Chapter Four
Ryan’s team had finalized the witness list for Damian’s appeal.
The new witnesses Ryan was coordinating were, for technical purposes, to speak about the blood tests and hospital procedures.
He wanted to keep the trial as technical as possible and ensure that emotion was kept to a minimum.
That was a big mistake made by Damian’s first lawyer.
Although he thought having Damian’s friends testify in support of Damian would help, it only continued to remind the court that a girl had died and people were suffering.
They needed a villain to blame, and that became Damian.
Ryan had asked Amanda to help him walk through hospital procedures so he could confirm which witnesses to call.
They were in his office, and it was getting late in the afternoon.
She suggested that the technical staff be questioned.
The management didn’t know anything, but if he called the people responsible for receiving the orders and running the tests, he would get the proper answers.
“This is an odd case for you,” Amanda observed as he kept questioning her. “I’ve only ever known you to take on big corporate clients. Since when have you handled medical malpractice?”
Ryan froze. He hadn’t discussed the case’s details with her, and she didn’t even know Damian was involved. He wasn’t sure how to explain it to her.
“It’s not a medical malpractice case,” Ryan confirmed. “I’m doing a favor for a friend.”
Amanda sat back and stared hard at him.
“What?” he asked, questioning her reaction.
“Since when do you do favors?” Amanda asked. “And I didn’t realize you had friends.”
“I have friends,” Ryan objected.
Both Ryan and Amanda grew up without siblings and felt more like brother and sister than cousins. Ryan was accustomed to Amanda’s sibling-style abuse.
“Other than Callie, and apparently now Damian…” She stopped mid-sentence, and Ryan could see she was putting it together.
“This has something to do with Damian?” she asked.
“Yes, but I can’t talk about it,” Ryan confirmed. “Just as you wouldn’t tell me his medical results, would you?”
“No, I would not,” she confirmed.
“He told me everything came back clear,” Ryan confirmed.
“What is it with you and these people?” Amanda asked.
Although she had initially developed a friendship with Callie, Amanda grew guarded once Callie’s history was exposed and Lawrence was confirmed as her assailant.
She remained civil, but a wall was up. He knew she was supporting his mother when he couldn’t.
Ryan hadn’t pushed the issue; he had no idea how he would ever get his family to accept Callie after what had happened.
“These people?” Ryan repeated, raising an eyebrow.
“You know what I mean,” Amanda insisted.
“People of ill repute?” Ryan suggested.
“Ha,” Amanda laughed. “What? Are you ninety?”
“They are good people,” Ryan answered. “They just found themselves in difficult situations.”
“You’ve never cared about people in difficult situations unless they paid you. Of all the charity cases you could have chosen,” Amanda replied. “You decided that liberating people of ill repute would be your cause?”
“I’m just helping a friend,” Ryan repeated.
“Ryan, I know you believe what you’re doing is noble,” she said. “It is, but you’re getting yourself into something that could be very dangerous.”
“What are you talking about?”
“They are involved in a dangerous profession,” Amanda continued. “And I’m not just referring to the patrons. The people who run these businesses can be just as evil.”
“And how would you know that?” he challenged.
“I work in a hospital,” Amanda protested. “People say things to their doctors they wouldn’t say to the police.”
It was getting harder for Damian to just sit around and wait.
Without the Night Service appointments, he felt he had a lot of extra time on his hands.
Ryan and Callie were still keeping a close eye on him, and he found himself accepting several invitations a week from them for dinner or just to hang out at Callie’s apartment.
This was the complicated part. Although they were all friends, nothing further was ever said beyond the conversation Ryan and Damian had weeks earlier.
Damian was doing his best to emotionally detach from them and keep his promise to Ryan, but he also didn’t have anyone else he was remotely interested in, except maybe Amanda.
He wasn’t sure how Ryan would feel if Damian tried to date his cousin.
The Night Service kept trying to reach him, but he kept telling them he needed more time.
They warned that he was losing loyal customers, but he didn’t care.
It was more likely that they were losing customers and money because he wasn’t working.
He knew he had signed up for much more than anyone else and was one of their “top products.” They needed him, and he had decided that if he was going to go back, he would ask for a pay raise.
But after a couple of weeks without replying to the Night Service’s messages, they finally stopped reaching out.
Damian felt relieved that they seemed to have gotten the message, but then something else happened that concerned him.
He began receiving text messages and emails from unknown accounts.
The messages threatened him, telling him to drop the appeal.
They implied they were from Blake Ryder, Brittnay’s brother.
Each time he blocked the sender, a new number or email account was used.
Damian had received several threatening messages from Blake.
He ignored them all, confident that Blake wouldn’t know where to find him.
So far, there was no indication that he had.
Ryan and Callie didn’t know about the threats, and Damian didn’t plan to say anything to them.
Damian’s phone buzzed. When he saw it was Annie’s number, he frowned.
Very few of her messages came without drama.
She was pleading with him to come over. The request confused him.
She had never invited him over before. She also asked him not to tell Callie or Ryan.
Damian tried to say he was already in bed, but she begged, saying it was important. Damian reluctantly agreed.
When he arrived at her building, security was expecting him and buzzed him in. Damian found the apartment unlocked and let himself in.
“Annie?” he called, but no one answered.
The apartment was dark except for a light in the back, where the primary bedroom was.
He noticed it seemed clean and tidy, a big change from before, when Annie had been using.
He cautiously headed to the bedroom, unsure what to expect.
When he opened the door, she was sitting on the bed, crying.
She was dressed as if she had just finished an appointment, but her makeup was running, and her skirt and shirt seemed ripped.
“Annie, what’s going on?” Damian said quickly, moving to her side.
Annie shook her head, then pointed to her neck.
Damian noticed she was badly bruised. She picked up her phone and sent him a text, telling him that her client had choked her until she passed out.
Damian clenched his teeth, trying to hold back his anger.
He did his best to assess her injuries, but he couldn’t be sure there wasn’t damage he couldn’t see, especially given how much pain she was in.
Her legs and arms were bruised as well, and Damian knew that if Annie was choked unconscious, her appointment would have finished what he paid for.
“You need to go to the hospital,” Damian said, but Annie shook her head fiercely. “I can’t say for certain there isn’t serious damage.”
She sent him another text, insisting on no hospital.
Damian was at a loss. The only option he could think of was to message Amanda.
He sent her a quick note explaining the injuries and asking what else he should be looking for.
Amanda responded, requesting the address.
After a brief argument in which Damian tried to tell her it wasn’t necessary but lost, he reluctantly sent the address to Amanda.
Amanda knew the apartment. She had visited Calie there after Callie was assaulted.
Annie was texting Damian, telling him she didn’t want to see anyone, but Damian insisted. He assured her that Dr. Scott would keep their conversation confidential, but Annie grew increasingly angry. Eventually, she punched him in the shoulder as she sent another message.
Lawrence Grant did this.
“Fuck!” Damian yelled. “Why on earth would you agree to see that man again after what he did to Callie?”
Damian realized what this meant. He had just asked Amanda to come assess another of her uncle’s victims. Annie knew who Amanda was and that she was Ryan’s cousin. Callie had shared that after mistakenly thinking Amanda was one of Ryan’s ex-girlfriends.
“She doesn’t need to know who did this,” Damian said, but Annie stayed angry with him.
They didn’t have to wait long for Amanda to arrive. Annie insisted that Damian stay while she conducted her assessment. Her neck seemed to be the worst affected, but her body was also covered in bruises, particularly on her inner thighs and arms.
“Annie, you’re lucky to be alive,” Amanda said gently. “You need to go to the police. This was an attempted murder and rape.”
Annie was shaking her head no as she began to cry.
“Do you know who did this to you?” Amanda asked, and Annie nodded. “And is there a chance it could happen again?” Annie shrugged. “I want to document this,” Amanda continued. “You may feel differently in a few days, and I can collect the evidence now. We can turn it over when you’re ready.”
This time, Annie didn’t respond. She looked to Damian for support, but he wasn’t sure what she wanted. She was scared. Lawrence had frightened her, and she was terrified to do anything. He sat on the bed beside her and gently took her hand.
“Let her collect the evidence,” Damian said. “Any other decision can be made later.”