'Make sure Mr. Patriarch stays here,' Jesse said to Suit. 'We may have a verdict.'
He walked down the door and into the living room. The women were seated as they had been before. None looked at Jesse. Molly winked at him. Jesse looked at Sunny.
'Anybody?' he said.
'All of them,' Sunny said.
61
JESSE TOOK HIM into a cell, for dramatic effect. He held the tape recorder in front of the Patriarch and punched it on. Sunny sat on the bunk. Molly leaned against the cell door.
'Please give your name,' Jesse said to the Patriarch.
'I am the Patriarch of the Bond of the Renewal,' the Patriarch said.
'That's what you do,' Jesse said. 'I want your name.'
'Jarrod Russell.'
'Okay,' Jesse said. 'From here on, we will all refer to you as Jarrod Russell.'
'Yes, sir.'
Jesse gave the date and location of the interview. Then he shut off the tape recorder.
'We got you, Jarrod,' Jesse said. 'You know that.'
Russell nodded. Then he put his face in his hands and began to cry.
'Every one of those women will testify against you,' Jesse said. 'Right, Moll?'
'They will,' Molly said.
'Every one of them was coerced into sexual activity with donors,' Jesse said.
'They were,' Sunny said.
'We have statements from all of them,' Jesse said.
'We do,' Molly said.
'You're going to jail,' Jesse said.
Jarrod Russell sobbed into his hands. Everyone else was quiet.
After a time Jesse said, 'Unless we can work some kind of deal.'
Russell raised his face from his hands. Salvation?
'I'll do anything you want,' he said.
Jesse was silent for a long time while Russell looked at him.
Then he said, 'How'd you get yourself into this mess?'
'I founded this little group,' Russell said in a thick, shaky voice. 'I had some money from my family, and I wanted to do good. And it was good for a while, but eventually…'
Jesse waited. Russell seemed to have trouble getting enough air. He took a couple of big inhales.
'I really was happy,' he said.
No one said anything.
'But eventually the money ran out, and I started trying to raise money. At first I had the girls making cookies and things… Then one man offered one of the girls money to have sex with him… and she did and gave the money to me…'
'Which girl?' Sunny said.
Russell shook his head.
'She has since left us,' he said.
'Gone but not forgotten,' Sunny said.
Russell dropped his head and nodded. When he spoke, his voice was shaky.
'It was all in the service of good,' he said.
'Except when it wasn't,' Molly said.
No one said anything. Russell had stopped crying. But his breathing was still shaky. Jesse stood and walked to the cell door and looked into the corridor for a time. Then he turned back toward Russell.
'Okay,' Jesse said. 'Here's the deal. You tell me who was having sex with your girls, and I'll help you with the DA. Maybe you won't have to do time if you are cooperative.'
'If you let me go back to my office,' Russell said, 'I can give you a list.'
62
MOLLY AND STEVE FRIEDMAN took Russell to his office to make his list. Jesse and Sunny sat in Jesse's office.
'You played him like a mackerel,' Sunny said.
'I know.'
'I felt kind of sorry for him,' Sunny said.
'I did, too, but that wasn't the time to show it.'
'No,' Sunny said. 'It was a pleasure to watch you work.'
'Thank you.'
'There is one thing that bothers me a little,' Sunny said.
'Which is?'
'You never quite said what crime we got him on.'
Jesse smiled and put his finger to his lips.
'You didn't actually arrest him, did you?' Sunny said.
Jesse shook his head.
'Are you going to?' Sunny said.
'I'll consult with the DA's office,' Jesse said. 'But something wrong went on there. I'm sure we can come up with a charge if we want to.'
'None of the girls wanted to have sex with any of the men,' Sunny said.
'If they are telling the truth,' Jesse said.
'I think they are,' Sunny said. 'But I'm not sure the men who had sex with them knew it was involuntary.'
'There was an implicit agreement to trade sex for money,' Jesse said.
'Which would be prostitution,' Sunny said.
'There was coercion,' Jesse said.
'Which is rarely admirable,' Sunny said. 'But not always illegal.'
'And at some level, pretty common,' Jesse said.
'Oh, God,' Sunny said. 'Most women have experienced some… 'What are you, frigid?'… 'What am I supposed to do with these feelings?' And my personal favorite, 'Hey, I bought you dinner…' Like I'm supposed to bop you for a lobster roll?'
'I never used any of those on you,' Jesse said.
'You never had to,' Sunny said.
'It is my impression that most women are willing these days,' Jesse said.
'I think that's true,' Sunny said.
'I doubt that there were many virgins working for the donors' dollars,' Jesse said.
'I think that's probably true also,' Sunny said. 'But…'
Jesse nodded.
'If you don't want to, you shouldn't have to,' he said.
'Whether you're a virgin or a whore,' Sunny said.
Jesse nodded.
'On the other hand,' he said, 'didn't I buy you dinner the other night?'
'Oh, oink,' Sunny said. 'What are you going to do now?'
'I'll buy you dinner again,' Jesse said. 'I'm not a quitter.'
'I meant with Russell and the Renewal and all that.'
'I'm hoping you and Molly will talk to the people on Russell's list and see what you get,' Jesse said. 'Molly will provide police authority. It's your case more than mine.'
'Molly's smart,' Sunny said.
'She is,' Jesse said. 'Best cop I got.'
Sunny smiled.
