Murder Deja Vu

pinched her chin, thought. “I’ve asked myself that question a hundred times. Honestly? I don’t think so, unless I had someone like Clarence to really do the digging. Because I didn’t, I still can’t help feeling I missed something.”
    “Didn’t they realize someone had drugged Reece?”
    “Things weren’t so technical twenty-one years ago. He had alcohol in his bloodstream, maybe drugs, but they couldn’t pin it to any drug in particular. Nowadays, considering he was out cold and couldn’t remember anything, they’d test him for roofies or special K or one of the other date rape drugs, though they all leave the system quickly. But back then…Of course, there was the semen, and though Karen Sitton was quite an active lady, Reece’s was the only one in her when they found the body.”
    “It doesn’t seem fair.”
    “No, honey. It wasn’t. Reece couldn’t believe it was happening. Messed him up good. I watched him grow more distant, lose weight, and become less communicative with every visit, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do. I appealed, tried to get a new trial, and they turned me down every time. I prayed I wouldn’t lose him.”
    “What…what do you mean?”
    “I worried he’d kill himself. I wouldn’t have been surprised. I would have cried my heart out if that had happened. His father turned his back on him. His mother sneaked visits, and his brother tried to help as much as possible. He bugged me constantly, hoping I’d find some way to get Reece out. After a while Reece wouldn’t see either of them. He said it was killing his mother, and he felt he’d let his brother down. I didn’t understand his reasoning, but that’s Reece.”
    Dana gasped. “His father didn’t come? Friends?”
    “Apparently, his father didn’t want the Daughtry name ruined by one bad apple. As for friends—you don’t have any when you’re convicted of a vicious murder. They scatter like cockroaches when the light goes on.” Jeraldine slathered another piece of roll with cheese and bit into it. She chewed slowly, swallowed, her eyes focused on Dana. “I’m telling you this so you know what you’re dealing with.”
    “What am I dealing with?”
    “A man who’s been through hell. Something happened in prison early on. I could guess, but I don’t know the particulars. After, he had a protector.”
    Dana didn’t believe for a minute that Jeraldine didn’t know the particulars. She knew, but she wasn’t going to tell Dana. “What does that mean, protector?”
    “A tough con by the name of Frank Vance saved Reece’s life. I guess Vance didn’t like Reece’s odds against all the bad boys inside. He looked after Reece, taught him how to take care of himself, and Reece toughened up. In exchange, Reece taught Vance how to read. I don’t think it was a sexual thing, although I never asked and he never told me.” She stopped, obviously catching the shock Dana knew showed on her face.
    “Prison’s tough, Dana. It can be brutal on men used to the mean streets. It sure as hell’s not for a boy raised with a silver spoon in his mouth. That fact made Reece a target from day one, despite his size. Bad guys can smell fear like bloodhounds, and they don’t miss a chance to swoop down and dig in their claws. Later on, much later, Reece saved Vance, but he almost died doing it, if you’ve seen the scar down the side of his torso. I haven’t, but I heard about it.”
    Dana couldn’t slow the drumbeat in her chest. “I’ve seen it.”
    Jeraldine ordered another round of drinks. “I persisted, finally proving the crime scene had been contaminated, thanks to a retired cop who’d kept his mouth shut for fear of bringing trouble to his friends in blue. His silence helped convict Reece. He really believed Reece guilty, so he didn’t have too much trouble with his conscience. They had no physical evidence other than the semen, no weapon, so the prosecutor said Reece had served enough time and refused to retry him. A judge dismissed the charges. One day in prison was a day too much, but I held my tongue, afraid to make waves. I wanted him out.
    “When Reece knew he’d be released, I expected elation, excitement, but all he said was, ‘Who am I now, Jeraldine? Who have I become?’”
    Jeraldine tried to hide her moist eyes by taking another drink, but Dana saw.
    “I didn’t know what to say, other than he had changed from the person who went into that place fifteen years before. I