The Last Good Girl (36 page)
Read The Last Good Girl Online
Authors: Allison Leotta
“You need to rest,” Anna said.
“A little outing will be good for her,” said the nurse. “You can push her in a wheelchair.”
The nurse helped get Sam into the wheelchair. Anna pushed her down the hall. Emily Shapiro's room was guarded by two police officers, who were supposed to keep strangers away and the patient in. When the officers saw Sam and Anna, they let them through. Inside, the room was full of balloons, stuffed animals, and flowersâbut only one person.
Emily sat in her bed, her left leg in a cast. She was staring out the window, watching her parents walk away from the press conference.
“Can we come in?” Anna said.
Emily turned toward them. She looked nervous, but nodded. Anna pushed Sam to Emily's bed and sat in a chair next to it. Close up and in the light of day, Anna noticed details about Emily she hadn't the night before. Her skin was unnaturally pale, probably from having been out of the sunlight for a week. There were bluish circles under her eyes.
“Am I, like, under arrest?”
“No,” Anna said. “You're not under arrest. We just wanted to check on you and say hi.”
“Hi.” Emily looked at Sam. “I'm sorry I hurt you last night. I didn't want that to happen.”
“I know,” Sam said. “But it's not great that you wanted to hurt yourself either.”
Emily sighed. “I'm not sure I was in my right mind.”
“We have resources that can help you get there,” Anna said. “Advocates. Counselors. Will you let us hook you up with them?”
“I will. At least I'll try, for all the other girls who are watching me now.” She gestured to the TV.
“And for yourself,” Anna said.
“That's what my mom says. My parents were sitting here when I woke up. It was the first time I've seen them together, not fighting, since they broke up. My dadâI've never seen him cry before.”
“He was worried sick.”
“I was . . . surprised . . . to see that.”
“They love you,” Anna said. “Even if they are sometimes wrapped up in their own lives.”
“I guess so,” Emily said. She looked at Sam's badge. “So you guys aren't going to arrest me. Who is?”
“You will face some repercussions for misleading the police,” Sam said. “But now's not the time for that.” Anna didn't even want to think about the civil suit that Dylan's family could bring.
“I'll be picking up trash on the side of the road, wearing an orange vest.”
“Maybe you can help clean up all the mattresses,” Sam said with a smile.
Emily smiled back.
Her parents walked into the room. Anna stood, not certain what kind of reception they'd get. Emily's mother rushed over and pulled Anna into a big hug. Then she leaned down to Sam and did the same. “Thank you,” Beatrice said. “You saved my baby.”
Barney reached out and shook both of their hands. “We are very grateful for all your work.”
“Where's Kristen?” Emily asked.
“We . . . er, she broke up with me. After she learned I'm stepping down.”
Beatrice couldn't suppress a smile, but she quickly straightened it out. “We'll all just concentrate on Emily for a while,” she said.
“That sounds like a good plan,” Anna said. She turned to Emily. “I'll visit again. I really would like to get to know the real Emily.”
Emily smiled. “I'd like that.”
A
s Anna pushed Sam down the corridor, they saw a tall, dark-haired man waiting in the hallway outside her door.
“It's your partner.” Anna leaned down to Sam and whispered, “When are you two gonna hook up?”
“I dunno.” Sam looked back at her with a grin. “There's not that much to do in a hospital. Maybe this afternoon.”
Steve hurried toward them, holding a shiny red box. Anna stopped the wheelchair. Steve knelt down on a knee, dropped the box, and put his hands on Sam's arms. “God, Randazzo, it's good to see you. Don't scare me like that again, okay?”
Sam nodded and rested her forehead against his. He wrapped his arms around her. They held each other for a long time. Anna quietly backed away.
As she walked away, she heard Sam saying, “Are those chocolate-covered strawberries?”
“Of course,” said Steve.
Before Anna got to the elevator, her phone rang. It was Dylan Highsmith's lawyer. Anna stepped into an empty hallway and answered.
“Ms. Curtis,” he said. “I take it that my client is no longer under suspicion of murder.”
“That's right.”
“I'd like you to drop all charges against him now.”
“That's not going to happen. He still drugged and raped several young women, and I have a boatload of evidence of his hatred of women generally. Not only am I asking that he stay in jail pending his trial against Melinda Bates, I'm going to recommend adding more counts to the indictment, as we find every young woman he ever did this to. We already have four more. And he was smuggling Rohypnol into Venezuela.”
He paused. “Would you consider a plea deal?”
“Only one that would include jail time for your client. Seven years. Plus registration as a sex offender. All the victims will have to be found and notified and given a chance to weigh in on this and speak at his sentencing.”
“See if you can work that out. I'll see about this end.”
She wanted to ask for her sister's job back too. But that would taint everything else. If Jody wanted to fight that fight, Anna would find a good civil lawyer. And maybe it wouldn't be so bad if Jody gave up her job. Maybe it would push her in the direction she should've gone eight years ago. College. Jody had been talking about it since her visit to the Beta Psi house.
Also,
Anna thought,
if Jody had the inclination, she'd make a damn fine detective. Being yanked off the assembly line might be a good thing for her.
Anna said good-bye to Dylan's lawyer and hung up. There was going to be years of litigation, criminal and civil, for Emily, Dylan, and their families. Anna wouldn't be involved. The important thing for her was that she'd found everyone with a pulse and a heartbeat. She was ready to get off the case while she was still ahead. She took the elevator down to the first floor, walked through the lobby, and went outside.
Spring had finally reached Michigan. The dirty piles of snow had melted into the earth. Crocuses poked their lavender heads from the ground.
When she looked up, she almost bumped into Jack, who was coming from the parking lot with a bouquet of yellow tulips. He pulled her into a hug.
“Sweetheart,” he said. His lips brushed her temple. “You did it. You found her.”
“I'm so relieved, Jack.”
She stepped back, out of his embrace.
“How's Sam?” he asked.
“Giving the nurses a hard time.”
“Glad to hear she's back to herself.”
“You, um, might want to give her some privacy for a bit. Steve is up there with her.”
“Nice. When are those two going to hook up, anyhow?”
“He did bring her chocolate-covered strawberries.”
A couple came out of the hospital's automatic doors. The woman held a newborn infant in her arms, as the man pushed her in a wheelchair. The man beamed as he brought them to a car at the curb.
“Congratulations,” Anna said.
The new parents thanked her. The baby peered at Anna with amazed eyes. Anna watched them bundle the infant into a car seat and drive away.
“I'm so sorry I wasn't there,” Jack said. “I'm sorry you had to do that by yourself. While I was arguing with that outrageous Xanten guy.”
“It's okay,” Anna said. “I do okay on my own. And that's actually something I needed to learn. I've been so reliant on youâfor advice, for a role model, for steering me in the right direction.”
“We'll have to be sure you have more cases without me.”
“That's not what I mean. Oh God. I don't know how to say this. I love you, Jack. Part of me always will. And I love your life. I'm so honored that you would invite me into it. But I have to see what I can do on my own.”
“Are you breaking up with me?” A sad smile played on his lips. “Again?”
“You'll always be a part of who I am. But I need a peer, not a boss. Not a father figure.”
“I'm not trying to be a father to you. Not by a long shot.”
“I know.”
“This never would've happened if Nina hadn't come back.”
“Maybe. But maybe that just saved us some grief in the long run.”
He shook his head and looked up at the sky. He blinked back what might have been a tear. She swallowed through a lump in her throat and waited for him to compose himself. Finally, he took a deep breath and brought his gaze back to hers. She knew him well enough to know that he wanted to say more, but that he would accept her decision with the best grace he could.
“Will you stay here?” he asked. “Go back to D.C.?”
“I have no idea. I need to take a deep breath and figure out my life.” For the first time, she'd try following her heart instead of her head.
He pulled her into a hug. “Good luck, Anna.”
He walked toward the hospital and disappeared inside the sliding glass doors. Her perfect life disappeared with him.
She watched it go and felt no regret.
A
nna walked through Cooper's house, calling his name. He didn't answer. The house was quiet and cold. “Cooper!” she called. She looked in the den. It was empty. She peered into the kitchen. Nothing. There was not a light on in the entire house.
A rhythmic thumping came from the backyard. She followed the sound to a window. Cooper was outside chopping wood. He put a piece of a log on a big stump, raised the ax above his head, and brought it down in a perfect arc. The log split into two neat halves. He threw the halves into a pile. He did it again, then again. His muscles were covered in a sheen of sweat. The pile of fresh-cut firewood towered next to him; it was bigger than his equipment shed. He'd been at this for hours, maybe days.
Anna took a blanket from the couch and went out the back door. Cooper looked up from his work and lowered the ax. He wiped his face with a bandanna. She walked over and kissed him lightly on the mouth. He tasted like apples; there was no more whiskey on his breath.
“I'm staying,” she said. “There's nothing you can do to get rid of me. So don't even try.”
She walked to the orchard and spread the blanket under an apple tree. She lay down on it, put her hands under her head, and waited. Above, the branches formed a lacy latticework. A few pink buds were starting to push their way out. She smelled grass and apples and the earthy scent of spring.
For a while, she heard nothing but birds calling to one another and a siren pealing in the distance. A few rows over, a chicken pecked at the dirt. Then came the sound of Cooper's asymmetrical footsteps in the grass. He lowered himself down, so they were lying side by side. His shoulder brushed hers. She took a deep breath, deeper than she had in a while.
“In my job,” Anna said, “I see a lot of kids. Great kids who don't have a family or anyone to love them. A couple times a week, I wish I could take one of them home with me.”
“I'm guessing prosecutors can't adopt their witnesses.”
“No. But. What I'm saying is: there are lots of ways to become a mother. Or a father.”
He reached for her hand at the same time she reached for his. His calloused palm felt warm and safe.
“I'm so glad you came,” he said. “I was running out of trees.”
She laughed and squeezed his hand. She didn't want to think about tomorrow or yesterday. She didn't want to analyze or annotate or figure anything out. She just wanted to be here, now, her fingers interlaced with Cooper's, breathing this soft spring air. “You were right,” she said. “This is the best place on earth.” They lay on the blanket, looking up through the apple trees at the clouds drifting across a bright blue sky.
Many thanks to real FBI Agent Steve Quisenberry for his constant generosity and expertise on all things FBI. Thanks to Glenn Kirschner for sharing his incredible stories and knowledge. A big thank-you to the real Justin Dillon, my former AUSA colleague and now a national expert in defending college sex-assault cases, for giving me the defense perspective.
Thanks to the talented writers in my critique group, Rebecca Coleman, Alma Katsu, and Kathleen McCleary, who helped shape this story from start to finish. Thanks to Kathy's daughter, Grace Benninghoff, for her insights into modern college life and language. Thanks to my wonderful friend Lynn Haaland for inspiration and hilarious stories about growing up on a college campus, and to Jessica Mikuliak for her wise and gentle honesty. Thanks to Boyd Morrison, who saved Fenwick's life, and to Boyd's wife, Randi, who periodically saves mine.
As always, I owe a debt of gratitude to a team of amazing women: my agent, Amy Berkower; my publicist, Shida Carr; my publisher, Susan Moldow; and my editor, Lauren Spiegel, who has expertly guided Anna through five books. I am grateful to Genevieve Gagne-Hawes, whose advice greatly improved this novel and encouraged this writer. Thanks to the entire team at Touchstone and Simon & Schuster; I feel very fortunate to have worked with all of you in developing this series over the last six years.
A world of thanks goes to my family, especially my husband, Mike, my first and most important reader, and my two little boys, who make everything worthwhile. Boos, I love watching you become the kind, funny, thoughtful boys you are. I love that you're enthusiastic readers and writers too. I promise you'll be allowed to read this book when you turn eighteen. Meanwhile, never forget that your mama loves you more than anything.
Reading Group Guide
The Last Good Girl
By Allison Leotta
This reading group guide for
The Last Good Girl
includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and a Q&A with author
Allison Leotta
. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.
Introduction
In Allison Leotta's fifth novel, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Curtis must race against the clock to find Emily Shapiro, a Tower University freshman who disappears after a night out at a local bar. Months earlier, Emily had accused fellow Tower student Dylan Highsmithâa popular senior and son of Michigan's lieutenant governorâof drugging and raping her at a party at his fraternity house. Dylan is quickly identified as the lead suspect, but as Anna and her colleagues work to gather evidence in their case against him, they begin to uncover disturbing details about both the young man and his fraternity, Beta Psi, known around campus as the “rape factory.”
With help from her sister, Jody, who is a new mom; FBI agent Sam Randazzo; her boyfriend, Cooper Bolden, an Afghan war veteran; and an unlikely ally inside the fraternity house's walls, Anna fights against the institutions that aim to block her from finding Emily at every turn. Inspired by recent headlines and filled with of-the-minute details,
The Last Good Girl
is a searing and page-turning exposé of campus rape and the ways the system forces victims to silence their voices time and again.
Topics & Questions for Discussion
1. Although Emily is missing from the first pages of the novel, we hear her voice through a series of vlogs she recorded for one of her classes. Why did the author choose to insert Emily's voice so directly into the narrative? How do the chapters told in Emily's point of view impact your understanding of her character and your ideas about the reasons behind her disappearance?
2. Were you shocked by how Emily is treatedâby her fellow students, parents, and campus authoritiesâafter she reports her rape? How do you think universities could change their handling of rape and sexual assault cases to make the process less traumatic for victims? How does the way Emily is treated impact her friendships and her personality?
3. In what ways does Anna herself confront sexism throughout the course of her investigation of Emily's disappearance? How does Anna handle herself when faced with these situations? Have you ever found yourself in a position where you had to deal with sexism on the job, and, if so, what did you do about it?
4. As she watches students protesting sexual assault on campus by marching down the street carrying their mattresses, Anna is impressed by how savvy Tower University students are in their use of social media to publicize their message and further their agenda. What are some real-world examples of activists taking advantage of new forms of media to advance their causes? How has the art of protest changed since the sit-ins of the '60s and '70s?
5. How does the city of Detroit become a character in the novel? Compare the scenes set in Detroit with the scenes set in the tony mansions of Grosse Pointe. How do both settings prove crucial to the story and to Anna unraveling the mystery of Emily's disappearance?
6. The hazing that the pledges undergo in their efforts to become members of Beta Psi is degrading and is described as dangerous. Were you surprised by the lengths the young men went to in order to join the fraternity? What would you do if faced with similar demands to join a group or organization? Why are the pledges so willing to put themselves through horrifying acts to join the frat? Is it for future connections in the world of business, for the feeling of being a part of something exclusive, or something more?
7. Compare and contrast Cooper Bolden and his younger brother, Wyatt. How does Wyatt change over the course of the novel, and how does Cooper contribute to the decisions that he ends up making in regards to the fraternity?
8. What dangers does Jody risk by going undercover at the frat without notifying Anna in advance? Why is Jody willing to go through such danger to help her sister? Have you ever done anything dangerous or risky to help a loved one?
9. In a lighter subplot of the novel, Anna finds herself in the middle of a love triangle with her former fiancé Jack and her new love interest, Cooper. What are the benefits of a life with Jack, and what are the benefits of a life with Cooper? Do you agree with the decision that Anna makes at the end of the novel? What do you think the future holds for her current relationship, and also for her relationship with the man she did not choose? How does Anna's choice impact her growing desire to be a mother in the future?
10. Were you surprised by where Anna and Sam find Emily by the end of the novel? Why did Emily do what she did? Do you think her actions are justified after all she has been through?
11. What do you think the future holds for Anna? Will she stay in Michigan; return to Washington, D.C.; or end up somewhere else entirely?
A Conversation with Allison Leotta
Now that you've written five novels featuring Anna Curtis, what do you know about her that you didn't know when you began? How has her character surprised you?
She surprised me when she fell in love with Jack in the first book. I didn't intend for that to happen. I'm a pretty detailed outlinerâat the outset, I know how my stories are going to play outâbut all of a sudden there was all this unexpected sexual tension crackling between these two characters. I think, actually, I fell for Jack first, and Anna followed shortly thereafter. I've been trying to break them up ever since!
On a more serious note, it's been satisfying to watch her grow. She started off so green and naive in
Law of Attraction
. Since then, she's become a formidable legal adversary. She's stumbled and fallen, been hurt and disappointed, but mined those experiences for wisdom and strength. I've put her through quite a lot the last few years, and was happy to find that she was up for it.
How has your writing process evolved since your first novel? Do you find that anything has gotten easier after five books?
Nothing is easier. But at least now I understand that the hard parts are part of the process. At some point during the writing of each of my books, I said to myself,
This is impossible. It will never happen. I'll never get it done.
And then, of course, it got done. So now when I get to the this-is-impossible stage, I understand it's not actually impossible. That feeling is just part of the process.
Your books always involve very current, ripped-from-the-headlines plots. How do you choose your next topic? Were you already thinking of writing about the issue of campus rape before the University of Virginia article in
Rolling Stone
came out?
Yes, I was writing
The Last Good Girl
before that horrible article came out. The
Rolling Stone
article has done more to set back American sex-crimes prosecutions than much I can think of in recent history. People naturally tend to doubt sex-assault victims. They think rape survivors are more likely to lie than, say, victims of a muggingâwhich is totally untrue. Sex assaults are fabricated at exactly the same rate as any other crime. But that badly researched article reinforced the unwarranted skepticism toward sex-assault survivors, which advocates have been fighting for decades. Sigh.
As for how I choose my topics: I always have a bunch of ideas percolating, because, unfortunately, there's always some bad man doing some bad thing. (Sorry, it's almost always a bad
man
in my line of work.) There's plenty of “inspiration” to mull. When it's time to pull the trigger on a book idea, I talk to my editor, my agent, my husband, and a few trusted friends about these ideas, spinning out how they'd work. After several conversations, I start to get excited about one in particular, and that's the one I write.
How would you advise universities to improve their sexual-assault reporting procedures? Do you think there is a solution, or is this a problem that won't go away as higher institutions strive to keep their reported rapes at zero to appeal to potential students and donors?
A few of my sex-crime prosecutor friends and I have actually talked about forming an organization to try to help colleges figure out how to improve their policies. It's a complicated issue, trying to balance the safety of victims with the rights of suspects. I think we're heading in the right directionâfederal DOJ oversight of campuses has made it a lot harder for colleges to ignore rapes. But we've got a long way to go.
The legal process has to be fair, transparent, and consistent. But solutions outside the legal box could have as much of an impact. Some suggest dry campusesâsince so many assaults are facilitated by alcoholâwhile others suggest lowering the drinking age, so that students wouldn't come to college with no drinking experience and go overboard or binge drink. I'd love to have a study comparing those two models!
Right now, all Greek parties are held in fraternities, not sororities. It's a throwback rule, totally sexist, and I think it contributes to sexual assaults. I believe holding parties in sororities would change the dynamics, making it much harder for predator boys to use their home turf to prey on vulnerable victims.
Do you keep up with your friends from the world of federal sex-crimes prosecuting? Do they ever give you ideas for your novels?
The friends I made at the USAO are some of my best friends in the world, and will be, I expect, for my entire life. Our relationship is a little bit like that among war vets. We went through the trenches together; experienced something difficult, crazy, harrowing, rewarding; saw each other through tough times, heartbreak, and victories. There are few legal jobs like that.
And, yeah, I shamelessly pick their brains for story ideas. Folks have been very generous in sharing the best and worst of what's happened to them in any given week. And most everyone wants to have a character named after them. J
Which is more stressful: prosecuting a high level sex-crimes case in front of a judge and jury, or turning in your manuscript on time to your editor?
Ha! Maybe if my editor were cruel and sadistic, I'd be more stressed out, but I've been lucky that Lauren Spiegel, the woman who's edited all five of my books, is terrific. Kind, smart, savvy, funny, a pleasure to work with. Turning in a manuscript is undoubtedly stressfulâyou know that the whole world can read it and judge you. They say publishing a book is like walking down the street in your underwear. But for pure adrenaline and stress, there's nothing like prosecuting a sexual predator. I think that's why I started writing, actually. It was my way of processing everything, of handling that stress.
What do you like to read and watch when you aren't writing about the intense world of sex-crimes prosecutors?
Crime novels and courtroom dramas, of course! Although now there's an element of “doing my homework” when I read and watch these. It's hard to just enjoy the story; now I'm thinking,
Ooh, I should have done that!
Or,
Hm, I could've done that better.
Or, the worst:
Damn, I'll never be able to do it that well.
I'm always picking at the seams, peeking beneath the fabric, analyzing the construction. I love literary fiction, too, though the same problems apply. For true relaxation, I watch
The Bachelor
. Whoa, wait. I can't believe I just admitted that. I take it back. I'm . . . um . . . I'm pleading the Fifth.
Enhance Your Book Club
1. Read another Anna Curtis novel and discuss how Anna has changed over the years. How has her approach to prosecuting cases changed as she's gotten older and more confident in her role?
2. Visit
www.rainn.org
to learn how you can volunteer to support rape and sexual abuse victims, advocate for public policy changes, and help raise money to support victims' rights.
3. Watch the documentary
The Hunting Ground
, which is about campus sexual assault. What themes are similar to those in the book?