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Rae got as close as she could to the screen without blocking Dayton’s view. Many minutes passed as they watched the footage, and she didn’tcatch sight of Devon or the other women. Then the footage showed Rae whipping the sub, and she wanted to look away. She wished she could reverse time and tell that white-haired bastard to fuck off instead of complying with his demands.
The bodycam moved away from the crowd surrounding her whipping scene. This must’ve been when Dayton took advantage of people’s distraction to get more shots of the room. The camera slowly panned across the huge ballroom, and Rae did a double take.
“Wait, back up, back up!” she said. “Can you get the prior frame up and freeze it?”
“Sure.”
He did, and Rae felt like the air had been punched out of her. She didn’t understand.
“It’s not possible,” she whispered, feeling light-headed.
“What is it? Do you recognize this person?”
“Yeah, but ...” She was going to be sick. She looked around for her little office trash can but moving only made her more nauseous. Her head felt like it was filled with ice cubes, and her lips went numb from breathing too fast. She knew the signs well. She was having a panic attack, and she couldn’t stop it.
“Rae, are you okay?” He glanced back at the frozen image on the screen. “Shit. Is Robert Coulter one of your clients?”
Robert Coulter? His last name is Coulter?
“Let’s lean you forward,” Dayton said, his words sounding assured but faraway. “Like that, head between your legs. Breathe in slowly, counting to ten, then out slowly.”
She knew what to do, but she couldn’t make her body do it, so she let him move her like she was a puppet. All she could do was chant to herself:But he’s dead, he’s dead, he’s dead. Bobby’s dead.
“What did you just say?”
Fuck.
CHAPTER 37
RAE
2009
On her drive home from the store, Rae ran through everything that had happened with Mark and what he’d said to her. No doubt, he’d threatened her, but instead of being afraid of him, she was angry. She was done with men making her and other women feel unsafe in the world.
After she put away the groceries, she knocked on Viv’s bedroom door. She didn’t hear a client session going on, so she entered. Viv was on her bed scrolling through her phone, totally zoned out from what Rae could tell.
“I got us groceries. I can make us some baked chicken tonight.”
Viv started and put down her phone. “Sorry, hon, I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Um, I have to tell you something,” Rae said. “I saw Mark at the store.”
Viv sat up, her eyes wide. “What did he do? Did he try to hurt you?”
“No, but he wanted to scare me.” She sat on the edge of Viv’s bed. “And he wanted me to tell you something. He said he has the thing you want, and he’ll give it to you if you give him the money.”
Viv shut her eyes, her mouth a hard line.
“What does he have that you want?”
In answer, Viv showed Rae her left wrist, which was bare.
“He took the watch Frederick gave you?”
“Yes,” Viv said. “He took it when he was here. When he grabbed my arm, I didn’t even feel him undo the latch because I just wanted to get away from him. He knows how much it means to me.”
“That asshole!”
