“Sarah wasn’t … “ Jason hesitated, struggling to get the words out.
“Wasn’t what?”
“Sarah was sleeping.”
“Sleeping?”
“Unconscious,” Jason whispered, the words spilling from his lips. “Sarah was unconscious.”
“How did you have sex if Sarah was unconscious?” Alex demanded.
Jason looked away, repulsed with himself, revolted by his actions.
Alex said, “Don’t feel bad, okay?”
Shocked, Jason stared at him. “But I?—”
“Trust me,” Alex said. “She wouldn’t have said no.”
Feeling somewhat less pathetic, Jason said, “I think somebody drugged her. That’s why she was stumbling. That’s why she couldn’t walk and Grace had to help her upstairs. So, then I followed them, like you told me to, into one of the bedrooms. I hid in a closet and then Phil came?—”
“Phil?”
Jason nodded. “Phil slapped Sarah. Hard.”
“Wait.” Alex stopped him. “Are you serious? About Phil slapping Sarah?”
Jason said, “Yeah.”
“And you saw Phil in the bedroom with Sarah?”
“He was sitting on the bed next to her …” Jason said, rage filling him once again at the memory of Phil caressing Sarah’s cheek. “And then … Phil hit her … and then … ”
“Don’t say another word,” Alex warned. “Just let me think.”
“What’s going to happen?” Jason asked, worried.
“I’m going to fix this,” Alex said.
The panic returned, liquefying his limbs. “How?”
“Don’t worry.” Alex smiled, a sinister grin that matched the malevolence in his dark gaze. “I’m going to make this work for us …”
CHAPTER 70
Fifteen Years Ago
2:41 a.m.
Alex
“How are you going to make this work for us?” Jason demanded.
Grabbing Jason by the neck, Alex pulled him into a dark corner where they could hear each other beneath the blaring music, far away from the distraction of half-dressed girls grinding on each other.
Alex said, “You let me worry about it.”
Shaking his head, eyes watery, Jason whispered, “I raped Sarah.”