David Baldacci: Memory Man

Evers stubbed out his cigarette and seemed to gather his thoughts for a few moments. “I think what you got to understand is that the girl was weird, asking for it, yes sir.”

“Asking to be gang-raped and nearly beaten to death?” said Jamison, her mouth curved in disgust. “What woman would ask for that?”

“Well, not that, of course. But those boys got carried away is all. Boys being boys. Hell, you know.”

“No, I really don’t,” said Lancaster, with even more disgust in her voice than Jamison’s.

“And the ‘boys’ would include your son?” interjected Bogart.

Evers nodded curtly. “He was always in trouble. Got him to join the police force. Chief was a longtime buddy of mine. Owed me. Hell, the whole town owed me. Thought that would get him straight. Swear to God I did. Shows how wrong I was. Just gave him a gun and a chip on his shoulder and an attitude that what he wanted he just took.”

“How did his attention get drawn to Wyatt?” asked Bogart.

“Well, see, there was talk over at the school about her. Like I said, weird shit. Never acted normal. Hell, like I said, she was queer-like. Disgusting crap. My boy’s a red-blooded American man. He wasn’t gonna brook none of that vileness. It’s a sin.”

“Actually, it’s not,” said Lancaster. “But keep going.”

Evers lit another cigarette and puffed as he talked. “Well, he and some others decided to go teach her a lesson.”

“How’d they do that?” asked Decker.

Evers pointed a finger at Decker. “You don’t have it exactly right. It wasn’t a bunch of police officers. Just my boy. He was the only cop.”

“I don’t understand,” said Decker, looking taken aback. “Belinda was gang-raped.”

“She was. But my boy was the only one in uniform.”

“Who were the others?” asked Lancaster.

“Oh, just some punks from the high school football team and—”

Decker interrupted, “And the coach?”

Lancaster hurriedly added, “And the assistant principal?”

Evers looked amazed. “That’s right. How’d you know that?”

Lancaster looked at Decker. “Amos, that’s how she chose her targets at Mansfield. That’s how she chose the location .”

Decker said, “How many football players were involved?”

Evers shrugged. “I don’t know. Four, five.”

“Try six.”

“Hell, man, come on, how do you know that?” said Evers. “Even I can’t remember. And I was here .”

“Belinda Wyatt told us.”

“But you said—”

“Just keep going. Where did the rape take place?”

“In the cafeteria, my son told me. Don’t know why they picked that place. But that’s where he said it happened. Did her up on a table, I believe,” he added nonchalantly.

Bogart, Jamison, and Lancaster all exchanged glances.

“How did your son get a hold of Belinda?” asked Decker.

“He picked her up in his patrol car when he saw her walking on the street one night. Apparently she walked at night a lot. He’d seen her before. He told her he was going to look after her.”

“What did he mean by that?” asked Bogart sharply.

“Like I said, she was a freak, and folks here made a point of telling her so to her face. No, they were none too kind. Me, I say the Lord makes ’em in lots of different ways. What will be will be. But not some others ’round here. So her life was pretty bad in Mercy. Giles knew that. So he used that to sort of lure her in.”

“Why would he even care about her?” asked Decker.

“Hey, he played football at the high school. Went there with the coach, Howard Clarke, and Conner Wise, the assistant principal, when they were all younger, o’course.” He lowered his voice, “And word at the school was that Wyatt was part man, part woman. Girls in gym class said she had balls . My God, can you believe that? I bet the Wyatts were into drugs and such. Maybe they were hippies. Get that in your body and have a kid, shit like that happens. A girl with balls.”

“That is absolutely ridiculous,” blurted out Bogart.

“So you say, don’t make it true,” countered Evers. “Anyway, some fellers on the football team, they dated some of these girls. So they got wind of it. They told Howard and my son and Conner. They all got together and figured they’d teach her a little lesson.”

“By nearly killing her?” snapped Lancaster.

Evers got a thoughtful look on his face. “You know what? I think they were maybe trying to help her. You know, let the girl feel what it was like to have a man doing things to her. Get her back to normal. Make her see she was really a gal and all. And how good it was to be with a man.”

Bogart said, “Don’t try to spin this into something positive. Mr. Evers. The statute of limitations might have run out on the rape and assault, but if you try to obstruct justice, I’ll have your ass in a prison cell faster than you can take another puff on that cigarette.”

Evers stared at him for a moment and then hurried on with his story. “Well, I guess things got outta hand. She fought back real hard. So they had to, well, beat her up some. I guess one of ’em hit her so hard they thought they’d killed her. She was unconscious and bleeding and everything. And Giles told me she stopped breathing. So they got a little scared and they threw her in the Dumpster behind the school and then they all took off. But she come to and dragged herself outta there. She went to the cops and reported it. Like I said, the chief was my old buddy, owed me for things in the past. Called me. Her parents knew, of course. She told ’em. I scraped every dime I could get my hands on to keep it quiet.” His face turned into a mask of fury. “The Wyatts sucked me dry. The bastards.”

“Is that the way you saw it?” asked Bogart. “A negotiation?”

“It’s the way they saw it. Look around. I live in this shitpile now. Wife long dead. It killed her. She knew. Killed her dead. Took every penny I got. Sold every property I had, all my assets, gone. The damn Wyatts probably built some mansion somewhere, hell, I don’t know. And they were the ones brought that freak into this world. And I live here after busting my hump for sixty years. This is all I got to show for it.” He looked around. “My fridge is twenty years old. Haven’t had a new car in forever. One out there don’t even run.”

“Well, I’m sure it’s been painful for you,” said Bogart dryly.

Decker said, “But why do anything? Why pay any money? It was they-said, she-said. The whole town was against her. The cops could have gotten rid of the evidence. Protecting their own. And the chief was your buddy. The Wyatts suckered you.”

Evers puffed on his cigarette and shook his head resignedly. “No sir, they weren’t bluffing. They had evidence.”

“How?” asked Bogart.

“Before Belinda Wyatt went home she walked herself on over to the damn hospital and they did a rape and assault kit. No question she’d been raped and beat up bad. Had my boy’s evidence on it. And everybody else’s. DNA, blood, and skin under her fingernails, all that shit. Dead to rights. Then, like I said, Belinda told her parents what happened.”

“But they didn’t call the cops,” said Decker.

“No, they knew the lay of the land in Mercy. The Everses were at the top. Everybody else, not so much. No one here woulda given a damn, but the Wyatts played it smart. Had to hand it to them. They threatened to turn everything over to the state police, the FBI even. Well, I had to do something.” He finished his cigarette and stared over at Decker. “Couldn’t let my only son go down over messing up some piece of trash.”

Decker said, “I thought you were of the mind to live and let live? The Lord makes ’em in lots of different ways? What will be will be?”