Chapter 6
Wicked Games
Hillary Beck
“Thank you all for coming,” Gale said, looking around the conference room. “Is anyone else joining us?”
“No, Mr. Gale,” I said. It was disappointing. I could see it in his eyes. We had been expecting a much higher turnout. Even some of the girls who had agreed to come when we’d phoned them earlier had failed to show up. I looked at the small group sitting in front of me and sighed. We would have to convince every one of them to testify if we were to have any hope of winning the case.
Mr. and Mrs. Avery sat at one end of the room, looking even more exhausted than they had before.
“You know why you all are here,” Gale said, his voice soft. “I would like to start this meeting by saying that every one of you is brave. Every one of you is a fighter. There is no judgment here today. If, after hearing me, you still want no part in this, no one will blame you. You have all dealt with enough, and I want to apologize for whatever happened to you. It was cruel and unjust. I have no words, and I can’t even imagine how difficult this will be for you. If, in the end, you decide to go your own way, know that you are still brave and you are still a fighter.”
Gale looked at me, and I gave a small nod, my own eyes tearing up. It almost felt as if he was speaking to me.
“Maverick has used his power and wealth for too long. For years he has been taking advantage of girls, abusing them, and then using his influence to escape the consequences. Now, he has gone too far. He has started murdering, and he has killed their daughter.” Gale pointed towards the Averys, and Mrs. Avery burst into tears. “If no one stands up to this man, he will never meet justice. I won’t lie to you. There is little hope. He is rich and powerful. The investigation that was conducted was shoddy. We don’t have much evidence either. In short, there is little hope. But thereissome hope. And it’s all of you. If you all agree to testify and give evidence for what he did to you, we stand a chance. Which is why we called you here. To ask you to help us.”
“And then what?” a voice said. I whipped my head around and saw Katie sitting there. She was one of the victims, and when she hadn’t shown up, I’d thought she wasn't coming.
I hadn’t even realized when she had come into the waiting room. “I go in that court, and I say that Maverick abused me. That I was chaste, and I refused to have sex, and we broke up. Then he came back to me, crying for forgiveness…then got me drunk and took advantage of me. I go in front of all those people, and I say all that shit, and then what? They call me a slut! That I deserved what happened because I got drunk. That I was asking for it. Maverick wins, and the trauma and past that was buried are out again. The newspapers and the reporters return to drink whatever little of your blood is left. Don’t you think we have gone through enough of that? Do you think we want to go through it again?”
“I told you that if we don’t stop him, he will keep doing this to other girls,” I said, interfering even though I knew I wasn’t supposed to speak. “Because there will be more girls like Nina Avery. You all know what it’s like to suffer and be abused like this. That girl was just eighteen! She had just started living, and it was stripped away from her by Dean Maverick! Think of her, lying there and suffering, wondering if she would ever see her parents again. Remember what you all felt. Think of all the girls you will be saving if you win this!”
“But we won’t,” a girl I recognized as Laura said. She was kidnapped and tortured by Dean for weeks before she managed to escape. Her face and body were permanently scarred. “The judge is in their pockets. The reporters are in their pockets. We won’t win this. All those girls will suffer anyway, and we will be dragged through the dirt again. A lot of us have been through a lot already, and we are just starting to recover.
Let us be in peace. Don’t dig these graves again.”
“Please,” a voice whispered. Kimmy Avery looked up, tears trickling from her eyes. “For my daughter, help us. Please. I can’t sleep at night when I think of my poor baby lying there, all alone, in pain and misery. She must have been so scared. I couldn’t keep her safe. I couldn’t protect her.”
“No,” Jim Avery gasped out. “The blame is mine. I am the father. I should have protected her, but I failed. I failed as a father.”
With that, he burst into tears, and silence followed his outburst.
“I know what the problem is,” Gale said softly. “It’s because you think there is no hope. If you thought your testifying would truly make a difference, you would. You are all right. He might win this. He might get away. But he won’t get away easy. We are going to make this world a living hell for him. You know why there is hope? Because we will never stop fighting. I will never stop fighting for any of you. I will stand up for every single one of you, even if it tears down everything I have built. I don’t promise a victory, but I promise you my undying support in this war against Dean Maverick.
Not just him, but against any man who has ever hurt anyone; I will stand and fight. Even if it kills me, I will stand with every one of you. That is the promise I can make; that is the hope I offer you all. This won’t be easy. Everything Katie has said is true. You all tried to fight these cases once, but no one supported you. But now I am here. I will fight for you. I just ask for your trust. I know this will be agony for you all, and all your old wounds will be reopened and displayed in front of everyone. But I will be there. Supporting you. Fighting for you. Protecting you. If we lose this, the next time Maverick fucks up, we will go after him again and again and again. We will bring all his crimes to light until even his wealth can’t save him anymore. Until the world is forced to acknowledge and punish him!”
He turned to look at me, and I felt tears welling. I wanted nothing more than to hate Gale Fears. I wanted nothing more than to push him far, far away and forget everything about him. After the night we had spent together, he had barely even looked at me. Not that it mattered. I already knew that nothing would change between us. That in the end, it was Stella he would choose. As I looked at him, I wished that I could hate him, but I didn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. How could I hate a man like him?
“Passionate speech,” Katie said. “Fuck you, Gale Fears. I will testify. But don’t forget your promise.”
“I will too,” Laura whispered.
Another girl raised her hand, and before we knew it, everyone was on board.
“I hope you know what you are doing, Mr. Fears,” Katie said, looking at him. “I hope you realize the gravity of your promise. Everything rests on your shoulders now.”
