LN Cronan

^^^ This. And I've had my own journalism classes in college included First Amendment law and in criminal court procedure for journalists. Plus, as I mentioned before, I worked for a newspaper that was very aggressive about covering the police and the courts. Â Aggressive not for sensational purposes of selling papers -- aggressive for keeping the everyone in the system honest. including the judges. Over the years, the newspaper (owned by a family) sued police agencies to force them to make many of their records open to the public -- sued for the "right to know." None of the cases ever made it as high as the U.S. Supreme Court, however several made it to the state supreme court level. In all but one case, the newspaper won, and in doing so, created case law. Kept the cops, courts and judges accountable to the people.

 Especially because the Brett story, a much better reason for "dumping" Eva, is about to get out.

 Gideon's always had sexual hang-ups. Corrine knew that better than anyone else, having spent three years in vain trying to get Gideon to spend the night with her, not just have sex at the hotel and then call it an evening.  It's been only three weeks. Is Corrine frustrated? Oh yeah. Is she pressuring Gideon, though? Oh no. She doesn't want to scare him off. She'll settle for whatever scraps he'll throw, which these days consists of publicly dating her, probably talking on the phone every day too (the latter for the benefit of his phone records, which the cops would be watching.)  Right now, Corrine's thrilled Eva is history and the media is going nuts with reports she and Gideon have re-united. Is Gideon denying those rumors? No. Is Gideon continuing to spend time with her? Yes. Has Eva been in the picture at all? No, not to Corrine's knowledge, except for the time two mornings ago when Eva -- without Gideon's knowledge -- showed up on Corrine's doorstep to pick a fight.

 Not with this particular reporter, Deanna, no. Seems like this reporter is jealous of women who actually get anywhere with Gideon instead of getting f***** and then forgotten, like she had.  Even though Gideon (in this woman's warped mind) simply used Eva, Eva managed to get a piece of Gideon that Deanna never did.  Deanna probably believes Gideon was incredibly sexually hot for Eva (which he was -- still is.) Gideon actually took Eva out in public, something he'd never done with women like Deanna. Too, judging by the photos online, Eva lasted several weeks. Deanna probably lasted, at best, a couple of nights. Maybe only one.  So this Deanna is probably sexually jealous of Eva and even more jealous of Corrine, firmly convinced that Corrine is the one who will get the grand prize: Mrs. Gideon Cross.  I think Dr. Lucas started stirring things up the night he saw Gideon with Corrine at the fundraiser -- and once Gideon and Corrine "got back together" switched things into high gear, choosing Deanna as his (Lucas') weapon to destroy Gideon and Corrine, like Lucas tried to destroy Gideon and Eva.  Oh if the evil doctor only knew the truth .............

 No wonder Gideon was paranoid over Eva's safety even before Nathan showed up on the scene. I wonder how many bunny-boiler scorned women are floating around out there. Eva probably had a target painted on her from day one.

Gideon does have the ability to financially ruin news organizations, by the way. There is more than one way to skin a cat. He doesn't need to use the courts to do it -- for one thing, as long as the news organizations were reporting the truth, he couldn't sue they anyway. Â But the news business is in a precarious place these days as some of the old business models of print journalism are dying and the Internet has created a whole new system of journalism. Even the best newspapers have vulnerable spots, most especially financially. There are levers to push.

 This story is from Eva's point of view, so unless she caught Deanna Johnson in bed with someone, those couldn't be anyone else's but Eva's clothes strewn on the floor (snapshot #15)  And if Eva did catch Deanna in bed with someone, it certainly wouldn't be Gideon. There's a list, though, with Christopher Jr. at the top. Please, God, let it not be Eva walking into Cary's room to find that sleazy reporter in bed with him. We already know from Chapter One that Eva has vowed to keep the secret from everyone else, including Cary and Dr. Petersen. Deanna knows where Eva lives and so knows where Cary lives too.  AGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guys, it's NOT against the law. Sometimes, I wish it were. But it's NOT. I would have had my @** sued and my newspaper financially ruined if it were against the law. There are no LAWS that say "you cannot publish the name of a crime victim" nor "you cannot publish the name of minors." The First Amendment forbids any such laws from existing, because they would be unconstitutional. Â News organizations that don't run the names are doing so by voluntary CHOICE. Not because some state and/or Federal law exists.Â

 One more thing to add, online sex offender registries DO leave out the names of victims. Adult and minor alike. Not because it's illegal to run the names, but because it is a voluntary (with good reason) decision to do so.  Same deal with news organizations. It is by voluntary choice to not run the names in probably 99% of the time. But a news organization cannot be sued for simply running a name -- not as long as the facts in the story are correct. Publishing incorrect info (i.e. the reporter gets to the story wrong) well then, yes, that's potential lawsuit city. It'd be libel.  Unfortunately, the worst of the tabloids (like the National Enquirer) run lurid stories based on a combination of facts, speculations and sometimes lies. Every so often, the Enquirer does get sued for libel, and usually ends up settling out of court. Then goes right back to it's usual M.O.  Monica has real grounds for her terror about the Nathan story, including names, possibly getting out. There are news organizations unscrupulous enough to run the whole story. Because as long as the facts are true, the news organization would not be able to be sued.

 I've published the names of sex abuse victims with their permission, including in one instance, the name of a teen-ager (with parental permission.) Murder/rape victims always were identified by full name, even minors.  All other crimes involving minors, the names of the victims ran in the newspaper I worked for. Also the names of any minors who were key witnesses for certain cases, especially homicides. The youngest child I ever covered who received extensive coverage as the state's star witness in a murder trial was just five years old. She witnessed the murder of her younger brother at the hands of her mother's boyfriend while the mother was passed out cold on vodka.  There are no laws against publishing names - it's a form of censorship known as "prior restraint" and there is extensive First Amendment case law on the subject. Trust me, my newspaper never would have exposed itself to lawsuits. As long as what is published is the truth, a news organization cannot be sued.  For the record, I hated the cases involving children as victims and/or eyewitnesses to terrible crimes. It was not my choice to publish the names. That was the decision of my newspaper, which had a policy of very aggressively keeping an eye on the police agencies and the courts within our jurisdiction. For the final three years of my career, I was the cop/court beat reporter. ALL I did was write crime stories.  The reason I'm working in public relations, having walked away from a 12-year-long career in a field that overall I'd loved and was very good at was because of those heartbreaking court cases involving children. I couldn't leave the stuff in the newsroom anymore. I cried at home, and I tried to drown it out with alcohol too. I think one of the reasons the Crossfire novels touch me so deeply is because the main characters are survivors of childhood horrors.

 Eva never read the interview. Cary mentioned the article to Eva in passing. We know Cary has had a bad habit of not telling her the "whole" truth when it comes to Brett. I'm convinced, now, Brett did fully identify Eva. Or even if Brett himself didn't, then some other people (maybe bandmates) soon after gossiped about the fight.  Eva's had her ephing head in the sand ever since she saw that party photo. AGH!!!!! Yes, she probably spared herself the anguish of near-daily stories about Gideon and Corrine being reunited. But she also kept herself in the dark about how much she herself would have been in the news too -- Gideon's recent reject, and now revealed as "Golden."   Once again, there's a white-hot spotlight on Eva. And with this, the danger her own dark past could come out, once someone connects the dots between her and some guy who turned up murdered a few weeks earlier.

Thoughts on stuff Gideon says.  â€œThe options were restraining orders, increased security, vigilance… for the rest of your life. There was no guarantee you’d be safe unless Nathan was dead." Um, Gideon DID kill Nathan. But we already knew that from that radio interview Sylvia gave earlier this spring.  "I was afraid you’d run… that you’d be afraid. Of me." Gideon planned to keep the killing a secret he'd carry to his own grave. Because he feared Eva would be terrified of him if she knew what he'd done, and so he'd have lost her forever. He'd rather have risked possibly losing her over jealousy (of Corrine) than definitely losing her over terror of him. He was betting on being able to get Eva back once he was able to get rid of Corrine, but he was convinced he'd never get Eva back if she knew he had become a killer.  "My lawyers will be talking to the police tomorrow, to get a feel for where things stand." This is in direct response to Graves having cornered Eva at the gym. As soon as Eva fled his apartment, he called his defense team immediately. So everything Graves did is about to come under the scrutiny of the defense team. Every last word she said. This could be how Gideon's lawyers figure out Graves violated Eva's own rights to a lawyer.  "I have to know that you can live with what I’ve done." THIS is why he risked coming to see Eva. To ask this question.  And in Eva's mind, "I couldn’t contain the ferocious swell of emotion that needed release–the love and need, the anger and fear. And the pain. God, the pain. I still felt it keenly. I wanted to tear into him. To punish as well as pleasure. To make him experience some small measure of what I had when he’d pushed me away." What Eva learned this night does NOT totally negate her very justified feelings of hurt and betrayal for how Gideon treated her. So unfortunately, Eva's still going to have jealousy and insecurity episodes over Gideon being with Corrine. And her head is spinning in so many ways, one of which has been to rip open raw all the awful wounds Gideon inflicted when he pushed her away.

Throwing out some theories on stuff Deanna Johnson says:  Some of her words: "I can keep your name out of it, Eva. I won’t use anything that identifies you. This is your chance to get a bit of your own back .... His money doesn’t give him the right to do whatever the he wants ... pretty soon you’re going to figure out that Gideon Cross was using you to get Corinne Giroux jealous enough to come back to him .... That man has a dark side.† My theories: This reporter is working on a story about Gideon's own dark past, not Eva's. I think Dr. Terry Lucas is her source, and she's vowed to protect him as an unnamed source. As for dark past, the story may be about Gideon's mental instability as a boy/young teen-ager. Lucas' motive: Gideon got back the woman he's wanted to marry for years, and Lucas wants to destroy Gideon's shot at marrying Corrine. Lucas wants revenge for Gideon having ruthlessly damaged Lucas' own marriage by sexually using Lucas' wife, Anne. Based on what Lucas (and a huge society crowd) witnessed the night Corrine crashed that event, Lucas probably figures Eva immediately went onto the reject pile that very night. Lucas was the one who tipped off Johnson that Eva would want to get even too.  Additional: I definitely think Eva's gut instinct is right here -- Gideon f****** Johnson and then rejected her. Eva really has kept her head in the sand for weeks now. The media is running rampant with the news Gideon won back the girl who had gotten away all those years ago. Corrine is probably encouraging those rumors, knowing full well that Gideon won't bother trying to correct any wild speculation or even lies. Just like Corrine manipulated Eva, Corrine is now manipulating reporters. When Brett gave that interview four days earlier (four days prior to the start of Entwined) he actually identified Eva by name. That's how Johnson knows about him and Eva. This explains, too, why Gideon was so freaked out he took the dangerous risk of approaching Eva on Monday -- he had to beg her to wait, knowing Brett was coming back to New York later that week. Eva's Dad is right - reporters can get all sorts of info, even info buried deeply into confidential records. There are NO laws in the United States that forbid publishing the names of sexual assault victims and/or juvenile victims. Some tabloids are unscrupulous enough to do it, even though the mainstream media voluntarily -- voluntarily -- does not publish sex assault victims' names unless the victims actually want their names used and specifically ask the news organizations to do it. Trust me on this one as a former reporter who's also had formal education about media laws in the United States.

Kristen, you rock!!! I got into the site too. Â She gave us all of Chapter One and part of Chapter Two as an unexpected gift!!!! Â SQUEEEEE!!!! Â Like waking up to presents on Christmas!!!!!

 Oh gee, hadn't thought about that. Yes, a Pap smear is part of the annual physical.  No sex scene for me beforehand?

This too was supposed to go into this thread, not the "new clues" (snapshot) thread, a few hours ago.   Chapter A Day Re-Read Project - Today is Chapter Fifteen of Bared  This chapter starts Friday (day 12) and goes into Sunday (day 14)  Key plot developments: Gideon ended four days of zero contact with Eva on Sunday, tracking her down at the afternoon party his family was holding at their estate. Gideon begged Eva for another chance, sorry about how things had gone Wednesday night (her walking out on him) and Thursday (him dumping her via a "Dear Jane" note.) As a show of his commitment to work on their relationship problems, he'd entered individual therapy and had set up couples therapy. They made love in the library of his parents' mansion.  Once each of us has read Chapter Fifteen, our homework assignment from Sylvia herself is for each of us to pick our favorite quote or paragraph.  The chapter re-reads also have been the springboard here for lots of discussion. We're continuing to touch upon the chapter of the day, but even more, discussion has been jumping backward into the earlier chapters and forward in the story (even into Reflected and the Entwined snippets) as the re-reading leads us to analyze how different parts of the Crossfire saga have been connecting.

And I just realized, the daily cheat sheet of the most recent chapter we've finished with .... I posted that to the wrong thread this morning. It goes in here, the chapter-a-day thread. So here it is:   Chapter Fourteen of Bared To You - The Reader's Guide  This chapter unfolds Thursday (day eleven.)  Key plot developments: Rather than talk about what's behind his sexually violent nightmares, Gideon dumped Eva via a "Dear Jane" note at work. Gideon did, however, talk to Stanton about what Eva told him (Gideon) concerning Nathan, a conversation we hear about second hand from a mortified Monica. Gideon's half-brother, Christopher, invited Eva and Cary to a music industry party the Vidal family had planned for that coming Sunday afternoon at their estate. Eva joined her mother for a joint therapy appointment she (Eva) requested with Monica's therapist.  New characters: Dr. Petersen - mentioned in passing several times before, this chapter is where he appears in a scene for the first time.  Gideon ends the relationship Eva had walked out on Gideon Wednesday night because he lied to her when she asked for honesty about his sexually-violent nightmare that had awoken them both. She texted him when she arrived home safe. But he didn't call, not then, nor call the next day. Instead, he dumped her via a note at her office early Thursday afternoon. "Thank you, Eva, for everything. Yours, G." (page 206) Eva's reactions were fear, agony - and anger. Anger that Gideon's had kicked her out of his orderly world because she'd threatened the status quo. Cary later offered Eva this keen insight: "You know the drill, Eva. He's going to keep pushing you away, because he's expecting you to fail him like everyone else has." (page 211) She (and we readers) had no way of knowing at the time that the incident with the nightmare was figuratively Gideon's worst nightmare. His whole adult sex life up to that point had been confined to hotel sex in order to avoid spending an entire night with a woman. His being horribly victimized as a young teen left him with a deep sense of shame and feelings he wasn't worthy of love. As an adult, he knew sooner or later, if he literally slept with a woman (as in fell asleep alongside her) she'd witness one of his nightmares, and would leave him in disgust. This problem even stood in the way of him getting married. Eva intuitively sensed some sort of sexual trauma must be involved. She walked out that night not out of being triggered by her own sexual demons, but because she'd learned in therapy dishonesty is a deal-breaker. As upset as she had been Wednesday night, she hadn't planned on breaking up with Gideon. All along, she planned to try to work through the problem. By Thursday morning, she was already questioning whether she might have been wrong to have left his apartment. But the next day, Gideon didn't dare even talk to her, not even on the phone, because he was too afraid. So he ended things via a notecard.  More Eva family drama Though Gideon did not have the courage to even speak with Eva anymore, he still was gravely concerned about all she'd revealed to him concerning Nathan. Knowing that Stanton had paid money in recent years to help tighten the secrecy of the old legal proceedings, Gideon went to see Stanton at his (Stanton's) office. A distraught Monica told Eva about it. "He wanted to know what's been done to prevent information leaks. And he wanted to know where Nathan is .... he wanted to know everything." (pages 207-208) In return, Eva told her mother Gideon had the night to know to protect himself from blowback if the Nathan story got out and turned into a scandal that would tarnish Gideon's celebrity image. Thursday evening, Eva attended the joint therapy session she'd demanded requested with her mother's therapist, Dr. Petersen, to discuss Monica having stalked Eva via a cell phone Monica had given her. Dr. Petersen, who has been treating Monica for seriously dysfunctional obsessions over Eva's safety, even though Eva is a grown woman, reminded Monica in the session that what she (Monica) had done with the cell phone was wrong. He reminded Monica that Eva needs both boundaries and a sense of control over her life, things that were taken from Eva a long time ago (when Nathan brutally victimized her from ages 10-14.) After the appointment ended, Eva got a moment alone with the doctor to ask "Is it possible for two abuse survivors to have a functional romantic relationship?" (page 211). Dr. Petersen assured her "absolutely."  Two people connected to Gideon try to connect with Eva Prior to the "Dear Jane" note on Thursday, which arrived mid-afternoon, two people connected to Gideon separately sought her out. One failed, one succeeded. The failure was Magdalene, who showed up unannounced Thursday morning in the reception area at the advertising agency where Eva works. Rather than agree to see Magdalene, Eva immediately called upstairs to Gideon's assistant Scott, and asked him to send someone to get rid of her -- a ploy that worked. The agency main receptionist, Megumi, reported with glee that Magdalene got upset when someone from Gideon's staff arrived to fetch her. Christopher Vidal Jr., Gideon's half-brother, succeeded in reaching Eva - went to lunch with her, in fact. His reason for seeing her was to invite her to a garden party his parents were throwing on Sunday at their estate, a music industry celebrity mixer for Vidal Records. Christopher used Cary as leverage, suggesting the exposure would be good for Cary's modeling career. Christopher admitted Gideon likely wouldn't go too, because he never went to such events, despite being the majority shareholder in Vidal Records. Christopher also explained Gideon's parents really wanted to meet her. Based on the photos published in the past few days (which included two separate occasions of displays of passion), the family concluded, "It's the first time we've seen him really into someone he's dating." (page 204). Christopher had no way of knowing (nor did Eva during lunchtime) the new relationship had already fallen apart.

I can't even begin to imagine how many posts I'll be up to before the second full week of June is over.

<<====== I just exceeded one thousand posts, but didn't get another cool new title. Board Master, it would appear, is the top-tier designation.

 Oh I'm sure they've figured that out. But I seriously doubt he's told them. It's a secret he'd want to keep even deeper than the secret of him being a rape victim. He was terrified of Eva ever finding out he literally had blood on his hands. If he'd had his way, he's carry both of those secrets to his grave. Telling Stanton and Monica he did it would be seriously stupid from a legal point of view -- they could always turn state's evidence against him. But far worse, Monica could blurt out to Eva what he'd done. Obviously, Monica had already blurted out something Gideon never wanted Eva to know about, that rape pictures/video of her (Eva) existed.

 Among the stash of stuff the cops later found proving Nathan was stalking Eva were pictures of her -- obviously, that would have included various online photos and stories. How else did he learn Cary was at the very least her roommate and probably one of her boyfriends too? Because there were true reports Cary lived with Eva and false speculations the arrangement involved more than shared living space. It's the reason Nathan told Cary to stay away from "her" as Nathan went postal on him with the bat.  So the most likely scenario is Nathan went to Gideon first, not Gideon tracked down Nathan. However, the latter is a possibility. Stanton in all likelihood knew of Nathan's current whereabouts. And via Monica, we know Gideon asked for that information. A little more than a week passed between that meeting with Stanton and Gideon having Nathan in his own office.

Even though Gideon did dump Eva, he never did cut the cord -- so he self-justified four days later that what happened wasn't a break-up (um, hello Mr. Denial -- you did dump her, and she took that, at the time, as your final answer.) Gideon still had had Eva's set of keys in his possession when she walked out on him Wednesday. Via Angus, Eva had given Gideon her keys on Tuesday, so that he could get into her apartment however late he arrived Tuesday night. When Gideon sent the "Dear Jane" note, he also returned Eva's set of keys in the same envelope. But as we'd later learn, Gideon made a copy of her key before he gave those back. Gideon found out about Dr. Petersen, because Eva was followed to Petersen's office on Thursday evening (she and Monica had their appointment that evening.) My guess is that Gideon himself was in the car with Angus driving. By Sunday, Gideon had already made arrangements to become a patient of Petersen's, signing up both for individual therapy (which he'd attend on Tuesdays) and for couples therapy (he'd snagged that Thursday evening spot). Gideon had to have called Petersen's office on Friday. Safe to say Gideon had Eva followed most of the time from Thursday onward. She'd walked out on him -- he was waiting for her to make the next move by coming back. By Sunday, he figured out maybe she wasn't coming back on her own (duh!) So he screwed up his courage to go after her. That's when he found out where she was when he went to seek her out -- she was attending the party at the Vidal estate. Gideon didn't even wait for a driver to pick him up. He jumped into one of his cars and drove himself to the Vidals.

We know now, because of some things Sylvia recently posted on this site, that Gideon/Monica/Stanton were all cooperating together to guard Eva's physical security, now that Nathan was a danger to her. It had been Monica who told Gideon that Nathan was the one who inflicted the near-fatal beating on Cary. Â As for the killing itself, I firmly believe Gideon took that on himself, never informing Monica and Stanton, not before nor after the fact. I believe, too, that Angus was an accomplice. From the malarkey Detective Graves later fed Eva, the detective surmised Gideon ran on foot, 15 minutes each way, from the party to Nathan's hotel then back to the party. But too risky - Gideon's a celebrity. Someone would have recognized him, especially because he was dressed in a business suit, his mogul self who'd been being photographed by the press at that party. I think Angus drove him to and from Nathan's hotel, stood lookout, and disposed of the weapon while Gideon returned to the party. Â Stanton and Monica also had motive to kill Nathan, and the cops focused on them too, putting real pressure on Stanton especially. Stanton would do anything to protect Monica and Eva from legal harm. And Stanton had every reason to believe that the same week Gideon probably did the deed, Gideon also dumped Eva for good. So Stanton would have no loyalty to Gideon anymore. Stanton had motive to chuck Gideon under the bus by telling the cops how Gideon had first come to him seeking information on where Nathan had ended up in the years since Nathan had been convicted of raping Eva. Gideon probably bet, correctly, Stanton had that information, given that years later, Stanton did some serious digging into the old court cases in order to identify people who might blab -- people Stanton wanted to pay to ensure those people kept their mouths shut.

Timeline: Gideon went to see Stanton on a Thursday. By then, Eva and Gideon had been in the news for two-plus solid days, including photos. Gideon's first confrontation with Nathan happened in his (Gideon's office) just over a week later (Friday) during lunchtime. Gideon did last-minute cancel a lunch meeting he had that Friday, leaving Angus waiting in vain downstairs to drive him. Â ????????

Chapter Fifteen, a couple of things Gideon blurted out to Eva that made me want to cry .... these are on page 226 Â " I know you're disgusted by what you saw the other night .... what I was doing to myself ... I can make you want me again. Let me try." Â Oh poor Gideon. This is the way he felt inside, all because some sick b****** raped him and his mother decided Gideon was simply some disturbed little liar. His rapist made him feel he was dirty and his mother made him feel he wasn't worthy of anyone. Â And the story strongly suggests that the location where Gideon was blurting out this agony, in the library of the house he grew up in, was the "scene of the crime."