“Is it true that you’re presently in a consensual relationship?” Des asked her.
“That’s right. But don’t ask me his name because I’m not going to tell you.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because it’s personal.”
“She’s lying again,” Jamella said. “She hasn’t had a boyfriend since she was thirteen.”
Kinitra let out a harsh laugh. “Like you’d know.”
Des said, “Dr. Cindie found signs of forcible vaginal and anal penetration when she examined you. You have all kinds of scarring down there. Care to talk about it?”
“That’s just how we roll.”
“So you like it rough?”
Kinitra smirked at her. “The rougher the better.”
“More lies,” Jamella said, fuming. “Girl, who are you trying to protect?”
Kinitra sighed wearily. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. What’s the point? You don’t believe me anyway.”
“Okay, if that’s how you want it,” Des said. Clearly, the girl wasn’t going to give up anything else. Not with her sister present.
“Can I take her home now?” Jamella asked.
“I’m afraid not. She’s being transferred to Middlesex Hospital for overnight observation.”
“What for? She’s fine. Aren’t you, baby?”
“It’s okay, I don’t mind,” Kinitra said offhandedly.
Which totally flabbergasted Jamella. “Wait, you’re good with that?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, if the doctor thinks I should.”
She stared at her kid sister long and hard. “Okay, if that’s what you want.”
Des led her back out into the E.R., closing the door behind them.
“I swear, I don’t even know who that person is.” Jamella’s voice sounded hollow. She was badly shaken. “It’s like she’s turned into somebody else. Lord, what happened to her?”
Tyrone came charging across the E.R. toward them with Rondell on his heels. “What in the hell is going on?” he demanded to know. “The doctor won’t tell me. The nurses won’t tell me. I swear, if I don’t get some answers I am going to tear someone’s head off!”
Jamella let out a sob. “Some punk raped my baby sister and got her pregnant, that’s what. She’s going on eight weeks already.”
Rondell let out a gasp. “Oh, my God…”
That vein in Tyrone’s forehead was beginning to throb. Then he let out a lion’s roar of pure rage and drove his giant fist through the door of the supply closet next to Kinitra’s room.
Everyone in the E.R. stopped what they were doing and stared at him. It wasn’t every day that the Incredible Hulk showed up in their work space.
The security guard who was on duty next to the ambulance doors rushed over and said, “Sir, I’ll have to ask you to control yourself.”
Not a chance-Da Beast was loose. He picked the guard up and hurled him bodily against the wall. The man crumpled to the floor, dazed.
“ No, Tyrone!” Jamella cried out.
Now a pair of husky young orderlies rushed over and attempted to subdue him. Good luck with that. Tyrone sent one orderly flying across a nurse’s desk and kicked the other’s legs out from under him. Then, his massive chest heaving, Tyrone whirled and-discovered that his forehead was flush up against the nose of Des’s SIG-Sauer. He froze instantly.
“Are you listening, Tyrone?” Des kept her voice quiet as she stood there holding her weapon to his head.
“I-I’m listening,” he panted.
“Dr. Cindie has her hand on the telephone at this very moment. If she has to call for back up, you will be looking at the business end of a criminal assault investigation-not to mention a lifetime ban from the NFL. Do you understand what I’m saying? Nod your head if you do. I won’t shoot you.”
Slowly, he nodded his head up and down.
“Is that what you want?”
Now he shook his head.
“You’ve got a pregnant wife standing here who has just gotten the shock of her life. Jamella is freaking out right now, okay? She needs for you to be a husband to her.”
“The trooper’s right, big man,” Rondell spoke up nervously. “You don’t want to be upsetting Jamella. Think about your baby.”
Tyrone steadied himself. His breathing returned to normal. The crazed look in his eyes faded away. “You’re right. You’re totally right. I’m okay now,” he told Des. “And I’m sorry.” He went over to the security guard and helped him to his feet. “Hey, man, I’m real sorry. I just got some bad news is all. Are you hurt? You need anything?”
The guard grunted that he was fine. So did the orderlies after Tyrone had helped them up, apologizing profusely. Everyone seemed to be fine. No harm, no foul. Des holstered her weapon. The E.R. returned to normal.
Tyrone put an arm around Jamella, his brow furrowing with concern. “You okay?”
“No, I am not okay,” she answered in a small voice. “My baby girl was attacked last night.”
“By who?”
“She won’t say.”
“Well, was it the same guy who got her pregnant?”
“She won’t say, Tyrone.”
Rondell shook his head in disbelief. “Such a sweet, innocent girl. Who would want to hurt her?”
Tyrone looked at Des. “You don’t suppose this is about me, do you?”
“I don’t suppose anything at this point. What are you suggesting?”
“Some bastard trying to hit me where it hurts. Like that sleaze Plotka.”
“There’s no way he could get onto our property,” Rondell reminded him. “We’ve got that fence all around.”
“Actually, you do have a security problem,” Des informed them. “I intended to phone you about it this morning. There’s a hole in your fence between you and the Joshuas. Mitch discovered it last night when he was escorting Mr. Lash home.”
Rondell frowned at her. “You’re suggesting that someone could have snuck onto our property last night through this hole?”
“Not someone,” Tyrone said tightly. “Plotka.”
“But how did he get into our house?” Rondell wondered. “We have a security system. I checked it personally before I went to sleep.”
Jamella said, “Maybe she went out for a swim like she told us. Maybe the bastard was out there waiting for her.”
“She wasn’t taking any swim when I went to bed,” Rondell countered. “She was in the recording studio.”
“What time was that?” Des asked him.
“I was in my office until well after one o’clock. I couldn’t sleep after all of that commotion.”
“How about you two?” she asked Tyrone and Jamella.
Tyrone said, “We were asleep by twelve, weren’t we, baby?”
“I know I was,” she said. “I’m just so tired all of the time.”
Des mulled this over. “Even if it was Stewart Plotka-and I’m not saying it was-he wasn’t anywhere near Kinitra eight weeks ago, was he?”
“Could be he was,” Tyrone argued. “He did hang out at that Dave amp; Buster’s where him and me got into it. She was there with us a bunch of times. And it’s not far from my place in Glen Cove.”
“He lives in Forest Hills, Queens,” Rondell added. “That isn’t far from Glen Cove either.”
