“Would you?”
“Rape is something men can understand,” Sunny said.
“But women not only understand it, they feel it in their viscera. In terms of what happened to you, Jesse will never know what we know right now.”
“Yes,” Jenn said.
“Right now the most important thing in the room is what happened to you,” Sunny said. “I will protect you until the sonovabitch is in jail or dead. Either one.”
“Do you have a gun?” Jenn said.
Sunny opened her purse and took out a short revolver.
“And you can shoot?” Jenn said.
“Quite well,” Sunny said.
Jenn began to cry. Sunny put the gun away and went and sat on the arm of Jenn’s chair and put her arm around Jenn’s shoulders. Jenn turned a little and pressed her 5 3
R O B E R T B . P A R K E R
face against Sunny’s rib cage and cried harder. Sunny patted her.
“You’re going to be fine,” she said. “We’re going to do just fine together.”
Jesse felt as if he were intruding. He sat silently on his bar stool and rolled the empty glass in his hands. 5 4
15
Jenn and Sunny left together. Jesse sat at the bar for a time after they left, rolling the empty glass in his hands. The scent of their perfumes remained, commingling in the quiet room. The sun splash on the floor was gone. Jesse put the glass down, took his gun from a drawer and put it on, looked around the silent room for a moment. Inhaled. And went to the station.
“I got Lutz in the squad room,” Molly said. “Waiting patiently.”
“Good,” Jesse said.
R O B E R T B . P A R K E R
“And I’ve got the jerk from the governor waiting in your office.”
“Not patiently,” Jesse said.
“No.”
Jesse started down the corridor.
“Where you going?” Molly said.
“Squad room.”
Molly stared at him for a moment, and opened her mouth, and shut it and said nothing.
Jesse opened the door to the squad room.
“I’m Jesse Stone,” he said.
Lutz stood. They shook hands. He had a hard handshake.
“Con Lutz,” he said.
