Page 115 of Wild Escape

He screamed and flailed about, his eyes swelling shut, burning like fire ant bites.

I rushed and tackled the dirtbag. We crashed to the ground. He was a skinny little runt, and I put all my weight onto him. The knife clattered away, and I ratcheted the cuffs around his wrists and read him his rights.

The smell of capsaicin lingered in the air.

The other deputies converged.

"My eyes! My eyes!" Raj cried as I marched him to a squad car and stuffed him into the back. “I can’t see!”

I hurried to the woman to check on her. "Are you okay?"

Out of breath and hunched on her knees at the trauma, she nodded. "Thank you. I owe you my life."

I shook my head. "You saved yourself."

Paris and her crew closed in. The camera focused on the woman. "You just suffered a traumatic experience. What are your first thoughts?"

The woman looked at Paris like she was crazy. "I'm happy my kid will get to see his mother tonight.”

Jack finally made his way through traffic and pulled to the scene.

I told him the story.

We drove to the station, filled out after-action reports, then interrogated Raj.

Of course, he blamed everything on his co-conspirators and swore up and down that he didn't stab the girl. "She was totally down," he said. "She wanted to go with me and my friends. I dropped her off, and they took her to the warehouse. I had no idea they were going to abuse her like that.”

His story didn't hold water. "Why did you continue to the sorority house after they picked her up?”

"Because dispatch tracks everything I do. I'm telling you, that girl was totally down to party."

"No. She wasn't totally down to party, and you know it."

"Hey, she was alive when I left her with Keith and Sheldon."

I gave him a doubtful look.

I don't know how Raj thought he was going to worm his way out of this one, but it wasn't going to work. He wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was smart enough to ask for a lawyer.

That was the end of the interview.

We left the interrogation room and chatted with Daniels in the hallway. I was reasonably certain all of them were going away for a long time.

JD and I felt accomplished, but we had one more loose end to tie up.

58

"Are you ready to rock 'n' roll?" JD shouted to the crowd at Vibe as he strutted onto the stage.

We’d put the events of the day behind us, took the afternoon to recharge, and were ready to put on a hell of a show for the fans.

The crowd howled with excitement, and Styxx clicked off the beat. Wild Fury broke into one of their new songs, Rattlesnake Heart.

The band pummeled the audience with retro rock goodness at earsplitting volume. The place was packed. We really missed Sonic Temple, but Vibe would have to do until the Temple got rebuilt.

Erica from the frat party showed up with a friend. I had put her on the guest list. With a grin, she said, "I heard you told Lauren about Lance and Rachel."

"I may have let certain information become public," I replied.