The Night Swim(19)

It was an open secret in Neapolis that Kelly Moore was the complainant in the Blair rape trial, even though the media was withholding her name from publication. Theoretically, the anonymity gave her a measure of privacy, but Dan told Rachel when they’d last spoken on the phone that it was a double-edged sword. It silenced Kelly and her family at a time when the Blairs were using every means possible to win public relations points ahead of the trial.

It didn’t help that the prosecutor’s office had insisted that the Moore family refuse all media requests until after the trial, even requests from TV news networks promising to film Kelly and her parents as dark silhouettes and disguise their voices to maintain Kelly’s anonymity. “The prosecutor’s office is worried it could backfire. Hurt the case. We can’t let that happen,” he’d told Rachel in a past conversation when she’d pressed for an interview.

Dan Moore’s view had changed that morning when he read an article in the Neapolis Gazette that quoted “friends of the Blair family” as saying that Scott was severely depressed. “He’s lost everything. His career. His friends. His good name. There are days when he wonders if there is anything left to live for. He is struggling to cope. It’s heartbreaking seeing him like this,” an unnamed family friend told reporters.

When Dan saw the article, he felt as if he’d been sucker-punched. His daughter, with whom he’d always had a close relationship, now shrank if he came near her. He couldn’t so much as bend toward her to press a goodnight kiss against her temple without her flinching. She’d sit for hours scratching her arms until the skin was raw. She barely ate. She was morose. Uninterested in everything. She’d changed almost beyond recognition since she was raped.

Dan was so furious that Scott Blair was being presented as the victim to the public that he telephoned Rachel that afternoon, his voice still trembling with anger when she answered his call. He told her that he was ready to talk. She wasn’t allowed to quote him, but at least she’d know Kelly’s side of the story. The only proviso was that Rachel had to come to his house and she had to do it late at night after his wife and daughter were asleep.

Rachel helped Dan get comfortable with her by asking a string of questions about Kelly’s childhood. He reeled off his daughter’s many accomplishments. She was a good student, athletic, and a great dancer. She’d won a lead role in the school musical in junior high. He told Rachel that one of his proudest moments as a father was when Kelly asked her friends for donations for hurricane victims in Haiti in lieu of presents for her fourteenth birthday. “Kelly was always full of energy. She wanted to change the world,” he said. “These days she can barely get out of bed.”

Rachel examined a framed photo of Kelly with her parents, taken after the junior high musical. Kelly had the same lustrous dark hair and dimples as her mother. Her hazel eyes sparkled in the photo as she smiled for the camera.

“You wouldn’t recognize Kelly now. She’s a different girl. In appearance and in personality. All that confidence; gone. She’s gaunt and so on edge we worry she’s going to shatter,” Dan said.

“It sounds as if the past few months have been incredibly difficult. Not just for Kelly but for the rest of the family as well,” said Rachel sympathetically.

“You can’t begin to imagine,” said Dan, unconsciously rubbing his temple. “The family of that animal have hired a public relations company to help them portray Scott as a victim of an unhinged teenage girl who turned on him when he dumped her. They’ll lie their way to an acquittal. People will believe them. They already do.”

“What happened that night? I’ve heard scraps of information, but I haven’t heard Kelly’s story.”

“I told you on the phone, the prosecutor specifically said we shouldn’t discuss Kelly’s testimony. I can’t say anything that could jeopardize our case.”

“I won’t tell the DA’s office, if you don’t,” Rachel pushed.

“My dad was a cop. I was taught to respect officers of the law,” he responded.

Rachel had been in town long enough to learn that Dan Moore’s dad was the town’s legendary police chief, Russ Moore, who’d served for nearly two decades. A street had been named after Russ Moore when he retired from the force. Some of the locals in the Blair family camp said the case against Scott Blair was so weak that he would never have been charged if Kelly hadn’t been Russ Moore’s granddaughter. Rachel was curious to see what Russ Moore looked like, and she was a little disappointed that Dan didn’t have a single photograph of his renowned father in his collection of framed family photos on display.

“You didn’t want to follow in your dad’s footsteps and go into law enforcement?” Rachel asked.

“It wasn’t easy being the son of the police chief. I needed to find my own way,” Dan explained. “The navy gave me that opportunity.”

Dan had returned to Neapolis after leaving the navy and started a moderately successful tour boat business. He employed five people full-time and another ten during the tourist season. He had four cruisers and a couple of speedboats. They were owned mostly by the bank.

“I’ve been throwing myself into work the last few months. It’s peak season. Even though the trial is coming up, there’s not much I can do except be there for Kelly. I’m grateful we have the best prosecutor around on the case. If anyone can get that son of a bitch locked up, then it’s Mitch Alkins. He’s always been a fighter. Even when he was in preschool.”