I hear her breathe raggedly over the line. “I…talked to your father. It was a few months ago.”
A laugh escapes me. “And that’s why he left meeverything. He finally believed me because you told him there were others.”
“I’d heard that there had been a case of a woman making a complaint that had …disappeared. I didn’t know it was you for a long while. Then a source informed me that Sam might know. So, I called him.”
The pieces of the puzzle fall into place.
“He was pretty torn up about not having believed you.”
“Fat lot of good it did me.”
“That’s what I told him.”
That makes me feel better. That someone had been on my side when my own people hadn’t.
“So, Landon has a type. Brunettes with…?”
“High cheekbones. Like yours.” She doesn’t flinch as she says it. “He leans toward green eyes, but in a pinch, he’ll make do. Predators aren’t picky when they’re feeding the compulsion.”
“Make do?” My voice rasps out.
She gives a humorless chuckle. “I know how it sounds. But it’s true. I spoke with a profiler—he thinks if you were the first, that’s when Landon crossed a line. Developed the need to dominate, to force. After that….” She exhales slowly. “He keeps chasing the same high.”
“He’s a serial rapist.” I’ve seen my share ofLaw & OrderandCriminal Minds. I know some of the lingo.
“Yes.”
“Are there people who help cover up for him?”
“Yes. Lawyers obviously who handle the NDAs and give women money to stay quiet.”
Bile rises hot in my throat. And all I can think is that Cade defends him. He protects him, too.
Rage floods through me, bitter as whiskey gone bad. I can’t respect a man who’d defend a monster, no matter how sweet his daughter or how good his kisses.
“The statute of limitations in my case is long past.”
“Yes, but not for the women he’s hurt recently.”
And those he will continue to assault.
“How would we do this?”
“We would meet. Talk. Iwillrecord our conversation. And…put together all the information I have and write an article. I promise you once that releases, only someone complicit in Landon’s behavior won’t believe you.”
Her confidence makes me feel better.
“Where would we meet?”
“I can come to you.”
“No. How about I come down to DC?”
“I’m based out of New York.”
That would work. A big city. Easy to be anonymous.
“Okay. When?”
