pretend to be nice to her and charm his way into her pants. He'd never taken his eyes off her cleavage for the first fifteen minutes. And when she told him she was waiting for someone else, he had the nerve to be offended. Like she'd ever want to have sex with an old guy like him. So what he'd slipped her a couple of drinks? That didn't mean she owed him a blowjob, which was what he had wanted. If she was going to suck dick tonight, it wasn't going to be his.
And then Jade had finally walked in. And he'd looked at her with such disgust, she had wanted to shatter like a piece of glass. His angry words rang in her ears as if he'd screamed them at her, when in reality he'd asked her out into a quiet hall and had never raised his voice above a near whisper.
'What were you thinking, coming in here dressed like that?' he demanded. 'You're my employee. The things you do in public reflect on me.'
'But I was just-'
'I don't want the words street whore associated with my barn.'
Jill had gasped as if he'd slapped her. That was when Michael Berne had come into the hall. She had seen him from the corner of her eye, pretending to make a phone call, watching them.
'I see clients here,' Jade went on. 'I conduct business here.'
'I j-just w-wanted to see you,' she'd said, her breath hitching in her throat as tears welled up. 'I w-wanted to tell you about-'
'What's the matter with you? Thinking you can come here and interrupt my evening?'
'B-but I have t-to tell you- I know about Stellar-'
'If you need to speak with me about something, we'll do it at the barn during business hours.'
'B-but-'
'Is everything all right here?' Michael Berne asked, butting in like it was any of his business, the skinny freckled dork.
'This doesn't concern you, Michael,' Jade said.
'The young lady seems upset.' But when he looked at her, Jill had known he didn't care whether or not she was upset. He had looked at her the same way every other man had looked at her tonight-like she was selling it and she ought to be cutting her prices.
She had glared up at him through a wavy sheen of tears and said, 'Butt out! We don't need you around here or anywhere else!'
Berne had moved away. 'You ought to take your personal business somewhere private, Jade,' he said like a prissy fruit. 'This is really unprofessional.'
Jade had waited until Berne was out of sight, then turned on her again, angrier than before. 'Get out of here. Get out of here before you embarrass me any more than you already have. We'll talk about this tomorrow, first thing in the morning. If I can stand the sight of you.'
He might as well have cut her with a knife. The pain had gone as deep inside her as if he had.
Fuck him, Jill thought now. Don Jade was her boss, not her father. He couldn't tell her how to dress or where she could and couldn't go. He couldn't call her a whore and get away with it.
All the hard work she did for Don Jade, and this was the way he treated her. She would have been his partner-in bed and out. She would have been loyal to him. She would have done anything for him. But he didn't deserve her or her loyalty and devotion. He deserved to have people betray him and stab him in the back. He deserved whatever happened to him.
An idea slowly began to take shape in Jill's mind as she sat there in her car. She didn't have to put up with being treated like dirt. She didn't have to stand for being called names. She could get a job with any stable she wanted. Fuck Don Jade.
She drove out of the parking lot and took a left on South Shore, heading for the equestrian center, paying no attention to the car that pulled out behind her.
15
Molly could hear Bruce and her mother arguing. She couldn't make out all the words, but the tone was unmistakable. She lay on the floor of her bedroom, near the air-conditioning duct. Her room was right above Bruce's office, where he often summoned her mother or Chad or Erin to shout at them for their latest sin against him. Molly had learned long ago to make herself inconspicuous to the men her mother dated. She made no exception for Bruce, even if he was technically now her father. She didn't think of him that way. She thought of him as someone whose house she happened to live in.
The argument was about Erin. Her sister's name had stood out in the rise and fall of the conversation. Something was definitely up. Her mother had already been upset when Molly had gotten home from school, pacing, nervous, darting out the back door to smoke one cigarette after another. Dinner had been delivered from Domino's. Krystal hadn't eaten any of it. Chad had bolted down enough to choke a wolf, then beat it out of the house before Bruce got home.
And when Bruce walked in the door, Krystal had immediately asked to speak to him in his office.
Molly's stomach was churning with worry. She had made out Erin's name and had heard the word 'police.' Her mother's tone had gone from urgent to angry to hysterical to tears. Bruce just sounded angry. And intermingled with the voices was a mechanical sound, like the VCR going on, going off, rewinding. Molly couldn't imagine what it meant. Maybe Krystal had found a porno tape in Chad's room. But then, why had she heard Erin's name, not Chad's?
Heart pounding, Molly left her room and crept down the back staircase. The house was dark except for the light coming from the office. She made her way down the hall on her tiptoes, holding her breath. If the office door opened, she was caught. The family room was adjacent to the office. If she could just slip in there… She ducked into the corner behind the ficus tree and crouched down against the wall.
'We are not calling the police, Krystal,' Bruce said. 'First of all, I don't believe it's real. It's some kind of hoax-'
'But what if it isn't?'
'They said don't call the police.'
'My God, I can't believe this is happening,' Krystal said, her voice trembling.
'I don't know why not,' Bruce said. 'She's your daughter. You know she's never been anything but trouble.'
'How can you talk that way?'
'Easily. It's true.'
'You can be so fucking cruel. I don't believe it. Ouch! You're hurting me! Bruce!'
Tears welled up in Molly's eyes. She hugged her knees to her chest and tried not to shake.
'I've asked you not to use foul language, Krystal. You can't be a lady with the mouth of a sailor.'
Krystal rushed to apologize. 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm upset. I didn't mean it.'
'You're irrational. You have to get control of yourself, Krystal. Think this through logically. The tape says no police.'
'What will we do?'
'I'll handle it.'
'But I think-'
'Has anyone asked you to think?'
'No.'
'Who makes the decisions in this house, Krystal?'
Krystal drew a shaky breath. 'The person who is best equipped to make them.'
'And who is that person?'
'You.'
'Thank you. Now leave it to me. Go take a pill and go to bed. There's nothing we can do tonight.'
'Yes,' Krystal said softly. 'I think I will do that.'
Molly knew from past experience her mother would take more than one pill, and she would wash it down with
