Trial by Fury by K.G. MacGregor

times. He was practically the only one she’d talk to. She came back to the room a couple of times and it was obvious she’d been crying. Or she’d be really quiet like she was worrying about something. It was like that for three or four days before she finally told us what happened.”
    According to Gloria’s research, it wasn’t unusual for women to keep their sexual assaults secret. The stigma attached to being a rape victim was more than some could bear.
    “You seem certain of the date. Why does it stand out for you?”
    “It was right before spring break. She was supposed to come with us to Daytona but she backed out at the last minute. And wouldn’t say why at first. But then she did.”
    “How did the other women react when she told them about the rape?”
    Sarah’s face fell. “Not everybody believed her. It happened at a party—most of us were there, and everybody was pretty wasted. People always celebrate after big games. Things get kind of wild, you know? You lose control…you forget stuff. Nobody saw anything like what she said happened.”
    “What exactly did she say?”
    “That she went with Michael, but he ran into somebody he knew. Probably a guy. The last thing she remembered was talking to Morgan Hunter and me right after she got there. Morgan’s in our sorority too. She lives two doors down on our hall.”
    “Do you remember that conversation? With Hayley and Morgan, I mean.”
    “Yeah, we were standing by the big TV.”
    The more details, the better. “Was Hayley drinking anything?”
    “We all were. There was a big table near the door where they were passing out drinks when you came in.”
    Theo turned to Jalinda. “Go back to the people we’ve talked to already and see if anyone has photos from the party. It would be good to know who was handing out those drinks.”
    “I can answer that,” Sarah said, suddenly sitting up straight. “It was Ruben Vargas. They always make him do stuff like that, serve drinks and clean up, on account of he’s a freshman.”
    Vargas was a reserve shooting guard, not otherwise implicated in the assault.
    “I still want photos, Jalinda. Anything you can get.” To Sarah, she said, “About Hayley’s story…did you believe her when she said she was assaulted?”
    “Not at first. Sawyer Niles—she’s our president—she thought Hayley was being a drama queen, like she was playing a role. And a couple of them, like Morgan, kept telling her not to say anything because the guys could get kicked off the team.”
    So far, it was completely consistent with what Hayley had revealed in her messages with Michael.
    “The thing is, we were all there and nobody saw anything. But I do remember she stayed out all night. It wasn’t like her to do that. And then later she said somebody made a video of it—the rape, I mean—but she never showed it to any of us. I honestly didn’t know what to think, but it was obvious to me Hayley believed she was assaulted,” she mumbled, her voice hardened with regret. “I could have been a better friend about it.”
    As Sarah paused to compose her cracking voice, Jalinda produced a bottle of water from her shoulder bag.
    The young woman went on to describe the party atmosphere in detail. Lots of booze and loud music, everyone in a joyous mood because they’d just beaten Vanderbilt. She couldn’t recall seeing Hayley when the party began to break up.
    Leaving aside the fact that being wasted meant a woman was incapable of giving consent, there was still a question of how much alcohol Hayley had consumed. According to Michael, she wasn’t into it.
    “Did Hayley drink a lot?”
    “Not that I knew of. I never saw her drunk or anything. Or even buzzed. She wasn’t much of a partier. She only went to things like that because it was a sorority event for all of us to go together—she was a good sister that way—but she usually left parties early, especially the wild ones.”
    Theo pressed on. “Did Hayley have any