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The detective said it as if it would make Rae feel any better, but it didn’t.
“I know this information doesn’t help the pain of your loss, but I hope it gives you some comfort to know the person who did this will be prosecuted. I spoke with Viv’s parents, and they should be in town within the next day or so to handle the funeral arrangements.”
Viv’s parents? The parents Viv hadn’t spoken to in almost two decades because they had abused her throughout her childhood. The last people Viv would want making decisions on her behalf.
The detective ended the call with a promise to let Rae know if they needed her to testify beyond the statements she’d already given. The feeling of lead filled her chest again as it had the last three days, and Rae closed her eyes and wished for the sweet nothingness of sleep to take her.
CHAPTER 46
RAE
2024
Alexander Pearson—the white-haired man’s name. Dayton told her his friend came through and found the owner of Felton Holdings LLC, a company with funds held at an offshore bank and no presence online. The company barely existed on paper and was clearly being used to funnel money not intended for government scrutiny.
Dayton’s friend dealt with investigations involving online activity and found the Felton Holdings name referenced on a particularly disturbing site on the dark web, which was associated with a cultlike group into the torture and rape of women. The group was run by mostly wealthy white men who held parties all over the country and distributed videos of BDSM-type torture and sexual abuse for high dollar amounts. If people had enough money, they could attend the parties in person.
Felton Holdings was one of several subsidiaries owned by Alexander Pearson, doing business in Oklahoma and California. But when Dayton tried to find any information about him on social media, he came up empty. After scrolling through hundreds of pics and posts, he finallycame across an old photo in which one of Pearson’s extended family members had tagged his son, Felton Pearson. And there he was, the white-haired man, much younger but with the same tall, imposing figure.
“And guess who one of his companies is associated with?” Dayton said over the phone.
“The Coulters?”
“Bingo. The subsidiary reported a million dollars last year in gross earnings from the Coulters as a consultant, and I can guarantee that offshore account is where he keeps the money he collects from these parties and the videos they sell.”
Rae was excited. This could be it; they could actually tie this bastard to the parties and Bobby along with him. “Can you, I don’t know, get a subpoena or something to find out where the funds are coming from to the offshore account?”
She could tell he was driving from the whooshing sound of the highway in the background. “I would if I had a direct reason to obtain one. Remember, my higher-ups don’t want to touch anything to do with the Coulters. The family has more influence than I realized.”
“Then what the hell is the point of knowing this information if we can’t do anything with it?”
“I have an idea, but I’m not sure if you’ll like it. Can you meet with me now?”
She looked at the time. Almost five. Lily had texted Rae earlier about meeting up with friends after school, which made Rae feel better about the viral TikTok Gabby had posted. At least some kids weren’t complete assholes about it.
“Yeah, but I’ll need to be home by six thirty for Lily.”
“Perfect. I have to get Carli from soccer practice at seven. Want to get a drink at Frida? I’m near Paseo and can head that way.”
“Sounds good.”
Rae wondered if a drink qualified as a date if the date involved trying to take down a possible sex cult. She got dressed in sandals and a strappy-but-casual blue cotton dress and threw her not-quite-dry hair into a simple topknot. She didn’t have time for much makeup, so she dabbed a little pink gloss on her lips and brushed bronzer across her pale face.
Dayton was already at Frida’s bar when she arrived. He chose the smaller, discreet bar in the back of the restaurant, the one with a little library where she and Angel once discovered several nude photography books. They had giggled like schoolgirls looking through the black-and-white photos.
When Dayton saw Rae, he gave her a long once-over before he stood up from the tucked away two-top he’d picked out. He touched her lower back and spoke into her ear. “You’re going to distract me with that dress.”
She blushed and sat down across from him. “You’re doing a fine job of that yourself.” He looked good with his slim-fitting jeans and button-up, the sleeves rolled up enough to show his strong forearms.
“Maybe we should’ve met at your place instead.”
She got his intimation. “We can always hold this meeting in the back seat of your car.”
“You obviously haven’t seen it,” he said. “It’s a graveyard of Carli’s extra soccer equipment and forgotten hair scrunchies.”
“Mine’s clean.”
He grinned. “God, I wish we were here for a different reason.”
