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She winces, but meets his gaze steadily. “I’ve thought about it. I’ve wondered about everyone I know. But I don’t think so.”
“My sister has never liked me, but there's no way Caroline could be behind it. She's terrible with computers. My parents won't let Caroline touch anything tech related at the office. She does showings and that's all.”
“Why doesn’t she like you?”
Charlie sighs before answering Leo. “She always thought I was the favorite, which is ridiculous. My parents only partly approved of me once I became a corporate attorney. Caroline is the one who went to work for them right out of high school.”
“And my parents… never. They’re furious at me because this is hurting their business. Anything that loses clients, no way. They wouldn’t do it.”
Leo hesitates, then asks, “Could one of them be trying to undermine the other? Damage the company somehow?”
Charlie stares at him for a moment, her brow wrinkling. “No. They don’t care enough about each other to do that.” She shakes her head, frowning. “They care about money. And… I think they’ve both had affairs,” she confesses, her cheeks going slightly pink. “But they stay together, anyway. It’s all about appearances. Everything is all about their business. They would never do anything to damage it.” Glancing at me, she looks sad as she says, “I know it sounds terrible.”
Wow. Her parents really sound like pieces of work. And I feel even worse for Charlie.
Gently, Leo says, “Thank you, Charlie. I really appreciate your honesty. There will probably be questions that arise as we go through all of this, but I think that’s all we need right now.”
“I know it’s hard,” I add. “It’s never easy for anyone going through this part. But the rest will be easier, because we’re going to be helping you.”
Charlie stares at me, her eyes flashing liquid silver. Bright bits of hope swirling with dark whorls of hesitation and fear. “Are you going to help me?” And then, she asks the question that really gets me. “You believe me?”
“Yes.” There’s no doubt in my mind. I was ninety-five percent sure before we got here, and now that I’ve met Charlie and looked into her expressive eyes, I’m certain. If she was lying to us about any of this, I’d know it.
“Yes,” Leo echoes, “We believe you. And we’re going to help you.”
“Oh.” It’s a soft exhale, and her gaze moves from Leo to land on me. “Thank you. I can’t—” Her voice breaks. “I can’t tell you…”
Tears are spilling down her cheeks and she’s brushing at them furiously, still trying to get her sentence out. “I’ve felt so… alone.” There’s another sniff, and more tears. “And you helping, it’s just…”
I have never been so affected by a client before. Never wanted to leap out of my seat and brush her tears away, swear to do anything to make her feel better.
Charlie stops, wipes her cheeks again, and lets out a choked laugh. “This is—I’m never without words. Ever.” She pauses and a tiny smile pulls at her lips. “You should probably enjoy it now. You’ll get sick of hearing me talk soon, I’m sure.”
I smile at her. “I’m sure that won’t happen.”
A tiny flicker of pleasure brightens her eyes, and I feel like I’ve just done something special.
We’re staring at each other, this strange sort of current zinging between us, when Leo breaks in. “The next step is talking about our plan, going over some of the precautions we’ll be taking, surveillance—do you want a quick break before that?”
Charlie tears her silver gaze from mine to focus on Leo. “Maybe just a second to freshen up. If that’s alright?”
“Of course it is,” I answer before Leo has a chance to. “Take as long as you need.”
Once Charlie heads down the hallway into what I’m presuming in the bathroom, Leo turns to me. “This is really messed up,” he says quietly. “What someone is doing to her—”
“And that no one will believe her,” I continue, my jaw going tight. “I mean, all you have to do is talk to her—it’s obvious she’s not lying.”
“I know.” Leo frowns. “It reminds me too much of what happened to Georgia. The police not listening to her—”
Then Charlie emerges from the bathroom and our conversation stops. We both smile reassuringly at her as she retakes her seat. The hair around her face is damp, her cheeks slightly pink, and a few small drops of water have soaked through her shirt.
“Okay.” Her voice is more relaxed, the undercurrent of fear gone. “What’s next?”
“Well,” Leo starts, “I’ll be taking point on the tech side of your case. Using a three-pronged approach, I’ll be looking into the source of the videos and photos, investigating potential suspects—friends, coworkers, and family—and I’ll be working to get the deepfakes taken down.”
“The deepfakes?” Charlie’s eyes go wide. “I think I’ve heard the term, but I guess I don’t really understand what it means.”
“A deepfake is made using a generator that integrates AI—artificial intelligence—with deep learning, taking one target and essentially superimposing it on another.” Leo taps his mouse pad a few times and spins his laptop around to face Charlie.
