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“Digging up the past will just get you dirty.” Jack shrugs in response to my raised eyebrow. “You have a bright future to think about.”
“I can’t do that.” I give myself a split-second to enjoy the surprise on his face. “Sorry.”
His gaze narrows. “You understand that you’re potentially looking at decades of hard time, right? Any public defender who gets one look at this file won’t do anything for you but submit a plea agreement. Prison will make this place look like an all-inclusive resort.”
I won’t show him any fear, no matter how much of it I might feel. Havoc House wouldn’t be pushing so hard to bury this if there wasn’t something here worth digging up. I won’t be able to able enjoy any of the things he is offering me, if I’m not able to live with myself.
“I’ll take my chances.”
“We won’t leave it up to chance, believe me. You’ll be going away for the rest of your life.”
“That’s not really how I see it, Jack Deguerre, Esquire.” The metal chair creaks as I lean forward, using my much larger size as an intimidation tactic. I get a thrill of satisfaction when his eyes widen. “There won’t be any plea deal because I’m more than willing to take this all the way to trial. A trial that is guaranteed to make national news because people love it when rich guys get what’s coming to them. There’ll be debates on social media about rape culture and how college fraternities are hotbeds of misogyny. Havoc House will be front page news for weeks, maybe even months. But that also means the police will have to investigate this to build their case. They’ll be looking for witnesses, taking statements, maybe even subpoenaing documents and videos.”
It’s the word video that makes him drop the nice guy act. He and I both know that we’re not on the same side.
Jack drums his finger on the table, expression annoyed. “I didn’t believe them about you. I thought the other alumni were all overreacting by getting so involved in this shit. That girl must have something really special between her legs if you’re willing to throw your whole life away.”
I don’t rise to the bait. “She does, but that isn’t what this is about.”
“I just want you to know that I was hoping not to have to do this. Keep in mind that you’re forcing my hand here.” Jack pulls a phone out of his bag and unlocks it. He holds it up just out of reach with the screen facing me. “I can turn the sound back on if you want to hear the crying. It was annoying me, so I shut it off.”
Felicia sits alone in a room that doesn’t look much different from this one. Her hands clasp in front of her on the table, but the metal of handcuffs gleams on her wrists. Even with the grainy quality of the footage, I see her hands shaking.
Rage nearly blinds me. I rise from the table, ready to do violence despite the shackles on my wrists and ankles. “What the fuck did you do?”
“Sit down, so we can discuss this like gentlemen,” Jack replies calmly. “If I have to get the guard, then this conversation is over. You can rot in here for a few more weeks until I feel like coming back. God only knows what will happen to Felicia in the meantime.”
I should have known that keeping Felicia a secret at St. Bart’s wouldn’t do anything to keep her safe. My father pays her tuition. Even if he didn’t say anything to the other alumni, there are no such things as secrets if they want the information badly enough.
“What did you do?” I ask again, sinking slowly back into the chair.
“Nothing yet, but that can always change,” he replies calmly. “I hope you understand that you’re not the only one who will suffer for your stubbornness. I can only imagine how your dear mother will feel when she finds out her precious boy has been arrested. With her daughter also gone, what will she have left?”
“This is fucking sick.”
Jack returns his phone to the briefcase with a shrug. “This is Havoc House.”
That might as well be the Havoc House motto: always hit ‘em where it hurts.
My hands clench into hard fists, but I can’t unsee the fear on Felicia’s face. I don’t need to ask where she is to know that it’s somewhere bad. Evangeline can’t fault me for saving my sister, not after everything she has already done for hers. “What is it you want me to do?”
“Close your damn mouth and keep it that way. No more questions. No more digging. You’re done.” He pats the open folder, his pinkie diamond winking in the florescent light. “All this unpleasantness gets the clock running on statute of limitations, so the problem will solve itself, eventually. Things clearly went too far, but thank God nobody killed the bitch. I’ll make sure you have a rock-solid alibi for that entire night and none of us ever has to hear about this again.”
I don’t believe a single word that comes out of his mouth. “It can’t be that easy.”
“Everything in our lives is easy. That’s the point.” Jack rises from the table and picks up his briefcase. “I’m sure I don’t have to remind you what will happen if you decide not to play ball.”
Felicia.
I stare into his cold eyes, sensing the threat there down to my bones. My sister is meaningless to the alumni. They won’t hesitate to hurt her, just to punish me.
“Yeah, I get it.”
“I need to hear you say it, son.”
“I’ll fucking do it, okay. I’m done digging.”
“Good. Just remember that accidents happen every day.” His voice is light, as if we’re discussing the weather, but it’s impossible to miss the dark edge of warning. “Sometimes girls go missing, never to be seen or heard from again. It would be a shame if that happened to someone you care about.”
