Page 113 of Awestruck at Dusk
I shook my head twice with a slow blink as in,no, he won’t. Lily nodded once in agreement.
“I don’t know if there’ll be anything else we can use against him, but I suggest you report the blackmail to the police. I could ask my father for help. I’m sure one of his lawyers can help us get this settled. Fast. You could also file an order of protection against him. There’s enough evidence to support the need for it.”
“Gurl, you a lawyer?” Caro asked as she applied under-eye patches on Lily’s face.
I frowned and said, “Used to date one …” Lily and I locked eyes, but I couldn’t hold her gaze. I wasn’t yet immune to the feelings that involved Nathan.
“Let’s see what Aaron has to say about this, and then we’ll talk about the lawyers,” Lily said, taking a deep breath. “Shit, I’m so nervous.”
“Don’t be. Everything’s going to be okay,” I promised her. “But you can’t keep living like this. Always afraid. He needs to be held accountable for his actions.”
“I like her,” Frankie said. “And I agree, Lily. This has gone for far too long.”
“Okay. Do it.” Lily said, seeming a bit more convinced about it. I stepped out of the hair and makeup room, and there he was. It had to be him. Leonard’s frame was slim and tall. He wore an all-black ensemble and slightly tinted glasses. He held a camera with a big telephoto with both hands while another person stood beside him holding a second camera for him. His shoulder-length hair was slightly wavy and of light, golden-brown color.
I saw red.
Aaron, David, and Amena idled near the studio’s entrance.
“Hey, guys. I need to talk to you,” I said, looking at Leonard as he tested the light around the set. We stepped outside, and I explained the situation to them. David then stepped away to make a call and run a quick background check on Leonard.
“I’d like to take a look at some of those e-mails,” Amena said. She had a background in IT. “People are usually sloppy in their digital communications and often leave other pieces of information that can be helpful for an investigation. And we need them as evidence of the blackmail. We would also need the wire transfer receipts.”
“Well, we’ll need her laptop for that. Let me ask her if you guys can go pick it up at her place.” We were a few blocks away from the apartment building. If Lily agreed, they could have the laptop back in a jiffy.
Lily agreed for them to fetch her laptop. Amena and I were inside the hair and makeup room. Caro and Frankie were taking their time getting her ready. Stalling.
Amena had full access to Lily’s e-mail with her permission. She made a folder on the desktop where she downloaded all the images that Leonard sent. Including those in her iMessage app. She then ran the information window for each of the files. I wasn’t sure exactly what Amena was looking for, but she went one by one.
“Are these all the files he’s ever sent you, Miss Young?” Amena asked with a frown. “These are all screenshots from the original files.”
“Well, yeah. Those are the ones he’s been sending,” Lily replied. “But initially, he gave me a USB with his five favorite photographs.” She scowled with disgust.
“And did you keep those?” Amena asked quickly.
“They should be in there somewhere,” Lily replied. “Let me take a quick look at it.” Amena handed over the laptop to Lily, and she began her search. “Here. I hid them inside this random folder because I was afraid they would be too easy to find. I don’t even know why I kept them. You should delete them.”
Amena took the laptop back and inspected the files. “What is your date of birth, Miss Young?” Amena queried.
“January 1st, 1987.”
“And how old is he?” Amena followed up.
“He’s um—eight years older than me.”
“Well, you weren’t eighteen when he took these,” she said. Lily covered her mouth with a gasp, probably just realizing what that meant. “These are time-stamped for December 16th, 2004. You were a minor, and that’s considered aseriouscriminal offense. I’ll be right back. Don’t touch the laptop, please.”
We all stared at each other in complete silence. There weren’t any words to describe the outrage toward Amena’s discovery. It didn’t matter if Lily was less than a month away from turning eighteen. She was a minor, and those photographs were considered child pornography. And Leonard knew that. He wasn’t stupid. That’s why he sent the screenshots instead of the original files to her. He probably thought Lily would’ve deleted the original files by now, but she hadn’t.
Leonard couldn’t make the photographs public either for the same reason, but he used them to keep disturbing Lily with them. Or if he were stupid enough to do so, the repercussions would be catastrophic for him.
There was a knock on the door after a few minutes. Aaron and Amena asked me to step out. They explained how Leonard’s background check came out clean, but the evidence of blackmail and the original files were enough to make a strong case against him. Aaron mentioned how he talked to my father about this and would escalate the issue with his lawyers.
“I’m going to have a little chat with him,” Aaron said with a subtle but wicked smile. “He won’t be able to bother Miss Young after this. Not anymore.”
I nodded once in agreement. Amena asked me to go inside the hair and makeup room and informed me she would be just outside if we needed anything. Damn it. I wanted to see when Aaron talked to Leonard.
Lily asked me what was going on when I stepped back inside, and I told her everything. She started crying again, and her makeup got ruined.
