“You used it?” Lex asks.
“Yes. I couldn’t even breathe through the sobs anymore. He stopped immediately. My lower back, ass, and thighs were throbbing with burning pain. He even tore through the skin in some places. That’s when he told me he’d still give me the money if I let him fuck me. He promised it wouldn’t take long, ten minutes at most. I agreed. I was so gone already, it felt like a silver lining. A quick fuck and I’d get my money. He did it, keeping me tied up, and came on my bloodied ass. Never knew cum on a wound could sting that much.”
There’s a long silence, and Lex isn’t sure what to say. What words can be enough, given all she told us? Yes, she agreed to play Becker’s sick game, but no one deserves that.
“I’m never going back to him,” she lets out, her voice shaking. “It’s not worth it. It hurt to sit for over a week, and it looks like I’ll have some scars that’ll never go away. I was fucking stupid for agreeing to his deal in the first place. I’m not that kind of escort. My clients hire me because I’m smart and knowledgeable. BDSM isn’t my scene, and it’ll never be.”
“I’m sorry for what he did to you, Lorelei. I suspected Becker was a dangerous man, but I didn’t realize he was that much of a sick bastard.”
“He’s really good at hiding it. He was so normal and charming during our drinks at the lounge that I never saw it coming.” Another pause where words seem superfluous, and she asks, “What will you do with that information?”
“I’m gathering knowledge to take him down.”
“Well, you’ll have to look elsewhere, then. Everything he did to me was consensual. I hated all of it, but it was my mistake.”
“So you’re not considering pressing charges for what he did?”
“I can’t. He filmed the negotiation part. He taped the whole thing, actually. Even threw in a few extra grand for it.”
Lex and I exchange confused looks. We’ve been into all the computers in that household, and we never found that video. “He filmed you?” Lex asks.
“Yeah. I didn’t want to because my anonymity is important to me. But he explained the video would be in a safe in his office, and that no one else would ever see it.”
“So, it’s a tape?”
“No. It was a small digital camera on a tripod. Then, once he was finished, he took some close-ups of what he did to me and pulled out a shitty laptop from under the bed. From what I understood, he saved the video there, then excused himself to return the laptop to its safe.”
So, there’s a secret laptop somewhere in his office? One that is dormant, which is why we didn’t see it on the penthouse’s network. Or maybe he removed the network card from it entirely, to make it impossible to hack into. With Nammota coming after him several times this past decade, it would be the smart thing to do.
“Anyway, it would never hold in court, since all his lawyers would have the proof they need to get the case dismissed in five seconds,” Lorelei explains.
“What kind of laptop was it?” I impulsively ask, bringing myself closer to Lex.
“Who the fuck is that?!” she panics, realizing there’s a third person on the call.Ah, shit…
“Uh… a friendly ear?” I try, wincing at Lex, who gives me a disapproving look.
“You asshole! You promised it would stay between the two of us!” she hisses.
“I’m really sorry. We thought you’d be more comfortable if you believed it was just him,” I apologize.
“And you were right!”
“I’m so sorry. But please just answer this last question. What kind of laptop?”
“A Dell, I think. Or maybe an HP. I don’t remember well. I was busy getting dressed and getting the fuck out of that place.”
“And you’re certain it wasn’t a Mac?”
“Yeah, a hundred percent. I even found it odd, which is why I noticed.”
Lex and I meet each other’s eyes again, having the same realization simultaneously. Everything we’ve found so far—laptops, phones, tablets, and desktop computers—has been Apple products. This confirms that Becker has another computer in his penthouse. One where there might be even more footage, like what he did to Lorelei Madsen. Though flogging a twenty-one-year-old escort to a pulp might be all we need to take him down.
We’re still silently processing the implications of this new information when Lorelei says, “Okay, if you two dickheads are done with your interrogation, I’d like to hang the fuck up. I know nothing else about Norman Becker that could be relevant.”
“Oh, of course,” I say. “Can you not tell Becker about this call?”
“No way I’d tell him I broke his NDA. Plus, I’m never going anywhere near that man ever again. If you two are going after him, you have my blessing. He deserves to rot in prison.”
