Page 38
She shrugs. “It was fun. I loved playing, being part of a team. I learned a lot.”
“And you had some great coaches, I heard,” Esme says. “Who was your favorite?”
Kayla’s eyes flicker to me, and I see a flash of anger. “I don’t know. I had a few.”
“Come on, there must have been someone who stood out,” Esme insists. “Someone who inspired you, who pushed you to be better.”
Kayla sighs, as if annoyed. “Fine. I guess it was Coach Woods. He was new, but he knew his stuff. He taught me a lot of tricks, techniques.”
Esme nods, making notes on her pad. “That’s interesting. He sounds like a great coach. Did you keep in touch with him after you left the team?”
Kayla’s expression darkens. “No. I didn’t.”
“Why not?” Esme asks. “Did something happen?”
“No,” she says, too quickly. “I just… I don’t know. I lost interest.”
“Really?” Esme says. “Because I heard a different story. I heard that he was inappropriate with you. That he crossed a line. That he made you uncomfortable.”
Kayla’s face turns red, and she glares at Esme. “That’s not true. He was a professional. He never did anything wrong.”
“Are you sure?” Esme presses. “Because we have some evidence that suggests otherwise. We have emails, texts, photos. We have witnesses.”
Kayla’s eyes dart to me, and I see fear in them. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“Kayla, please,” I say, speaking for the first time. “You don’t have to be afraid of him. You don’t have to protect him. He doesn’t deserve it.”
She turns to me. “You know what he’s like, don’t you? You’re his ex-wife. You must have gotten a taste of what he’s willing to do to get what he wants.”
I nod, my throat tight. “I did. But I’m not his victim anymore. Neither are you. You can help us stop him, Kayla. You can help us expose him. But you have to tell us the truth.”
She looks away. “I signed an NDA. I can’t talk about it.”
Esme leans forward. “We can protect you, Kayla. We can keep you anonymous. No one will know it was you who talked to us.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she says, her voice breaking. “I’m done with him. I moved on. I have a career, a life. I don’t want to be dragged back into that mess.”
“But what if he does it again?” I ask. “What if he hurts someone else? Don’t you care?”
She looks away, and I see tears in her eyes. “Of course I do. But I can’t risk it. I’m sorry. I really am.”
Esme sighs and puts her pad away. “Okay. We understand. We won’t bother you again. But if you change your mind, you know where to find us.”
She nods and stands up. We follow her to the door, and she puts her hand on the handle. “He makes you feel chosen. It’s a perfectly set trap.”
I feel a pang of empathy for her. I know exactly how she feels. “I know. But you’re not alone, Kayla.”
She smiles sadly, then returns to her desk. She unlocks the bottom drawer, takes out a small notebook and holds it out to me.
“I won’t be a part of it, but I do want him to pay,” she tells me. “I kept track of him all these years. There are more girls out there and I felt bad for agreeing to stay silent. I often wonder if I could’ve saved them, if I could’ve made a difference. I guess now you can.”
“Thank you,” I say, taking the notebook. “We’ll make it count.”
She nods and turns away. We leave her office and walk back to the car. I’m disappointed, but not discouraged. We got something. And it’s more than what we had before.
We get in the car, and Esme looks at me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I say, opening the notebook and skimming through the pages. “But it’s not going to be easy. There’s a lot of names and dates here, but it’s all guesswork.”
