Hard to Fight (Alpha's Heart, #1)(63)

I sigh with relief. “Thank God for that. Is he in holding?”

“Yeah, you can see him when you’re ready. Boss, before you do, there’s something else.”

I stare at him with an expression that tells him to hurry the hell up.

“A girl came in after the story on the news last night, she said she had information she believed would help us.”

They’ve been running Raide’s face on the news for a few days now, but last night they did a big feature that included naming Dean as a new suspect.

“What does she want?”

“She says she was in a relationship with Dean a few years before he was with Kelly. She says … Boss, she says he beat and raped her.”

I flinch. “You’re serious?”

“Deadly. She’s in the waiting room.”

“Name?”

“Janet Liason.”

I stand. “Take her into a private room. I’ll talk with her now.”

He nods and disappears. My chest fills with hope. Something like this could be exactly what we need to clear Raide’s name. I finish my cup of coffee and pull out a notepad and recorder, then I head into the room she’s been placed in. I open the door and she looks up. She’s terrified, I can tell. Her face is pale and her eyes are wide. She’s a fairly average girl, with mousy brown hair and big green eyes.

“You must be Janet,” I say, shutting the door softly behind me. “My name is Detective Peterson, but you can just call me York.”

She forces a wobbly smile and I sit. “I’ve been told you have come forward with some information that might help a case of ours.”

She nods. “I—I’m really scared,” she croaks. “Will he … I mean … Will he hurt me if I tell?”

Fuck. “We’ll do whatever we have to to protect you, Janet. I promise.”

She nods. “I didn’t come in earlier, I know I should have but—”

“You weren’t ready,” I finish for her. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

She visibly swallows and looks up at me with broken green eyes. I’d like to kill Dean for the pain he’s left on her face.

“W-w-w-where do I start?” she stammers.

“From the beginning, I’m in no rush.”

“I met Dean at a friend’s house,” she begins. “He was charming and sweet and he noticed me. No one notices me, so I was instantly drawn to him. We chatted and he asked me on a date. I accepted. We began dating and after four months, I noticed he’d started to change. He got angry at me all the time, especially when I told him I wasn’t ready to”—her cheeks go pink—“you know.…”

“Yes, go on.”

“One night, he set up this big date for us. He took me to dinner, brought me jewelry and flowers, he even lit candles. It was beautiful. When we got home, he started pushing himself on me. When I refused, he got angry. He wanted to know what more I needed. He’d done everything right, so why the hell wasn’t I giving it up. We got into a fight and—” She swallows.

“Take your time, Janet.”

She takes a few deep breaths. “He hit me. I was so shocked, so broken that I didn’t fight him when he pushed himself onto me. He raped me and I didn’t even fight.” Tears burst forth and she starts sobbing.

“Janet,” I say gently. “It wasn’t your fault. You were scared.”

“I was numb,” she cries. “I couldn’t even move.”

God, the poor woman.

“After that,” she goes on before I can respond, “after that he kept hitting me. Eventually, I ran from him. I had family two states away so I fled. I didn’t see him again.”

“You’re doing the right thing, reporting this.”

She nods. “He’s a bad man, and … well, I saw the news and they asked if anyone had information … I know it’s not going to help the case but I—”

“Janet, what you’ve done here today is very brave and I promise you, it will help in more ways than you can imagine.”

Dean, you’re going down.

*

“I don’t know why I’m here!” Dean spits, jerking in his cuffs. “I was just having a beer.”

“You know exactly why you’re here, Dean,” I say, leaning back in my chair.

“I don’t.”

“You do. Tell me about the death of Kelly Knox.”

He squirms. “I’ve told you everything about that.”

I shrug. “I’d like to hear it again.”

He bares his teeth and growls, “There ain’t nothin’ to tell. That psycho came in there and beat her, then he stabbed her. When I tried to help, he beat me and was going to kill me, too.”

“Why did he just come in and beat his own sister?”

“Because he’s f*cking nuts.”

“That’s not an answer.”

Dean glares at me. “How the f*ck should I know? He was crazy. He was so controlling over her. Didn’t want her near me. She defied him and he didn’t like it.”

“So you’re telling me he killed her because she wouldn’t stay away from you?”

“Yes.”