Chapter 6 - The Boyfriend Who Owned the Business
Publicly, Dustin owned nothing.
No LLC.
No gym.
No warehouse.
No fight promotion company.
Privately, the memory card told another story.
Dustin collected percentages.
Recruited fighters.
Recruited women.
Enforced debts.
His role was hidden because he was still competing professionally at the regional level.
A gambling scandal would end his career.
An illegal fight operation could send him to prison.
Hannah sat beside Laura while investigators showed her financial transfers.
Money from Forge Athletics flowed into a marketing company.
That company paid Dustin's rent.
His truck.
Training expenses.
Even the vacation he had taken Hannah on.
She stared.
"I thought sponsors paid for that."
Laura shook her head.
"No."
Hannah looked sick.
Jack sat near the door.
He wanted to speak.
Did not.
Eventually Hannah whispered:
"Was I recruited?"
Laura understood.
"You mean did Dustin date you because of the operation?"
"Yes."
"We don't know."
Hannah looked toward Jack.
He saw the question in her eyes.
Had the entire relationship been fake?
Jack moved beside her.
"Whatever his reason for approaching you, what happened after doesn't become less real."
She began crying.
"I loved him."
"I know."
"I defended him to you."
"I know."
"I lied for him."
"I know."
She looked ashamed.
Jack shook his head.
"None of that makes what he did acceptable."
"He made me feel stupid."
"That's how control works."
She wiped her face.
Laura looked away to give them privacy.
Hannah whispered:
"Did you ever think I was stupid?"
"Never."
"Even when I stopped talking to you?"
"I thought you were disappearing."
She looked at him.
"I didn't know how to stop it."
Jack squeezed her hand.
"You did."
"When?"
"When you told me the truth."
That night the police located another woman on the red list.
Katie Mills.
Thirty-one.
Former amateur boxer.
She agreed to speak after being shown Rachel's recording.
Katie described a system.
New fighters entered the gym.
Some had girlfriends.
Some women trained there themselves.
Rick created loyalty tests.
Private sparring.
Money challenges.
Humiliation.
Eventually the women became isolated.
If they threatened to speak, they were added to the red list.
"What happened to women on the list?" Laura asked.
Katie swallowed.
"Pressure."
"What kind?"
"Jobs suddenly disappeared. Landlords received complaints. Anonymous messages. Sometimes they were threatened with private videos."
"Videos of what?"
"Changing rooms."
Hannah went pale.
Jack stood.
"You had cameras in women's changing rooms?"
Katie nodded.
"That's why nobody spoke."
The investigation expanded.
Digital exploitation.
Blackmail.
Illegal gambling.
Assault.
Potential conspiracy.
Then Katie gave them another detail.
"Dustin liked going after women with strong families."
Jack frowned.
"Why?"
"He thought breaking them proved something."
"What?"
"That everybody could be controlled."
Hannah closed her eyes.
That sounded exactly like him.
Katie continued.
"He talked about Hannah before they started dating."
Hannah froze.
"Before?"
Katie nodded.
"Months before."
Jack's expression changed.
"How did he know her?"
"She volunteered at the veterans' fundraiser."
Hannah remembered.
The gym had sponsored a table.
Dustin had been there.
She thought their later meeting had been coincidence.
It wasn't.
Katie looked at Jack.
"He knew who you were."
Jack stared.
"Why would that matter?"
"Coach Dalton hated Marines."
Jack frowned.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
Katie hesitated.
"But there was one person at the gym he hated more."
"Who?"
She looked directly at Jack.
"You."
Silence.
Jack sat back.
"I'd never met him."
"Maybe you don't remember."
"I'd remember Dalton."
Katie shook her head.
"He used another name before he opened the gym."
"What name?"
"Rick Danner."
Jack stopped moving.
The name reached across thirty years.
Camp Lejeune.
A young recruit.
Talented.
Violent.
Removed from a combat instructor program after nearly killing another Marine during an unauthorized hazing session.
Jack had testified at the disciplinary hearing.
Richard Danner.
May you like
Jack whispered:
"I know exactly who he is."
