Sense of Rumor (Mount Faith Series: Book 6) (13 page)

"Are you kidding?" Natasha asked. "What happened to you is serious, and your cousin, Kylie, is extremely worried about you."

Arnella cleared her throat. "I just want to forget the whole thing. I am sorry that I told her."

"It's a good thing that you told her," Natasha said stridently. "You suffered a terrible injustice. It was criminal. It was rape. Unfortunately, since you did not give a statement or do a rape kit, we are in a pickle. That video that you got could be potential evidence. I want to see it."

Arnella cleared her throat, "I got another one today, but I didn't open it."

"Ah," Natasha murmured, "I heard you are living up at Deidra's place?"

"Yes," Arnella said reluctantly. Now that she was going to face the police about the whole thing, she felt as if she didn't want to anymore.

"I can be there in a few minutes," Natasha said, seeming to sense her reticence. "I'll bring my laptop." She hung up quickly, before Arnella could protest.

Arnella grabbed her laptop and sat with it on her lap, waiting for Natasha to arrive. She had resisted looking at the video because she was scared. The longer this whole thing went on, the more shaken up she was becoming. It was the uncertainty of not knowing what she did that day that was killing her. Sometimes she thought it was best not to remember, but at other times, she really wanted to know.

Natasha arrived half-an-hour later. When Arnella went to let her in, she realized that it was raining, and little flurries were swirling outside. Natasha was in a black windbreaker and black jeans.

"You look like a character from the Matrix." Arnella grinned. "Can you dodge bullets and do martial arts?"

Natasha smiled, "I have had to dodge several bullets. Martial arts? Yes. How are you?"

Arnella led her into the kitchen. "I don't know. I am seeing Taj. He tells me not to mask my feelings. I tend to internalize things. He said I should be honest. Now that you ask, I really don't know how I feel. Angry, sometimes frustrated. I don't sleep much anymore; I am constantly jittery."

She sat down in a chair, and Natasha sat beside her, taking out her laptop from her bag.

"That's understandable," Natasha said, "but I am going to have to ask you for specifics, okay? You have to tell me everything that you remember from the party." She pulled out her notebook.

Arnella sighed. "I went to Tracy's house."

"Tracy Carr?" Natasha asked jotting down the name. "How did you meet her?"

"She was a friend from high school," Arnella frowned. "I really can't remember how we started hanging out. She was the little rich girl that always came to school chauffer-driven. She had hip-length hair, which she flicked over her shoulders every chance she got. She had a superior attitude going on. All the girls loved to hate on her. I didn't think she was a bad person so we hung out. I guess this year would have been seven years of friendship."

"Past tense?" Natasha asked, pausing her writing.

"Yup. She likes a guy and thinks that he likes me, so she told him some dreadful lies about me."

"Ah," Natasha said, smoothly flipping the page of her notebook. "Did you confront her?"

"No," Arnella bit her lip. "I can't deal with that right now. I am trying to get through each day as it is. Losing Tracy as a friend is not very significant for me right now. To be honest, ever since she started Mount Faith, we have been on the outs."

"So she told these lies after the party?" Natasha asked.

"Yes. She is interested in Pastor Peterson's son, Alric."

"Nice guy. He plays the organ at church," Natasha said. "He does medicine, right?"

"Final year," Arnella said softly. "Then internship up here."

"So you like him?" Natasha grinned.

"I am not sure." Arnella started fidgeting. "Okay, I do a little. He is four years older than I am. We grew up in the same community. We are friends now, as of last week. He likes me."

"Was he at the party?" Natasha asked poised to write down his name.

"Yes, but just for a little while." Arnella frowned. "Tracy was dying for him to attend. She spent her whole freshman year following him around. I didn't see when he left the party."

"Who else was there that you know?" Natasha asked. "Take your time to remember. I am going to ask Tracy Carr for her guest list, but I need you to tell me who you knew."

Arnella nodded. "Well, there was Tracy, obviously, and then there was David Hudson. We went to high school together. He was nerdy. He received the prize for the highest ranked science student in the Caribbean Examination Council exams."

Natasha was jotting that down rapidly.

"Then there was Jeff Hill. He is another nerd. One time he and Tracy had a thing—senior year, high school. His parents own the Gimme A Bite restaurant chain. Jeff was a little guy all through high school and then suddenly, in fifth form, he became tall and cute."

Natasha grinned. "I knew a guy like that at my high school."

Arnella smiled. "There is always one, isn't there."

Natasha removed her jacket. "I am getting warm. You know, I predict that this will be the coldest winter in Mount Faith. It's just September and already I have to wear a jacket when I'm out. So, who else was there that you know?"

"Cory Livingston." Arnella shrugged. "He tried to chat me up from the moment I arrived at the party." She smirked. "He was always doing that to me in high school as well… following me around. I used to embarrass him, shoo him. It never worked. He was my adoring shadow."

"How many persons were there?" Natasha asked.

"Around thirty, I guess. There was the Mount Faith crowd, Tracy's new friends. They were friendly enough, but I didn't know them. I stayed in the pool most of the time. I didn't want to chat to the three guys that I actually knew from high school so I was feeling really bored. I was the only one who hadn't gone to sixth form and on to university, so I felt a bit left out of Tracy's life, you know."

Natasha nodded. "So you entered the party…stayed in the pool. What did you eat or drink?"

"I had a hot dog." Tracy had a caterer do the party. "I tried the hot dog and a slice of pizza then went to the bar and got a root beer. When it was finished, a guy came and refilled my root beer. A waiter."

"The bar?" Natasha asked, "Who was manning it?"

"A guy," Arnella shook her head, "I guess he worked with the catering company. He had on their uniform."

"How many beers did you drink?" Natasha flipped her notebook page again.

"About five, or six, but they were root beers." Arnella got up and stretched. "They were alcohol free. I don't drink alcohol. My Mom is an alcoholic, and my Dad died in a bar, so I vowed to stay away from that poison."

Natasha tapped her forehead with the pen. "Was Tracy serving alcohol?"

"No," Arnella shook her head. "It was an alcohol free party though David claimed he was drunk."

"Mmmh." Natasha scribbled something. "So you were in the pool and then you got out? Why?"

Arnella hung her head. She didn't want to face the reason why she had gotten out of the pool. She had been showing off for Alric, to be honest. She had wanted him to see her. She had wanted some reaction, so she had stretched in her little flimsy swimsuit. She was no better than Tracy had said. A piece of her had found him interesting, just because Tracy had, probably.

She sighed, "I came out because I was showing off."

Natasha grinned. "You were?"

"Yes, it was about the time when Alric came on the scene. I wanted him to see my nipple ring and I wanted to give him a bad girl impression. You know, to confirm all the stuff that I know he had heard about me. The people in my community thrived on rumors and I was their favorite topic."

"And then what happened?" Natasha was watching her closely.

"Then David came up to me and put his arm around me. He is taller than me you know; my head probably reaches his chin. He said, 'Nella, we would like to propose a toast to maturity, long life, and success,' or something like that. He handed me a cup, one of those red plastic ones, then Cory and Jeff came by, grinning."

I clicked my cup with theirs then drank the root beer. It tasted slightly off but I guzzled it down. I then remember David moving up close to my face and asking me if I felt okay.

Then Jeff said something about me looking like a short supermodel and then I laughed. Like an idiot."

Arnella hissed her teeth. "I laughed. Then the next thing I know everything started to look fuzzy and I mumbled that I was going to have to sit down, maybe change into my regular clothes. I had gotten fed up of the party. I think it was David, or Jeff who held my hand and said he'd help me to the changing room. Next thing I knew it was morning and I was in the Carr's guest room."

Natasha nodded. "Let me see the video."

Arnella glanced at her computer uncertainly. "I don't want to see it really. I can't bear to."

"That's okay," Natasha said, "I'll watch it."

Arnella pointed to the two emails and watched as Natasha clicked on the video links.

Natasha's expressions didn't change much during the videos. When she finally looked up at Arnella she said slowly. "This was carefully edited."

"The second video?" Arnella asked anxiously.

"Yes, both of them. It actually looks as if you were aware of what was going on." Natasha drummed her pen on the table. "Who were you waving to in the opening scene of the first video?"

Arnella sighed. "Alric. He was looking around for Tracy and I yelled something to him."

"They also showed you stretching seductively." Natasha shook her head. "I presume that was also when you were showing off for Alric?"

Arnella ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. "It looks bad, doesn't it?"

"Did you see anyone around with a video camera while you were waving?" Natasha was also looking confused.

"No. No." Arnella shook her head vehemently. "To the right of the pool, there were only people dancing and that seems to be the angle of the video. I caused this, didn't I? If I wasn't so provocatively dressed, I wouldn't have been in this situation."

Natasha frowned. "This video is not your fault. It is not time to panic yet. The video footage is very damning, yes. I am not going to lie. In the first clip, you look happy. The videographer zoomed in on your tongue ring. You then came out of the pool and stretched elegantly like you knew you were being watched. Then there is a clip with you in a room, passionately kissing a guy. Only the side of his face is visible. Then there is a clip where they are taking off your clothes but only your face is visible, then there is one with your head, back, and spine arched with one guy, whose face is obscured, licking your body. You looked like you were enjoying it."

Arnella squeezed her eyes shut. "I don't remember any of that. I really don't remember the pool room part, except for some fuzzy pieces."

"Who knows this email address?" Natasha asked.

"I use it for everything." Arnella said despairingly. "I don't know who knows. It is no secret."

"How long have you had it?" Natasha had her pen poised above the paper.

"Since I was sixteen, nearly five years ago. That's why it's called Arnella16." Arnella scrunched up her face. "This doesn't look good, does it? Be honest with me."

Natasha shook her head. "It doesn't. If I didn't hear your side of the story and know that you are genuinely hurting over this video, I'd say you were posing for it and that you wanted this. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that there was a crime committed here unless somebody at the party can verify that they saw someone put whatever drug was used into your cup. Even then, a clever lawyer can have the case dismissed in a jiffy. This video is damning, but as yet, there is no blackmail or anything to prove that this is a crime."

Tears came to Arnella's eyes and she blinked them back. "All I did was go to a lousy party. I admit that I could have turned down the sex appeal a bit more, well a huge chunk more. I don't want these videos to get out. I didn't consent to it. Can't you do something about that?"

Natasha patted her on her hand. "There are still some things we can do."

"Like what?" Arnella sniffed.

"I could ask my friend, Miles, from the cyber crime unit to trace the email address of whoever sent this thing. She looked at the address again. Both videos were sent from the [email protected]. That would save us loads of trouble of going to investigate on our own. The only problem is this kind of information will take weeks to get because there is some red tape involved. Email addresses are usually private and protected closely by the companies who issue them. In the meantime, I am going to check out David, Cory, and Jeff and find out exactly who took this video of you and whether there are any copies and whether any of them sent the emails."

Arnella sighed, a huge juddering motion that did nothing to loosen the panic in her mind.

"Hang in there," Natasha said softly. "I have no pacifying words to tell you, but I know how this must feel. If I can find out who used this date rape drug on you, I will personally make sure that they serve some time behind bars. This is abhorrent and criminal."