“They never made it to court, Mr. Fears,” I said, frowning. “All cases were settled or made to disappear long before they could even reach the court.”
“Yes, but some of the girls must have filed reports,” he said. “Police records must have them. Even if the charges were never proven, the record of the accusations could prove vital.”
“I will look into it,” I said. “But I wouldn’t get my hopes up if I were you.”
“Proving that he has a criminal past,” Gale said, “might be necessary in this case. If we can show that he has done this so many times before, it will strengthen our case. Character statements can be very important.”
“Why don’t we talk to some of the girls? Convince them to speak up and testify at the trial?” I asked.
He looked at me, a small smile on his face.
“That’s not a bad idea at all, Hillary Beck,” he said, standing up and walking towards me. “Maybe having you as my secretary was good luck after all.”
He stopped right in front of me and flashed me a charming smile.
For a second, I felt the pull of his charm and his personality, and my heartbeat increased. I felt the familiar want and need rush through me, and I almost gave in to my desires and kissed him. But then I remembered what he had done, and my feelings vanished, and I turned away.
“I will get to work,” I said before walking back to my table.
Chapter 9
Dirty Secret
Gale Fears
“Right, so I have a list of every girl who has filed a report against Merrick,” Hillary was saying. “The bad news is that the list isn’t very long. A lot of the cases were handled before they could even be filed. By that, I mean that the girls and their families were threatened or bribed into silence. Some of them pushed past the threats and still filed a report, only for the charges to be eventually dropped. No need to guess why. He probably threatened the lives of their loved ones. Either way, there isn’t much to go on.”
“You know what we can do?” Seth said. “We could do a collective case. We can talk to these girls and agree to file the case on their behalf and fight it. Multiple plaintiffs will strengthen the case. Instead of just Avery fighting this case, it could be every girl Merrick has abused. Or every girl who is willing to testify they were abused. It should help in convincing them to testify.”
“It won’t be easy,” Hillary said. “They are all terrified of him. I won’t be surprised if he actually sent his goons to threaten and maybe even rough up the family members to get the girls to drop charges. We need to be mentally prepared that this might not work. We should have another plan ready.”
“Of course,” Seth said, with a scoff. “We are all highly accomplished lawyers. We don’t need a secretary to tell us that.”
“Do you need a secretary to tell you that there’s mustard on your tie?” she asked sweetly, forcing a fake smile on her face. “Or does the accomplished lawyer know that as well?”
He looked down and cursed before quickly wiping the stain off his tie. I got a sudden urge to laugh and managed to disguise it as a cough. Wouldn’t want to ruffle the feathers of one of my best employees, even if he was a bit of an ass.
“Would you like me to do anything else, Mr. Fears?” she asked.
“Nothing, for now, Hillary,” I said. “Later, I would like to discuss the list in detail with you.”
She nodded and got up, shooting Seth a disdainful look, and walked away. I wiped the smile off my face and returned to the meeting at hand.
My phone rang. Stella was calling me. I clenched my hand in anger and picked it up.
“Stella,” I said.
“I hope you are taking me out for a date tonight,” she said. “I am in the mood for some fine dining.”
“I am busy,” I said.
“Busy?” she whispered. “Too busy for your girlfriend? How could this be? I mean, we wouldn’t want everyone finding out about our little secret, now would we?”
I gritted my teeth and said, “I will see you tonight.”
I couldn’t take it anymore. Stella demanded to be taken on dates, and I hated being with her. I hated her company. I hated everything about her that used to attract me. I wanted to tear my hair out every time I was with her. I walked out of the conference room, and the sight in front of me made me even angrier. Jack stood there, next to Hillary, smiling at her. Hillary was blushing, and it seemed as if he was flirting with her.
The jealousy in me thundered and growled as I looked at her. Her eyes turned towards me, and for a minute, we both stared at each other. The carnal urge to take her surged through my body. I wanted her desperately. I craved her. I missed her company, her laugh, her wit. Every time I saw her, I was filled with such attraction and want, and yet, there was nothing I could do. Stella had me by the balls, and there was no way out.
