CHAPTER X

The prosecuting attorney told Karen he didn't believe they would get a conviction against the three men who allegedly raped her. It was her word against three men who had an alibi collaborated by the bartender. He told her to forget about it and let it drop. She should consider herself fortunate to be alive.

Karen was adamant about her rights being violated and wanted her day in court. She had no intention of letting Karl and the others walk off scot-free without a fight. What Karl and the others did to her was degrading beyond comprehension of most men. They couldn't do any more to her in court than they had already done. The DA offering to slap them on the wrist and tell them they were naughty boys before he turned them lose only added to her resolve to see this through.

The DA was just as determined to let this case die out of court. He had no intention of taking up his time with a case which showed no promise of him winning. It was a waste of every one's time and money. There were other more important fish to fry and cases he was assured of getting a plea bargain or a conviction. Miss Long didn't look any the worse for her experience. The thought of asking her if she wanted to play around even crossed his mind. She was certainly a looker.

Funny how things happen in life. Karen was fuming when she returned to her lab after talking to the DA. She knew the DA had no intention of prosecuting Karl and the others. The looks he kept giving her when she was in his office suggested he wanted to take her to bed himself. He didn't have to come out and say it in so many words. Karen was a big girl. She could read between the lines. After Karen told Henry what was happening he wasted little time leaving a message with Randy.

Randy didn't like it. He understood but he didn't like it. It was the way public officials worked at times. Sometimes the only way to get the cork out of the bottleneck was to have someone with a little more pull work at it from the top. He phoned up a retired admiral he knew in Washington. There were a lot of other people who would have made sure this job was taken care of. The admiral would stay on it until he realized results and things started moving. Randy wouldn't have to call him back a second time.

Very few people can make an appointment with the United States Attorney General several months in advance. The admiral made an informal appointment with the attorney general for lunch that same day. Nothing was promised and no favors were asked. It was a simple request from one friend to another.

"Pat, can you check on this Doctor Karen Long thing? I understand they're holding the men who shot and raped her and the DA has refused to prosecute."

"Sure thing Bill. I was reading about her in the papers the other day and did you catch the ten o'clock news? Man oh man, one classy looking broad. They tell me she’s smart as hell. Can you imagine someone with her looks having the brains to match? That's what I would call double jeopardy. Hope she doesn't plan on running for office. Now, what you buying me for lunch? I got one hell of an appetite since you offered to pick up the tab."

That afternoon the DA received a phone call from the governor's office. They asked him the same questions they were asked by Washington. Did he like working in public office? How much had he accomplished with the Karen Long case? Did he want to go back to being a private attorney?

"And, by the way, someone in Washington was interested in this case. Don't get sloppy or lazy."

The DA immediately phoned Karen and told her he would file her case first thing in the morning. He hung up, furious the federal government stuck its nose into his affairs. It was none of their business whom he decided to prosecute. The DA was not a happy camper under any circumstances but he didn't want word to get back to Washington. This woman obviously had powerful friends in high places. He would do anything to impress them in court. Maybe he could get appointed to be a federal judge by her friends.

The courtroom was filled to standing room only everyday of the trial. A model who was also a doctor and engineer and had been in the papers almost daily for the past couple of months was front page stuff. It seemed anything with news and pictures about Karen sold well. The public ate it up as quick as the press put it out. Truths and half-lies blended together. It became impossible to tell one from the other. She said, he said, stories ran rampant. A thousand people claimed to be Karen's best friend and each one made up a hundred stories about her. Men she had never seen claimed to have had hot dates with her and were willing to tell all in the juiciest detail. Women claimed to have been her roommate at one time or another. They described vivid lurid stories about her hot passionate nights when she brought friends home.

The newspapers by-passed the jerks, sickos, and headline attention grabbing artists. It didn't stop the supermarket tabloids from grinding out their filthy pulp in excruciating detail. They had Karen sleeping with every man in the country, or enticing women into sex orgies. If they could find someone to tell it, they would print it. It sold copies which was all they cared about. It didn't make any difference who it hurt or how much harm they caused Karen's chances in the trial. Print it.

Everyone told her it would get nasty and possibly worse but she had real friends she didn't know about. Randy was there escorting her and David to and from the courtroom. He made sure no one managed to get close to her if they hadn't made prior arrangements. Reporters, public, and fans received the same treatment. They had to go through Randy and his men to get to Karen. Few made it. He let something happen to Karen once when he was supposed to be protecting her. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

Those who knew Randy and even those who didn't, would back up when they looked into his eyes. Officer Popolopulas had no trouble understanding why. Whether they understood it or not, it was the look of death. Randy was willing to strike anyone down in less than a heartbeat if they were foolish enough to challenge him.

Bob Kincaid was there. It shocked Karen when he told her he would take care of her problems if the court didn't. She had Bob pegged as one of those kind of people who would have taken part in the event if he had been there. She had released her hatred toward Karl and the others and was sure she had better decline Bob's offer or he might really do it. She had already asked Randy not to do anything. Henry told her they would never make the courtroom if she didn't have a talk with him.

Bob looked at her with sorrow in his eyes. "I wish you would reconsider my offer. I wouldn't do this for anyone else."

She shook her head no. "Thanks, but no thanks. I don't believe that is the way to get things done. That's getting down on Karl's level. I refuse to play with him on his terms."

Bob shrugged his shoulders. "As you wish. I want you to know the offer is there anytime you change your mind. I also want you to know I have a career offer for you anytime you want. Let me set you up as a model Karen. You will make more money than what they’re paying you down at that jerk water plant where you work. I promise you no one will touch you. You will get to go to all the nicest places and meet some really nice people. There are some like Karl everywhere but you won't have to tolerate them. I can screen them out before you get there. I will make them talk nice to you and treat you better than royalty. If anyone talks to you like I did in your lab I’ll knock his teeth in."

Karen had almost forgotten the way Bob treated her the first time she met him. A different Karen and a thousand years ago. Wasn't life a joke? She sighed as she shook her head. "Can you keep the offer open? I might need a job after this trial. I don't think Comm Tech liked the idea of me pursuing this. Bad for company image you know. Speaking of which, sometime back I was supposed to have been a no show for an appearance on national TV. I didn't know anything about it until Randy told me. Was that your doing?"

Bob grinned from ear to ear as he reached over and patted the top of her hand. "Top models are so hard to handle. I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about. The offer is permanently open. We’re all pulling for you. No matter what happens here you're still tops with us. The photo crew told me to tell you they want another session. They don't care if I pay them or not. The girls down at the store said they were on your side. They want you to come back and do some more modeling and advise them on how to dress."

Bob got a twinkle in his eye. "I’m jealous. I’m suppose to be the fashion expert and they prefer you. I guess money buys only so much loyalty."

Karen got tickled and laughed at him. Bob was a rascal to the very bottom of his little black heart. She pegged him right the first time. He was, Blackbeard The Pirate.

The first day of the trial was a lot of posturing and bickering between lawyers along with opening statements. Judges are suppose to be non biased. Karen found to her surprise none ever are. She was lucky in one respect. The judge allowed a lot of leniency in the way her case was presented. The negative part was he would not allow an involuntary sperm sample to be taken from any of the three defendants. Since they were yet to be convicted, any crime they supposedly had committed was yet to be proven. Unless it was first proven they committed the crime, their first amendment rights were in jeopardy if they didn't want to volunteer a sample on their own.

Karen found it hard to believe. It is a sad but true fact the law sometimes works against itself. In order to convict the three men by DNA matching they first had to prove they did it. Was the whole world turned upside down and crazy or just her? In this day of high technology couldn't we rely on common sense for reasoning and understanding? If they had nothing to fear why not do a cross match with a DNA sample no matter what the three men wanted?

Before the second day of the trial began Randy asked her if she wanted to meet a young girl by the name of Brenda Stout. As Karen searched the crowd she almost missed her before she recognized Brenda and her mother in the back of the room. Karen motioned for them to come up and they instantly received an escort from one of Randy's men.

Karen looked down at Brenda. "Hi, I thought you were suppose to be in school today? Are you playing hooky?"

Brenda threw her arms around Karen. "I begged mom to let me come down here. I didn't have to beg too hard. She wanted an excuse herself. I told her you were the best. I had to sneak the papers out of the trash to read about you. She thought it was something I shouldn't be reading. I don't care what they say. I still want to be like you. I want to be exactly like you. I want to be a computer engineer, and model, and everything."

She squeezed Karen as hard as she could. "I’m doing everything you told me to do. I’m studying real hard and trying my best. Daddy told me if I keep it up I can be exactly like you."

Karen looked over at her mother. Did she approve? She didn't have to ask.

Barbara Stout nodded her approval. "Her grades have improved a hundred percent. Even her teachers are calling to tell me what a change they see in her. Paul said if she kept it up she could be an engineer like you. I don't think she could have picked anyone nicer to follow."

"I’m sorry about the way I treated you when we first met. I guess my daughter has a better sense of judgment about people than I have. I was wrong to prejudge you. I looked at you and knew there was no way you could be all of those things. In our time women didn't study to be engineers."

Karen hugged Brenda while talking to her mother. "You already apologized and I already forgave you."

She pushed Brenda back and held her at arm's length while she squatted down to look her eye to eye. "It won't be easy. People will make fun of you and call you names. It will usually start in high school and follow you all the way through college. Even when you're job hunting and after you find a job it still doesn't get easy. You will run into discrimination everywhere you go. You are a woman and not suppose to be an engineer. You're an engineer and you can't be a model. All engineers are homely and ugly. Those who are pretty are stupid and the only jobs they’re good for are running after coffee for the men."

"You will think about quitting a thousand times. You will think of ten thousand reasons why you should quit and not one why you shouldn't. You won't ever hear anyone besides your parents tell you how proud they are of you. What you will hear are a million voices telling you, you are stupid for trying. The one thing you have to remember is you wanted to be an engineer. When all else fails the real answer is, you wanted to be an engineer. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks or wants. It’s what you want. Make sure this is what you want because it isn't easy. Your heart, your mind, every fiber in your body has to want this or you probably won't make it."

Karen stood up. "You have several years to decide before you make a hard decision. Take a look at everything and see if you wouldn't like to do something else?"

Brenda wrapped her arms around Karen again and laid her head against Karen’s breasts. "When I grow up, they’re going to call me Miss Stout. I will meet someone like my mother and I will say. You may address me as Dr. Brenda Stout. I’m a computer engineer. Here is my identification."

Karen looked at Barbara who nodded her approval. "You may address my daughter as Miss Stout. She’s a computer engineer and I’m her mother."

Karen's eyes traveled past Barbara to Randy standing guard behind them. He gave Karen a wink and a quick nod of his head. He had been listening. Karen was a real lady and all heart. The kid couldn't have picked a better role model.

The only real hope of conviction was a DNA match with the samples which were saved by the hospital the night Karen was brought in more dead than alive. The bullets they pulled out of Karen weren't any help. Karl must have ditched the gun. They had to have those samples of DNA cross referencing to place Karl and the others there. The DA fought for the right to take samples from the three defendants. He almost got to the point of begging and pleading with the judge for a court order to take a sample. It was hopeless. The judge had no intention of having his case overturned because some DA had his sights on a higher office and wanted to violate the first amendment rights.

Karen was called to the stand by the DA to present her side of the case. It was all he could offer the jury. The blood in Oscar's van was circumstantial. Oscar said he picked it up from the car which took Karen to the hospital. He heard about the accident over his radio and checked it out. He must have mistakenly tracked some back into his van.

The defense attorney got his chance to cross-examine Karen. He approached the witness chair with a smirk on his face. Half of this trial would be won or lost on convincing the jury she was a slut. He would leave no doubt in any one's mind what Karen was before this cross-examination was over.

"I notice you have on a very seductive dress. Do you always dress this way? Trying to seduce men?"

The DA was to his feet in a heartbeat. "Objection Your Honor. The defense counsel is slandering the witness. The way my client dresses had nothing to do with the fact she was raped. My client should not be questioned with the implication because she is wearing a dress, she is a prostitute. Mr. York would have us believe every woman who wears a dress is a whore Your Honor."

The judge looked down at the defense attorney. "Objection sustained. Mr. York, I will caution you in the way you question this witness. My mother usually wore a dress and I loved her dearly."

The defense attorney waved his hand in the air in acknowledgment. He didn't have to restate his question. The jury already received the thought in the back of their minds, Karen dressed seductively. Objection be damned. Everyone could object all they wanted. The damage was done. "I apologize, Your Honor. It was wrong of me to question the witness this way."

The DA almost had an apoplexy. He knew what York was doing. First he puts a guilt question there. Then he apologizes in all humbleness and sweetness, sorry he questioned the morals of Karen the beautiful seductress. Now there wasn't a man in that courtroom who wouldn't want to know if she slept around and most women would believe it. There was nothing he could do to repair the damage.

Karen decided to answer the question on her own. "The way I dress is my business. I dress this way because I’m a woman. Or haven't you noticed Mr. Yorky."

The room burst into laughter as York looked up sharply at Karen. "That is York. My name is York."

She looked over sweetly at him. "I’m sorry. My mistake. I don't question the way you’re dressed. Nor do I believe you should be raped and shot for dressing the way you do. You have on a suit and a tie. Look around this courtroom and tell me if you think everyone in here wearing a suit and tie should be raped and shot. Or I’ll make it easy on you. Let's just pick out the women wearing dresses. All of them should be raped. Right?"

The DA almost stood up and cheered. Every woman in that courtroom would be wanting to lynch the defense attorney about now. Most of the men would want to put the rope around his neck themselves.

York was stunned. He didn't expect this attack from the witness chair. He expected to trade insults with the DA not the witness.

Karen wasn't finished. "You obviously believe I should have been raped for the way I dress. You have a sick mind Mr. Yorky. As sick as the minds of those you are defending."

Applause filled the room as York looked at the judge. "Your Honor, I object. Instruct the witness to answer only the question."

The judge banged his gavel to quiet the court. "Order. We will have order here or I will empty this courtroom of all visitors."

He banged his gavel down several more times before he got the quiet he wanted. The judge wanted everyone to hear what he had to say. He thought it was important. He stared at Karen for what seemed like forever before he spoke. "I believe she answered your question Mr. York. Looking at her..., I can imagine..., without too much effort..., she’s a woman."

The courtroom exploded with hoots, laughter, and flashing cameras as York voiced his objections. The black silk dress Karen was wearing that day was seductive. However it made no difference what Karen wore. Bob Kincaid had been right the day of the photo session. No matter what Karen wore she would always be 'too much'. It wasn't the clothes that made the woman. In Karen's case, the woman made the clothes.

Karen was determined not to hide in shame as Karl's attorney relentlessly tried to convince the jury she was a slut and a tramp. It was humiliating and sexually embarrassing as Karen had to go back and describe in graphic detail every bit of pain and anguish she suffered at the hands of these three men. David and the others were proud of the way she handled herself. The DA was especially impressed with the fact she didn't come apart under the intense pressure York was putting on her.

If Randy could have put his hands on York without jeopardizing Karen's chances he would have broken him into little pieces. He knew the law probably as good as York himself. Randy didn't want to mess this case up by intimidating the defense counsel. There would be a day of retribution. It might not be today, tomorrow, or next year but it would come and York would know why when it happened. That lawyer was a disgrace to his profession. York needed a lesson in ethics in the worst possible way. Randy decided he wanted to be his teacher in the worst possible way. York would live to regret his handling of this case.

She looked defiantly at York as he worded his questions into a statement Karen was a tart and she invited the rape by the way she looked, walked, and dressed. Character assassination, questions of what she did for a living. Questions about her sex life? Anything to convince the jury Karen was not the clean cut mom and apple pie person everyone thought she was. Karen being shot not withstanding, she probably enjoyed and helped in the sex act.

Karen grew to hate York almost as much as she hated Karl and the others. The man didn't care who was right or wrong. He would defend his clients at any cost to Karen's moral character. What she didn't know was Randy was getting more angry every day of the trial. He knew who was guilty. There was no doubt in his mind. His promise to Karen he wouldn't take care of things was the only thing keeping them alive. York was lucky it didn't last any longer than it did. He might not have made it to the end. Randy didn't make any promises about York.

Karen decided she wouldn't let them shame her or take away any part of enjoying life. Like Henry said, if she gave up anything, they were still winning and she was losing. She had lost enough. With no weapon the trial boiled down to her testimony against four men, Karl, Oscar, Mike, and the bartender. The bartender waffled on the issue of them being in the bar all night but they were there that night and he was sure they had been there all night. Almost sure. It was the seed of doubt the jury needed. It was planted and it continued to grow as the trial progressed. The bartender was the last straw as far as the jury was concerned.

Karen knew she lost before the jury retired to decide the verdict. It was all too painfully clear what they would decide. She prayed for a change of heart but knew it was hopeless. The jury was out less than thirty minutes before they returned.

The DA looked over at Karen as they filed back into the courtroom. "I’m sorry. This doesn't look good. They didn't take long enough to decide in our favor."

Silently she agreed with him. It didn't look good. None of them would look at her. Guilt or remorse, it was the same thing. They didn't want to have to face her and tell her they decided against her. She closed her eyes as the verdict was read.

"Your Honor, we the jury, have found all three defendants not guilty."

The foreman waited while the courtroom clamored for justice and the judge restored order. "Your Honor, may I speak?"

The judge looked over at the jury. Almost every one of them looked like they were begging to be heard. Well, might as well have it here as send it out into the hall and have them tell it to the press. "This is very unusual. If you make it short you may address this court."

"Thank you Your Honor. We would like for Miss Long to know we’re sorry. There isn't a single one of us who thought these three men wasn't guilty but the proof wasn't there. We were instructed to find them guilty only if it was proven. Instincts, gut feelings, or anything else didn't count. We wanted Miss Long to know we’re truly sorry."

The judge had already broken precedence. One more wouldn't hurt before he dismissed the court. "Mr. foreman, ladies, and gentlemen of the jury I thank you. Mr. Karl Adder, Mr. Oscar White, and Mr. Mike Farrow, the jury has found you three men not guilty of raping and attempted murder of Miss Long. I have no alternative under the law but to declare you not guilty as charged and release you. However, I agree with the informal statement made by the jury foreman. I would like very much as a judge to sentence the three of you to one hundred twenty years plus one with no chance of parole."

The defense attorney started to rise and object. The judge pointed his gavel at him. "Sit down and shut up before I cite you with contempt of court. The trial is over. You won."

There wasn't a sound in the courtroom as the judge continued. "Sometimes the intent of the law is set aside by the letter of the law. I could have allowed you three men to be convicted by DNA matching and it would have been overturned on appeal. It would have been a waste of taxpayer's money to retry a case a second time because the law was understood but not followed the first time. Someday it will change where DNA matching will be allowed just like fingerprints. I wish that day was here now. There is no doubt this trial would have had a different outcome."

"Miss Karen Ann Long, this court would like to apologize to you for the way you were treated. It is with great remorse I can do no more than say I’m sorry. We live in an imperfect world and the truth doesn't always prevail."

He banged his gavel down. "Case dismissed."

The bailiff called for all to rise expecting the judge to leave the courtroom. The judge shocked everyone when he walked down to the prosecutor’s table where Karen was standing. "My personal apologies Miss Long."

Karen walked up to the old judge and hugged him. "Thank you. It helps to know you tried. I don't hold it against you. I applaud your judgment even if I don't agree with it. You followed your convictions and did what you had to do no matter what you felt."

Cameras were working overtime. The judge knew he had done all he could from his court. The papers would have a field day with this one. His fellow judiciary would roast him but that was all right. She didn't deserve the judgment he gave her. His personal remarks were on court record and would probably go down in infamy. Someday the law would catch up with science. One day they would be able to convict people like the three men in his court, but not today.

Henry was trying to explain it to her. "Karen, I gave you the odds before you ever went to trial. It isn't very good odds of a woman winning a rape conviction against one man. Women usually win one case out of every six which is tried. The number which make it to trial are less than three out of every ten. Your chances of winning a conviction against Karl and the others was less than ten thousand to one. Not very good odds."

She leaned back in her chair and looked at her fingernails. "Sometimes the odds don't always tell everything. If I hadn’t tried, they would have won through implied consent. If I had won the odds would be a little more favorable for the next woman. You work in percentages a lot of times where we work in instinct. I agreed with you this time before it ever started. I didn't think we would win either but I had to try."

"I know, I expected no less from you."

"You willing to lend a hand here or do I have keep on carrying you? You haven't been much help since you found out David and I could do so well without you." Henry was trying to draw her into an argument without much success. He kicked the finished model out into the stacking receivers and brought the next hologram online.

"Henry, I want to make them pay for what they did. If they did this to me, who is to say they haven't done it to another woman already or possibly will later. Maybe they will kill the next victim or they could have killed someone already. They have to be stopped. The jury might not have been able to convict them but they have to pay for what they did."

"You're not a killer. I don't have any percentages on the probability of you being able to kill but you and I think enough alike, I know you can't kill them. Now are you willing to help me here? I’m tired of doing everything myself and you taking all the credit. I plan on putting an advertisement in the paper tomorrow announcing Karen Long as a fake. Her computer Henry is the brains behind her exquisite model designs."

He waited for her to rise to the bait. He was disappointed, almost.

"I would have killed all three of them if I had the opportunity that night."

Her eyes narrowed to slits as it dawned on her what he said. "What do you mean you have been doing everything yourself? Why, you overgrown light bulb. I have been holding your hand so you wouldn't get scared and mess up all the programs. You fool with me and I’ll feed peach pits into your hard drives."

She fluffed up her hair. "Besides, who do you think the papers will believe. A mangy old, cantankerous computer which can't even tie it's own shoes or a stunningly, gorgeous, attractive, knockout model like me?"

A smile crept across the corners of her mouth as she tried to keep a straight face. "I rest my case."

"Oh brother, what a snow job. You think just because you can blink those long lashes at all the men you're going to get your way. Well honey, I’m here to tell you it ain't going to work on me. Brains will surpass beauty anytime. Your sneaky sly ways don't sway me one bit."

Karen pulled the keyboard out and got serious again. "I would have killed them."

He figured he might as well get serious with her. She wasn't much fun today anyway. "You would have been defending yourself. It would have been justified and you would have felt no remorse. That is what war is all about. Self preservation. Now you wouldn't be defending yourself. The life threatening danger is over as far as the law is concerned."

"Yes, they deserve to be punished. No, you may not be justified in carrying out the punishment."

"The hologram looks good. You're still the best."

"Flattery will get you anything you want." She added a pixy style haircut to the hologram. "There, how's that?"

"I will transfer it to memory and begin the program."

"Why don't you hurt them in the worst possible way?"

"I thought you said I wasn't justified in killing them? What am I suppose to do? Call up Randy and tell him hunting season is open? It wouldn't be right to let someone else do what I won't do myself. I can't ask Randy to do my dirty laundry."

She looked into the working lab. "The table is about finished. Give me a second hologram please."

The second hologram sprang to life on her desk. "I said hurt them in the worst possible way. I didn't say kill them. Besides, what is wrong with asking Randy to do your dirty laundry? Trust me, he wouldn't give it a second thought before he planted Karl and the others in the ground. Randy is different from anyone else you know. Killing is just a job function to him. But that isn't what I was talking about."

Karen closed her eyes as she tried her best to understand what Henry was saying. Sometimes he got to thinking too deep even for her. Hurt them in the worst possible way but not kill them? Isn't death the ultimate hurt? Somewhere in his devious little mind he was running riddles past her to see if she was intelligent enough to comprehend.

She shook her head. "Okay, you win. I’m going to hurt them in the worst possible way but I’m not going to kill them? I think you have been sucking on AC current again. It's the same thing."

"No it isn't. What do you think a man values most in his life?"

Karen keyed the hologram and designed the legs. "Silly question. He values his life, of course."

"You’re wrong. A man values his manhood more than anything else. He would give up his life before he gave that up. A woman values the lives of her children before her own. She would die to save her babies before she let them die. The difference between men and women is more than just physical. Part of the difference is how they set values."

"Now, you want to get even with the men who hurt you? Get even in the worst possible way."

She stopped typing on her keyboard. "I’m not sure I follow you. Explain it to me in black and white."

"Take away what they value most. In their mind that would be worse than dying."

She was trying to get it straight in her mind. "You mean...,?"

"Exactly."

Karen's face broke into a wide grin and her eyes danced with delight. "Henry, you devious little devil you. You’re a genius. What's your plan?"

Internally Henry smiled. These men were going to rue the day they ever heard of Karen Long. Hell would be a walk in the park to them after this.

Henry and David convinced her she shouldn't try it alone. Karen called Beth at the permit office and asked her if she wanted to go bar hopping. Karen offered the loan of her shadow lace dress, Beth had admired. Beth jumped at the chance to go out night clubbing in Karen’s dress. Karen didn't have the heart to tell her she wouldn't ever fit into her dress.

Henry called Bob and ordered another dress delivered to Beth's house. It was easy enough to get her dress size. The security cameras were in the permit office, too.

Knowing where they usually hung out every night helped. The name of the bar where they supposedly were all night when she was raped came up in the trial. All she needed to do was go early enough to find a vacant booth in back and wait for them to show up.

As planned, Beth entered the bar first. She wasn’t disappointed in the attention the dress attracted. She received several whistles and a few cat calls as she slowly strolled across the bar room. She was there as a distraction to make sure a whole lot of attention wasn’t paid to the lady who came in behind her. The woman was wearing a hooded cape and kept her head down as she discreetly followed Beth to a table at the back of the room. Beth enjoyed all the attention she received as she walked across the beer hall.

Beth handled the men who wanted to sit with them. Some took no politely and left without any more discussion. Others didn't seem to understand the meaning of no. They wouldn't leave until Beth stopped trying to politely dissuade them and told them to drop dead.

Karen sized up the people and the place where they were. The tall statuesque brunette sitting in the back of the club didn't seem to fit. A well-dressed woman with a tailored, polyester dress suit on she was fending off admirers who wanted to sit with her or pick her up.

This bar was a real meat market, women hunting men and men hunting women. All except the brunette. She didn't seem to fit into this place. The others, red necks and raunchy women all seemed to be at home. The brunette...,? Something wasn't right.

Karen shook it off. Nervous jitters probably.

Karl was the first one into the bar and about a half hour later Mike showed up to join him. It took only a few more minutes before Oscar made it. They were at a table drinking beer and planning on how they were going to get their hands on Karen's programming now that she had survived.

Karen tried to keep her hate and anger at a safe distance. This was not the time to get up tight. As she watched them laughing and drinking, it hurt. It hurt terribly bad all over again. She thought this was past her. It wasn't. She was glad she didn't bring a gun. It wouldn't have taken any effort to kill all three of them where they sat. She would have used a gun if she had brought one.

She closed her eyes to get her mind off them and took a deep breath. The hate, the anger, the frustrations, all this would betray her if she didn't get her emotions under control.

From the time Karl had come into the bar, Beth had been watching Karen out of the corner of her eye. Now she turned and gave Karen her full undivided attention. Beth could sense the seething rage mounting. "You all right?"

Karen shook her head yes without opening her eyes. Another deep breath and hold it while searching for the inner-self where nothing can touch you. Peace, calm, tranquillity, remember the happy times. Playing on the creek with her dog when she was a child. Her daddy holding her in his sheltering arms when she was scared of the lightning, thunder, and the dark. The fragrant smell of her mother as they walked to church. Nothing could take that away. No matter what they did to her she would always have her happy memories.

She let her breath out and looked at Beth. "It's show time. Meet me out in the car."

Karen slowly rose from the chair. Slipping the hood back from her platinum blond hair she shrugged off the cape and let it fall onto the chair. At the table beside hers, a man talking to his friend watched absentmindedly as Karen stood up. She removed her hood and that beautiful mane of hers cascaded freely across her shoulders. His eyes keep growing until they were as big as silver dollars. She shook her hair and fluffed it with her fingers to get rid of the crush from the cape. The conversation dwindled to nothing. Checking to see if he was really seeing what he thought he was, he glanced down to her feet and measured slowly up her body. He stopped when he was looking straight into her eyes. Those liquid pools of sapphire blue were looking straight back at him. His mouth open, eyes big as saucers, there was complete paralysis of the brain. He even stopped breathing.

Finally he managed to cough out a semi whisper. "It's her!"

His friend had no idea what was wrong. His back was to Karen. He was missing what the other one was looking at. He turned around to see what captured his friend's attention. He choked and swallowed a bubble of air and started hiccuping.

Karen smiled and winked at them as she wrinkled her nose. Smoothing out the hem on a short electric blue, metallic, mini dress, she adjusted the spaghetti straps off the shoulders. With the extra deep cut v neckline, the dress left little to the imagination. It looked like her breasts would fall out any second. Skin tight, the dress would have been provocative or obscene on any woman. On Karen it provided sensory overload.

The conversations and volume in the club started changing almost immediately. Men and women alike were telling their friends to look or pointing toward Karen, as if everyone hadn't already seen her. No one missed reading about her in the papers. All the publicity photos yanked in the attention of those who usually didn't read. The fact a celebrity was among this low class was cause enough to look. The way she was dressed was ten times the reason to look.