Page 78 of The Dance

“Let’s go then.” I motioned for Stacey to go up the stairs ahead of me. When we were inside, Heidi, the flight attendant, checked Stacey’s ID for her name and wrote our names down on the flight manifest. “Can I see that?” I asked Heidi.

She handed me the logbook, and I scanned it, looking for Brody’s name. I didn’t see him listed except in October when we took the plane to New York for a meeting with an advertising network.

I handed Heidi back the booklet, then grabbed Stacey’s hand. “Want a drink or something?”

“I’m okay,” she responded, staring out the small window.

“Is this your first time on a private plane?”

“Yeah.”

“After this is all over, I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”

“Okay,” she whispered.

I could tell she wasn’t enjoying her first time in a private jet, and I didn’t blame her. During the quick plane ride, I let her be while I thought about the shitstorm that was about to blow up.

* * *

I ordereda car to meet us at the William P. Hobby Airport to take us to Stacey’s apartment. She was quiet until she gasped, “What about my car? I need it to get to practice on Monday.”

“I’ll figure something out.” I would drive it back myself if I had to, but I wasn’t sure I’d have time once everything went down.

“You will?”

“Just focus on your friend for now. Let me take care of everything else.”

Once we pulled up in front of Stacey’s apartment complex, I followed her out of the car, dismissing the driver. She used her key, and we entered a well-lit living room that was empty.

“Molly’s probably in her room. Let me check on her.”

“I’ll wait here. I want her to tell me if it was Brody or not, and then we’ll call the police, okay?”

“Yeah.”

My phone rang as soon as she was out of the room. It was Brian. “What do you have?”

“I show two profiles deleted.”

Deleted, not deactivated. I didn’t need Molly to confirm it was Brody.

“Fuck. And the correspondences?”

“He had a date last night. And one tonight.”

“Is it possible he’s still here in Houston?” I wondered out loud. It had been a few hours since he raped Molly. Would he go home after? Stay in Houston for the night?

“Maybe …”

Was there a way for me to meet up with him and have him arrested while still in Houston? Or maybe I could be there to watch him get detained, so he understood I knew what he had been doing. “Email me everything.”

“Will do.”

“Thank you.”

We hung up just as Stacey and Molly walked down the short hallway and into the living room. With one look, my stomach dropped. Her face was red and blotchy, and her eyes were bloodshot. I hated that it was a result of something I’d created, even if it wasn’t me who had violated her. I also noted she appeared to not have changed clothes from her date. She was in a strapless black dress, a typical outfit that babies wore on dates.

“Molly, I’m Eddie.” She smiled tightly. “I’m sorry this happened to you.” I scrolled through the photos on my phone as she and Stacey sat on the couch. “Was he your date tonight?”