Chapter 5 - The Ghost from the Past
I left Mara in the safety of the hospital and caught the first flight to Boston.
I found Sarah Jenkins working in a quiet, independent bookstore in the suburbs. When I approached her and showed her my badge, her face went totally ashen.
“I have nothing to say about Evan,” she whispered, pulling me into the back office. “His family ruined my life once. I won't let them do it again.”
“He almost killed my sister two nights ago,” I said softly. “She just gave birth prematurely because he beat her. He’s going to get away with it unless I can establish a pattern of behavior to convince a judge to allow our video evidence.”
Sarah covered her mouth, her eyes filling with tears. “I thought… I hoped he would change. I hoped someone else would fix him.”
“No one fixes men like Evan. They just find new victims to break.”
Sarah sat down heavily. For an hour, she poured out her horrific story. It was identical to Mara's. The charming courtship, the gradual isolation, the sudden, explosive violence, and then the suffocating apologies.
But Sarah had something else.
“When I filed the restraining order,” Sarah said, her voice shaking, “Evan’s mother, Celeste, came to my dorm. She didn't threaten me with violence. She brought a briefcase.”
“She paid you off?”
“She forced me to sign a non-disclosure agreement,” Sarah said bitterly. “She said if I didn't take the money and drop the charges, they would bankrupt my parents with defamation lawsuits. But I kept a copy of the NDA. I kept the bank statements.”
I felt a surge of triumph.
“Sarah,” I said, leaning forward. “An NDA covering up a felony assault is extortion and obstruction of justice. It’s void. If you testify to this, we don't just take down Evan. We take down Celeste, too.”
May you like
She looked at me for a long time. Then, she opened a locked filing cabinet in the corner of her office.
“Let’s burn them to the ground,” she said.
