Page 56

Rhue

Madison hasn’t given me an answer yet, but I think I know her well enough to know where this is going.

I wasn’t lying when I said I’d back her up one hundred percent; at the same time, though, my dad’s warning keeps ringing in my ears.

That if news of people poking around in his history gets back to the press, it’s Laura’s career that will suffer.

I can’t blindside her like that—but I can’t back down, either.

Which is why, at three o’clock on a Wednesday afternoon, Laura and I are having lunch at my apartment in Ithaca.

Steve has decided to be a reasonable human being for once, and has taken himself out to a steak house so she and I can have a conversation in peace.

I’ve just finished telling her what Madison told me, and I’m watching her face as she works through her thoughts—and her food.

She looks thoughtful—but she doesn’t look worried, which worries me.

“I’m afraid you aren’t seeing how serious this could be for your future, Laura.”

She quirks a funny little smile at me. “Oh, my dear sweet brother,” she says patronizingly. “My sweet, na?ve summer child.”

“Why are you smiling?” I demand, pricking with offense at her words and tone when I’m just trying to do what’s best for her.

She gives me a pitying look and sighs. “Rhue, Rhue, Rhue. Dad won’t be the first guy to have accusations thrown against him.

If we’re lucky—very lucky—exposure like this might slow him down.

” She shrugs and returns her attention to her food.

“Either way, it won’t affect me. I’m not planning on keeping this last name any longer than I have to.

The only thing I could possibly due to tarnish my reputation would be to publicly and proudly defend him for doing the things he did—which is not a thing I will ever, ever do. ”

“Come on—you aren’t saying you think people are still going to vote for him after Madison tells all. She read the diary for Christ’s sake, she knows how many women he attacked—she can name names! Dates! Circumstances!”

“What evidence do you have that he raped Madison?” Laura asks after a hard, long minute.

I stare at her, fighting with my temper. Laura knows as well as I do what happened, what kind of game is she playing? She fixes me with a sad, serious look though, so I force my brain to engage.

“She never reported it. There’s no rape kit or police file,” I say. “She was terrified. He threatened her. He kicked her father out of the building because she defied him.”

“Is that why he did it? Where’s your proof?”

The tentative hold I have over my temper is fraying. “Dad is a vindictive prick, Laura!”

“Yes, that’s true, but there’s no actual evidence.”

Body snatcher? Doppleganger? What on earth has gotten into her?

“Laura, you know damn well how many rapes go unreported in this country. You yourself said it, more than once, that just because it’s not reported, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. You know father’s reach and how vicious he can be.”

“I do,” she says calmly. “I suppose Sibel didn’t have any hard evidence to share, either?”

“Sibel doesn’t want to talk to anybody, but she is living far above her means and in suspicious secrecy,” I say.

“It’s no coincidence. Dad knows I’m digging into this, Laura, and he’s pissed.

I’m pretty sure he’s having me followed, and I am willing to bet that he will stop at nothing in order to keep the past buried.

The more he tries to push, the harder I will push back. ”

“I know,” she says. “And the harder you push back, the more he’ll be driven to hide and destroy whatever evidence might be left.

Listen to me, Rhue, because I know what I’m talking about.

We could get every one of the women on mom’s list to come forward and tell what he did, publicly.

They could all press charges. And you know what the result would be? ”

“What?”

Laura pulls her shoulders back and bellows like a sports announcer. “Nothing! Not a damn thing!”

I wince as I hear echoes of reality in her words.

My heart sinks. “So what you’re telling me is that no matter what, someone’s life is going to be ruined as soon as this story breaks—and the chances of it being dad’s are slim to none.”

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”

I stand up, knocking my chair over in my frustration.

“Then what the fuck is the point? What are we supposed to do, just let him get away with his bullshit forever? Let him keep fucking up innocent women’s lives, let him rise to the top and have access to everything and everybody he wants forever? Is that what you’re telling me, Laura?”

“Will you calm down?” she snaps. “I can’t exactly dodge, you know.”

“I’m sorry.” I stand with my back to her, fists clenched tight against my thighs. Control, control—damn this temper.

“Why do you think I’ve been sitting on that diary for a year? Sexual assault accusations aren’t enough to put him away and I know it. But I also know—for a fact—that he has other skeletons in his closet. Skeletons which will get him put away as soon as they’re discovered.”

“Damn it, Laura, are you still thinking he killed Mom? Because literally nobody believes that except you.”

“The only thing that matters is what we can prove. Right now, this second, what can we prove about Dad? That he’s a cruel landlord?

Whoopty-fucking-doo, they all are. That he’s got a coke habit?

Shit, in our tax bracket and his age group, who doesn’t?

That lots of women want to see him go down for sexual assault or harassment?

Again—age group, gender group, tax bracket.

He’s got nothing on him that his peers would find fault with.

Unless he confesses and steps down or slips up and gets caught, we’ve got nothing . ”

I turn around in time to see her wipe frustrated tears away. God, I hate making her cry. It saps all the energy out of my temper and leaves me deflated.

“Okay,” I say. “I’m sorry. Hey—seriously, I am. I just don’t know what to do here. I mean—do you have a plan?”

She shrugs miserably. “I was kind of hoping that once you and Maddie both knew all the facts, that you’d be able to think of something. But going to the press with the story it just—it just isn’t the ‘gotcha’ moment.”

I don’t know if she notices that she touches her legs when she says that. I wrap my arms around her and hug her close, trying to give her whatever comfort I can.

“You’ll never know what kind of monster he is, Rhue,” she murmurs through her tears. “We all bear the burden of Julian’s secrets—sloughing them off will only crush each other.”