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“I have Stevens and Lyons in custody.” Kane flipped open the file to display an image of a young man with dark curly hair. “Stevens is in interview room one for questioning and hasn’t asked for a lawyer; I figure he wants to cut a deal.” He sighed. “We picked up Lyons from his house and he’s not saying much. He’s in room two but I figure he’ll lawyer up as soon as we show him the evidence.”
“I’ll talk to Stevens first.” Jenna leaned on her desk. “I spoke to the DA and he’ll drop by later. He wants copies of the flash drives and then his office will hand the evidence over to the FBI. He’s confident enough of the women will come forward. Apart from getting justice, they have another reason: Lyons and his accomplices had considerable estates. There’ll likely be a number of lawsuits for damages against them.”
Jenna pushed the hair from her eyes and looked up at him. “I went over the evidence to consider if Lyons is implicated in Jacobs’ death, but the DA considers it to be circumstantial at best and we don’t have enough to charge him.”
“We have the rapes and blackmail.” Kane frowned. “If Josh Stevens confirms our suspicions, they’ll both be spending a long time in jail.”
Jenna pushed to her feet and bit back a moan of discomfort. “Okay, let’s see what he has to say.”
She followed Kane down to the interview room, waited for him to swipe his card, and then followed him inside. After taking a seat, she switched on the recording device and stated her name, and Kane did the same. “Mr. Stevens, you’ve been read your rights and agree to questioning, is that correct? Please state your name before replying.”
“Josh Stevens and, yeah, I’ve waved my right to have an attorney present at this time but I reserve my right should it become necessary.”
Jenna flicked Kane a glance then moved her attention back to Stevens. “Are you studying law?”
“No, but I watch TV.” Stevens leaned back in his chair. “Okay, ask away.”
Jenna took the digital notepad from the file. “We’ve seen the rape files, the uncut versions Lyons kept in the safe at his house. This is why you’re under arrest. We’ve identified you as one of a number of men involved.” She regarded him closel
y. “We know drugs were involved to an extent where the women involved were in no condition to give their consent.”
“How can you prove we drugged them?” Stevens’ mouth twitched up in almost a smug smile. “You don’t have any proof.”
“We have Chrissie Lowe’s autopsy report.” Jenna stared at him without blinking. “By the end of the day, we’ll have testimonies from other women on the tapes. You see, now that we have you and Seth Lyons in custody, and the other men involved are dead, the women feel safe enough to come forward. The court will protect their identity. This part of the interview process isn’t why I’m here. I want to know if Seth Lyons was involved in blackmailing the victims to keep them quiet.”
“Do I get a deal if I throw him under the bus? I don’t want my name all over the media.” Stevens leaned forward and clasped his hands on the table. “If his dad finds out, my life is over.”
“Your life is already over, Josh.” Kane glared at him. “You think the DA will give you a get-out-of-jail-free card for talking? You’ll be charged as a serial rapist, we have all the proof we need.” He leaned forward. “But as Lyons was the ringleader, any information you supply now may go in your favor. You might get lucky and receive a lighter sentence.”
Jenna collected her thoughts. “Was Lyons involved in blackmail?”
“Yeah, he used the images and video files to keep the girls from crying rape, but he used them to keep us in line too.” Stevens pushed a hand through his hair. “This is why I didn’t participate after the first six or so. I told Seth I had contracted an STD. He used the tapes to prevent any of us shooting off our mouths about the parties, and he used Alex and Dylan as his muscle if one of the girls threatened to expose us.”
A cold chill ran down Jenna’s back. “And what did he threaten to do? Surely he couldn’t use the images or he’d incriminate himself.”
“He said he’d kill us.” Stevens gave her a long look. “The girls were easy to convince. He threatened to post their videos all over the media, but he’d make sure none of our faces were visible. Seth was good at manipulating images and video files.”
“Okay.” Jenna made a few notes. “Did you ever see him threaten any of the men who died recently?”
“Sure, all the time.” Stevens frowned. “That doesn’t mean he killed them.”
Jenna moved in harder. “Where did he get the drugs?”
“I’m not sure.” Stevens shrugged. “He always had something to slip into a girl’s drink. Some girls he’d shoot up halfway through, depending on how long we needed them.” He chuckled. “We had one freshman in his room for three days.”
“You think this is funny?” Kane’s fist smashed down on the desk. “What if Chrissie Lowe took her own life rather than face living with the shame of what you did to her?”
“Not me.” Stevens held up both hands. “I didn’t touch her.”
Jenna lowered her voice. Beside her, Kane had regained his composure in seconds but his deadly expression remained. She leaned forward and took an almost conspiratorial pose. “How did that evening play out?”
“Alex Jacobs and Pete Devon drove out to the college and took the janitor’s car. They went to meet Chrissie.” Stevens shrugged. “Seth never gave the girls a ride; he always sent one of the guys. When she arrived, he gave her a few drinks and then took her to his room. I didn’t do anything. He gave her a few pills and then Jacobs held her down. I just filmed it.”
Biting back the urge to slap his arrogant face, Jenna kept writing. Although she had no need to write notes with the entire interview on tape, the process focused her. “And afterward?”
“From what they said, they drove her back to her dorm around two, dumped her on the grass, and then took the car back to the parking lot and returned the janitor’s keys to his office. The girl had left her shoes in the car, and on the way back Alex chucked them out the window.” Stevens leaned back in his chair.
“Did they threaten her or strike her?” Kane glared at him.
