“Fine, fine.” Lance sat down at the computer. “This’ll take a little time.”
“You have ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes? I’m gonna need a couple hours.”
“Then I guess we wait. Have a seat, you two,” he said to Blake and Amber.
Amber sat down, her body visibly shaking. “Harper?”
“What?”
“If he destroys the photos, we don’t have any evidence.”
Evidence? Why would she be concerned about evidence? Was it possible she’d been telling the truth about the photos all along? Harper’s heart pounded. “You want to press charges?”
“Not against Lance. I think he’s actually innocent. But the fact remains that I did not sign that paper, and I did not pose for those pictures. Yet the pictures are definitely of me, and that looks a lot like my signature. There’s only one explanation. I was drugged by Marta and her friend. And so were the other girls.”
Either she was convinced she spoke the truth, or she was one damn stubborn liar. He wasn’t sure which yet, though her concern for the other girls was admirable.
“Look,” Harper said, “we got you taken care of here. If we want to press this further, we have to bring in the cops, and then the whole thing goes public. Is that what you want?”
“Yes. No. Damn it, I don’t know.” Tears welled in Amber’s eyes. “We’ve taken care of me, but how can I just waltz out of here knowing that other girls have been violated too? And they’ll keep doing it. It’s not right, Harper.”
Harper’s heart ached. He wanted to take her in his arms, tell her everything would be okay. But no…she was not the woman for him. Probably not, anyway. Still, she had a conscience, and she was right. Leaving the other girls, who might not know they were on the web site, was wrong.
“What do you want to do?”
“I just don’t know. I want to go home. But I’m not sure I have a home anymore. I guess I need to go to my mama’s. Her house is a shambles and I want to fix it up for her.”
“This is the same woman who kicked you out, right?”
“Yes, I know. But she…she needs me right now. I don’t think she’s right in the head, Harper.”
“If we take you there, will you take the rest of the day to think this through? Figure out what you want to do? Because if this woman is drugging girls, we’ll need to bring in some big guns to investigate. I’ve got a good PI, but if he finds what he’s probably going to find, we have to call the cops.”
She nodded. “I understand. And I know I’ll be dethroned as rodeo queen and I’ll have to leave town.”
Harper hoped she wasn’t right. Bakersville was a nice town, but it was also a small town, and not immune to gossip and innuendo.
“Hey, look, I’m a businessman. I can’t have cops sniffing around here,” Lance said. “It wouldn’t look good.”
“Tough shit,” Harper said. “In your line of work, you’re bound to come across some lowlifes. This can’t be news to you. You cooperate with whomever I send your way or I’ll have Paul Donetto in here so fast you won’t know what hit you. And you’ll wish you’d chosen the cops.”
Lance’s greasy face whitened. Paul Donetto struck fear in him, just as he did in Blake. Harper wouldn’t be surprised if Donetto already had a hand in this fiasco, though he imagined this was small potatoes next to smuggling drugs and women.
“Fine, fine. Let’s just get this over with as soon as possible, okay? I got a business to run.”
“I’m going to need your URLs so I can make sure the photos are taken down. They’re not on any other site are they?”
“If they are, I didn’t put them there. This site is for Rachel’s girls only, and they serve a very elite clientele. Clients pay top dollar for access, and the site claims the photos are exclusive. Whether they actually are? I have no idea.”
“Seems we can assume they are for now,” Harper said.
“So do you want them destroyed or not?” Lance said.
Harper looked at Amber. “Your call.”
Her golden eyes were troubled. “I… Whoever took the photos has copies, I’m sure. Yes.” Her eyes went from troubled to blazing. “Destroy the damn things.”