Chapter 1: A Fair Maiden in Distress

Lee Jasik was on his way home after another Friday night spent with himself. Lee was smart, good looking, and from a very wealthy family so one would have thought that he would have no problem getting and keeping a girl friend. But Lee was, according to the school rumour mill, different, and he was. He was kind, considerate and above all a gentleman. The word had been put out on Lee at the beginning of his freshman year and no one would go out with him and risk being ostracised. Lee never knew the reason for his being black listed and in the complicated social structure of teens a real reason wasn't needed. Regardless of the reason Lee was spending his senior year the same way he had the three previous years alone.

He caught some movement out of the corner of his eye and slowed his vintage FJ40 to a stop and then reversed back to where he had seen the object. The object turned out to be Penny Bishop, fellow senior and head cheerleader at Signal High. Apparently Penny hadn't had a real wonderful Friday night. To start with she was twenty five miles from Signal and she was afoot; bare foot at that. She was also sporting a split lip, a knot the size of a hen's egg on her forehead, and the beginnings of a black eye. Add all that to a once beautiful dress that was now ripped almost in half and it appeared that Penny had been on a Stephan Meeks' kind of date.

Stephan Meeks was the son of Phillip Meeks and to call him a son of a bitch would cast dispersions on the canine species that even the worst of them doesn't deserve. Phillip Meeks had made his millions by any means he could, right or wrong never entered into it. He was like the old robber barons of the 1800's, he didn't know enough about ethics to know how to use them in business. Stephan was his only son, not his only child, but his only son. To Phillip, women were nothing but something to use and abuse, and he had taught his son well. Eight girls in Signal High had been raped by Stephan but one way or another he got off. When Mary Bishop started dating Matt Brown events bigger than the Meeks' influence were set in motion. Penny standing on the side of the road half naked said that the snowball had just started down the hill, the avalanche had begun.

Lee adjusted the spot light so that it gave them some light with out blinding them, "Penny did he rape you?"

Penny looked up at Lee, "No, he didn't, but he did manage to beat the hell out of me. Why don't you say it? Go ahead, I know you want to. Tell me how I got what I deserved."

"No woman deserves to be assaulted. Come on I'll take you home. I take it Stephan doesn't know what your new stepfather does for a living?"

Penny tried to laugh but reached up to touch her split lip. "No, he never asked. Say do you happen to have something to drink so I can rinse some of this blood out of my mouth?"

"Here," Lee opened the back of his Landcruiser and pulled out a bottle of water from a built in cabinet, "it's probably warm." Opening another door Lee pulled out a large tackle box that he had rigged up as a first aid kit. After unlatching the top section Lee pulled out a couple of zip lock bags. He poured out the last of the soda he'd been drinking and dumped the ice into the zip lock and sealed it. He then dropped that bag into the other and then handed it to Penny, "Here, put this on your eye." Lee then pulled out an emergency "Space Blanket" and helped Penny wrap her nearly nude body.

Penny carefully took a swig of the water and rinsed her mouth, "I guess I'm ready to go." She gingerly placed the ice pack on her eye.

Lee took her arm and opened the passenger side door and helped her in and buckled her seatbelt then walked around to the driver's side and got in. After starting up the thirty five year old four by four Lee reached for the microphone to the CB Radio that was built in to the over head console, "Tojo to base, Dad can you read me over."

"Go ahead son, over" a voice replied through the speakers.

"Dad I found one of my classmates about six miles from the house. She needs a ride home and there are going to be a bunch of questions asked. I doubt I'll make it back tonight. I'll probably just get a motel for tonight and see y'all in the morning over." Lee released the button on the microphone and waited to hear what his Dad said.

"Son, do you need us to come to town and be there with you? Over"

"No Dad, I'll be alright over."

"Ok give us a call when you get settled, you know your mother, she won't sleep a wink till you do over." Lee nodded his as if his dad could see him through the radio.

"10-4 Dad, I'll keep you posted. Over." Lee put the mic back on the bracket that held it and put the Landcruiser in gear. After turning around on the narrow dirt road Lee headed back to town. "Do you want to go to the hospital, police, or home, first?"

"Take me home please," The reality of the night's events came crashing down on Penny and she started crying.

"It's going to be alright Penny, at least now he won't get off like all those other times." Lee slowed the Landcruiser down shifting and braking as he approached the stop sign. He flipped the left hand turn signal on and pulled out on the wider caliche road known to all the locals as Signal Mountain road. Penny's tears made Lee want to pick up the pace a little. He reached up to the panel of switches in the overhead cabinet and flipped on the four left most switches. Penny's head came up as the big lights on the luggage rack of the FJ40 turned night to day. With the extra light Lee pushed the old Landcruiser on up to seventy. Lee smiled as the small block Chevy engine came to life since the old stock six banger would be screaming bloody murder if it had still been under the hood.

Twenty minutes later as they pulled on to the highway and back into cell coverage Penny's cell phone starts ringing. Penny opened the cell phone but when she heard her stepfather's voice she broke down in to sobs and handed the phone to Lee. "Hello, Sir... Lee Jasik... well, Sir she has been assaulted... Sir I know... listen why don't you meet us at the hospital... we just pulled on to the highway from Signal mountain road... yes Sir about fifteen minutes... yes Sir, Bye." Lee handed her phone back and stroked Penny's hair wishing he knew what to say to her.

She felt his hand and sighed at the loving touch of his hands. She couldn't believe that she'd allowed the people around her to convince her that Lee was not worth her time. It was apparent that he thought she was very much worth his time

By the time Lee pulled into the emergency entrance at the hospital there were two highway patrolmen, a sheriff's deputy, and two city cops waiting on them along with Penny's mother and stepfather. As soon as the Landcruiser came to a stop Penny's mother had Penny's door open and was helping her out.

Lee was being helped out as well, but not anywhere near as gently. Penny saw the two city cops throwing Lee to the ground and screamed, "Stop it what are you doing?"

"He's the one that assaulted you, right?" the first cop asked.

"No he's the one that rescued me. Turn him loose," Penny turned to her stepfather. "Make them turn him loose. It wasn't him it was Stephan Meeks."

"Oh bull shit," the cop spat, "what is it about you girls that makes you all want to accuse him for this stuff when it's jerks like this that did it."

Penny reached into her purse and pulled out a small tape recorder. She rewound it a few seconds and hit play. The voice that came out was unmistakable. The two city cops faces fell. "If these cuffs aren't off me in the next two seconds I'm calling my Dad and letting his lawyer get involved," Lee was fast getting pissed at his treatment.

"Is your Dad someone special that I should be worried about?" the cop asked.

Before Lee could answer Penny's stepfather asked, "You're Jake Jasik's boy aren't you?"

"Yes, Sir." Lee replied. The two city cops looked panicked, but quickly got the cuffs off. Lee was rubbing his wrists as Penny reached and took his hand.

"Miss," the older cop called to her, "We're going to need that tape."

"Oh no you don't, you people aren't going to sweep this one under the carpet like you have all the others." Penny's stepfather nodded to one of the highway patrolmen and he stepped forward with an evidence bag. Penny dropped the tape player in the bag and her stepfather sealed it and wrote his name across the seal.

"Just who the hell are you and what makes you think you have jurisdiction on this," the cop asked.

"Well first off, it didn't happen in the city so that lets you knot heads out, and second my name is Matt Brown and I'm with the Texas Rangers." Turning to the highway patrolman, "Take that tape and go wake the judge and get an arrest warrant. Arrest those two for obstruction of justice. Don't worry, we already have enough of these two on tape getting the call to come down here."

The two city cops blanched white as the highway patrolmen cuffed them and took their guns and put them in the back seat of the patrol car.

The ER was empty when they walked in so the nurse led them straight to a room. Penny never let go of Lee's hand so he had entered the room as well, much to the chagrin of the nurse. Matt Brown waited for the nurse to finish taking the vitals, "Bring your digital camera, we will need to document every mark on her." The nurse just nodded her head and left the room. "I wish we had another camera since something is liable to happen to that one."

"Sir," Lee began, "I have both of my cameras out in my Landcruiser."

"Would you go get them please," Matt asked.

Lee wasn't sure why he did it but before he turned loose of Penny's hand he brought it to his lips and kissed it. Penny felt a warm surge go through her body starting at her hand and ending at the juncture of her body and legs. Lee went out to his Landcruiser and brought back his camera bag.

When he got back to the room where Penny was he knocked on the door. A voice on the other side told him to wait outside and in a few minutes Mr. Brown came out returned his blanket, and had him hide the camera bag. Shortly after that, the nurse came out and Lee and Matt went in. Matt had Penny's mom, Mary come to the door and watch for the doctor.