She shut herself in her office during the lunch hour and thought about her conversation with Ramona.
The lawyer had been encouraging. Lana had told her she would be happy to pay the man’s medical expenses and compensate him for any work he missed, but she didn’t want to have to go to court over it. Ramona said she’d see what she could do, that her offer to pay might well convince the man to drop the suit.
But would it? He seemed like a vindictive man and she’d not only injured him, she’d hurt his ego, as well. Still, maybe she was worrying for nothing. Even if he went through with it, a civil suit wouldn’t necessarily generate a lot of publicity. Although, a case like this would be big news for Aransas City.
She could see the headlines now. Media coverage would be bound to unearth the earlier trial and all its publicity. Oh, God, she didn’t want to go through that experience a second time. She had moved across the country to get away from it. She loved Aransas City, she didn’t want to leave.
Guilt nagged her, as well. She’d hurt an unarmed man. But would she go back to the way she was before, when she couldn’t defend herself? When she’d been at the mercy of a man wielding a knife?
No, she could never be that woman again. Didn’t want to be, even if she could. She’d had no choice but to learn to defend herself. Yet defending herself was one thing. Having a flashback and hurting someone because of it was a whole other situation.
She had to find a better way to deal with her past trauma so that a situation like this wouldn’t happen again. She put her hands to her temples and massaged them, not wanting to admit what she knew was the truth. She needed more therapy. Clearly, she hadn’t healed as well as she’d thought she had. Trouble was, she wasn’t ready to trust a therapist again.
Late that afternoon, as she was about to leave work, the receptionist buzzed her and told her Ramona was on the line. Surprised to hear from her so soon, she picked up. “Hi, Ramona. What’s up?”
“I have good news. The suit has been dropped.”
She was conscious of overwhelming relief. “Wow, when Maggie said you were good, she wasn’t kidding.”
“Afraid I can’t take credit for this. I hadn’t even made your offer yet and I was notified the suit had been dropped.”
“That doesn’t make sense. He just filed. Why would he drop it if you haven’t told him I would pay his expenses?”
“No idea, but he did.”
“I wonder if someone changed his mind for him.”
“Talked him out of it, you mean? It’s certainly possible. Maybe he realized the sympathy would likely have been for you as the victim of a violent crime in the past.”
“You have to admit, it seems a little coincidental that he’d suddenly drop the case the day after I was served.”
“Stranger things have happened,” Ramona said. “I’m glad it worked out so easily for you.”
“Yes, me, too.” She would bet her last dollar that Gabe had been behind Winters dropping the lawsuit. She wondered what it had cost him. How much had Gabe paid him? Getting Gabe to tell her wouldn’t be easy but she intended to force the issue.
LANA DECIDED to take Gabe by surprise and went directly to his house after work. She didn’t beat around the bush, as soon as she walked in she confronted him.
“I got a call from my lawyer a few minutes ago.”
<
br /> He was sitting on the couch watching TV but at that he looked up. “How’s she working out? Did you like her?”
“I liked her fine. She told me the plaintiff decided to drop the suit.”
“Winters dropped it? That’s great!” He paused and looked at her. “You don’t look very happy.”
She made an impatient gesture. “Of course I’m happy I won’t have to go to court. But I want to know what you did to get Winters to drop it.”
“Me? I didn’t have anything to do with it. Why would you think I did? He must have decided on his own. Maybe his lawyer convinced him.”
“Gabe, please tell me.”
“Nothing to tell,” he said firmly.
She didn’t believe him for a moment. “Did you offer him money? Because if you did, I’m paying you back. I won’t have you paying for what I did.”
“Can we just forget this?”
“Not until you tell me the truth.” Their gazes met and held. “You might as well tell me. I’ll find out somehow, you know I will.”
He swore, then shrugged. “Yeah, I paid him. I had money from the sale of the boat, so I figured, why not? It was worth it if he’d drop the suit, and it worked.”
“I’m paying you back. Don’t you dare argue with me.”
“Fine. Now can we forget it?”
“Gabe, I appreciate what you did for me. But I can’t let you pay for something that’s my problem.”
“Yeah, I got that. Can we for God’s sake quit talking about this?”
She could tell he was really irritated so she did as he said. But she promised herself that first thing in the morning she would write him a check.
THE SOUND OF SCREAMS jerked Gabe out of a deep sleep. In the throes of a nightmare, Lana was thrashing around in the bed. Without thinking, he put his hands on her arms, trying to settle her.
“Lana, honey, wake up. You’re dreaming.”
“Stop it! Don’t touch me!”
Big mistake, he thought when the heel of her hand smashed into his cheek. Wincing, he let go of her immediately and turned on the light. His eyes watered and he stifled a curse. By the grace of God, she’d missed his nose.