Then he does the same thing to Aurora.
“We have a lot of evidence to go through and we do not like to go public before we have all of our ducks in a row but Henry told me that that was the only way you were going to do it. In either case, I appreciate all the investigative work you two have done. We’re going to do our best to make those assholes pay for it.”
We talk a little bit more about the details of the legal process to come but when I see Aurora’s eyes glazing over and the tiredness that has built up from the last few months catching up with her, I cut the conversation short.
“This has been quite a stressful day for us, Agent Richter. I hope you don’t mind but we would like to go home, get some rest, and regroup. If you need us for anything, we are always available.”
“That’s a very good idea, son,” he says.
After watching him walk out of the room, I reach over and grab Aurora’s hand. I interlace my fingers with hers and squeeze tightly.
35
Henry
The next two weeks are a blur. We spend most of them in bed and the rest talking to authorities and giving statements. Everyone wants to hear everything firsthand.
That’s okay.
We want to tell the story. The world deserves to know. There are, of course, hundreds of opposing articles written by Franklin’s people and the defenders of all of those powerful men that went down with him but that doesn’t stop us.
Whoever believes us, believes us. We try to control the narrative as much as we can by saying yes to as many interviews as possible but at some point, it all becomes too much.
Then, we get the bad news.
“Franklin has made bail,” Aurora says, rushing over to me with her phone.
We stare at the screen.
I don’t believe the headline.
Aurora doesn’t either. She goes to Google News and scrolls through ten others that say basically the same thing.
“How could they let him out?” she asks. “Don’t they know who he is?”
I shake my head. “I guess that’s the point of the trial.” I want to say but I know better.
Franklin Parks got out because he had the money and the power to get out. He hired the right lawyers and they made the right deals.
Besides, what did we expect? That the most powerful man running the most powerful media company in the world is actually going to waste away in prison awaiting trial?
“I need to go there,” Aurora says. “He’s getting out this afternoon and I want to be there.”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” I say.
She shakes her head no and says, “I don’t care.”
“Why?” I ask. “Why do you want to be there?”
“I don’t know, I just feel like I have to. I want to make sure that this is actually happening.”
We both know that this is a terrible idea but we both go anyway.
When we get to the courthouse, there are reporters and onlookers surrounding the place. The police have roped off parts of it but this is public property and everyone is entitled to be here.
Aurora pushes her way to the front and stands right behind the rope.
“You shouldn’t be here,” I whisper, but she ignores me.
She’s wearing a hoodie and dark sunglasses and I hope that none of the reporters will recognize her.
So far, so good.
“Let’s stay a little bit in the back.” I try to urge her and pull her away but she just nudges my hand off her shoulder.
“I have to be here. I have to see him walk out,” Aurora says.
“Please don’t do anything,” I plead. I have a feeling that something terrible is about to happen.
She shakes her head.
“He’s not worth it. I don’t want this to be any worse for you.”
But she ignores me. I wait beside her with a cloud of impending doom around me. I can’t predict the future but I know that we shouldn’t be here. I need to save her. I need to take her away, but she refuses to budge.
Time passes slowly. The next ten minutes feel like an hour.
Finally, the doors open and Franklin comes out surrounded by his army of attorneys.
He makes a brief statement at the top of the steps but then he breaks away and starts to walk down. I glance over at Aurora and watch her eyes laser-focused on him.
She clenches her jaw. Her hands are buried in the pockets of her hoodie but I can see that they are formed into fists. My head starts to pound along with my heart.
What is she going to do?
How can I stop her?
If she runs out and attacks him…the story will become all about her.
There are cameras and phones everywhere. If she were to do anything to him, even look at him funny, it will only diminish her credibility as a witness later on.
I put my hand on the small of her back, but she shrugs me off.
I steady myself for whatever is to come. If she makes a move, I’ll stop her.
“Please don’t do anything,” I whisper into her ear over and over again. “If you do, this whole thing will become about you. And it’s about him.”
“I’m not going to do anything,” she says. “I just want to see the son-of-a-bitch.”
But I don’t believe her.
Franklin walks down a few steps, holding his head up high. I’m staring right at him, and suddenly our eyes meet. He follows my gaze toward Aurora and gives her small, arrogant little smile that says, ‘See, I told you. No one’s going to believe a word you say and I’m gonna get away with everything.’
I don’t take the bait and watch Aurora to make sure she doesn’t either. I tense every muscle in my body, prepared to stop her if she were to even make a flinch in his direction.
Suddenly, the sound of a car backfiring startles me.
A moment later, I realize that it’s a gunshot.
Two more follow.
I grab Aurora and cover her body with my own. I feel her breathing underneath me and hear the beating of my own heart in between my ears.
When I look up, I see Franklin lying on the steps and three puddles of blood growing wider and wider over the steps below him.
Epilogue
Aurora
When I told Henry that I wanted to go to the courthouse to see Franklin, he was worried that I was going to be the one to attack him. What he didn’t expect was that there are other people who have been hurt a lot worse than I have.
What none of us who stood on those white steps knew was the pain of the father who tried to avenge his daughter. The girl was sexually assaulted and raped by my husband and his friends, all prominent men with private planes to their names. Franklin had recorded this scene as well, and the FBI found it on another computer at another one of his homes.
Franklin Parks did not survive the attack. He died on the scene and I wasn’t even a little bit sorry for that.
Afterward, through a lot of paperwork and with the help of many attorneys, Tate Media became mine.
My father had transferred the majority stakeholder position to Franklin shortly before he was arrested and after his death, I had inherited it along with all of the other properties that he had to his name.