At ten this morning, Riley shocked me with a question. At four-fifteen she makes a comment that knocks me for a loop.
“What do you mean you want to drop the case?”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Ripper. I’ll find a way to pay you for your time. It’s just that I can’t do this.”
“You owe me nothing, Riley. I haven’t been charging you. But we have to see it through.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Kelli’s my friend. If you tell the police about those videos, it could ruin her life.”
“Riley, after all we’ve been through, surely you want to know what happened.”
“Yes, of course.”
“If there’s a video, and it shows something happened to you, we have a responsibility to talk to the police.”
“But what if there are videos of Kelli?”
“The police should know about that, too.”
She goes quiet a minute.
I say, “You think she already knows?”
“What? No, of course not!”
“Any idea why she hates her stepfather?”
Riley stares straight ahead. “Please don’t do this.”
I say, “He keeps his bedroom door locked at all times, won’t let anyone inside.”
Riley says nothing.
“Look,” I say. “It’s just me and you. Please, honey. Tell me what you know.”
She continues staring straight ahead a long time. Then says, “Promise you won’t tell?”
“I promise.”
“He raped her.”
YOU ARE READING
Promise You Won't Tell?
Teen Fiction"I think something might have happened to me Saturday night. Something bad." Private Investigator Dani Ripper's client list is nuttier than the Looney Tunes conga line, but she diligently solves one crazy case after another, waiting for a game-chang...
