It’s like my subconscious knew when I began calling her Angel. I’ve never called anyone else this. Only her. My very own healing angel, who’s changed me in more ways than she will ever know.
“Haveyouseen it?” Stuart asks, finally breaking the heavy silence.
“No. I don’t need to.” I squeeze my eyes shut. I don’t remember much of it at all. Why would I want to watch it? Then it would be complete in my mind. Something I have no interest in ever thinking of again.
“Don’t you think—?”
“No. I do not think. Griffin said the quality is so poor that he can’t even make out her face. If I thought she might be identifiable, then maybe it would be worth dragging it all up. But she isn’t. Griffin said she has her back to the camera most of the time. It’s just a fuzzy image from a random night years ago,” I mutter, hating that it’s intent on haunting me after all this time.
Stu leans back in his chair and blows out a long breath.
“So, how do you know about it?” I ask.
“Griffin.”
I purse my lips. “He came to you?”
“In a way.” Stu loosens his tie and runs a hand around his jaw. “I knew about the assault already.”
He pauses. Maybe he’s expecting a reaction from me. But he doesn’t get one. I sit deathly silent and still as I listen.
“I’ve known about it since before I agreed to be your campaign manager. I do a full background check on everyone I work with. It’s my job to pre-empt any situations where your past could be used as a weapon. I saw your medical records with the therapy sessions. I didn’t see the notes. But I saw the sessions you were recommended to attend for Rape Survivors. And that you only attended one.”
I grunt.
I didn’t need to talk about it any more than I already was. I wanted to move on as fast as I could and leave it behind me. Talking to my therapist helped. But his suggestion that announcing it in front of a room of strangers might be helpful just made me want to try to throw myself off a tall building again. And I know Griffin would kill me himself if I tried to pull anything like that again.
I crack my knuckles absentmindedly as Stuart continues.
“Griffin came to me after Harley asked him for help. He wanted details on every opponent you were up against, every vocal member of the public who wasn’t in support of you. He wanted anything I had that might lead him to who sent that video. But all he would tell me was that someone was trying to hurt you. And that they were using Harley to do it. I knew there wasn’t anything else it could be. It only took a purposefully loaded comment from me, to test Griffin’s reaction, to confirm I was correct.”
“That must have been cozy for the two of you. Playing white knights for poor damsel Reed,” I snipe.
“Don’t be an ass. We’re doing it because you and Harley are our friends. We wanted to wait a couple of days until we told you. We hoped we would have found out who sent it first. Griffin knew you would want to make them pay. I would too. For what they’re putting you through—”
“What they’re putting Harley through.” I stop cracking my knuckles and stare at him. “I couldn’t give a shit about me. I was there. I lived through it. A video is nothing in comparison.”
“They’re threatening to make it public.”
“No. They’re threatening Harley. Telling her that she’s the one who will make it go public if she doesn’t do their dirty work for them. They’re reliant on her. If they release it, they have nothing.”
“They might release it if she doesn’t do what they want. There’s no way to know if they’re bluffing or not.”
“Fuckers,” I hiss.
They have her cornered and they know it. If she tries to do what they’re asking, then she’s betraying me. If she doesn’t do it, or she tries and fails, then they say they’ll release it. Either way, she feels like she loses. No wonder she’s been so emotional. Her moving out, telling me it was the spotlight she didn’t want, and that our relationship was moving too fast. It’s all a load of shit. It’s what she thought she had to tell me because she had no choice.
They took it from her.
Just like my choice was taken from me that night.
“We need to find them,” I say to Stuart. “I know Harley. She will torture herself with this until we do. I can’t let them keep hurting her. This should be my problem, not hers.”
“Try telling her that. She’s fighting for you, Reed. She could have walked away, not wanting to get involved, and left it at that. But she didn’t. She went to Griffin, your best friend, whom she knows you trust with your life. And she begged him to help and not tell you. He obviously didn’t listen to the second part, and I’m glad. But she did all of that. And then she took herself away from you to buy time while she figured out her next move. She’s smart.”
“I know. She’s incredible.” I lean my head into my hands and fist my fingers into my hair. “She’s fucking incredible,” I whisper.
The pink outfits, the blonde hair, the animal videos, and the talking to plants. People might assume Harley isn’t bright. But they’d be wrong. She’s dazzling. And to underestimate her would be a mistake. And what’s more, she’s strong. My girl is so fucking strong.