stood up to leave but found the door locked. He yelled into the camera and called for the sheriff. Mickey didn’t move.
After a solid twenty minutes, and after Jason had kicked the door twice, Mickey said, “What are you hiding?”
He sat back down at the table and ran his hand through his hair. “Fuck,” he shouted.
“What is it, Jason?”
“She was into trains, man.”
“Trains with who?”
“Whoever, man. She was wild. She’d go to a party and fuck five dudes if she was drunk enough. She said she wanted to be in porn.”
“How do you know this?”
“I was at one of ’em parties.”
“And you had sex with her there? ”
“I ain’t sayin’ that, man. She was sixteen. I’m just saying that’s what she did.”
Mickey leaned back in his seat. “When was the last time she did something like that?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t keep up with her, you know? Last time I saw her was at that prick Nathan’s house. Last month. He got her really high , and she gangbanged all the dudes at the party. Like twenty of ’em. But she didn’t want to.”
“And you just happened to be standing around while twenty guys raped your ex-girlfriend?”
“What was I supposed to do, man? She dumped me ; I didn’t have no control over her. I tried to take her home, and Nathan threw me out, man.” He paused and looked away. “Fucker bought her a watch later to make up for it.”
“What else, Jason?”
He hesitated a moment and glanced down at the table. “I taped it.”
“Taped what?”
“The train. I taped like thirty seconds of it.”
“So you could jerk off to it later?”
“Nah, man. I ain’t like that, I’m telling you. I taped it on my phone to give to the cops. But the next day I called Janessa and told her, and she said to erase that shit. That she wanted to do it and to leave it alone. But I know she didn’t wanna do it. Not that many guys. She could get AIDS and shit, you know?”
Mickey didn’t respond for a moment. “Do you still have that recording?”
“Yeah, man. I got it right here. I thought she might change her mind. But she didn’t get a chance to.”
26
Mickey, Suzan and Detective Yazzie sat in the conference room. One of the techs, a part-time computer repairman who also handled the IT for the Sheriff’s Department, had transferred the video from Jason’s phone to a DVD. He set up a laptop to play the disc.
“Okay, it’s ready ,” he said. “What’s on this any… Holy shit.”
“Please leave, Randy,” the sheriff said.
“Um, yeah. All right.”
The shaky, poor-quality video was clearly taken on a cell phone. Over a massive bed, where the headboard should have been, was what looked like an Italian Renaissance painting. Three nude women, plump and smiling coyly at the painter.
L ike the women in the painting, Janessa Hennley lay nude on the bed. She was incoherent and groaning, and several men were raping her. Groups of them stood around the bed, nude and waiting their turn.
Mickey had to look away. His own daughter wasn’t that much older.
“Lord have mercy,” Suzan mumbled.
“That’s not twenty guys like Jason said,” Yazzie murmured. “There’s at least thirty men on this video.”
“Do you recognize any of them?” Mickey said.
Yazzie pointed. “Yeah, that guy there, the big one with the tattoo, his name’s Roger something. He works at the gym downtown as a personal trainer. That guy there, the bald one, he’s Carl Tomsell. He owns that used-car lot you see coming in from the airport. Couple other guys, too. I don’t think it’ll be too hard to find all of them.”
The sheriff turned the video off. “I want all of them in my cells tonight. You hear me , Taylor? Not tomorrow, tonight. You take who you have to and pick these rapist sonsabitches up.”
He nodded without saying anything and left the room.
“This isn’t going to be good,” Mickey said. “You don’t have a victim. Just Jason with his
After a solid twenty minutes, and after Jason had kicked the door twice, Mickey said, “What are you hiding?”
He sat back down at the table and ran his hand through his hair. “Fuck,” he shouted.
“What is it, Jason?”
“She was into trains, man.”
“Trains with who?”
“Whoever, man. She was wild. She’d go to a party and fuck five dudes if she was drunk enough. She said she wanted to be in porn.”
“How do you know this?”
“I was at one of ’em parties.”
“And you had sex with her there? ”
“I ain’t sayin’ that, man. She was sixteen. I’m just saying that’s what she did.”
Mickey leaned back in his seat. “When was the last time she did something like that?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t keep up with her, you know? Last time I saw her was at that prick Nathan’s house. Last month. He got her really high , and she gangbanged all the dudes at the party. Like twenty of ’em. But she didn’t want to.”
“And you just happened to be standing around while twenty guys raped your ex-girlfriend?”
“What was I supposed to do, man? She dumped me ; I didn’t have no control over her. I tried to take her home, and Nathan threw me out, man.” He paused and looked away. “Fucker bought her a watch later to make up for it.”
“What else, Jason?”
He hesitated a moment and glanced down at the table. “I taped it.”
“Taped what?”
“The train. I taped like thirty seconds of it.”
“So you could jerk off to it later?”
“Nah, man. I ain’t like that, I’m telling you. I taped it on my phone to give to the cops. But the next day I called Janessa and told her, and she said to erase that shit. That she wanted to do it and to leave it alone. But I know she didn’t wanna do it. Not that many guys. She could get AIDS and shit, you know?”
Mickey didn’t respond for a moment. “Do you still have that recording?”
“Yeah, man. I got it right here. I thought she might change her mind. But she didn’t get a chance to.”
26
Mickey, Suzan and Detective Yazzie sat in the conference room. One of the techs, a part-time computer repairman who also handled the IT for the Sheriff’s Department, had transferred the video from Jason’s phone to a DVD. He set up a laptop to play the disc.
“Okay, it’s ready ,” he said. “What’s on this any… Holy shit.”
“Please leave, Randy,” the sheriff said.
“Um, yeah. All right.”
The shaky, poor-quality video was clearly taken on a cell phone. Over a massive bed, where the headboard should have been, was what looked like an Italian Renaissance painting. Three nude women, plump and smiling coyly at the painter.
L ike the women in the painting, Janessa Hennley lay nude on the bed. She was incoherent and groaning, and several men were raping her. Groups of them stood around the bed, nude and waiting their turn.
Mickey had to look away. His own daughter wasn’t that much older.
“Lord have mercy,” Suzan mumbled.
“That’s not twenty guys like Jason said,” Yazzie murmured. “There’s at least thirty men on this video.”
“Do you recognize any of them?” Mickey said.
Yazzie pointed. “Yeah, that guy there, the big one with the tattoo, his name’s Roger something. He works at the gym downtown as a personal trainer. That guy there, the bald one, he’s Carl Tomsell. He owns that used-car lot you see coming in from the airport. Couple other guys, too. I don’t think it’ll be too hard to find all of them.”
The sheriff turned the video off. “I want all of them in my cells tonight. You hear me , Taylor? Not tomorrow, tonight. You take who you have to and pick these rapist sonsabitches up.”
He nodded without saying anything and left the room.
“This isn’t going to be good,” Mickey said. “You don’t have a victim. Just Jason with his
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