Taking Charge (40 page)

“Tell me the truth! When the police check this DNA
profile on their computer, is it going to match yours?” Robyn
yelled at the top of her voice.

“Robyn…”

“Is it going to match yours?” Robyn screamed
hysterically.

She felt like the arena seats were moving in on her,
shrinking the rink. There was no air, she wasn’t even sure she was
breathing, it was almost like time was standing still.

“Yes,” Brad said and then put his gloved hand over
his mouth and let out another sob of despair.

Her insides contracted, her heart thumped in her
chest, and her head felt like it was ballooning. She looked at him,
slumped on the floor, wailing like a baby, and she was overwhelmed
by a feeling of disgust.

She gripped her stick tightly with both hands and she
hit him across the back of the head with it.

He clutched at his head and tried to crawl away from
her, but Robyn hit him again.

“You bastard! How could you do that to me? How? You
put a sack over my head and you violated me in the worst possible
way! You were my boyfriend, Brad! My boyfriend!” Robyn screamed,
continuing to hit him with all her strength.

“I loved you, Robyn. I really loved you,” Brad told
her, grabbing the stick before it could hit him again.

“You loved me? You loved me so you raped me? Are you
insane?” Robyn cried, tears falling down her face as she wrestled
him for control of her stick.

“I wanted you to be serious about me, but you never
seemed to think that way. You didn’t treat me like a proper
boyfriend. Yeah, we went to the movies and we hung out with Mickey
and Sarah but…” Brad started, keeping a firm hold on the stick.

“I wouldn’t sleep with you,” Robyn stated,
horrified.

“I loved you. I still love you,” Brad repeated.

“I wouldn’t sleep with you, so you followed me home
from the arena, you put a bag over my head, and you made me have
sex with you? You make me sick!” Robyn exclaimed, clutching at her
stomach and struggling to stay on her skates.

“I just wanted to be with you, Robyn, be close to
you…like we should have been,” Brad said, reaching for her hand as
he stood up.

“Don’t you touch me! I’m calling the police,” Robyn
said, backing away from him.

“Look, I know some of what I did was wrong. You were
scared and I didn’t want you to be scared, that’s why I came back,”
Brad said.

“You raped me, then you left me, then you came back
and pretended to find me,” Robyn said, her mind returning to the
dark, wet night.

“It was so cold that night, and I remember your mom’s
coat was soaked right through. I watched you put your clothes back
on, and when you made it back to the road, I went back to my car
and made sure I was the first one to find you. I wanted to look
after you and take you home,” Brad continued.

“You put your arms around me and held me when I told
you what someone had done to me. It was you,” Robyn stated, unable
to truly believe it.

“Where’s our baby?” Brad questioned bluntly.

“Our baby,” Robyn said, the words almost hurting her
mouth.

“You said you had our baby.”

“I had an abortion,” Robyn stated.

Brad looked visibly shaken. Tears sprung out of his
eyes and he let go of her hockey stick.

“Then I really don’t have anything left,” he yelled
out, his voice echoing around the arena.

“Do you expect me to feel sorry for you? You’ve
ruined half my life…you’ve ruined half of Jason’s life,” Robyn
said, staring at him.

“Jason didn’t have a life. I did him a favor. What
was he going to do around here? He’s a better person now, he’s read
a lot and taken classes he would never have done on the outside,”
Brad continued.

“I can’t believe you’re justifying what you did. And
what your dad did covering it up? You framed an innocent man and
sent him to jail!” Robyn screamed.

“I wanted you to realize what we had was special,”
Brad continued, reaching out and taking hold of Robyn’s hand.

“Get off me!” she shrieked, trying to pull back her
hand.

“You call it rape, but it wasn’t really like that,
was it? I didn’t really hurt you, I loved you that night, just like
I’ve been loving you ever since,” Brad said, keeping a firm grip on
her hand.

He’d driven flat out all the way to the arena. He
only hoped he wasn’t too late. Sweat was beading on his forehead
and his heart was thumping in his chest as he ran up the corridor
toward the rink. A friend of a friend had run the DNA profile
through the police database, and he now knew the identity of the
rapist. When he got to him, he was going to make him pay, and if
he’d done anything else to hurt Robyn, he was going to kill
him.

He burst out of the tunnel and saw Brad holding onto
her. Leaping over the barrier, he skidded across the ice toward
them.

“Give me your stick, Robyn,” Cole ordered, appearing
on the ice, out of breath and shaking with rage.

“Let me go!” Robyn begged, tears seeping from her
eyes as she tried to release her fingers from Brad’s grip.

Cole picked up Robyn’s ice hockey stick and caught
Brad around the head with it, knocking him off his skates and onto
the ground.

He hit him across the face and raised it again for
another strike.

“Police! Put the weapon down!”

Robyn looked toward the tunnel at the team of
officers making their way into the stadium, and she hurried over to
Cole and took the stick from him.

“I know what you want to do, but give me this one.
Let me see them put the cuffs on him,” Robyn begged.

“Bradley Willis, you are under arrest on suspicion of
the rape of Robyn Matthers. You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of
law. You have the right to speak to an attorney. If you cannot
afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand
these rights as they have been read to you?” the officer asked as
he cuffed Brad’s hands.

“Yes,” Brad replied, bloodied and battered, but still
looking at Robyn.

“Let’s go,” the officer said, pushing Brad
forward.

Robyn watched them disappear out of view and then she
fell to the ice in a heap, the emotion finally catching up with
her.

“Hey, it’s okay, come here,” Cole said, joining her
on the floor and putting his arms around her.

“How could he do that to me? And lie about it, all
these years?” Robyn wanted to know.

“I don’t know,” Cole admitted.

“I’ve been an idiot. How could I not have seen it?
There must have been signs I should have picked up on. There must
have been something.”

“He was the first person you saw after it happened.
His DNA was all over you, anyway. The only DNA he couldn’t control
and should have thought about controlling was what made the baby.
His dad took care of that sample and changed the records…put Jason
in the firing line,” Cole explained.

“I feel sick,” Robyn said, wrapping her arms around
herself.

“We’ll go home,” Cole said, hugging her to him.

“No. I don’t want to, not yet. Can we just sit here
for a bit?” Robyn asked, looking up at the scoreboard advertising
the Panthers’ next match.

“Sure,” Cole said.

“I’ve always liked Aerosmith, you know,” Robyn said
as a new tune began over the PA system.

“Yeah, me too. But don’t tell anyone,” Cole replied,
taking hold of her hand.

“I want lilies for the wedding, you know the pink
ones with the gooey orange stuff in the middle that cats are
allergic to, and we still need to compile a set list for Special
Guest, you know, ZZ Top, Bryan Adams…do you like Train? I love
Train. And I’m not sure one party tent is going to be enough, we
might need two, with proper sides and everything because Max isn’t
too well at the moment and I don’t want him or Dad getting a chill.
And we need plenty of gin for Ada, she’s hand embroidered napkins
with our initials on them. It wasn’t my idea, she insisted, but I
like it. And although I’m coming on Uncle Bob’s boat, I want
Leonora decorated, you know, something classy, like shaving foam
and balloons. The twins are wearing their hockey outfits by the
way.”

Now that they were home, she wouldn’t cry. She had
rearranged the talking fridge, polished Leonora within an inch of
her life, and now she was outside scrubbing the decking. He could
only imagine how she was feeling.

“We’ve brought chicken and rice and stuff for the
barbecue. We didn’t know what was best,” Pam said when Cole opened
the front door.

Standing on the doorstep were Pam, Bob, Sienna,
Sierra, Nancy, Sarah, Mickey, Henrik, Wade, Wes, and Jason.

“We hear news about Brad, what he did. To shoot would
be too good,” Henrik said, handing Cole a bottle of tequila.

“Thanks for coming. Come on in,” Cole invited,
letting them all through.

“How is she?” Sarah asked, her eyes brimming with
tears.

“Not too good,” Cole admitted sadly.

“If I ever set eyes on that boy again, I’ll…” Bob
began passionately.

“We’d all like to do that, Bob,” Mickey said, patting
him on the back.

“Shall I warm the food?” Pam asked.

“She isn’t eating, but sure, I’m guessing everyone
here is hungry,” Cole said as they all moved into the lounge.

“Where is she?” Sierra asked.

“We’ve made a card,” Sienna added.

“She’s outside. Cleaning the hot tub,” Cole informed
them.

“What?” Pam exclaimed.

“She’s been at it for over two hours, says it isn’t
clean yet,” Cole replied with a shrug.

“Leave this to me,” Nancy said firmly and she marched
toward the patio doors.

“She says she doesn’t want to talk about it any more.
She’s been writing lists and lists of stuff to do with the wedding
and now she’s cleaning the hot tub,” Cole informed everyone.

“I go in hot tub?” Henrik asked, producing trunks
from the pocket of his jeans.

“No, Henrik. God, you Danes are obsessive over your
hot tubs, aren’t you?” Sarah spoke

“What?” Henrik asked.

“Right now is in-appro-priate,” she sounded out.

Outside Robyn was scrubbing the side of the Jacuzzi
with a nail brush. Her hands were red and sore from the chemicals,
but she couldn’t stop. If she stopped for just a second, she would
have to think about what had happened that day.

“Jeez, sugar! You wanna clean something, you could
have a go at the kitchen at Eddie’s. Chef’s great, but not exactly
splatter free,” Nancy remarked, standing next to her.

“I’ll do it tomorrow, if you like,” Robyn
answered.

“Put the brush down, honey,” Nancy ordered.

“It needs finishing, in time for the wedding. You
know, people will want to use it and…” Robyn started.

“You can’t hide behind things,” Nancy said
seriously.

“Why not?”

“Because sooner or later, you’re going to have to
come out,” Nancy continued.

Robyn let out a heavy sigh and threw the brush into
the hot tub.

“If we make it sooner, then we can get on with
finalizing these wedding plans,” Nancy told her.

“I feel dirty all over again. Do you want to talk
about that?” Robyn snapped.

“This isn’t your fault.”

“Cole keeps saying that, over and over again. It is
my fault! I mean, if I’d just slept with him when we were dating,
he wouldn’t have done what he did.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do. He told me.”

“Honey, you weren’t ready to do that with him. If you
were, you would have done it. You were fifteen,” Nancy reminded
her.

“I trusted him,” Robyn said with a shake of her
head.

“We all trusted him,” Pam added as she and Sarah
joined them outside.

“He betrayed us all,” Sarah said, dabbing at her eyes
with a tissue.

“How could he do that to me?” Robyn asked them, tears
threatening to spill.

“He lied to all of us, all these years. And as for
his father…he’s as guilty as Brad, changing evidence, ruining
Jason’s reputation,” Pam continued.

“I can’t even speak to Jason. I don’t know what to
say to him. I’m scared he’s never going to forgive me and that’s no
more than I deserve,” Robyn said.

“Hey, none of this is your fault Robyn. I’m just glad
you know the truth now,” Jason replied as he and the rest of the
team came out of the house to see her.

“Jason. I am so sorry. If I could turn back the
clock, if I could do anything different to change things I would,”
Robyn said, looking at him shamefully.

“It wasn’t you, Robyn. I understand that you only
ever told the truth, the rest of it was out of your hands,” Jason
said, taking hold of her hand and squeezing it in his.

“I condemned you, though, everyone did. We should
have remembered who you were. A kind, sweet boy who liked Marvel
comics,” Robyn said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

“Shh, don’t tell the Panthers. They’ll never let me
live it down,” Jason replied with a smile.

“We heard!” Mickey yelled out.

“I want you back on the team and meals for life at
Eddie’s,” Robyn stated.

“Whoa, now hang on a minute,” Nancy said.

“I’ll take the place on the team, but not the food.
Your dad needs to be making all the profit he can right now. But
maybe a team dinner after our next win?” Jason suggested.

“Sweet,” Wade agreed.

“And Dad says he’s been meaning to ask you since
about 2003 about his Chevy, she’s not running right. I thought now
that things were back to normal, you might want to take a look some
time,” Jason added.

“Hey! I’m the mechanic around here! Why hasn’t he
asked me?” Mickey wanted to know.

“Because Grant knows I could strip the engine of his
Chevy blindfolded,” Robyn answered with a smile.