Part 36 (1/2)
”Except you came back to the house eventually.”
”We were down the beach for a while. It was obvious what Paul was intending to do.”
Toby said, ”Emmm,” but he was pouring when he said it and maybe he was commenting on something else.
The question as to what Jason himself intended hung over the marble coffee table.
He ran his fingers up and down the stem of his newly filled gla.s.s. ”I mean, Leanne was willing enough, and the other two were pounding away and making all sorts of squishy noises, but she and I, well, we just sort of cuddled together. And that was all okay, but then, when they finally got done, Paul and the other girl, well, Paul wanted to switch partners and that was something I really didn't want to do, so I acted all, 'No, I really like Leanne, I'm really serious about her.' ”
”And that's when you brought her back to the house.”
”Yeah. All of us went back, because, like, with or without the switch, Paul was done with his.”
”And what did you see when you got there, Jason?”
He looked at his gla.s.s as if it had betrayed him.
”Was Heidi Telford still there, Jason?”
He looked at Toby for help.
I figured it was enough. ”And what was she doing?” I asked.
”She was trying to break up a fight between Pete and Jamie.”
”A real fight?”
”It was real enough. They were pus.h.i.+ng, shoving, slamming each other into walls. And there wasn't much she could do other than yell at them to stop.”
”And you know what they were fighting about?”
Toby and Jason locked eyes. We were sitting in a triangle, with Toby's and my chairs pointed at Jason on the couch. But suddenly there was no room for me. I had to turn and look at the big guy myself.
”Toby,” I said, ”do you not want him to answer?”
”He's a free man,” Toby said, but given the fact he was still looking directly at Jason, it was clear Jason was not completely free.
”Was it over Heidi, Jason?” I asked.
”The impression I had,” he said slowly, never taking his eyes off Toby, pausing at each word as if it were a stepping-stone to the next, ”was that Jamie didn't like the fact that he was the only one without a girl.”
”And so he tried to put the moves on Heidi?”
”Exactly.”
”And Peter didn't appreciate that.”
Jason sat back, stopped looking at Toby, and offered me a chilly smile at the foolishness of Jamie's and Peter's behavior.
”You heard what was being said? In the fight, I mean.”
”It was stupid stuff, for the most part. Pete kept yelling he had met her first and she had only come there because of him. Jamie was calling him names and saying he was sick and tired of his bulls.h.i.+t.” Jason shrugged. ”Pete, at least, had a point. Jamie was just being a brat.”
”So what happened?”
”What happened, what happened, what happened,” Jason repeated, looking around the room as though he might find something he could use to demonstrate. I could not imagine what it could be.
”What happened was I got rid of the girls,” he said. ”Walked them to their car. That was all.”
”Except you didn't completely get rid of them. You stayed in touch with Leanne.”
”I felt bad about what happened down the beach and asked for her number because I was thinking I wanted to make it up to her. I don't know what she was thinking, but she gave it to me and then she and her friend took off, and that's all I know.”
To punctuate the conclusion to his story, he pointed to the hallway. ”Do you need help with your suitcase?” he asked, and made a motion to get to his feet.
I stopped him. ”Except you must have returned to the house after they left, Jason. What was going on then?”
Jason stayed where he was, one hand on the arm of the couch, ready to push himself up. ”Nothing, really. Jamie wasn't there anymore. In fact, Paul told me to go find him.”
”And did you?”
”I tried, but I couldn't.” Jason shrugged one shoulder, the one that wasn't leading to the couch. ”It's a big place.”
”And the girl? Heidi?”
”She'd had enough. Said she was going home. I don't think she was enjoying herself anymore.”
Heidi Telford, who had come in Jamie's Jeep, was going home without Jamie being around. And Peter, who had a night of pleasure planned, was already angry.
”Did you see her leave?”
”I just went to bed. I'll be perfectly honest with you, I was tired of the bulls.h.i.+t myself. It had been a long weekend and I was ready to go home.”
He was also, it was obvious, ready for me to go home. Or at least go to my room. Instead, I asked the prosecutor's favorite question: ”What happened next?”
Jason repeated himself. ”Like I said, I went to bed.”
”All right, what's the next thing you remember happening?”
”Going to bed.”
Toby cleared his throat pointedly. One of us was supposed to stop. I decided it would not be me.
”You don't remember Peter waking you up about six or six-thirty in the morning to go play golf?”
”Is that what he said?”