Page 79 of My Cruel Salvation

“It would be nice if it had the circulation of The Spall,” she says.

“Yeah. I’m thinking. I’ve got to know somebody. One of my colleagues who’d be willing to do this for me at their magazine as a favor. Someone who —”

I cut myself off, realizing I have the perfect person in my back pocket.

Ten minutes later, Brandy’s sitting at the kitchen island in front of her laptop on a recorded video call with Corbin. He’s asked her if he can use snippets from the video as part of the article. “That will make it go more viral,” he says.

I frown, because she looks more than a little nervous.

“Don’t do it if you’re not comfortable,” I say. Because it’s a video call, I know he can hear me, even if I’m just outside of the screen.

“But it should be your own decision,” Corbin adds. “Not that I don’t appreciate Ellie’s input,” he adds, and I can hear a little bit of a smirk in his voice.

I roll my eyes, but of course he can’t see me.

Brandy laughs. I’ve told her about the detente between Corbin and me, and I think she’s amused to see us together.

“So you just want me to talk and tell my story and you’ll pick out the good parts to put out there on Twitter or wherever?”

“Yes. If you’d like to approve them first, you can.”

“No. I don’t want to see myself on video. I wouldn’t want you to post anything if I did.” She shoots a quick glance at me before saying, “I trust you.”

Corbin laughs. “Considering Ellie’s sitting in the room next to you, that means a lot. From both of you.”

“Okay,” Brandy says. “Should I just start talking?”

“Go for it.” Corbin says.

Brandy shoots me a look that is a cross between terror and excitement. I nod in encouragement and make a go-ahead motion with my hand. She bites her lower lip, takes a deep breath, looks at the camera on her phone, then bursts into giggles. “Sorry. Sorry. This is all very weird.”

“Take your time,” Corbin says, more gently than I thought he was capable of. “I can edit this. And I promise I won’t make you look stupid.”

“You better not,” I put in. “I know where you live now.”

He chuckles, but our banter seems to have loosened Brandy up, and she takes a deep breath before beginning.

“I’ve been quiet for years now,” she says “But I know Devlin Saint personally, and in light of the allegations that William Tarkington has made against him, I can’t stay quiet any longer. The bottom line is that Devlin is an amazing man. But William—or Walt, as he goes by—isn’t.”

She takes a deep breath, her eyes catching mine. I mouth that she’s doing great, and she continues.

“Walt is the reason I’m speaking out,” she says. “His actions have pushed me. Angered me. I listened to the allegations that he’s made against Devlin Saint, and fury cut through me. Because I know both these men. More than that, I know why this alleged assault took place. Devlin was standing up for me. He was standing up for me because I hadn’t stood up for myself, even though I should have.”

She silently holds her hand out below camera view, and I take it, offering my strength. “I should have stood up. Fought back,” she continues. “All those years ago when I was young, and more recently when I saw Walt again. When I was in high school, Walt was in college. We met at a party. He drugged me, and he raped me. He got me pregnant, and somewhere out there is a little girl who’s in a good and loving home because I gave her up for adoption.”

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, and I can’t help but think it’s the perfect video shot.

“But I did one smart thing. I asked the adoptive parents if I could keep a sample of her DNA. They knew how I become pregnant in the first place, and they were kind enough to agree. It’s been kept all these years at a facility my doctor recommended. I know that when that DNA is analyzed, it will prove what I am saying. That William Tarkington is a dangerous man. He’s a man who thinks he can take whatever he wants, and if the world isn’t giving him what he wants, he will bend the facts around to make them fit in his favor. That’s what he did to me. That’s what he’s doing to Devlin.”

She smirks. “Devlin Saint hurt him? Poor baby.”

She leans forward, and I think she’s really getting into a groove now.

“Devlin Saint hurt him in that alley because Devlin was vindicating me. Because Devlin is a good man who knows the story that I’ve just told you, a story that I’ve kept hidden away all these years. A story I should have come out with a long time ago, because I believe in my heart that Walt did not do this only to me. If I’d had the courage to say something earlier, maybe he would’ve been caught. Maybe he would be in jail. Maybe he would never have been in that bar in the first place and Devlin would not have had to stand up and protect me.”

She leans back, and Corbin signals for her to keep going as I mouth that she’s doing great. She takes a deep breath, bites her lip, then continues.

“I don’t know the ramifications of what I’m saying from a legal perspective. I don’t know if it makes Devlin innocent of the charge of assault. I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know. And while I don’t want Devlin to be in trouble with the law, that’s not why I’m saying this. I’m saying this because I have to. Because Devlin Saint is a good man, who’s had a lot of crap thrown at him recently that he doesn’t deserve. And because Walt is a bad man, and he deserves whatever dark looks people give him after they hear what I’ve just said. I hope it changes everything for him. I hope he finally realizes that he can’t get away with things by trying to shift reality whether through lies or through drugs. That’s all. Thank you.”