Problem Child (Jane Doe #2) - Victoria Helen Stone Page 0,91

face, but his eyes can’t help a few darts toward Kayla.

“It’s okay,” I say softly as I lead her over to one of the chairs. “Sit down. You’ll be fine.”

She makes a show of letting go of me reluctantly before she takes a seat, scooting back too far in the chair so that her sandals dangle above the ground.

I take my own seat and cross my legs as the receptionist draws the door slowly closed behind her.

“What the hell is this filth?” Bill Morris growls, slapping the card down on his desk.

“I wouldn’t know, Mr. Morris,” I answer. “It’s illegal to even view that kind of content, as I’m sure you understand.”

“I had no idea what I was looking at!”

“This is Kayla,” I say, gesturing toward the pale girl with her head bent in shame. “Did your brother explain exactly what he was getting you into when he asked for help further terrorizing my niece after sexually abusing her?”

“Your niece.” He’s still angry, his eyes shaded by a cliff of furious brow, but the words come out as a resigned statement instead of a question.

“Yes. Kayla is my niece, and she was fifteen years old when she . . . encountered your sick brother. Since then she’s been stalked by a bald man in an SUV who I believe is in your employ, and that same man assaulted her childhood friend Brodie. Did you know that Brodie was found murdered two days ago? Because I find that very interesting.”

He blinks hard and sits back a little in his huge leather chair. “Excuse me?”

“He didn’t tell you?”

“Who didn’t tell me? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Why don’t you call up your brother and ask him about Brodie, then? He might know him as Little Dog.”

“Ms.—”

“Sir, I’ve worked overseas helping victims of sex trafficking, and I never thought I’d come home to find that my own little niece has been victimized by the same type of monster I fought so hard against in other countries. I assure you that I have taken steps to protect this child, and those steps include storing the proof of this assault in several different safe places, both online and in multiple secure locations with instructions on how to proceed if anything happens to us. This problem will not go away no matter the threats of violence. Kayla is not alone anymore. She’s not the helpless child she was a month ago.”

Kayla sighs and reaches out to touch my hand. I grasp her fingers briefly before she slumps back in on herself. This girl is a master actress, and I have to fight not to let my mouth lift in amusement.

Morris crosses his arms on the table and studies me for a long moment. “And yet you’re here in my office. You haven’t gone to the police.” I see his eyes dart down to the phone on his desk. I imagine he’s recording this, hoping I’ll make an extortion attempt.

“To what end?” I ask. “I have no idea how far your tentacles reach. The only guarantee of consequences to your brother would be making this public, and that would further damage a vulnerable child.”

“I see. So you’re not going to the authorities.”

“Not yet.”

“Right. So how much do you want?”

“How dare you?” I snap. “How dare you treat this as some seedy financial matter! I’m an attorney and an aunt and a decent human being. But, considering your family, maybe you’ve never encountered one of those before and have no idea how to interact with one.”

His confidence has finally slipped a notch. I watch his shoulders drop and I pounce.

“Your brother is a pervert and a danger to the community. If I had any hope at all that we’d find justice, I’d see this through. But look at you, still treating my niece as if she’s the cause of this instead of your predatory, rapist, pedophile brother!”

“I didn’t—”

“You most certainly did. We don’t want your tainted rape money, Mr. Morris. I want your brother to get extensive treatment and my niece wants to get the hell out of this state to somewhere safe. A boy is dead! Do you understand that? My niece might have been murdered already if I hadn’t been the one to find her.”

“I don’t know anything about that. And I can’t force my brother to—”

“Oh, you can make your brother do whatever you want. Don’t feed me that bull. Your specialty in life is pulling strings. Chair of the state board of