Lust and Lies 04 - Pretty Maids in a Row

comment about two of the men being star football players. Just to make sure I wasn't jumping to any false conclusions, I looked up the football team and verified who the first-string quarterback was at that time." He didn't bother to say the name.
    Quietly she said, "No one was supposed to be hurt."
    "Hurt ? Dammit Holly, they're dead! My instincts may be telling me you aren't a murderer, and I know for certain you were nowhere near O'Day when he was killed, but there's no way you're going to convince me that this is all a string of incredible coincidences!"
    Holly shook her head. "No. I wanted to believe that's what Ziegler's murder was, but now..." She bent her head and covered her face with her hands. "Oh god, David, I'm so scared."
    He had to force himself to remain seated while every muscle in his body strained to go to her. She used you. She's a lying bitch who's probably putting on an act for you right now. By the time she raised her head and let her big, misty, blue eyes beg him for understanding, he had reinforced his guard against her. "I assume the meeting that day had something to do with Cheryl's gang rape. But if you weren't plotting murder, what were you discussing for so long?" When she didn't answer immediately, he pushed harder. "You said you wanted to explain. Let's hear it. Now."
    She straightened in the chair, folded her hands on her lap, took one deep breath and began. "The day you saw me at the hotel was the first day I'd met those women and I've only seen Cheryl Wallace on television."
    Holly unemotionally related what she'd learned that day, the events that led to the creation of the Little Sister Society, what had happened to Erica, Bobbi, Rachel and April, and how they had successfully exacted retribution on eleven of the men.
    Despite his anger with Holly, David found himself sickened by the abuse of the women while feeling some admiration for their ingenuity, but his experience as an unbiased reporter helped him conceal those feelings. "None of that explains how you fit into this tale of revenge when you weren't even at Dominion that year."
    "No, I wasn't. Jerry Frampton and Tim Ziegler used me for their entertainment the year before."
    He remained silent while she described how they had tricked and raped her. Though her story was appalling, his resentment for what she'd done to him was too great to be erased simply because he now knew what made her tick. He could empathize with her fears without forgiving her deceitfulness, and he gave her points for knowing how to deliver a concise report. She answered every question that popped into his head before he could ask it.
    When she paused, he pushed for one final explanation. "So you joined the Society that day to go after Frampton and I was the reporter you picked to do your leg work. Lucky me."
    She shook her head in protest. "I tried to tell you before. I was only supposed to pass you the file and follow your progress. No one should have gotten hurt. No one ever had before." Although he gave no indication she was getting through to him, she went on to fill him in on what had occurred with the other women since that first day.
    Even though he had told himself she'd been using him, his gut still twisted when he heard her admit it aloud. It was the final evidence he needed to put her back into the category of being just like every other woman he'd ever known. When she finished, his tone remained cold as he agreed with her reasoning about coming to him before the police.
    "You're going to have to tell the FBI everything you told me. Greenley might still try to turn it around on you, but you'll have the advantage of having opened up first." David massaged the temple on the uninjured side of his head as he organized his thoughts.
    "After the D'Angelo fiasco, I've got a little pull with the Feds down here. They're the ones that put out the report that I was critically wounded and unconscious. The thinking was, if whoever destroyed the film wanted me out of the way too, they might stay clear in hopes that my death would occur naturally. I was giving depositions for hours today and there'll be more tomorrow. Once that's done and my physical appearance in court is no longer vital, I'll have a miraculous recovery."
    "But what if Frampton sends someone after you then?"
    He gave her credit for looking genuinely concerned. "I get to have a babysitter until the case goes to court, whether I need one or not. In the meantime, this arrangement is a little