Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 54148 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54148 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” she cries.
I cradle the back of her head. “No, baby girl. You have nothing to feel sorry about. God, you were amazing in there. I’m so fucking proud of you. Holly’s gonna be so proud of you, too.”
Her hands close around the fabric of my shirt. An officer approaches to let us know we’re okay to leave, but Kenzie doesn’t seem to hear the words. That’s fine by me. Now that the Clines are on their way to the station, I see no reason to rush her. She can cry on the sidewalk in front of her old foster home for as long as she needs to.
“I didn’t mean what I said before,” she croaks. “I don’t want to break up. I love you so much.”
“I love you, too, baby. You’re my sweet girl, and you’re stuck with me.” I kiss the top of her head. “I’m never letting you go.”
Her body relaxes somewhat. My pocket vibrates a moment later. I pull out my phone and check the caller ID.
“It’s Mike,” I tell her, and accept the call. “Yeah?”
“Where are you?” he asks.
“Newport.”
“The fuck’re you doing in Newport?”
“Dealing with shit. What is it?”
“I figured out where the Davises got those photos of Holly and Kenzie for last night’s broadcast.”
I tighten my hold on Kenzie’s waist.
“Where’d they get them?”
Mike sighs. “How soon can you get back?”
I drop McKenzie off at her therapist’s office for an emergency session.
“I’ll pick you up in an hour,” I tell her, as she’s getting out of my truck.
She lingers by the door.
“You know, you can come in if you want.”
“Nah, I’ve gotta stop by the office.” The entire drive back to Knoxville, I’ve been fighting to keep the ember of rage in my gut from blazing into an inferno.
She squints. “You’re going back to work?”
“Just for a quick meeting.”
“After hours?”
“Yeah,” I say. “Just need to go over some boring quarterly stuff.”
My attempt at acting nonchalant isn’t fooling Kenzie in the slightest, but I don’t want to burden her with the information I’ve learned, at least not until I’ve decided what I’m gonna do with it.
“Promise you’ll tell me about it later,” she says.
Smart cookie.
“I will. Promise.”
She nods. “...Okay.”
I floor the gas all the way to the office. As I march into the building, I barely glance at the crowd of reporters shouting my name. I head straight into the conference room, where Jonah, Mike, and the little prick himself are already waiting.
“Glad you could make it,” Jonah says to me. “And Jeremy, we appreciate your willingness to stay late. It speaks to your dedication.”
“Sure, yeah, no problem,” Jeremy says. He eyes me warily, though as far as he knows, he’s being asked to stay late to work on a clerical error in this month’s quarterly report.
I claim the seat across from Jeremy, taking pleasure in the obvious discomfort my presence inspires. Both he and Mike have their work laptops out on the table.
“You see the fourth line down on the spreadsheet?” Mike asks.
“One sec,” Jeremy says. “Yeah, I see it.”
Mike taps at his keyboard.
“How about now?”
Jeremy stares at his laptop screen in stunned silence.
“Does that look familiar to you?” Mike asks.
Jeremy’s throat shifts as he swallows.
“Uh... No?”
“Are you asking me or telling me?”
“No. I-I don’t know what that is.”
“Well, isn’t that your private online forum dedicated to Hoyt Renier’s criminal exploits?” Mike clicks his mouse a few times. “And here’s the very popular subforum devoted exclusively to McKenzie. Lots of photos in there, Jeremy. You take those yourself?”
“N-not all of them.” He glances around the table, looking like he might shit himself. “Other people post stuff, too.”
“But you posted this one here,” Mike says, pulling up the beach photo from the broadcast. “You want to tell us how Greg fucking Wallace ended up with this photo?”
“Maybe he’s a member of the community.”
Mike sighs, looking bored.
Three clicks and a few keystrokes later, up pops a window displaying Jeremy’s email exchange with someone from the Davis family’s public relations team.
“You sent the photos of Holly and McKenzie to the Davises. What’s more, you sent them the link to her leaked cam video.”
“I didn’t leak the video—”
“That’s not what I said.” Mike frowns. “The video was posted to your community by a user going by the name TNRipHer. But as we can all see from this email, you were the one who passed it on.”
Jeremy shakes his head frantically. “This is illegal. You guys hacked into my personal shit!”
“Pretty sure harassment is illegal, too, Jeremy.” Mike links his fingers behind his neck. “Or did you think we missed the fact that you’ve also been leaking her email addresses?”
I clear my throat and fight to keep my voice measured. “I’m curious, Jeremy. If McKenzie had gone home with you that night, what was your plan? Wait till she’s asleep and take some pictures? Maybe fuck her, then jump online and tell all your friends about it?”