Lena Jones 02 - Desert Wives

of gratification vanished two hours later, however, when Sheriff Benson came back to Saul’s after interviewing everyone involved.
    “The girl denied your entire story, Ms. Jones,” Benson said, his face rigid with dislike. He wouldn’t even sit in the chair I pulled out for him. “The girl’s mother denied it and so did Prophet Davis. You’re the only person who says it happened. In fact, Prophet Davis is thinking about filing a complaint against
you.
”
    I jumped out of my own chair. “Complaint? Complaint for what?”
    “Assault. False accusations. Oh, if you’re found guilty you probably won’t go to jail, but you’ll be liable for a hefty financial judgment. It’s happened before.” Was I wrong, or did I hear satisfaction in his voice?
    “That’s insane!”
    He shrugged. “If I remember correctly, you used to be a police officer, so you should know that when you start throwing around charges like you’re doing now, you’d better have witnesses. That’s how the law protects innocent parties from the accusations of people who have an agenda, such as yourself.”
    Saul stepped forward, his face hard. “Sheriff, are you hinting that Lena is lying?”
    Benson flashed a big smile. Considering the circumstances, it appeared wildly inappropriate. “Now, I didn’t say that, did I? But I’ll tell you this, Mr. Berkhauser. Prophet Davis said Ms. Jones has been out to get him ever since she proposed to him and he declined.”
    “Declined, my ass! I’ll have you know he couldn’t wait to get his hands on me!”
    Benson’s smile didn’t budge. “Frankly, I think Prophet Davis’s story makes more sense than yours. My years in law enforcement have taught me that a rejected woman frequently takes her revenge by making accusations against the man who rejected her. There are other things I’ve noticed about you, Ms. Jones, that call your credibility into question. When I first met you down in Scottsdale, you seemed much too willing to take the part of an obviously hysterical woman who had her own ax to grind. The next time I see you, here you are, living in the very community she ran away from, chasing after Prophet Davis, telling me stories about rape, child molestation, and who knows what all. Now, I have one final question. You seem to be a deeply troubled woman, Ms. Jones. Have you ever considered therapy?”
    Only Sheriff Benson’s uniform kept me from slapping that maddening smile off his face.
    After Benson left, Ruby, who had been sitting quietly in the corner with her hands folded primly on her lap, finally spoke. “Don’t look so shocked, Sister Lena. What he just said about you being crazy, that’s what all these men in Purity say when their wives get upset, except for Brother Saul, of course. I’m bettin’ Sheriff Benson says it to his own wives at least once a day.”
    Saul and I both stood in the middle of the room, staring at her.
    “
Wives
, did you say, Sister Ruby?” Saul asked.
    “Wives. He’s got three, at least he did last time I called over there. Two of them are my own daughters.”
    “
What?
” Saul and I both shouted in chorus.
    She leaned forward in her chair. “Neither’s all that happy with him, but it’s not a woman’s job to be happy, is it? After all, he doesn’t do…” She paused and blushed. “He doesn’t do ugly things to them. Oh, they could have done a whole lot worse.”
    “Benson’s a polygamist,” I said.
    “Of course he is, Sister Lena. Howard Benson’s mother was Prophet Solomon’s niece. He was raised right here in Purity.”
    Saul groaned. “My God, if we’d known that…”
    I shushed him with a gesture. I wanted her to continue.
    Ruby didn’t disappoint me. Now that she’d finally taken the plunge and started giving her opinions, she didn’t want to stop. “I knew him when he was a little boy. I didn’t like him much then, either.”
    “But you let your daughters marry him.” I tried to keep my voice level.
    “Let?
Let?
” Her voice rose to a decidedly unmeek level. Sister Ruby was pissed and she didn’t care who knew it. “There was no
let,
Sister Lena. My husband fixed it up with Brother Howard’s father years ago. I didn’t have no say and neither did my girls.”
    Saul put a hand to his forehead and groaned. “You knew all this but let Lena call him anyway?”
    She stuck her chin out. “I heard what Sister Lena was saying about the little girl and Prophet Davis, and it made me mad! Touching a seven-year-old