Chapter 136 The Accusation
JASON'S POV
I was at the shop working on a bike when my phone started blowing up. Text messages. Calls. Social media notifications. All at once. I wiped my hands and checked. My stomach dropped.
Vanessa had gone to the media. Not just any media. A major tabloid. And she was claiming Caitlyn knew about Collin's crimes. That Caitlyn was a willing participant. That everything Caitlyn said in court was a lie.
I called Caitlyn immediately. She answered crying.
"Did you see it?" she asked. "Did you see what she said?"
"I saw it," I said. "Where are you? Are you home?"
"Yes," Caitlyn said. "With Emma. Jason she is calling me a criminal. She is saying I helped Collin. That I knew everything."
"I am coming home," I said. "Right now. Do not read any more of it. Do not look at social media. Just stay inside until I get there."
"Okay," Caitlyn said.
I closed up the shop and drove home as fast as I could. When I got there Caitlyn was on the couch with Emma. Her eyes were red from crying. Her phone was in her hand.
"I thought you were not going to look at it anymore," I said gently.
"I could not help it," Caitlyn said. "Everyone is talking about it. Everyone believes her."
I took her phone and read the article. It was worse than I thought. Vanessa claimed she had proof that Caitlyn knew about Collin's drug operation. That Caitlyn helped launder money. That Caitlyn attended meetings with Collin's associates. That Caitlyn was lying about being abused to avoid prosecution.
"This is all lies," I said. "Every word of it."
"But people believe her," Caitlyn said. "Look at the comments. Everyone is saying I am a liar. That I should be in prison. That I am worse than Collin."
I scrolled through the comments. She was right. Hundreds of people calling her names. Saying she deserved to be prosecuted. Saying she was playing victim. It was brutal.
"These people do not know you," I said. "They do not know what you went through. They are just reacting to a sensational story."
"A story that could destroy my credibility," Caitlyn said. "What about the other trials? What if the defense uses this against me? What if juries believe her instead of me?"
"We need to call DA Walsh," I said. "And Rourke. They need to know about this."
I called them both. They said they would come over right away. While we waited I held Caitlyn. Tried to keep her calm. Tried to keep myself calm.
"What if this ruins everything?" Caitlyn asked. "What if all those men go free because of her lies?"
"That is not going to happen," I said. "The evidence is solid. Your testimony is on record. One tabloid article cannot undo that."
"Cannot it?" Caitlyn asked. "Public opinion matters. If everyone thinks I am lying the juries will think that too."
"Not if we fight back," I said. "Not if we prove she is lying."
"How do we prove that?" Caitlyn asked. "How do we prove a negative? How do I prove I did not know something?"
"We will figure it out," I said. "With Rourke and Walsh. We will figure it out."
An hour later they both arrived. Rourke looked angry. Walsh looked worried. They sat down at our kitchen table and I showed them the article on my phone.
"I saw it already," Rourke said. "Been getting calls about it all morning. This is bad."
"How bad?" I asked.
"Bad enough that the defense attorneys in the upcoming trials will definitely use it," Walsh said. "They will argue that Caitlyn is not credible. That she has been exposed as a liar."
"But I am not lying," Caitlyn said. "Everything I said was true. Everything."
"I know that," Walsh said. "But perception is reality in court cases. If the jury thinks you are lying it does not matter what the truth is."
"So what do we do?" I asked. "How do we fight this?"
"We need to discredit Vanessa," Rourke said. "Find something in her background. Something that shows she is not credible either."
"I have been looking," Rourke continued. "But so far nothing major. She has a clean record. No arrests. No obvious red flags."
"There has to be something," I said. "People do not just make up elaborate lies for no reason. What is her motive?"
"Revenge," Rourke said. "Collin promised to leave Caitlyn for her. When he did not she was angry. Now that he is dead she blames Caitlyn."
"So she is making up lies out of spite," Caitlyn said. "And everyone believes her."
"Not everyone," Walsh said. "But enough people that it is a problem."
"Can we sue her?" I asked. "For defamation?"
"We could," Walsh said. "But that would take months. Maybe years. And it would keep this story in the news the whole time. Make things worse before they get better."
"Then what?" Caitlyn asked. "We just let her destroy me?"
"No," Rourke said. "We investigate her claims. We prove they are false. Point by point. Then we release a statement showing the truth."
"What are her specific claims?" I asked.
Rourke pulled out a notebook. "She claims Caitlyn attended at least three meetings with Collin's drug suppliers. She claims Caitlyn signed documents related to money laundering. She claims Caitlyn made deposits at offshore banks."
"I never did any of that," Caitlyn said. "I was not at any meetings. I did not sign anything. I did not go to any banks."
"Can you prove that?" Rourke asked. "Do you have an alibi for the dates she mentions?"
"What dates?" Caitlyn asked.
Rourke read them off. Three different dates over a two year period. Caitlyn thought hard.
"The first date I was at a charity event," Caitlyn said. "Collin made me go. There are photos. Other people who saw me there."
"Good," Rourke said. "What about the second date?"
"I do not remember," Caitlyn said. "That was over a year ago. I do not know where I was."
"Check your calendar," Walsh said. "Check your credit card statements. Anything that can show where you were."
Caitlyn got her laptop and started searching. After a few minutes she found something.
"I was at a doctor's appointment," she said. "I have the receipt. The appointment was at two in the afternoon. Vanessa claims the meeting was at three. I could not have been at both."
"Perfect," Rourke said. "That is exactly what we need. What about the third date?"
"I was visiting my therapist," Caitlyn said. "I started seeing Linda around that time. Let me check my records."
She searched through emails and found the appointment confirmation. "Yes. I had a session from one to two. The meeting Vanessa claims I attended was from two thirty to four. I could not have been there."
"This is good," Walsh said. "We can prove at least some of her claims are false. That establishes a pattern of lying."
"What about the documents she says I signed?" Caitlyn asked. "And the bank deposits?"
"Those are harder to disprove," Rourke said. "But I have been through all of Collin's financial records. Every document. Every transaction. Your name is not on anything. If you had signed papers or made deposits there would be a paper trail. There is not one."
"So she is making it up," I said. "All of it."
"Yes," Rourke said. "The question is why. What does she gain from this?"
"Maybe money," Walsh said. "Did the tabloid pay her for the story?"
"Probably," Rourke said. "Let me look into that. If they paid her a significant amount we can argue she has a financial motive to lie."
"What about her claiming to have proof?" I asked. "She said she has documents. Evidence."
"She does not," Rourke said. "If she had real evidence she would have gone to the police. Not a tabloid. This is all smoke and mirrors."