Page 139

Tell me about the accident."

"There's nothing to tell. They went sailing, a

storm came, and they got caught in it."

"They had no warning?"

"They were out there too long. He was

probably. . ."

"Probably what?" He didn't answer. "Cary?" "Probably trying to do to her what Adam

Jackson tried to do to you tonight. She resisted and he kept her out there and they got caught in the stoi in. He's responsible for what happened. He's lucky he died too, otherwise, I would have killed him with my bare hands. In fact I wish he hadn't died. I wish I

could have been the one to kill him."

I was quiet for a moment. His shoulders,

hunched up with rage, relaxed a bit.

"Don't you think that if Robert Royce were that

sort of a boy, Laura wouldn't have continued seeing

him, Cary?" I asked softly. "I certainly don't want to

be alone with Adam Jackson again."

He didn't reply for a while. Then he sighed,

lowered his head and shook it. "She was confused, is

all. She was in a rush to have a boyfriend."

"Why?"

"Because of those. . . busybodies in school

always teasing her about not having one, saying nasty

things to her about . . ."

"About what?" I held my breath.

"About us. They spread dirty stories about us

and she thought it was because she didn't have a

boyfriend. So you see, she didn't really like Robert

that much. She was just trying to please everyone and

get them to stop. She thought it was bothering me and

she blamed herself."

"That's terrible," I said. He nodded. "Why did