Page 84 of The Redemption of Remy St. Claire

“Who was he, Remy? Who hurt you?”

“I…” The panic, previously receding, encroached again.

Zach held up his hand. “Not a fair question. I lost my temper, and I was out of line. You had every reason to act accordingly.”

“There was a guy, but it was a long time ago. I overreacted. Just…coming on top of…what happened earlier, I got overwhelmed.”

“What happened earlier? Can we talk about it?” He hesitated, and his brow furrowed. “Maybe this isn’t the best time.”

“There’ll never be a good time.” She took another sip and met his gaze. “I couldn’t, in all good conscience, allow you to take that plea bargain.”

“I got that.” His chuckle was rueful. “What I don’t understand is why.”

How to explain without revealing too much? Except he was Zach, and his incisiveness was legendary.

Maybe he’d cut her a break.Probably not. “Graham Henrikson is a rapist.”

“We agree on that.”

“But Zach—Danica is not the only victim.”

Her boss paused and tilted his head. “Remy, many rapists have more than one victim. We were lucky Danica came forward. Most victims don’t. It’s a light sentence, but it’s a guarantee of jail time.”

“He’s only thirty-six. With good behavior, he’ll be out before he’s forty.” Even as she said the words, nausea rolled over her. “He’s raped before, and he’ll do it again.”

“That may be true, but we can’t hold him indefinitely.”

“Maybe not.” She had to make him understand. “We can seek a longer sentence.” She planned her next words. “Let me go back to sex crimes. Let me ask them to take another look.”

He let out a long-suffering sigh. “Sex crimes was all over this.”

“But before we weren’t sure.”

“And now we are?” He eyed her. “Like I said—what the hell just happened?”

She shuddered in remembrance. “The way he looked at me. Like I was prey. I’m not sure I can explain it, Zach, but I know. Call it gut instinct—call it intuition.” She took a deep breath. “Call it personal experience if you have to. Please believe me. There are more victims out there. We need to find them.”

Time dragged as he held her gaze. Tried to see into her soul. Tested out the veracity of her words. Finally, he responded. “I’ll give you one week. Go back to sex crimes and see what you can come up with. Remember, it’s only because the condom broke that we even got DNA. No other match has popped, which means either they didn’t report it, or he was careful and used a condom. One week, got it?”

“One week.” She repeated the words as a mantra, and the knot in her stomach tightened even as her shoulders relaxed. The odds of finding anything else were slim, but she still had to try.

“Now go home.”

She glanced at her watch. Barely two o’clock. “I have things that require my attention.”

“And they’ll be here tomorrow when you come in.”

Zach’s expression was implacable.

“I’m not even sure you’re fit to drive. Let me call you a cab.”

“A cab is prohibitively expensive.” She shook her head. “Not on the taxpayer’s dime.”

He rolled his eyes. “If not theirs, then how about mine?” When she continued shaking her head, he grimaced. “How about I call Rusty?”

“He’s swimming with the girls.” No way was she going to involve her husband in this disaster.

He raised an eyebrow. “How does that work?”

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