Page 24 of Hush Money
“How…how much worse?” I ask. I feel my fist clench at my side as I lean back against the desk.
“There are over twenty,” he says. “But there could be more. We have only gone back the last ten years. She’s going to do some more digging and call me back. We need to meet with legal again tomorrow.”
“Yeah, yeah, sounds good,” I say. We hang up, and I immediately feel nausea setting in. I put both hands on my desk, trying to let the cool surface bring me back to earth a bit, but it’s not working.
My eyes are burning.
The anger is swelling inside of me.
My fucking father.
I always knew he was a piece of shit. But not like this. Not to this many people. Not to women who were just trying to make a goddamn living. I feel the anger building up inside of me, and I swipe the phone off the desk and send it flying across the room. It hits the wall with abang, and I push myself off my desk and walk toward the windows, locking my hands behind my head.
And then I hear the office door creak behind me, making me jump.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I just heard a noise and wanted to make sure you were okay.”
I don’t turn all the way to look at her. I turn back to the window, afraid that I’ll fall apart when I see her.
“Sorry about that,” I try to say casually. “I’m fine.”
But she doesn’t leave. Instead, I hear her walking across the hardwood toward me. And then I feel her standing right next to me.
“You can lie to yourself, Keaton,” she whispers. “But you can’t lie to me.”
Fuck.This girl. After all this time, she’s right.
Which is exactly why I can’t look at her.
She reaches her hand out and grips my sleeve.
“Keat,” she whispers, “look at me.”
I shake my head slowly, but I feel her move in even closer until our bodies are touching.
Fuck.
She slides her hand down my arm and interlocks our fingers, then she slides her other hand around my arm so that she’s hugging it. And I feel the wall I’m desperately holding up start to crumble. Finally, I can’t help myself anymore, and I turn and look down at her. Our eyes meet, and I feel myself melt. I start shaking, and her eyes grow wide. She turns me so we’re facing each other, and she wraps her arms around me, pulling me in for a long embrace. I hate laying this on her with everything, but the truth is, I need someone right now. I needher.
“Talk to me, Keat,” she whispers in my ear as she holds me.
I hold back for a moment. This is supposed to stay confidential. It’s critical that no one catches wind of any of this.
But it’s her.
We may have gone our own ways all those years ago.
But it’s still her.
I still trust her with my life.
I slowly nod, pulling apart from her, and lead her to the desk. I sit down at the computer and log into the private, encrypted email account that my brother set up for us while we are working through the case. I draw in a long, slow breath, and then I open up the initial letter.
Mr. Everett,
Enclosed,please find a detailed statement from a source who says that she was employed by your father during the period listed below and was repeatedly sexually harassed. The source also claims that there are additional victims and that they are also willing to make statements. I would like to meet with you to discuss these claims. Kindly respond by the end of the week. Otherwise, I will have to go to print with the information I have.
Thank you,
