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Washington, D.C. Monday, April 17, 2023 12:20 p.m.
SITUATED ALONG THE BANKS OF THE POTOMAC RIVER, MCCORMACK University was gorgeous, prestigious, and a stone’s throw from the Chadwicks’ brownstone. That Duncan Chadwick had ended up at a school so close to home was no accident. Larry knew the dangers of unleashing his delinquent son at a faraway college where Larry’s ability to bail him out of trouble would be limited. Larry had insisted on Duncan staying on the East Coast in order to keep his political influence available. Washington, D.C. was even better. Now, his son needed Larry’s far-reaching political powers more than ever. But this time he wasn’t fighting to keep a DUI off a minor’s record. This time Larry was fighting for both Duncan’s future and his own.
The outdoor press conference was standing-room only. Fifty folding chairs had been set up in front of the podium that stood outside the arched gates of McCormack University. Every seat was full, and overflow press stood in a ballooning crown behind them. News cameras waited at the ready, and at exactly 12:20 in the afternoon Larry ushered Renee and Duncan to the podium. Both he and Duncan had dressed in charcoal suits with blue ties, offering a not-so-subtle message that Duncan was the spitting image of his father, a well-respected public servant.
Larry took his position behind the podium and adjusted the microphone as he allowed the news cameras to zero in on him and his perfect family.
“Good afternoon,” he said. “It has been brought to my attention that something terrible has taken place at McCormack University, where my son, Duncan, is enrolled. A girl, whose name I will not mention in an effort to honor her privacy, has been raped. The information I have tells me that this incident happened not only on the McCormack University campus, but at the fraternity where Duncan is currently a member. First and foremost, my thoughts and prayers go out to this young woman.”
Larry paused and looked down at his notes. Camera shutters clicked in rapid succession from the gallery.
“This news was a shock to Renee and me, and it was a stunning revelation to Duncan. As a united front, we want to speak out against any and all forms of sexual assault. Renee and I have had long and sometimes awkward discussions with Duncan about consent and about what constitutes assault. We are proud of the values we’ve instilled in our son, and Duncan is eager to speak about this incident today.”
Larry looked over.
“Son?”
Duncan nodded and replaced his father at the podium. The camera shutters clicked with a new intensity when Larry Chadwick’s son stood behind the microphone. He swallowed hard and cleared his throat before speaking, an audible quiver to his voice.
“Like my dad said, I was shocked to hear that a classmate had been raped. And even more surprised to learn that the rape took place at my fraternity. Details are still coming out, but I’m here with my parents today to say that I believe the victim, who, like my dad said, we won’t name because she wants to remain anonymous. But I believe her, and I stand by her. I also want to say that despite the strong friendships I’ve made through the Delta Chi fraternity, effective immediately I will be revoking my membership and working in any capacity possible to help the victim find justice. Thank you.”
Duncan stepped back from the podium as reporters began to shout questions. Larry resumed his spot and held up his hands to quiet the crowd.
“Judge Chadwick!” an aggressive reporter shouted. “Will this affect your nomination to the Supreme Court?”
“We won’t be taking questions this afternoon,” Larry said. “However, before we close this press conference I want to make a pledge to the victim and her parents that I will do everything in my power to help bring her attacker to justice. I encourage the victim and her family to reach out to me if they feel that I can be of help in any way. I’d also like to mention that immediately following this press conference, Duncan will be speaking with the police to help the authorities in any way possible.”
“Judge Chadwick, are you still the president’s nominee for the Supreme Court vacancy?”
“Thank you for your time this afternoon,” Larry said. “God bless. And God bless the victim of this horrific crime.”
Reporters continued to shout questions as Larry gathered his family and solemnly walked from the podium and climbed into a waiting town car.
CHAPTER 32
Washington, D.C. Friday, April 21, 2023 11:35 p.m.
ALL HELL HAD BROKEN LOOSE.
Her story had leaked. Laura knew that the longer she investigated and the more people she spoke with certain details about her story would begin to circulate through campus. She had always figured she’d be able to stay ahead of the gossip, but somehow her story had leaked. Not just a few teasers, but nearly every detail of her episode was floating around McCormack University in some form. Duncan Chadwick’s phone call had tipped her off; the Chadwicks’ press conference had confirmed it. Laura hadn’t answered Duncan’s call and had kept a low profile for the past week to avoid running into him or other members of the Delta Chi fraternity.
The press conference had sent shock waves through campus and was all anyone was talking about. It had come out of nowhere, and Laura knew it was explicitly timed to preempt her episode and take the bite out of her story. The press conference had accelerated things in a way Laura had not anticipated, and now she had a decision to make: drop her episode and reveal everything she had discovered over the last month, or sit back and allow the police to uncover it all on their own. But the university had known about the rape for weeks and had done nothing about it. She worried that the authorities would follow the same path of victim blaming until the story went away, keeping the university’s reputation unsullied. Although nervous about the position the episode would put her in—at the center of a massive controversy involving a prominent political figure and his son—Laura had no choice but to go forward with it.
She twirled the memory stick between her fingers as she sat in the School of Journalism’s recording studio. Laura had completed her interviews, finished the investigative legwork, polished her voice-over work, and stored the completed episode on both the thumb drive and as a downloaded file on her phone. Of course, the entire episode was also stored on the recording studio’s computer hard drive, but airing the episode from the studio was no longer an option. Things had changed dramatically since she sat in the studio a week earlier. Back then she believed she had time to decide when and how to drop the episode. But now that her story had leaked, the names of those involved had started to spread through campus, and the Chadwicks were on the offensive. Word had trickled down to her that the university was considering shutting her show down. Laura needed to act, and to act now.
Her plan was bold. She would bypass using McCormack University’s bandwidth and broadcasting platform, which had always been Laura’s first method of distributing her stories before uploading them to her social media accounts. Instead, she’d go solo on this one and just post the episode online to her million-plus followers. Then, she’d go into hiding for a few days. Maybe she’d hole up in a hotel and see how things unfolded. She thought about going home but didn’t want to bring attention to her parents in case the press or the police—or the federal government, for Christ’s sake—came looking for her.
“Holy shit,” she whispered into the darkened studio, trying to understand how this story had gotten so big.
She slipped the thumb drive into her backpack and zipped it closed. After pulling the straps over her shoulders, she locked the recording studio and headed across campus. She had some serious thinking to do and even considered reaching out to Dante Campbell in the morning to discuss the story and ask for Dante’s help getting the word out. But she knew that might take too long because Dante and NBC would need to comb through every detail of her story to confirm the accuracy of it. Laura had already done the combing, though, and knew her story was accurate.
As she exited campus, she cut through Horace Grove, a wooded area that skirted the campus. It was a shortcut that shaved five minutes off the commute to her apartment and was frequented by students at just about every hour of the day and night. Although on this night, it was strangely abandoned. She secured her AirPods and clicked on the download of her episode to listen to it one last time. If she found no errors, the decision was made. She’d drop it tonight and let the pieces fall where they may. The intro to The Scoop chimed through the earbuds as she started off along the path through the woods.
It was the last time anyone would see Laura McAllister alive.
PART IV
A Missing Persons Case
