“She explained what happens to girls who cross them, and it’s more like psychological warfare rather than anything physical,” he said. “That girl she mentioned to Laney was a member who joined the society a couple of years ago. Last year, while she was still a senior at RFA, she decided she wanted out. The Network allegedly offered her a large sum of money in return for her silence, but she refused and told them she was going to exposethem.”
“Whatthen?”
“The men in the Network systematically destroyed her life. They spread rumors about her to ruin her reputation, took away her scholarship, and blackballed her at every single college in the country so she couldn’t get in anywhere after graduation,” he said. “She works at a small office filing paperwork now. Only job she can get, despite her brains andtalent.”
“So they didn’t hurt her atall?”
“No. Camila told us that she was absolutely certain that nothing physical happens to girls who turn down the hush money and get on the Network’s bad side. Instead their lives are wrecked, opportunities are taken away, and their reputations are shot to hell. That way they have zero credibility, so even if they try to tell anyone about the Network, no one will believethem.”
“Right. But what about everything they did to Laney?” I asked. “Like the thing they did with the floor in that abandoned building. She could’ve been seriously injured. Same goes for my brother, seeing as they attacked him too. And there’s also the video they posted of Laney’s assault to convince her to join them. That’s not just fucking horrible—it’s illegal as all hell. They had to knowthat.”
“Camila denied any knowledge of those events. She said they never bullied Laney into joining, and they never threatened her in that building, either,” he said. “She told us that if a girl doesn’t seem interested in joining after the first meeting, the Medusa girls are meant to gently encourage them in the hopes that they’ll change their mind, and if they remain uninterested, they’re simply written off as a lost cause. They aren’t meant to bully them or threaten them in order to trick them intojoining.”
“But they definitely did all that shit,” I said. “Who else would want to do that toLaney?”
“I’m not saying they didn’t do it. I’m just telling you what Camila toldus.”
I frowned. “I don’t understand why she would tell the truth about the other stuff and lie aboutthis.”
“Frankly, I don’t think she’s lying,” Armstrong replied. “I’d say it’s more likely that she genuinely doesn’t know anything about those things, and she doesn’t know anything about any possible murders that the Network could’ve been involved with, either. They trusted her enough to tell her certain things, but none ofthat.”
“Fair enough.” I scrubbed a hand across my face and sighed. “So what’s actually happening with the murder stuff, then? You believe us about that, don’tyou?”
He was silent for a moment. “There’s currently no evidence tying your father or any other Network members to Vera Everett’s death. Nothing tying them to your sister’s death, either,” he finally said. “But once they’ve all been arrested for the sex trafficking charges, we’ll be launching a secondary investigation into thematter.”
“So Vera Everett was definitely killed, then?” Iasked.
Armstrong let out a short sigh. “We don’t know. She vanished with her older brother in 1995 during a family camping trip in the national park that borders RFA. At the time, it was assumed they got lost on an afternoon hike and eventually succumbed to the elements,” he said. “But like I said before, we’ll be reopening that case and launching a full investigation, because now that we know about the Network and their association with Vera—and possibly your sister too—there’s definitely some suspicionthere.”
“Right.” I rubbed the back of my neck and looked over at Laney, who was listening to the whole conversation with wide eyes. “What’s going to happen with the othercharges?”
“That’s actually the main reason I called. The arrests are happening today. I figured you and Laney would want toknow.”
My brows shot up. “Today?”
“Yes. Most of the men are in Royal Falls right now, but there are three in New York on business trips, and two in Chicago as well, so we’re coordinating with the field offices in those locations to make sure the arrests happen at precisely the same time. That way none of them can warn any of the others. They’ll all go downtogether.”
My lips twitched with amusement as I pictured fifty-plus men being arrested at the exact same time. It was like what Laney said the other day—they were cutting every tentacle off at once. “That’s gonna behuge.”
“Yes, it is. Our field office is too small to handle it alone, so we’re getting help sent up from Boston,” he said. “There are going to be arrests made at your school,too.”
“Really?”
“Yes. As I said earlier, Camila Valmont has been a goldmine of information for us,” he replied. “Turns out the headmaster at RFA—Gerald Sanders—and several members of the school board are involved in the Network scheme. They aren’t actually members of the society, but they’re aware of it, and they’ve been taking massive bribes to help them keep it all covered up while they operate at theschool.”
“Fuck…” I shook my head and exhaled deeply. “That’scrazy.”
“Yeah, this whole thing seems to go pretty deep,” Armstrong said in a grim tone. “But it’s over now. At four o’clock this afternoon, your whole town is going to be crawling with federalagents.”
I gritted my teeth. “Good.”
There was another pause. “Icantrust you to keep all of this to yourself, right?” he said. “If it gets out that I’ve shared information with someone outside the case, that’s my whole career down the toilet. Plus it could jeopardize this entireoperation.”
“I promise we won’t say a word,” I replied. “Honestly, I’m just grateful that you called and told us anything atall.”
“Well, I figured you might be wondering what’s happening. Also figured you deserved an update, seeing as we wouldn’t have even known about the Network if it wasn’t for you two.” He hesitated and cleared his throat. “You really should be proud of yourselves. Without you, this organization could’ve continued to run and take advantage of countless young women for years tocome.”
“Could’ve continued to kill them,too.”