River Road(55)
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz

“That’s the current theory.”

“I also heard that the police chief questioned you and Mason Fletcher today,” Jillian said.

“Yes, he did. Do the people who are spreading the rumors have any idea why Nolan would have wanted to burn down my aunt’s house?”

Jillian hesitated. “No. Well, some are saying that you were stalling on giving him the listing. You made a point of letting people know that you wanted to do some upgrades. Everyone knows it’s the property that’s valuable, not the house.”

“I don’t think he burned it down in an attempt to push me into giving him the listing.” Lucy watched the river. “I think his reasons must have had something to do with the discovery of Brinker’s body. It’s hard to keep the past buried.”

Jillian was silent for a moment. When she finally spoke, she sounded exhausted and resigned.

“No matter how hard you try, it comes back to haunt you,” she said.

“Did you ever wonder what happened to Brinker when he disappeared?”

“Every minute, every hour, every day of my life for weeks, months and years I wondered what had happened to him,” Jillian said.

Lucy looked at her, startled. “Did you?”

“Yes. Because I could never really bring myself to believe that he was dead.”

“You . . . missed him?” Lucy asked, treading cautiously now.

Jillian clenched one hand into a fist around the strap of her shoulder bag. “No one was happier than me when they officially pronounced him dead, but I was afraid to believe it. Deep down, I was sure that someday he would come back to torment me. That was his favorite sport, you know, tormenting people.”

Lucy went still. “I thought you liked him.”

“Sure, at first. Until I became one of his victims. By the time I realized that he was a complete sociopath, it was too late.”

“Will you tell me what happened, Jillian?”

Jillian’s mouth tightened. “Why?”

“Because it might help me understand why Nolan Kelly died setting fire to my aunt’s house.”

Jillian thought about that for a long time. Then she started walking along the shady riverfront path.

“I suppose it doesn’t matter now,” she said. “My whole life is falling apart. There’s not much left to protect.”

Lucy fell into step beside her.

“Was Kelly dealing drugs thirteen years ago when Brinker was doing his Pied Piper thing here in Summer River?” Lucy asked.

“Pied Piper.” Jillian shook her head. “Yes, that does describe the bastard, doesn’t it? He had us all under his spell. Well, everyone except for Mason Fletcher, of course.”

“Tell me about Kelly.”

“All I can tell you is that at the time everyone knew that he was the one supplying Brinker with those designer drugs that always seemed to be available in his vicinity. Nolan had the connections. He always had connections, remember?”

“No. I was only here during the summers and sometimes on weekends. I didn’t go to school here in Summer River, so I wasn’t aware of much of the local teen gossip. Besides, Kelly was two years older than me.”

“Funny how time changes some things, isn’t it?” Jillian said, bitterness dripping from every word. “Thirteen years ago Mason Fletcher considered you a kid. Now the two of you seem to be very close.”

“Word gets around.”

“Everyone knows you went out of town together yesterday and didn’t come back until this morning.” Jillian glanced at her. “I heard you went to the coast.”

“It wasn’t a secret,” Lucy said. “Can you tell me anything else about Nolan Kelly?”

“I don’t know what else to tell you. Thirteen years ago he was the dealer who scored those drugs for Brinker’s parties. I assume Brinker paid him very well, because Nolan always had the hottest clothes and the coolest tech gadgets.”

“Kelly’s parents didn’t wonder how their son could afford all the latest stuff?”

“His parents were divorced. Neither one of them paid a lot of attention to Nolan.”

Lucy came to a halt on the path. “What did Brinker do to you to make you fear him, Jillian?”

Jillian stopped. She slipped her sunglasses out of her shoulder bag and put them on. “It doesn’t matter now.”

“You said you were one of his victims. Did he drug you and rape you and record it all on video?”

Jillian went slack-jawed for a few seconds. Rage and panic flashed across her face.

“How did you know that?” she got out in a voice that sounded as if she was being strangled.

“It’s what he planned to do to me the night of the party here in the park, isn’t it? How many other local girls did he hurt and humiliate that way?”

“I don’t know.” Jillian had a death grip on the strap of her shoulder bag. “I can’t be sure, because Brinker was good at keeping his own secrets. But I can tell you one thing, I don’t have any trouble believing that he was the Scorecard Rapist.”

“Did he ever post a video of your rape?”

“No.” Jillian’s mouth twisted. “Don’t you get it? He used the video to blackmail me.”

“He was rich. What did he want from you?”

“Not money,” Jillian said. “He wanted me to pimp for him.”

Lucy went cold. “Yes, of course. That explains why you invited me to the party here at the park that night.”

“You were my first assignment, so to speak. I know this is going to sound freaky, but I think he had his eye on you because he hated your aunt.”

“He wanted to punish Sara? Why? What did she ever do to him?”

“I’m not sure of any of this. It wasn’t like Brinker confided in me. But looking back now, I think that he was . . . afraid of her.”

“Why? She couldn’t possibly have hurt him. He was Brinker, the son of Jeffrey Brinker. How could she have been a threat?”

Jillian sighed. “Maybe because she saw him for what he was—a monster. He told me once that Sara Sheridan was a witch. He said it sarcastically—tried to make a joke out of it—but I remember thinking at the time that it didn’t ring true. If he wasn’t actually afraid of her, I think he was worried about her for some reason. He wanted some hold over her. That’s why he told me to bring you to the party that night.”

“He believed that a video of me being raped would give him leverage over Sara?”