“What did he do to get kicked out of school?” I asked.
“Brandon and his fraternity brothers used date-rape drugs on some girls, one of whom was the daughter of a pretty powerful federal judge. And there was another who was engaged to be married into a prominent family,” she said in a rush.
I felt my stomach tighten, and my mind went into overdrive as I jumped to a conclusion that made me freeze. My brain began to overload as my thoughts raced in circles of could he … did he … why would he … he’d never …
I felt Megan touch my arm.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
Was I okay? No! My mouth was parched like I was hungover, and my head began to pound.
“Tell me,” I croaked out.
“Brandon did it to your friends. I heard him bragging to one of his friends at the firm. He talked about sleeping with your girlfriend while she was completely out of it and pinning it on your other friend. David, he’s evil,” Megan said.
I suddenly felt my mouth fill with saliva, a sure sign my stomach was about to rebel. I opened the car door and leaned out just in time to throw up. Mom saw me and started to come over, but I gave her a tight headshake and held up my hand. Leaning back into the car, I turned to Megan, who looked frightened.
“I’m sorry, but he raped my best friend. I need to know why.”
“Brandon said you needed to be unmasked as the fraud you are. He said no one could be as good as you were; that he stuck it to you. They both thought it was funny that the hometown hero couldn’t figure out he’d slept with your girl. They were joking about how he could so easily destroy your friendship with your other best friend.”
Unmasked? What Brandon didn’t know was that I just might kill him for this. I felt an inner fury I didn’t even know existed. Unmasked? We would see who would be unmasked.
My expression must have been deadly. Megan looked at me and shrank back against the door.
I caught myself and tried to calm down. I spoke softly to her, even though it took everything I had to control my rage.
“Please don’t tell anyone you told me. If you ever need anything, I’m in your debt. I’m sure it was hard for you, and I appreciate you having the courage to share that.”
“Don’t do anything stupid. Brandon’s not worth it,” Megan said.
That was precisely what I wanted to do, but she was right. I needed to be careful, or I’d be doing time.
“Do me a favor. Send me everything you found out about him.”
“What do you plan to do?” she asked.
“Not sure yet, but I agree, I can’t go off half-cocked. I’ll have to be smart about whatever I do.”
She nodded and then gave me a tight-lipped smile, which confused me because this was no laughing matter.
“I was scared to tell you. Thank you for not shooting the messenger.”
I just nodded, and she got out of the car. My mom came and sat in the front seat.
“Are you okay? Are you getting sick?” she asked and felt my forehead.
“No, I’m fine. Megan just told me something that upset me. Can you do me a huge favor and not force me to tell you right now? I want to think about what she said,” I begged.
“My first instinct is to make you tell me. I can tell it’s something bad. All I ask is that before you do something, you come and talk to me.”
I was relieved when she said that, so I just nodded and changed the subject.
“Do you think we’ll get it for what I’m asking?”
“Maybe once or twice a year I find a deal like this where I have a buyer ready to pull the trigger and a seller impatient to get out. I believe you have a chance of him accepting. His realtor sounded desperate when I talked to him. I think the owner’s about to go bankrupt.”
“I trust you and Caryn to do the right thing. If you need to negotiate, do what you have to,” I said.
“Don’t trust me too much!” Mom teased.
“Thanks,” I said. “I’m going to take a drive and think. I’ll get something to eat, so don’t expect me for dinner.”
“You sure you don’t want to talk?” she asked.
“Not now, Mom. You know I will when I’m ready.”
“All right, but remember your dad and I are here for you.”
I just nodded again as my mom gave me one of her soul-searching looks. She started to say something, but decided against it and got out of the car.
“I love you,” she said as she closed the door.
That was what I was counting on.
◊◊◊
Chapter 3 – Liars Monday January 25
Last night had been an emotional roller coaster. The Alpha Male in me wanted to simply find Brandon and end his miserable life, and it had been a close call whether I would. I finally had to force myself to come home because the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to beat the living snot out of him.
What finally stopped me was the thought of what would happen if I were caught. The fallout could lose me my upcoming movies, and I’d already started spending my signing bonus from the next two Star Academy films.
Something else that kept me from moving forward with my plan was that both Brandon’s uncle and, if memory served, his dad, were well connected. His uncle was already unhappy with me. I imagined they might make my life difficult in more ways than I was willing to deal with. I’d just gone through a mess for something I hadn’t done and had no need to do it again for something I really did do.
When I arrived home and checked my email, I found that Megan had sent me all her research. The fraternity in question was suspected of inappropriate behavior with their female guests. There had been three complaints lodged by girls over the preceding two years. But there was never any physical evidence, so it became a ‘he said/she said’ thing. Many of the men in the fraternity were well connected, just like Brandon was.
Megan hinted that there might be more to this, since there may have been women who weren’t willing to come forward. That got me thinking: how could Tami accuse him after the fact? Yes, Megan could testify about what she heard, but there was no physical evidence of a crime. I would need to talk to Ms. Dixon to see what our legal remedies might be.
Then my thoughts had turned inward to my role in the whole mess. I’d hired Brandon to be my PA and help with recruiting. Yes, Rigby, Thompson and Associates had sent him to me, but I’d not had a background check done on him. I realized my accusations of Teddy Wesleyan had come back to bite me in the butt. I’d chastised him for thinking everyone was out to get his money; meanwhile, I’d been too trusting. While Brandon wasn’t after my money, he was after me. Some people couldn’t stand my success. I hated that I needed to be on guard for possibilities like this, but I planned to have Caryn check on all our employees, including Kendal and Megan.
It also made sense to investigate the people our charities were giving money to. The headlines almost wrote themselves: ‘Dawson Gives Money to Mass Murderer.’ Not the sort of publicity I wanted.
The realization that I hadn’t done my due diligence, and that Tami really didn’t have a way to punish Brandon, made me take an emotional dive. I was instrumental in my best friend being raped. Add to it that he said the reason he did it was to take me down and ‘unmask’ me.
I thought about my behavior afterward. If I’d known, I would’ve done anything I could for Tami. Instead, I pushed her away and used it to help get over the hurt of her final rejection of me during the summer. The sad part was I realized it had worked: even now, despite knowing she’d been violated, I had no desire to be more than friends with her. It was a measure of self-preservation; I couldn’t risk her being anything more than a friend.
I was finally honest with myself: Tami and I would never have our someday. Finally admitting that to myself, I could move forward and just be friends with her. My Alpha Male side still wanted to claim her, but I needed to start thinking of her like the rest of the Wesleyan girls. They were friends that I sometimes had fun with. If I were told that Missy had found a boyfriend, I would be happy for her. Tami deserved her happiness without worrying about how her best friend would react.