Chapter 4 - The Video They Couldn't Buy
Bryce had ordered Nathan Cole to film everything.
Nathan still had the phone.
When Daniel recovered it, Bryce stopped acting arrogant.
"That's private property!"
Jude held out his hand.
Daniel gave him the device.
The recording lasted fifty-three seconds.
I couldn't watch.
Jude did.
His face never changed.
When the sound of my shoulder dislocating came through the speaker, however, his thumb stopped the video.
Silence.
Bryce looked around desperately.
"You can't use that."
I laughed bitterly.
"Why? Doesn't show your good side?"
"This will ruin people's lives."
I stared at him.
"You mean yours."
Tyler finally turned on Bryce.
"You said nobody would get hurt."
"Shut up."
"You said we'd scare her!"
Bryce shoved him.
Suddenly everyone was talking.
"You grabbed her first."
"You were laughing."
"You filmed it!"
"You paid Vaughn!"
Jude watched the alliance collapse without saying a word.
Then he looked at Daniel.
"Call the district attorney."
Bryce froze.
"What?"
"Also call the NYPD."
"Jude," Daniel said quietly.
Jude understood the question.
Mercer House traditionally handled its problems privately.
This time he shook his head.
"No."
He looked at me.
"This one happens in daylight."
Bryce stepped forward.
"My father will bury this."
Jude smiled for the first time.
It wasn't pleasant.
"That's why copies of the evidence are already with three attorneys."
Bryce stopped.
"Two independent servers," Daniel added.
Jude looked at him.
"And?"
Daniel understood.
"And a journalist, if anything disappears."
Bryce stared.
"You planned all that tonight?"
"No."
Jude adjusted his cuffs.
"I've spent my entire life dealing with men who think destroying evidence makes truth disappear."
Sirens sounded outside.
For the first time, I breathed.
But Jude wasn't finished.
He addressed the eight men.
"By sunrise, every one of you will be gone from this house."
Bryce laughed nervously.
"That's your big revenge? Police?"
"No revenge."
Jude's gaze hardened.
"Consequences."
Police entered Mercer House at 2:04 a.m.
Statements were taken.
Phones were collected.
Peter Vaughn was detained for questioning.
Several attorneys arrived.
Then parents.
Senator Crawford came personally.
He marched into the library.
"Where is my son?"
Jude pointed.
Tyler sat beside an officer.
The senator lowered his voice.
"Mercer. We should discuss this privately."
"No."
"There are families involved."
"There was a woman involved too."
The senator glanced at me.
Barely.
That was enough.
Jude noticed.
"Her name is Audrey Sinclair."
"I understand."
"No. You looked at her like furniture."
The senator's face reddened.
"Be reasonable."
"I am."
"You could end eight careers tonight."
Jude's voice turned cold.
"They made that decision before I entered the coatroom."
The senator left without another word.
By 4:30, Bryce and the others were escorted from Mercer House.
Not disappeared into Jude Mercer's criminal empire.
Not beaten.
Not killed.
Something worse for men who had always hidden behind powerful families.
They left beneath camera flashes.
Their names attached to police reports.
Their parents unable to erase what had happened.
As Bryce passed me, he whispered, "You'll regret this."
Jude heard him.
He stepped forward.
Bryce flinched.
But Jude simply said, "No contact with Ms. Sinclair. Ever."
Bryce smiled weakly.
"You can't protect her forever."
Jude looked at him.
"I won't need to."
He nodded toward the officers.
"The law gets its turn now."
Bryce was taken outside.
At 5:03 a.m., the front doors closed.
Every one of them was gone.
I should have felt victorious.
Instead, my legs gave out.
Jude caught me before I hit the floor.
"Audrey."
"I'm fine."
"You're terrible at lying."
"Occupational skill."
May you like
His arm tightened around me.
For the first time in three years, I stopped trying to stand alone.
