“Do you mind making copies for me?” Hailey asked her, and Jane beamed.
“Of course not.” She was pleased that Hailey had faith in her comments and was going to show Francine the three manuscripts to decide if they should invite the unknown authors to become clients of the agency. They were always looking for new talent. Jane headed to the copy room with the manuscripts, and had just fed one of them into the machine, when Dan Fletcher followed her in. She hadn’t noticed. She had her back to the door and the machines were noisy, so she hadn’t heard him, or the door close behind him. She was standing in front of the copy machine, when suddenly she felt his full weight behind her as he crushed her against the machine, reached around her, and fondled her breasts. He was a tall, heavyset man, and for a moment she was so startled and frightened, she couldn’t scream or fight back. She squirmed around to face him to push him away, and he continued to lean his full weight against her to pin her against the machine, and ran a hand up under her skirt and into the thong she had worn to avoid panty lines in her skirt. He pulled the thong down easily with a firm grip and forced his fingers into her. She struggled and slapped him as hard as she could, and he had the mark of her hand on his face as she fought free of him and the copy machine kept churning.
“You pig!” she shouted at him, but no one could hear them in the small soundproof room with the big copy machine working. And no one could see them with the door closed.
“I can get you fired anytime I want to, you little bitch. You think you’re such a smart-ass. Come to my office at lunchtime and blow me or you’re out of a job,” he said in a voice filled with venom and anger as he rubbed his cheek where she had slapped him, but it had gotten his hand out of her at least.
“You sick old fuck. I warned you,” she said, shaking with rage. She pulled the door open and walked out of the copy room and ran back to her office without the manuscripts. He emerged a few minutes later and hurried down the hall to his corner office.
Julia had seen Jane rush into her office. “Problems with the copy machine?” she asked her. “We need new ones. The damn thing nearly ate a manuscript of mine yesterday.” Jane sat down then and Julia could see that she was shaking. “Are you okay?” Jane nodded and didn’t answer her, and a few minutes later she went back to the copy room and got the manuscripts and the copies. She looked calmer when she came back to the office and put them on Hailey’s desk for Francine.
It was almost lunchtime, and as soon as Julia left for lunch and Jane was alone, she made a phone call. She knew exactly who to call, and when she said who she was and where she worked, she got an appointment for six o’clock that night.
Hailey hung up the phone in her office, looking pleased. She had found a sitter for Friday night. Xena said she’d do it, and she’d bring Pamela, her dog, with her. The kids would be thrilled. She called Phillip then to tell him, and he was happy too.
“I’ll pick you up at eight,” he said, “or is that too early or too late? I don’t know how that works with the kids.”
“It’s perfect,” she said. He knew exactly where he wanted to take her to celebrate his number one book. “I might have the first draft of the new one to give you by then.” He sounded pleased. He’d been working nonstop since he’d gotten home, energized by the success of the trip.
The news was still full of stories about Rod Talbott, and additional victims coming forward to accuse him. Everyone at the agency was talking about it. His fall from grace into disgrace had been rapid.
“That’s going to be Dan Fletcher one of these days,” Merriwether said, looking worried when Bob stopped by her office to see how she was.
“He’s a seducer, not a rapist,” Bob commented. “And as far as I know, he plays with consenting adults.” But he worried about Dan too. Especially when he drank too much, which seemed to be happening more frequently lately when he went out for long lunches with his friends. Bob sat and talked to Merriwether for a while, and asked her how things were going at home. They had become confidants ever since she’d told him about her problems with Jeff. She looked stressed when she talked about it. Her previously happy marriage seemed to be going down the tubes.
The agency was quiet for the rest of the afternoon, and Jane stayed at her desk, keeping busy. She left at five-thirty and walked to Martha Wick’s office for her six o’clock appointment. Martha was a tall, attractive woman in her early fifties with gray hair. Jane was led into her office. She invited her to sit down and listened to her story with rapt attention. Nothing about it surprised her.
“It’s a wonder this didn’t happen to him years ago,” she said to Jane. “The guy’s a menace, and he’s gotten away with it for years because no one has had the guts to report him. You’re doing the right thing. You’ve got him on attempted rape, coercion, and several counts of sexual assault and harassment. What are we going to do about it? Do you want to press charges?” Martha asked her. She had a kind, sympathetic face.
“Yes, I do,” Jane answered her immediately. “He shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it, or he might do something worse.” She was shaking again after telling the attorney what he had done in the copy room, and the threats he had made.
“He could go to prison for this,” Martha said matter-of-factly. Jane liked her, although she had trouble imagining her with Bob Benson. They seemed very different. She looked like a no-nonsense woman, and she looked older than he did. She didn’t make a fuss about her looks. She was neat and professional in a navy blue pantsuit, and she wore no makeup. Bob was a very handsome man.
“How long will the whole process take?” Jane asked her, curious about it.
“Prison will take a while, depending on if he’s foolish enough to go to trial. If he pleads guilty and confesses, it will move a lot faster. First the police need to contact the district attorney’s office to get a warrant for his arrest from a judge. We need to speak to them first. I’m glad you came to see me today, because technically you should contact the police the same day as the assault, and since it happened earlier today, you’ve done the right thing. After he’s arrested and bail is posted, the D.A. will take it to the grand jury to set the charges. He’ll be indicted and then he’ll either plead guilty or go to trial. If the judge lets him post bail, he’ll be out during the whole process. It all depends on how he decides to respond: guilty or not guilty. If other women come forward, which can happen with these cases, and he’s found guilty or confesses, he’ll be gone for a long time.” She didn’t say that Bob had been worried about something like this happening for years. She had never liked Dan, and was liking him even less over the years, although Bob was loyal to his partner, despite his failings. “You’ll need to go to the police and file a report tonight. I can go with you if you like,” Martha offered, and Jane nodded. Now that she was actually doing what she’d told Dan she would, she was scared of the ramifications, but she knew it was the right thing to do. She wondered if she’d get fired for bringing charges against him, but she wanted to do it anyway. She thought someone should and he had assaulted her. “There’s another matter we need to address,” Martha said. “I can’t represent you in this matter. I’m happy to advise you or consult on the case, but my husband is your employer, Dan’s his partner and will be the defendant. I’m too closely involved, but one of my associates has been handling a number of these sexual assault cases for our clients, as I have. His name is Steve Franklin. I’d like to bring him in to meet you, if that’s all right with you.”