Chapter 11

Brianna pretended to be searching for something in her locker. In reality, she was paying very close attention to the interaction happening at the other end of the bank of lockers. She couldn't hear what was being said, but from the gestures and expressions from Melissa and Tyson, she could make a pretty good guess.

Something happened between the couple, and from what Brianna could make out, it had been building. During the last month, the pair went from regular public displays of affection to virtually no public interaction. Sure, they were still seen together, but where before Tyson focused much of his attention on his lovestruck girlfriend, he now barely spoke to her. They stopped holding hands as they walked from class to class, and she often walked behind him and his friends, her head hanging.

This was a huge change in Melissa. The normally self-confident, in-charge girl had become increasingly withdrawn and somber over the last month. Now she was just a shell of her former vibrant self. Given Melissa's choice of boyfriends, Brianna was pretty sure why.

She hazarded a glance at the arguing pair. Tyson was shaking his head emphatically and saying something to Melissa. Her head was down and her face was streaked with tears. Brianna wasn't surprised to see the look of disgust on Tyson's face. Rape them, then forget them was his M.O.

What Brianna couldn't figure out was what changed overnight. Yesterday, Melissa walked meekly behind Tyson, who seemed apathetic towards her. Now, he appeared to be full of animosity and disgust. Brianna felt an urgency to find out what was going on. She hoped that Melissa's fragility and feelings of dejection were still strong enough to overcome any weird sense of loyalty towards Tyson.

One of Tyson's friends walked by and got Tyson's attention. Tyson said something to Melissa and turned away. She caught his sleeve, but he jerked his arm from her grasp. Melissa slumped and covered her face as he walked away, and her shoulders shook in silent sobs. Brianna felt her heart go out to the other girl. Even after the years of conflict between Melissa and Brianna and her friends, even after everything that Melissa did to Allison, Brianna still felt sorry for the girl.

Melissa quickly regained her composure. She stood up straight, took a deep breath, and wiped her face. Then she shouldered her purse and quickly walked down the hall, passing Brianna without a second look. Brianna quickly stuffed her last textbook into her backpack and hurried after Melissa.

Brianna reached the intersection of two halls. Her eyes darted in every direction. She spotted Melissa walking down a nearly deserted hallway towards the gym and locker rooms. Brianna caught up with the other girl just as she reached for the doors of the gym.

"Melissa," Brianna panted.

Melissa looked up in surprise, but quickly her eyes narrowed.

"What?" she asked, flatly.

"Do you have a second so I can talk to you?"

"I need to get to the weight room."

She swung the door open and stepped into the gym. Brianna grabbed her sleeve, just as Melissa attempted to do to Tyson.

"Please, Melissa. This will only take a minute."

Melissa hesitated as she looked down at Brianna's hand on her arm. She sighed and Brianna allowed herself a moment of hope.

"What do you want to talk about?" Melissa asked, quietly.

Brianna looked around them. A couple of students were milling about, so she motioned into the gym. Melissa shrugged and stepped inside the empty room. As they sat on the bleachers, Brianna realized she had no idea what she could say. She couldn't just ask 'Did Tyson rape you?' That was sure to put Melissa on the defensive.

"Um, so what's up with you and Tyson?" she asked, instead.

A cloud passed over Melissa's face.

"Not that it's any of your business, but nothing's wrong." She started to rise. "Is that all you wanted to talk about?"

"That's not what it looked like in the hall."

"You should mind your own damn business, Brianna."

"I tried, but it was kind of hard with you two going after each other in a public place."

Melissa frowned and sank back down.

"We just had a disagreement. It's nothing."

"Maybe that just now in the hall was nothing, but SOMETHING happened recently. I can tell."

Melissa eyes opened wide for a brief second. "What do you mean?"

"I've been watching you—"

"Stalking, you mean."

Brianna ignored her. "You've changed, Melissa. Over the last four to six weeks, you're acting like a different person."

Melissa dropped her gaze. "Why do you care?" she asked, quietly. "If you think I'm going to sit here and let you gloat..." She started to rise again.

Brianna reached out and put her hand on Melissa's arm, which caused her to flinch.

"Actually, you may not believe this, but I want to help," Brianna said. "I ... I think I CAN help."

Brianna thought about all the other girls she said virtually the same thing to and felt a sense of guilt. She and Merrigan were taking far too long to REALLY help, yet they had to be sure they had enough proof so Tyson wouldn't be allowed to go free. They only had one shot.

Melissa's shoulders slumped further.

"No one can help me," she whispered, almost to herself.

"Maybe I can."

Melissa sat up straight and took a deep breath. The hardness was back in her eyes.

"These are my own problems, OK? If you really want to help, then butt out."

She stood and quickly began walking towards the locker room. Brianna felt her window of opportunity slamming shut.

"Tyson raped you," Brianna blurted out.

Melissa froze.

"Where did you hear that?"

Brianna thought she heard a tremble in Melissa's voice.

"I ... I didn't hear it."

Melissa huffed and continued walking away.

"He's done it before," Brianna said, as she stood and took a few steps towards Melissa.

Melissa froze again. She was quiet for a long time.

"Tyson didn't rape me."

"I know you're scared, Melissa, but..."

"He didn't rape me," Melissa said, emphatically. Then, with less surety, she said, "He ... he didn't."

"Melissa, please let me help you. I know you feel a sense of loyalty..."

"I'm pregnant."

Melissa still had her back to Brianna, and the words were barely audible. Brianna wasn't sure she heard them right.

"What?"

"I said I'm pregnant."

Time seemed to stop. Brianna was shocked. She hadn't been expecting that.

"Is ... is it Tyson's?"

Melissa was quiet a long time. She shook her head. That answer surprised Brianna as well.

"W-whose is it?"

Brianna tensed herself, waiting for Melissa to lash out again, but instead the other girl shrugged her shoulders.

"You don't know?"

"No," Melissa croaked.

She wanted to ask how Melissa could not know, but she didn't want to sound condescending or judgmental, nor did she want to scare the other girl away. She wasn't sure why Melissa was suddenly opening up, but Brianna was going to try to keep it going as long as she could.

"What happened?" she finally asked.

Melissa's shoulders shook a few times, and Brianna assumed she was crying. Then Melissa sucked in a deep breath and stood up tall again. Brianna worried that the constant up and down of Melissa's emotions were signs that she was on the edge.

"I got careless," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "It was at a party about six weeks ago. Tyson and I went to one of the bedrooms, and, you know, we had sex. I was kind of drunk and didn't make him wear a condom or anything like I usually do. Anyway, one thing led to another and I, um, I agreed to have sex with a couple of his friends, too."

Brianna could hear the hesitation in Melissa's voice, like she was trying to pick out just the right words to say. The words sounded almost ... rehearsed.

"And none of them wore condoms?"

"Like I said, I was drunk and careless."

"How many guys?"

"Does it matter? Point is, it could have been any of them."

"Including Tyson?"

Melissa shook her head again.

"You said he didn't use a condom, though."

"He, um, he pulled out before ... you know. I don't think it's his."

Both girls were quiet while Brianna digested what Melissa said. She decided to press her earlier point.

"Nobody forced you?"

Melissa shook her head.

"Nobody coerced you, blackmailed you, or..."

"Nobody raped me, Brianna. I knew what was going on. It was my own choice."

"Oh," Brianna said quietly, though she somehow felt Melissa was lying, at least partly.

Melissa turned her head and gave Brianna a sideways glance. Her expression was stony.

"Don't you dare judge me, Brianna," she snapped. "I'm not a slut or anything. I just wanted to have a good time and it's come back to haunt me. So don't you stand there and think I'm some trashy slut."

With those words, she resumed her walk, briskly heading towards the locker room.

"Melissa, wait," Brianna called out to her.

"Leave me alone, Brianna!" Melissa answered, as she disappeared into the locker room.

Phil Goodwyn was grading final exams, one of his least favorite tasks as a professor. He hoped to have the grading done, final grades calculated and submitted, before he left that afternoon so he wouldn't have to come back in the morning just to finish up. That wouldn't be a good way to start the winter break, not that it mattered too much. His office was still the center of activity for the investigation into Ted Garner's illegal activities, so he'd be back the next week, even if the University didn't require him to.

The sound of voices approaching broke through Phil's concentration. Within moments, Richard Barton and Gimel Juarez appeared in his doorway. He waved them in and put his focus back on grading the last few questions of the last exam. When he was done, he leaned back, pulled off his glasses and smiled at the two men. Unlike so many other visitors to Phil's office, Phil's two key investigators had no problems shoving the stacks of books and papers off the office chairs and making themselves at home. They'd done it often enough during the last six months.

"Talk to me," he said.

Richard, a non-descript man of average looks, build, hair color, everything, opened his bag and pulled out a shabby legal sized pad of paper. He quickly flipped through the rumpled, yellow pages until he found what he was looking for.

"So I finally made contact with someone inside the bank."

Phil replaced his glasses and leaned forward, intrigued by the news. "Go on."

"Daphne Tuttle, a junior loan officer. She confirmed the story about the Dominquez family, that the mortgage was issued at impossible terms—bloated interest rates, hidden fees, overly-aggressive repayment terms, and an insanely large down payment. Interestingly, she's been at the bank for nine years, and in the last three she has trained two new hires--two men--who passed her and are now senior loan offers. She might be an asset if we can gain her trust. Anyway, she initially started to process the Dominquez loan at more reasonable terms, but got pushback from the higher ups after the first draft. When she voiced her concern, the application was moved to one of the senior loan officers SHE trained."

Richard laid a stack of documents on Phil's desk. The older man started flipping through them. Richard took Phil's silence as encouragement to continue.

"All the information is included in there. It didn't take long for them to miss a payment, upon which the bank foreclosed on the home and sold it to Billy and Jennifer Downs at considerably more reasonable terms. If fact, the terms were extreme in the reverse—an interest rate considerably below the market rate at the time, and loaded with contingencies in the event they should be unable to make payments. Within six months of signing the papers, they stopped making payments. The bank not only didn't foreclose, but actually waived one month's payment. After four months of missed payments, an unknown benefactor covered all past due amounts and has continued to make payments for the couple for the last 12 months."

"Interesting," Phil said, as he continued to review the documents.

Gimel leaned forward and cleared his throat. Phil glanced up at the tall Hispanic man. Gimel was one of the contacts given to him by Jack. He was working full-time as the janitor at the high school, and had been paid by Ted Garner to spy on Allison and the Williams. He turned away from the 'dark side' when he was discovered, confronted, and educated by Jack as to Ted Garner's activities with regards to minorities. Gimel's help, when Jack extricated Allison from her father's hold, was critical to the plan's success. He had willingly agreed to help Phil take Garner down. His place within the Hispanic community, and by extension into other minority communities, had helped Phil and his team gain a measure of trust among those folks.

"I made contact with Edgar Dominquez a couple of days ago," Gimel said. "According to him, he was one day late on his payment. He said he went into the bank to make the payment the day after it was due and was handed his notice of foreclosure. His complaints were escalated up to one of Garner's VPs, who rejected each complaint by holding up the signed loan documentation. Within two days, Edgar, his wife, and their two small kids were out of their house and living with family until they could get another place of their own. Because of their defaulted loan, they were forced to rent crappy apartments. Edgar eventually found employment in another state, and they were able to make a step up in their living arrangements."

Phil looked up at the two men with a frown on his face. Before he could speak, Richard continued.

"An interesting side note—and this is hearsay only—Billy Downs' father is well-respected in this community, yet was either unwilling or unable to assist the young man directly with his financial problems, even though he is well-off financially."

Phil tried to think of any Downs he knew in their community, but drew a blank.

"Who's his father, and why couldn't or wouldn't he help?" he asked, somewhat perturbed at Richard's coy game, but unable to resist playing along.

"Well, the answer to your first question makes the answer to the second question obvious." Richard sat back with a self-satisfied grin. "Billy Downs' father his Robert Farmer."

Phil raised his eyebrows. "The president of Devenco?"

"Yep."

Devenco was a large regional manufacturer that was implicated throughout the information that Phil's group had uncovered. The company was notorious for allegedly offering jobs or withholding jobs as motivation to individuals to play along with Ted and partners. Farmer also served on the Bank's Board of Trustees and on several other committees with Ted, such as Bill Donathon's church's Board.

Phil snorted. "I'm guessing that Billy boy's mommy isn't Gloria Farmer, then." He leaned back and removed his glasses again. "A couple of questions for you. First, did Ms. Junior Loan Officer mention anything about Ted in your conversation?"

"She did. She said that Ted Garner personally reviews all home loan applications and select larger loans of other varieties."

"His signature isn't on any of these documents, as far as I can see."

"She said he reviews them, but rarely signs them himself."

"Then how does she know he reviewed and approved this one? It was taken out of her hands after the first draft. Did she SEE him review this loan?"

Richard fidgeted a bit. "Um, no. But she said his involvement is common knowledge. She said he has been known to make notes and recommendations in the margins of the draft copies."

Phil held up the sheaf of papers in front of him. "Don't see any handwritten notes on this. Were there notes on her first draft?"

"Well ... I, um, I didn't ask her that. She was directed to take him the first draft paperwork, as she is for all home loans, but whether he actually marked it up for her, or whether she received verbal changes, I couldn't say."

Phil drummed his fingers on his desk as he digested this information. He turned to Gimel.

"Did Edgar admit to agreeing to these terms?"

Gimel nodded. "Yes, though he also said he didn't understand much of what was in there, he was assured by his real estate agent that the terms were standard terms."

"Well, Ted Garner certainly can't be blamed for having ignorant home buyers." He raised his hand to cut off Gimel's response. "Nothing against Edgar; I only meant that he was ignorant regarding the details of buying a home in our esteemed country, not that he was ignorant in general. And while I agree that it would have been helpful if the agent and the bank had done a better job at explaining things to the man, it was hardly illegal."

"There was a second loan with similar terms," Richard said, "Also given to a Hispanic family. They've been able to keep their home, but both parents are forced to work two jobs and their three children, ages nine to 13, are usually home by themselves because of it."

Phil sighed. "More examples of discrimination by the bank, but nothing directly implicating Garner. The man is a snake." He looked back at the two men across the desk. "Thanks, Gentlemen. Move on to the next names on your lists. We've got to hit people closer to the top of the food chain. We need to get our hands on proof. We'll reconvene next week, same time."

He shoved the stack of loan papers back across the desk in frustration. Doing so uncovered a crumpled sheet of paper that he was all too familiar with. It was the list of names that Jack had provided him as a starting point for his investigation. Phil had marked it and marked it again, constantly making notes to himself on who was and who wasn't helpful to their cause. Phil scanned down the list and stopped at the name that most often drew his attention. He'd circled it a hundred times if he'd circled it once. He was getting desperate, but was he THAT desperate?

"She's avoiding me now," Brianna said, in a loud whisper. "Whenever she sees me in the hall, she turns and heads in the other direction."

"Do you blame her?" Merrigan asked.

She leaned closer to Brianna so she wouldn't have to talk so loud to be heard over the music and partying teenagers. Her soft breast pressed into Brianna's arm, which made the blonde blush.

Brianna frowned. "I guess not."

"Com'n, Bri. You're the best friend of her worst enemy. That she even told you that she'd been, you know ... that she did all those guys at the party ... was probably a major mistake in her eyes. Add to that her whole confession on the preg..."

Two guys walked by just then. They admired the two girls as they passed and raised their red plastic cups in tribute to them. Once they were gone, Merrigan leaned even closer to Brianna. Brianna blushed again when the new position allowed her to look right down Merrigan's top and drink in the lightly freckled expanse of skin that ended at the delicate lace edge of her bra.

The redhead continued in an even quieter voice, "Add to that the pregnancy issue, and I'm sure she's mortified that she spilled the beans to you. I'd avoid you, too."

"What are you two plotting over here?"

Both girls jumped and looked around with wide eyes. Ben Garner was standing behind them with a crooked smile on his face, a smile which disappeared when he noticed their reaction.

"Um, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

Brianna's heart was pounding, but seeing her best friend's little brother quickly put her at ease. She just wished she wasn't so jumpy all the time. She smiled at him.

"Scared? By Gentle Ben? No, more like startled, maybe."

Ben relaxed at her smile.

"Anyway, you two were so caught up in your conversation and looked so serious, I just wondered what could be so important as to keep two teenagers from having fun on New Year's Eve."

Merrigan batted her eyelashes playfully at the tall, good-looking boy.

"We were just rating the guys. You know, on a scale of one to ten."

Ben nodded. "Ah, who's the cutest, right?"

"Partly," Merrigan answered with a smirk, "But more like who has the hottest ass."

Brianna gasped and smacked her friend. "Merrigan Mandrake! You can't be giving away all our secrets. Now Ben will tell all the guys that girls are as perverted as they are."

Ben crossed his heart. "I won't say a word, I swear. Your secret is safe with me," he chuckled. "Besides, we already knew the girls were just as perverted."

Both girls feigned offense, and the trio was soon engaged in comfortable chatter. After some minutes, Brianna faded from the conversation, content to let the more outgoing redhead keep up the constant flirting. Brianna knew it was flirting; she'd seen that behavior directed from Merrigan towards her pretty often—the flip of the hair, the brief touches, and the sparkle in her eye. Brianna sighed, once again amazed at her friend's unparalleled beauty.

She turned her attention to Ben and felt a brief moment of jealousy, though of whom, she couldn't be sure. Was she jealous of Ben for being able to openly respond to Merrigan's flirting, or of Merrigan for being so openly flirtatious with the sexy boy? Brianna had flirted a bit as well, and not just at this moment. Still, while she could recognize Ben as a charming hunk, given the fact that he was Allison's baby brother and that she'd known him since he was in diapers, it was hard to get past the fact that he was almost like a brother to her.

She watched the pair flirt. He WAS hunky. He was tall, six feet at least, and he'd filled out in the chest and shoulders. He narrowed at the waist, and had Brianna and Merrigan truly been rating asses, Ben would have won hands down. She could imagine being pulled against his broad chest by his chiseled arms, finding protection and warmth in his embrace.

Brianna looked up into his face to see him staring at her with that crooked smile. When their eyes met, her face went warm. He blushed as well and averted his eyes, taking a sip from his red plastic cup. Brianna frowned. She wouldn't have pegged Ben as the kind to drink alcohol, which was the usual content of those cups at parties.

Ben must have noticed her reaction, because he looked down into his cup for a second before holding it up.

"Dr. Pepper," he said matter-of-factly, which made Brianna smile and her heart beat a bit faster for some reason.

Before long, the clock counted down and the crowd cheered as they ushered in another new year. Unabashedly, Merrigan caught Ben's face in her hands and planted a long, firm kiss on his lips. Ben's expression when they parted made Brianna laugh, but Merrigan quickly swallowed that laugh with a firm kiss on Brianna's lips.