Page 71 of Dissension

“You chose this. Youmademe do this. All so you could hide from your emotions again.” Kara utters flatly, turning her head away from him. “All I ever asked was that you consider that I just want you, all of you. Maybe I want you committed to me, not someone else. But you don’t care about how I feel or what I want. You only care about yourmother’s wishes, despite whatshe didto you. I see that now.”

His expression is horrified. “That’s not how it is at all. Kara, why-”

“Please, Nick. Just go. You only see me as something to use for a good time. But I’m only human. I have feelings. Sorry about the inconvenience. This is over. Completely.”

She can feel him staring at her in utter disbelief. When he realizes that she isn’t going to budge on this, he stands, collecting himself. The sigh he makes sounds despondent.

When he finally leaves, Kara allows herself to fully wallow in her guilt, curled up on the floor amongst her scattered clothes, reeking of regret.

Chapter 25

With all the disturbing revelations that have come her way these past few days, Kara isn’t even certain she has the strength to answer when her PI calls. Deep down, she suspects something is off with the Paxton Brooker case. She knows something is off, but she’s already in a dark place emotionally.

She’s not sure how much more she can take. It’s been days since her blowout with Nick and she doesn’t feelwell.

None of what happened to him excuses what he did to her…but the idea of it making him into what he is makes her heart ache. He was once an innocent boy who did not deserve what those he trusted did to him. And now, he’s a monster who gets off on women saying no. A man who is so twisted he has troubles getting off any other way.

What a pair they make. The damaged man. The burning woman, full of old rage and scars.

The phone continues to ring, an omen of more dark news. “You have something for me?” Kara asks, sighing.Please, no more horror.

The PI makes a scoffing noise around the gum in his mouth. There’s always something in his mouth, be it a cigarette, TicTacs, candy, or gum. Oral fixation. “I called in some favors, made some deals. You owe me. You owe mebig, Kara. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find out the identity of a hidden witness?”

Fucking hard and likely illegally gained.

“Alright, I get it. I’ll throw you something extra.” Dieter certainly pays her well enough. She’s almost finished off a large sum of law school loans. Lounging on her lazy boy chair, Kara asks, “What did you find out?”

“I won’t tell you his name, but I was able to do some sleuthing, tricking, and scheming to find out the identity of the witness. With that information, I looked into his banking and his background, creeped around his house. He was not paid any unusual sums of money while working at theDark Mirage. He may have an NDA to not talk about the on-goings of the club, but there is no hush money. Which tells me they were never trying to keep this man quiet.”

Not exactly the information Kara was hoping for. “So…how does this help me?”

“It doesn’t. Butthiswill help someone. The new witnessdidreceive a large sum of money that came through a cryptocurrency transaction. About two months before he came forward with his story.”

Excitement builds. “Who sent the money?”

“You think it’s that easy?” A bitter laugh. “No idea at this point, that requires a techie beyond my pay grade. The cryptocurrency exchange that was used isuntraceable. This is dark web money, girl. Whoever paid this person to speak up does not intend to be found.”

The new witness, who worked as a domineering sadist with a true taste for blood, wasn’t paid anything unusual during his time at theDark Miragelike some of the other folk who got hush money after leaving the club…but was recently paid in an odd transaction, completely different from the former. The rabbit hole goes deeper.

“…and what does that mean, in your opinion?”

Her PI doesn’t hesitate to respond. There’s a loud smacking sound of his gum bouncing around in his mouth. “To me, that states that the person who paid the new witness is clearlynotPaxton Brooker. The witness was not paid because of hush hush money. This particular person was paid tocommitto this story and drive the nail in Paxton Brooker’s coffin.”

Well, shit. That’s the general sense that Kara has been getting too.

They wrap up the phone call with her PI emailing her screenshots of the crypto transaction, along with some other images and proof that could be shared with the cops. “Ray is going to be so pissed at me for snooping into this,” Kara mutters to herself, feeling alight with energy. This informationmeanssomething.

It likely means the cops are looking at the wrong villain.

As she moves about her apartment, printing off the images, getting some documents ready to head over and see Ray at the station, she struggles with the idea that she should make a final call to Nick himself. It seems only right that he should know.

Remember what he did a few days ago?

Of course. How could I forget?

You said you wouldn’t see him again.

It is over. She’s certain of that now, even though her heart aches at the thought. He won’t change his mind on setting aside his sham of an engagement. If he can’t even consider doing something against his evil witch of a mother, how can Kara even have a chance?

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