The Perfect Alibi Read online

  “You’re safe,” she said, but Randi continued to cry and shake. “It’s okay, I scared him off. Can you stand up? I want to get you out of here.”

  Randi struggled to her feet. Robin picked up the gun, led her to her car, sweeping the lot in case Randi’s attacker was hiding in the shadows. Robin didn’t relax until they were locked in the car and driving out of the lot. And even then, she kept looking in her mirrors to make sure they weren’t being followed. Eventually, she parked at a fast-food restaurant and put Randi in a booth near the back.

  “Stay here while I get you some coffee. Do you want something to eat?”

  “Just coffee,” Randi said.

  Robin returned with two take-out cups and put one of them in front of her client. “Tell me what happened,” Robin said.

  “I went to the club. It was crowded and I danced with a couple of guys. Then the door opened. I was facing it. When he came in, you couldn’t miss him. I wasn’t worried until he made eye contact and started wading through the crowd toward me.

  “I go to the club a lot, and I know there’s a back door by the ladies’. I went through it and down the alley. Then I started to run. I thought I was safe, but he found me just before you showed up.” Randi lost it for a moment.

  Robin covered her hand. “It’s okay. He can’t hurt you now. Take some deep breaths.”

  Randi did as she was told. Then she sipped some more coffee. “I never heard him. You’d think someone that big, you’d hear him.” She shook her head. “One minute I was huddled between the Dumpsters, and the next he had me by my shirt and he was shaking me like a rat.”

  “Did he say anything?”

  “Yeah. He said I was pretty, but I wouldn’t stay pretty long if I kept telling lies that got nice people in trouble.”

  “Did he name the ‘nice person’?” Robin asked.

  Randi shook her head once more. “But I’m not stupid. He’s got to be one of Blaine’s teammates.”

  “I can find that out pretty easily. There will be team photos. I’ll check it out in the morning. Did he say anything else?”

  “He asked me if I understood him, but I was too frightened to answer. And that’s when you scared him off.”

  “Okay. If you can ID this guy, we’ll go to the police and tell them what happened. Hastings is out on bail, but this might be enough to get his bail revoked.”

  Randi started to sob again. “He’ll just deny he was involved.”

  “If we can find the man who threatened you, the police might get him to talk.”

  “Blaine will buy him an alibi. He has all the money in the world.” Randi stared into her coffee cup. “Maybe I should just drop it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Not testify. Then Blaine would let me alone.”

  Robin cupped Randi’s chin and lifted it until they were eye to eye. “That would be a mistake. My investigator has been working up background on Blaine Hastings. He’s got a reputation as a violent bully and an egotist. A person like that won’t forget what you’ve done. Hastings is premed and a preseason All-American. Getting accused of rape is going to cost him when he tries to get drafted or go to medical school. If that happens, he’ll want revenge.

  “And there’s something else. A guy like Blaine, if he raped you, you can bet you’re not his only victim. If he’s locked away, you’ll be protecting a lot of innocent women.”

  “He’ll never be locked up.”

  “Do you remember what you told me in my office—how you wanted to bring the Hastings family down? If your testimony puts Blaine in prison, we will kill him when you sue.”

  “All that money won’t do me any good if I’m dead.”

  Robin was tempted to pursue her argument, but one look at Randi convinced her that this wasn’t the time.

  “Look, you’re scared and exhausted. You shouldn’t be making serious decisions in your condition. What’s important now is that you get some rest. Where do you want me to take you?”

  “Not home. They’ll be watching.”

  “Is there a friend you can stay with?”

  “Annie, maybe.”

  “Do you want to call her?”

  “It’s so late.”

  Robin hesitated. Then she said, “You can stay at my place tonight. I can make up the couch.”

  Randi looked up. “That would be good. They wouldn’t guess I was there.”

  “It would just be for the night.”

  “I get that. Thank you.”

  They finished their coffee in silence, which Robin thought was good because it gave Randi time to calm down. Randi was a mess, but Robin understood why. Blaine Hastings was desperate, and he was coming after the only person who could take away his freedom. The man he’d sent was only interested in scaring Randi; otherwise, he wouldn’t have threatened her—he’d have beaten or killed her. Now that plan A had failed, Robin wondered if Hastings would escalate.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Robin lived in a corner apartment in a four-story, brick walk-up in a funky part of town populated by homegrown shops, a movie theater that showed indie films and second-run features at reduced prices, and so many good, reasonably priced restaurants that choosing where to eat was often a problem.

  The front door of Robin’s apartment opened into a kitchen and small dining area. Between work and the gym, Robin wasn’t home much, so she let dishes pile up in the sink and old newspapers accumulate on the coffee table and the couch in the open area in front of the television until she couldn’t stand the way the apartment looked and went on a cleaning spree.

  As soon as they were in Robin’s apartment, Robin cleared the couch of debris and threw a sheet, blanket, and pillow on it. A combination of exhaustion and alcohol sent Randi into a deep sleep as soon as she lay down on Robin’s couch. Robin was too wound up to sleep, so she booted up her laptop and searched for pictures of the University of Oregon football team.

  When Randi woke up a little after nine, Robin cooked her breakfast, then showed her the team photos. “Does anyone look like the guy who attacked you?” Robin asked.

  Randi leaned forward and scanned the team photograph slowly, stopping to look closely at a few of the linemen. Then she sat up and pointed at one of the players. She looked scared.

  “That’s him.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Randi nodded.

  Robin picked up her cell phone and dialed Detective Carrie Anders.

  * * *

  Half an hour later, Robin and her client were seated in front of the detective who had arrested Blaine Hastings. Carrie Anders was six-two, thick bodied, and as strong as some men. She had sad brown eyes; a large, lumpish nose; and short, shaggy black hair. Her lumbering appearance and slow drawl often led people to conclude that she was slow-witted, but she had majored in math in college and was one of the smartest detectives in the Portland Police Bureau.

  “That’s Marlon Guest,” Robin said as she handed the detective a photograph. “He’s a six-foot-six and three-hundred-forty-pound offensive lineman for the Ducks and a teammate of Blaine Hastings. Around two in the morning, Guest attacked Randi in back of a gas station and threatened to hurt her if she didn’t, and I quote, ‘stop telling lies about nice people.’ I saw Guest threaten Randi before I scared him off.”

  Anders gave Robin a hard look. “Just how did you do that?”

  “I bought a gun after what happened in Atlanta, and I have a permit.”

  Anders smiled. “Just asking. So, you got a good look at Miss Stark’s assailant?”

  Robin started to answer. Then she hesitated as she tried to recall exactly what she had seen.

  “Guest and Randi were standing at the far end of the back of the gas station. There aren’t any lights there, so his face was in shadow. But this has to be him. Randi made an ID from the photo, and there aren’t many people who are that big.”

  Anders turned to Randi. “How certain are you that this is the man who attacked you?”

  Now it was Ra
ndi’s turn to hesitate. “I did see his face.”

  “Yes?”

  Randi blushed. “I was a little drunk, but I’m sure it’s him.”

  “How drunk?”

  “I don’t know. I was feeling woozy before he started chasing me. I sobered up a little while I was running.”

  “Randi, this is important. Are you sure this is the man who attacked you? You don’t want to accuse an innocent man.”

  “I … It was him.”

  “Okay. I’ll question Guest. Maybe he’ll admit he attacked you.”

  “Thanks, Carrie,” Robin said.

  “Hastings is an arrogant bastard, and I want him off the street. If I can get Guest to say Hastings asked him to threaten Miss Stark, I might be able to get his bail revoked.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Rex Kellerman’s secretary led Doug Armstrong to the assistant district attorney’s office. Kellerman was reading a case when Doug walked in.

  “Have a seat,” Kellerman said without bothering to look up.

  Doug sat down and waited patiently. Kellerman always treated Doug with disdain, and Doug had dreaded the meeting. After three minutes of the silent treatment, he started to get angry, but he suppressed his emotions. He was hoping to get a decent plea offer in Blaine Hastings’s case, and he didn’t want to antagonize the man who could make it.

  Finally, Kellerman looked up from his laptop. “To what do I owe the pleasure, Doug?”

  “Blaine Hastings.”

  Doug waited for Kellerman to say something, but he just leaned back in his chair.

  “I was hoping we could discuss the case,” Doug continued, trying not to seem too anxious.

  “What’s to discuss?” Kellerman asked. “Your guy is guilty as sin, and I’m going to see he spends a long time down at OSP.”

  “Come on, Rex. He’s a kid, an honor student, and a top athlete. And he says he didn’t rape Miss Stark.”

  Kellerman shrugged. “She says he did, and we have DNA test results that back her up.”

  “Yeah, but the DNA just means they had sex. The allegation of force is uncorroborated.”

  “How does he explain the ripped panties, Doug?”

  “This will ruin Blaine’s life. He’s planning on going to medical school or the pros. We should be able to work something out. He’s never been in trouble over something like this before.”

  Kellerman raised an eyebrow and flashed a smug smile. “Really, Doug. Is that what Mr. Hastings said? Julie Angstrom says he should have been. Has your client mentioned her? She sure remembers him.”

  Kellerman fished through a file that was sitting on his desk. After a moment, he grabbed a police report and handed it to Doug.

  “We found this old complaint two days ago. I sent Carrie Anders over to talk to Julie. You’ll get Anders’s report as soon as she writes it up.”

  Doug didn’t want Kellerman to know that he knew about Angstrom, so he kept his head down as he read Angstrom’s account of the rape in Forest Park.

  “I’ll ask Blaine about this.”

  “I wonder if he’ll remember what happened as well as Julie does.”

  “I don’t think you can get this testimony into evidence.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. I’ll certainly try. Not that I need it.”

  “This happened years ago, and there were never any charges.”

  “If it did happen, doesn’t it make you wonder what your boy’s been up to in the intervening years?”

  “I’m guessing you don’t have anything else like this or I’d have gotten the reports in discovery. And this case still boils down to Stark’s word against Blaine’s. I don’t see your case being that strong. Is there some way to settle it out of court?”

  “Sure. Have Mr. Hastings plead guilty to the charges. You can ask the Court for mercy. If he gets it, it will be more than he showed Randi Stark.”

  * * *

  Kellerman waited until the door closed before breaking into a grin. The Hastings case would be a walk in the park with Doug Armstrong as his adversary. With a good lawyer, he’d have to work for a guilty verdict, but Armstrong was second-rate.

  Kellerman took a moment to think about what a win in Hastings would do for his career. It was common knowledge that Paul Getty, the Multnomah County district attorney, was not going to run for another term. Vanessa Cole, the chief criminal deputy, was rumored to be a candidate, but Rex thought he could beat her at the polls. A few headlines trumpeting victories in big cases would certainly help, and prosecuting a privileged brat like Blaine Hastings would score a lot of points with blue-collar voters.

  Kellerman’s smile widened. Life was good.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Robin had spent the past two days sitting in on Blaine Hastings’s trial. It had been a disaster for the defendant, which was great for her client. Maxine Stark made certain that everyone who had a connection to the internet knew that her daughter had been raped by a star athlete who was a child of privilege. To get into the Multnomah County Courthouse, Robin was forced to fight her way through pickets from feminist organizations who were parading outside, demanding Blaine Hastings’s head.

  The judge had ruled that Julie Angstrom could not testify, but that hadn’t mattered. The testimony of the expert from the police crime lab had been devastating. She’d told the jury that the DNA in the semen sample that had been found inside Randi Stark matched Blaine Hastings’s DNA. All the jurors watched crime shows on television, and they knew that a DNA match was infallible proof of guilt.

  Annie Roche had been the last witness for the prosecution that afternoon. She was a short, heavyset brunette with a pug nose and wide brown eyes, who had dressed conservatively in a white, long-sleeve blouse and ankle-length dress.

  Rex Kellerman established that Roche was working in a nail salon and checking in a grocery store to pay for community college and planned to become a physical therapist. Robin thought that Roche was very nervous when the DA’s direct examination started but had calmed down when Kellerman was through with his preliminary questions.

  “Miss Roche, did you attend a Portland State–Oregon football game in late September?” Kellerman asked.

  “Yes.”

  “After the game, did you talk to some PSU students who had attended high school with you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you learn about a fraternity party that was going to be held that night?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you tell Randi Stark about the party?”

  “Yes.”

  “And did you and Randi go to the party?”

  “We did.”

  “Was the defendant at the party?”

  “Yes.”

  “Tell the jury what you saw happening between your friend Randi Stark and the defendant.”

  “The defendant,” Roche said, referring to Blaine Hastings the way she had been instructed to by Rex Kellerman, “was talking to another boy in a group of people we knew. At some point, I noticed Randi talking to him. Later, I saw them dancing.”

  “Did they stop dancing?”

  “Yes.”

  “What happened after they stopped?”

  “I saw the defendant lead Randi down a hall.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I followed them.”

  “Why?”

  “I was worried about Randi being alone with the defendant.”

  “Why?”

  “He had a bad reputation in school. He did things to girls.”

  “Objection!” Doug Armstrong said.

  “Sustained. Jurors, you will ignore that last comment.”

  “What happened next?”

  “The defendant and Randi went into a room at the end of the hall, and I waited outside. It was quiet for a short time. Then Randi screamed, ‘Get off me.’”

  “What did you do when you heard the scream?”

  “I opened the door.”

  “What did you see?”

  “Randi was on the bed. Her panties
were on the floor.…”

  “Did you get a chance to see the panties up close?”

  “Yes, when I picked them up.”

  “What was their condition?”

  “They’d been torn like someone had ripped them off her.”

  “Go on.”

  “So, Randi was on the bed. She was crying and pushing against the defendant, who was on top of her.”

  “Was there anything unusual about the defendant?”

  Roche blushed and looked down. “His … his penis was exposed.”

  “It was out of his pants?”

  “Yes.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I yelled at the defendant to get off Randi. He threatened me and told me to get out. I said I would scream if he didn’t leave Randi alone.”

  “What happened then?”

  “The defendant started toward me. I backed into the hall and told him again that I would scream. He stopped. Then he pushed past me and ran away.”

  “What did you do after the defendant ran away?”

  “I took Randi to the hospital.”

  “No further questions.”

  “Mr. Armstrong?” the judge said.

  “Miss Roche, was Blaine at the football game?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you and Miss Stark see him there?”

  “Yes. He plays for Oregon.”

  “Did Miss Stark talk to Blaine at the game?”

  “No.”

  “Was he talking to the same boys who told you about the party?”

  “Yes.”

  “You learned that Blaine was going to be at the party, didn’t you?”

  “No.”

  “So, you didn’t know he would be at the party until you saw him there?”

  “Yes.”

  “Randi wanted to go to the party, didn’t she?”

  “Yes.”

  “Randi talked to Blaine and danced with him at the party, didn’t she?”

  “Yes.”

  “So, they were friendly?”

  “I guess.”

  “And she went into the bedroom with Blaine willingly, didn’t she?”

  “I guess.”