Violent scandal? She quickly read the article, her despair increasing with every word she digested. Ben was being sued, his company was being slammed and most importantly, it was all lies. It was complete bullshit. That much she knew was coming, but she had no idea Tim would make it a personal, public attack on him. How Tim had gotten a newspaper to run a story based on untruths and nothing more than a smear campaign was beyond her. She should have known Tim would stoop to that level. That was how he did things. He attacked a person’s character and when he couldn’t find any dirt, he made shit up.
Running away had not spared Ben in the slightest and now he was back in San Francisco weathering the storm on his own. It wasn’t right. The guilt she felt for bringing him into her problems was overwhelming. She had tried. She had really tried to spare him, and it had all been for naught.
The more she looked into those eyes that she knew to be a gorgeous green, even if they were a plain gray in the black-and-white photo, the more she knew she loved him. She loved Ben. She had left because she wanted to protect him from her past, but it had done nothing but make things worse. Tim wasn’t going to stop. Nothing would make him happy. He wanted her back under his thumb. The thought of living in the mansion, sleeping under the same roof and having him touch her made her absolutely nauseous. When she didn’t comply with his demands, he would beat her within an inch of her life. There was no way she could ever go back.
With her appetite gone, she quickly scraped the remaining food on her plate into the trash and deposited her plate in the designated area before heading out of the banquet area, through the lobby of the hotel and across the street to the Best Buy she had seen earlier. It was a stupid move, she knew it, but at that point, she didn’t care. Tim was a bastard and she was going to protect Ben in any way she could. It was time to fight back.
“Can I help you?” a friendly young man in a garish yellow shirt approached her the moment she walked through the doors.
She nodded. “I need a laptop or an iPad, and one of those wireless cards.”
The young man nodded. “Do you have a particular brand in mind?”
“Nope. I just need it now and I need it to be user friendly. I don’t want to spend a lot of time setting it up or learning how to use it,” she said, somewhat tersely.
The young man was eager to please and showed her a number of computers. She went with an expensive iPad, not too worried about the cost, and put it on her credit card. The card was in her maiden name, which would slow the trail a little, but it would be easy enough to track. She didn’t care. She wouldn’t be here long. Let him chase his tail for a bit. He deserved to suffer a little.
With her new purchase in a blue bag, she headed back across the road to her hotel room and sat down at the little desk. She still had an hour before she had to checkout and she was going to use every minute of the time as well as the free wi-fi.
She knew how to stalk as well as Tim, and quickly created a fake social media account and got busy stalking her estranged husband. Her own social media experience was extremely limited. Tim had flipped out when he discovered she was Facebook friends with other men. She had to shut everything down, including her Instagram. It had been one last connection to her friends and extended family that he had cut off, completely isolating her from the world. Her friends had slowly drifted away after that, leaving her completely alone in the world with an abusive man controlling every minute of her day.
Tim, of course, hadn’t shut down his social media, claiming it was part of his marketing. He needed it to be an effective lawyer according to him. Katherine knew it was all a bunch of garbage but never argued. He was a serial cheater. Back then, she’d been happy for his philandering because it kept him out of her bed. Now, she was glad he had kept his account. It would make the stalking so much easier.
She quickly found him in the Facebook search. His page was locked down, blocking her from seeing his activity. Not a problem. She found a picture online of an attractive woman and added it to her fake profile, quickly sending him a friend request. It took less than five minutes for him to respond. The man was predictable to say the least. He would never turn down the opportunity to flirt with a beautiful woman.
“Asshole,” she muttered.
The moment she pulled up his page, her mouth dropped open. Tim had a very active social life. He also had a girlfriend, judging by the pictures plastering his page of the two of them together at expensive balls, on a yacht and even a trip to New York City. The woman was young, Katherine guessed early twenties—the same age she had been when he chased after her.
“Wow, you really are a world-class asshole,” she said, shaking her head as she scrolled through the pictures.
He’d been dating this woman, Alexandra, for at least a year. Prior to that there were several other women. Tim had been dating from the moment she had run away. Hell, he’d probably been dating before she ever left but had been smart enough not to flaunt it all over social media.
Katherine followed the trail Tim had left and clicked on Alexandra’s name to try and get a little background on the woman. Katherine held no animosity towards the woman for dating her husband. However, she was pissed as hell that Tim would accuse her of cheating on him when he had been in a long-term relationship for a good long while. Once again, it was evidence of his double-standards.
She looked at Alexandra’s profile picture. It was of her in a skimpy bathing suit on a yacht. From the other pictures she had seen on Tim’s page, it was clear the picture was taken recently while she and Tim were together.
Katherine zoomed up on the photo when something caught her eye.
“Oh no,” she muttered, seeing a series of bruises on Alexandra’s tanned arm.
She shook her head. Tim was still Tim. Her eyes moved to the young woman’s face staring back at the camera. There was a huge smile on her face and the drink in her hand gave the impression she was havi
ng the time of her life, but Katherine knew better. She’d posed for many pictures under Tim’s direction as well. It took a trained eye to see what no one else would notice.
Katherine leaned back in the chair, staring up at the ceiling as she debated what to do. Her guilt and responsibility were telling her what she had to do. The other part of her was telling her it wasn’t her problem and to keep running before Tim caught up with her.
“Dammit,” she muttered, sitting forward and quickly pulling up the Greyhound website.
She scanned the tickets before quickly nixing the bus and choosing the Amtrak. It would be a little more room, even if the price was higher. She didn’t care. Sitting on a bus for two more days did not appeal to her. With her ticket booked, she started to think about what she would do next. It was a dangerous move, but she had to warn the woman.
Katherine used her detective skills to track down Alexandra’s place of work, not surprised to see she wasn’t some big hotshot attorney or a professional in any capacity. That was Tim’s goal. He went after women he could mold into what he wanted, threatening to take away all the clout and prestige only he could offer if they didn’t jump to do his bidding. He used his charm and money to lure innocent women into a trap that would prove extremely dangerous and painful.
With a little more information under her belt, Katherine set about packing her suitcase, leaving her new electronic device in her purse. It would certainly help pass the time. She strolled through the hotel lobby, prepared to walk to the train station that was housed in the same building as the bus station. She stopped by a store and picked up a few more snacks and continued on her way. She had another two hours to pass.
“It’s the right thing to do,” she had to keep reminding herself.
She wished like hell someone would have warned her. Alexandra could tell her to go to hell if she wanted, but at least Katherine would know she had tried. That’s all she could do.