“I went home and I showered. I took shower after shower, scrubbing him off me. And I cried half the night. Useless, useless. Then I started to get mad, and that was better. I went straight into Delray in the morning, and I told anybody who’d listen what happened. And just like he said, nobody believed me. Or if they did, they weren’t going to go up against Cooke.
“I didn’t get the contract, big surprise.” Bitter now, hard and brittle as ice. “I got fired from the decent gigs I had. I couldn’t get another gig in a good venue. He spread the word I was a troublemaker, a drunk, that I used, stole—the works. So now I take whatever gig I can get to make the rent.”
Eve gave it another beat to be sure Jacie had finished.
“Jacie, do you want to file charges?”
“With what?” It all but exploded out of her. “It’s my word against his, so I’ve got nothing.”
Peabody reached over, laid a hand over Jacie’s. “Do you think you were the only one?”
“I— Probably not. No, not the only one, but that doesn’t make me less of a nobody. He’s the star-maker. Who’s going to believe me?”
“We do,” Eve said simply.
Her breath hitched, tore, and the tears rolled down again. “If I try to go after him for it now, after all this time, I will be singing on street corners.”
“No, you won’t. But we’ll leave that for now. You told this story, identified the man who raped you, in your support group.”
“That’s the whole point of the group.”
“Did anyone speak to you more about it, outside of the group?”
“Yeah, some of us went for coffee and bitch sessions after. I did that sometimes.”
“I need names, full names if you have them. We need to talk to them the way we’re talking to you.”
“It doesn’t feel right.”
“We’ve already talked to Jasmine Quirk, Leah Lester, Darla Pettigrew, Una Ruzaki, Rachel Fassley. And Natalia. We have interviews scheduled with Mae Ming, Sasha Cullins, and Bree Macgowan.”
Jacie pressed her lips together. “I don’t know a Jasmine or Leah from group.”
“Jasmine moved away, and Leah hasn’t been for a while,” Peabody told her. “Do you know the other women the lieutenant mentioned? Were they part of your coffee sessions?”
“It’s not always the same people. I can’t always go after the meeting. But I’ve had coffee with everyone you mentioned. Honestly, the only other one I know like that is Sherri Brinkman. Another one dumped by an ex for a younger, but not before he gave her an STD, and pretty much hosed her in the divorce because he’s the one with all the money and the lawyers. She’s like sixty, and maybe hits five-two, a hundred and ten. There’s no way she could do what’s in that folder.”
“Okay. Can you give me an idea how long she’s been in the group?”
“She was part of it before I started going in October.”
“Jacie, when we talk to her, when we talk to the others,” Peabody said gently, “we’re not the enemy. We need to find who’s responsible for these murders, but that doesn’t make us the enemy.”
When Jacie shrugged, stared down at the table, Eve leaned back. “Do you know Mavis Freestone?”
Jacie looked up with a smirk. “Oh sure, me and Mavis, we’re tight. We have lunch every week. Jesus.”
Eve pulled out one of her cards. “Peabody, do you have something to write with?”
Peabody dug out a pencil, handed it over.
“Still got that audition recording?”
“I’ve got my copy, sure.”
“Give me an hour, then tag Mavis at this number. Tell her as much or as little as you want, but tell her Dallas said she should listen to your audition recording.”
Jacie took the card, stared at it. “Are you bullshitting me?”