Steve had told Francine that he would be filing a civil suit for her as well, for the trauma and emotional damage she had suffered for ten years, and how it had impacted every area of her life. Dan could well afford any damages the court awarded her. Francine couldn’t even think of that yet, she just wanted to know that he was off the streets and that she and her children were safe.
Steve called Francine at seven o’clock. They had picked Dan up at the apartment on Central Park West. This time, they had taken him out in handcuffs. He had cried when they took him back to jail, but Steve didn’t tell her that.
“You can sleep peacefully tonight, Francine,” Steve told her in a kind voice. “You don’t ever have to worry about him again. He’s gone, and he won’t be coming back.”
Martha called Bob and told him that Dan was back in custody. He was still at the office, conferring with Merriwether again about how to handle the press once the story hit the papers, because it would.
“Did Jane call and tell them he tried to bribe her?” Bob asked his wife in a saddened voice when he heard the news.
“I can’t discuss that with you, but we had new evidence today, from another victim. Two, in fact.” Julia had called Steve too, about Dan assaulting her in the past.
“Oh my God, who? Is it anyone I know?” He hoped it wouldn’t be.
“Francine, in your office. And Julia, Hailey’s executive assistant.” There were tears in his eyes when she told him. He had felt sorry for Dan before, but not anymore. He had done damage to so many people, and to the agency that Bob had worked so hard to build.
“The agency will never survive this,” he said grimly.
“Yes, it will. You have a great staff, and you all do a terrific job for your clients. And you have had an immaculate reputation until now. In the long run, that will outweigh all this miserable stuff with Dan. You just have to batten down the hatches and ride out the storm,” she encouraged him. “It may be a rough time, but I know you’ll weather it. I’ll see you at home,” she said, and hung up. He was crying when he ended the call, for all of them. Jane, Francine, Julia, and even for himself. He had no tears left for Dan.
Allie was still angry when she got home from work that night. She told Eric about it when he came back from the gym.
“Do they have an official policy about not dating clients?” he asked her.
“Of course not. Everybody does that at some point. It happens. Francine doesn’t. I think she’s been depressed for ten years since her divorce, so she didn’t date anyone. And Hailey has no time because of her kids. But I know some of the other agents do date clients. Merriwether is married and she’s crazy about her husband, so that leaves me. I think he’s just sensitive right now, because of the mess with Dan.” They talked about that then. She didn’t know Dan was back in jail. Or that Francine and Julia had made statements. The news of that was too recent.
“Do you think we should cool it for a while? Or go underground and not be seen in public together? I don’t want you to lose your job because of me,” Eric told her seriously.
“No, I don’t think any of those things. To hell with them. This is our business, and no one else’s. They can’t tell me who I can and can’t date.”
“You’re sure?” He worried about her.
“Totally,” she said with confidence. The one thing that worried her was Bob telling her that this would diminish her credibility in the business. She didn’t see how that could happen, but her priority had always been her career, and she didn’t want to sacrifice that for romance now. But she loved Eric, and wasn’t willing to give him up and stop dating him. He was the first man she had cared about that way in years, maybe ever. She didn’t want to lose him now. Not even for her career. She hoped Bob was wrong about that.
They forgot about it after a while and made love as passionately as ever. There was no way she was going to give him up.
Chapter 9
Bob had lain awake all night, thinking about Dan, now that he knew he was back in jail and would stay there. His bond would be returned to him, but Dan had ruined what was left of his life. It was unlikely he’d be free again, unless his attorney could make a deal with the district attorney and he pled guilty. Maybe they would shorten his sentence if he did. The only other possibility was if the women who had accused him dropped the charges, but he couldn’t see that happening either.
After a sleepless night, he decided to talk to his wife about it before they both left for the city, to go to work. He took the train and she drove every day. She didn’t want to be tied to train schedules and she claimed that she enjoyed the drive. It gave her time to think. She only took the train when the weather was really awful, making it too dangerous to drive.
Martha saw how rough Bob looked when she came down to breakfast. Their youngest son had already left for school. He had early football practice, so they were alone in the kitchen. Bob looked at her miserably, and decided to broach the subject. All she could do was refuse.
“I was thinking last night that there is only one way out of this for Dan,” he said with a morbid expression, and she looked shocked.
“I hope not. That would be a terrible thing to do to his wife and daughters, no matter how angry they are at him.” She assumed that Bob meant suicide.
“That’s not what I had in mind,” he corrected her.
“Oh. I do think Rita will divorce him for it, though. Their marriage has been dead for years. I think this will be the coup de grâce. I can’t say I blame her. He must have a screw loose or he’s getting senile to have gone around threatening women if they wouldn’t have sex with him. I can’t see the satisfaction in that.”
“Martha, you’ve got to get them to drop the charges,” he said, looking desperate. “It’s the only way out for him, and it will save the agency too.”
“Are you insane? He doesn’t deserve a way out. He deserves to go to prison for what he did.”
“I know. In a real sense, that’s true. But he didn’t actually rape Jane. He’s sixty-four years old, he’s sick, and maybe he is getting senile.”
“He has impacted the lives of three of your employees, and maybe others we don’t know about yet. How can you suggest they drop the charges?” she said coldly.
Bob was shocked into silence by what she said, but he wanted to find some way to save the agency. He was so distraught he wasn’t thinking clearly. “He has to go to prison, Bob. Maybe if he confesses, they’ll give him less time, but I doubt it. It’s much too serious to let him off the hook. He’s incredibly foolish if he tries to go to trial. No decent attorney will let him take this to trial. A jury would kill him.” Bob nodded. He knew Martha was right. He wanted to rewind the film and cut this part out. He still couldn’t believe it was happening. “It shows you how little we know people sometimes. I always thought he was an asshole about women, I never thought he was as sick and vicious as this. Any lawyer defending those women is going to recommend the maximum sentence for his crimes,” she said matter-of-factly.
“Why do you always have to be so harsh about everything, and so black-and-white. Where’s your compassion?”