“I mean, we need to figure out a way to get this General Kittredge to call off the contract. If he’s even the one who set it in the first place.” His voice was grim.
“Who else would it be?” I allowed the book to fall to the floor, resigned.
“Just saying we need to keep our minds open to all possibilities.”
“OK, assume it is Kittredge. What can we do? He’s a fucking general for chrissake.”
He stroked the scruff on his chin, his eyes distant. “It won’t be easy, that’s for certain.”
A few minutes passed. “Something that bothers me,” he finally said, “is how quickly and easily he covered up your attack. Almost as if—”
“It wasn’t the first time?”
“Aye, you’re a smart one.” We shared a grin.
“From a psychological standpoint, it’s almost a guarantee that this was not his first time.” I picked at my sleeve. “He…it was all so easy for him,” I finally said. “It was as if he thought of everything. Where to stand. The time—no one was ever on the trail that time of day other than me. How to get the upper hand. He even had a condom with him.” Closing my eyes, I pressed the heels of my hands into them. “Thank God for that, at least.”
Brodie stood and began to pace, tension evident in the curl of his fists. “What if we could find other women?”
I sat up on the couch. “Do you think it’s possible? The lengths they went to cover it up…”
“It’s worth the shot. You have the recording. That, combined with testimony, could be the tipping point we need.”
I hadn’t thought about the recording recently. I needed to use it. I wanted to use it. I wanted both of those mother fuckers to go down for what they’d done to me, for how they thought they could manipulate my life the way they had. I looked up at Brodie. “Yes.”
“Let me listen to it.”
“The recording? It’s on my phone.”
He hesitated. “Shite. I’ll have to put the SIM card back in, which is risky.”
“It would only be a minute or two…” Surely no one would catch our location in that tiny a window of time?
After a moment he pressed his lips together and gave a brusque nod of his head. “Let’s have a listen.”
He collected my phone and the SIM from its hiding place in the pantry and sat down beside me on the couch as he reinserted the tiny piece of technology. We powered the phone up, and then I navigated to my saved recordings. A second later, the general’s oily, arrogant voice filled the room.
Brodie listened intently once, then again, before removing the SIM. “That was really fecking stupid. Even more so than I realized after reading about it.”
My face grew hot. “I don’t think you understand—”
“Aye, I understand plenty. You had to. It was stupid, but it was also very brave. He tiptoed around things, but I think there’s enough here to be helpful. I’ll message Twig.” He stood, then paused on his way to retrieve his laptop. “She’s going to want to know why.”
A sigh escaped me. “I haven’t told Shiloh yet.”
His eyes, when I looked at him, were sympathetic yet firm. “It’s time to stop hiding,macushla.”
“I’ll think about it.”I turned my attention back to my book. I’d think about it later.
He didn’t give me much time to think about it. After supper that evening, he handed me a phone and tossed my journal in my lap. “I’ve asked Twig to start with your friend Michael’s death. I’m not expecting to get very far, but I’d like to know if there was anything at all suspect or if they just took it at face value.”
I nodded warily. “That sounds good.”
“I’ve also asked her to look into any reported or suspected sexual assaults in a twenty-five mile radius.”
“Damnit, Brodie—”
He pointed to the phone in my lap. “Talk to your friend, Em.”
