“Kennedy,” her lawyer said firmly. “This is a serious matter. I was trying to tell you—”
Erica interrupted her. “Wait. You haven’t briefed her?”
“She wouldn’t let me talk.”
Erica shook her head. “Ms. Chambers, you’re in deep shit. I just wanted to give you a heads-up that we will be filing additional charges against you for obstruction of justice and possession of child pornography.”
“The hell are you talking about?” Kennedy yelled.
“The tapes, Ms. Chambers,” Erica said calmly. “You know, the ones hidden under the floorboards in your closet?”
Kennedy’s eyes widened slightly, but she quickly pulled it together. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Erica pulled a piece of paper from her own briefcase and slid it across the table.
“Really? Because this right here is from forensics. Along with Mr. West, they pulled your fingerprints off several of those DVDs.”
“Again, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Her lawyer turned to her. “Kennedy, you need to come clean if you knew about this. Lying on that stand is only going to make matters worse.”
Kennedy’s head jerked in her direction. “You need to do your fucking job. They can’t stick me with this!”
“On the contrary, we can.” I pulled out the thumb drive and my laptop. “You see, Ms. Chambers, when you have knowledge of criminal activity, you are just as guilty as the person committing the crime when you don’t report it. In your case, you knew what Mr. West was doing to your daughter, and you did nothing to stop him.”
I turned my computer around and pressed play. Her jaw visibly clenched as she watched Rodney assaulting her child. I made sure to turn the volume up so she was forced to listen to it.
“Turn it off,” she said angrily.
I didn’t move. As the video kept playing, she had to listen to Alayah plead for him to stop while he praised her for how good she was. On this particular tape he could be heard telling her how much better she felt than Kennedy herself.
“Turn it off,” she screamed.
This time I stopped the tape.
“How many times have you watched this yourself?” I asked. “You didn’t even flinch when you saw the content.”
“Fuck you.”
“Answer my question: How many times have you watched this? What part of this looks like a seventeen-year-old girl seducing a grown-ass man? You can’t sit here and lie like you did at that trial and say she wanted this. She was begging and pleading for him to stop. She didn’t want this at all.”
“Get out.”
Erica touched my arm. “Killian.”
I ignored her. “You let your boyfriend rape your daughter over and over and over again, and you told yourself she asked for it. You told other people she asked for it. Look at her.” I shoved the computer toward her. “Look at what you allowed to happen.”
“You don’t know anything!”
“The proof is right there.” I tapped the screen. “These tapes were found inyourbedroom tucked away beneath a trunk that sat on top of loose floorboards.”
She laughed. “Where is the warrant? You had no right to go through my home. That will never stand up in court.”
It was my turn to laugh. “Here’s the thing about the law, Ms. Chambers. If evidence is turned over voluntarily, I don’t need a warrant. The person who found and turned over these recordings did so of their own free will. They had a conscience.Thatwill stand up in court.”
Her eyes widened as I closed the laptop and placed it back in my briefcase.
“If I can help it, you’re gonna rot in this place—and that’s only if you survive. They aren’t too nice to child abusers here.”
