Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Ryder
NOW
Outside the house, I call Arlo for a ride to my car, which must still be at the ballfield. While I wait, I lean against Caroline’s new minivan. The payments are six hundred dollars a month. How will we ever pay for everything with a massive legal tab hanging over our heads?
Since Arlo lives nearby, he arrives ten minutes later.
“We need to talk about the campaign,” he says on the way to the ballfield where my life changed forever.
“What campaign? It was over the second I was taken into custody last night.”
“I’ll take care of making it official.” He glances over at me, as stressed as I’ve ever seen him. “I’ve been getting calls all day from the other guys who signed that affidavit. They’re worried.”
“We should talk to Cam about it and see if he’s heard from the AG’s office on that.”
As the lawyer in our group, Cam is usually our go-to guy for advice. That he and our other closest friends could get caught up in this mess only compounds the nightmare.
Arlo calls Cam on the Bluetooth. “Hey, I’m taking Ryder to get his car. The decision has been made to suspend the campaign.”
“Okay.”
“I’m getting calls from the others about that affidavit…”
“We might be screwed on that.”
“You think so?” Arlo asks, his voice quite a bit higher than usual.
“My contact at the AG’s office told me that Neisy reminded them that the affidavit was complete bullshit and made her cooperation in the reopened case contingent on them doing something about that. He said they’re looking into it.”
“Son of a bitch,” Arlo whispers.
“I’ll let you know what I hear,” Cam says.
The line goes dead.
“Yeah, goodbye to you, too,” Arlo says.
“He’s pissed with me, not you. He told me not to run for Congress because of the skeleton in my closet. I should’ve listened to him.”
“You had no way to know my sister, of all people, had seen it and would come forward.” He sounds bitter and furious. “I still can’t believe she did that.”
“Cam was right. I should’ve left well enough alone. I should’ve been satisfied with what I had and counting my lucky stars to have gotten off the first time.” I glance out the window at the familiar scenery of the town I’ve called home for most of my life. “I want you to understand why I felt the need to run…”
“I’ve wondered about that. It sort of came from out of nowhere.”
“Not to me. I’d been thinking about it for a while, and then when Altman decided to resign, it felt like a sign, that maybe this was my time.”
“I never would’ve pictured you for politics.”
“I’ve always had that in the back of my mind. After I was charged the first time, the Naval Academy appointment went kaput and then Louisa died… It took a long time to figure out how to go on. I did my best to be happy at URI, but I was still in such turmoil. I missed Louisa so much. Nothing was ever the same after that summer. I wanted to try to get back some of the magic, you know?”
“I guess.” He gives me a tentative glance.
“What’s on your mind, Arlo?”
“Jen wants me to stay away from you. She’s freaking out about me being unemployed and associated with….”
“A rapist?”
“Yeah.”
My heart sinks. My brother is furious with me and now my closest friend is telling me I’m radioactive. “I get it.”
“If it was only me, I’d never turn my back on you, man. Tell me you know that.”
“I do.”
He has a family to protect. I don’t blame him for doing what’s best for them.
The most important men in my life could end up in big trouble because of me. Of course they’ll keep their distance.
Arlo pulls into the parking lot, which is empty except for the silver BMW SUV I can no longer afford. “I’ll be pulling for you to find a way out of this, man.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m sorry it was my sister who caused this.”
I look over at him. “She’s not the one who caused it.” That’s as close as I’ve ever come to admitting the truth to him. “I’m sorry about the job. It was fun to work together, even if just for a little while.”
“Yeah, it was.”
“Will you tell Dallas about the campaign?”
“I’ll take care of it.”
I reach for the door handle. “Your friendship for all these years has meant everything to me, Arlo.”
“Same, brother.”
Before one or both of us breaks down into tears, I get out of the car and wave him off, wondering if I’ll ever see him again. I’ve got fifteen minutes to get to Bennett’s office. As I drive there, I think about what the lawyer said about missing everything with the kids if I plead guilty and also about how it only takes one juror to acquit.
I’m so torn over what to do. Before I left the house, I grabbed a check to pay the attorney. I hope there’s more than twelve thousand dollars in the account, or I might get charged with passing a bad check, too.
When I get to his office in Newport, I’m shown into a conference room.
Bennett comes in a minute later. “They’ve got a second witness.”
That news leaves me feeling like I’ve been electrocuted. “Who is it?”
“Does it matter? They’ve got someone willing to testify that she saw you leave the party with the woman who later accused you of rape. With that added to the person who claims to have seen the actual attack, their case becomes somewhat of a slam dunk.”
“You said I shouldn’t plead guilty, but it’s looking more and more like maybe I should.”
“I’ll be honest with you. I’m a bit out of my league in this situation.”
“My brother is working on getting me someone more experienced in cases like this.”
“I think that’s a good idea.”
“What kind of sentence could I be looking at?”
“Possibly twenty years or more.”
Twenty years.
Or more.
My babies will be adults by then, having grown up without me. I’m so devastated by that thought I break down into sobs.
Bennett hands me a tissue.
“I’m sorry. I’ll ah…I’ll just get going.”
“Good luck to you.”
“Thank you.”
I stumble out of there, heartbroken and terrified. I’m going to prison. Possibly for decades. My family will be left destitute, my brother and closest friends could be in big trouble, and it’s all my fault.
Blaise
NOW
Three mornings after the dead animal landed on my stoop, I wake to a text message from Sienna.
Can we talk?
I don’t open it, so it won’t show as read.
“What’s wrong?” Jack asks.
He’s insisted I stay in the house with him and the Glock he has stashed in his bedside table. He made me aware of the weapon the other night and showed me how to use it, if need be. The possibility that I might need to shoot someone is too big to wrap my head around.
“Sienna texted me.”
“She’s the ex-best friend, right?”
“Yes, and she’s married to Ryder Elliott’s brother, Camden. They’ve been together since middle school.”
“What does she want?”
“To talk.”
“About you not testifying against her brother-in-law?”
“Probably.”
“Delete it. You don’t owe her anything.”
“Can I tell you something that you can never tell another living soul?”
“Of course.”
Because he’s shown me I can trust him implicitly, I say, “She was with me that night. She saw it, too.”
He props himself up on an elbow. “Does Houston know that?”
“I told him I was speaking only for myself when I initially made the statement, but I think he’s figured out from other things I’ve said that she was with me. She was the one who demanded I stay quiet at the time or else end up a pariah. She said she’d deny she was there.”
“Wasn’t he going to speak to her about the dead animal?”
“Yeah.”
“Ask him how that went.”
I send Houston a text to ask if he spoke with Sienna.
He responds right away. I did. She said she was home all morning and that the other parents on her street could attest to her being at the bus stop that morning.
Did you tell her why you wanted to know that?
Not specifically. She asked why I wanted to know, and I said it was confidential. Did something else happen?
She texted me and wants to talk.
How do you feel about that?
I don’t want to talk to her.
Then don’t. You’re under no obligation.
Did you find the key?
I did.
That’s good, right?
It helps. As does having another witness come forward.
I couldn’t believe it when he told me Ramona Travers had seen Ryder and Neisy leave the party together.
Hang in there and let me know if you need anything.
I will. Thanks.
I share the exchange with Jack.
“He’s right. You don’t owe her anything.”
“Is it weird that I’m curious about what she wants to say?”
“Not at all. If you want to see her, see her. But do it on your terms, not hers, and don’t ever forget she has a personal stake in this.”
“The same stake she’s had since it happened. For her it was always all Cam all the time to the exclusion of almost everything else. I was already getting tired of her bullshit before that night, but we’d been friends since third grade. You don’t just walk away from something like that.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I wouldn’t have even been there if it wasn’t for her feeling insecure about things with Cam and wanting to know what he was up to when she wasn’t with him.”
“If you were to mention to the prosecutor who was there with you, they could subpoena her to testify.”
“She’d probably lie.”
“Doing that under oath is risky. She could be charged with perjury. Hear me out—Houston said your description of events matched the victim’s, almost word for word, right?”
“Yes.”
“So they can easily prove you were there. If you testify under oath that she was with you, she’d be hard pressed to lie without exposing herself to possible perjury charges.”
“That’s true.”
“Would she risk being separated from her children to protect her brother-in-law?”
“Probably not. It’s interesting to realize the stakes have changed for everyone involved, including her.”
“You’d have nothing to lose by passing this information on to the prosecutors.”
“No, I wouldn’t. Our friendship ended when she refused to let me help Neisy or tell anyone what we’d seen. I own the fact that I could’ve done it anyway, but she was very convincing about what was at stake for both of us.”
“Peer pressure can be a very powerful thing.”
“For sure. When you’re a teenager, the only thing that matters to you is what your friends think of you. I cringe now at how concerned I was then by what people I didn’t even care about would say about me if I reported what I’d seen. I couldn’t tell you where most of those people are now.”
He twirls a length of my hair around his finger. “Were you in with the in crowd?”
“God, no,” I say with a laugh. “Not at all. Sienna was on the fringe because she was with Cam, and my brother was, but I was in the background, basically overlooked by the popular kids. That never really bothered me until Sienna said they’d all hate me if I turned on Ryder.”
“I can’t imagine you being overlooked.”
“Well, I was. No one gave two thoughts to me, which was fine. I didn’t like being the center of attention, even on my birthday. It made me uncomfortable.”
“And yet you went to acting school?”
“I know, right? It was the ability to disappear into a character, to leave my own story behind for a while, that appealed to me.”
“I can see how that would’ve given you solace. I hope it’s okay that you now have my full and undivided attention.”
“You’re just trying to make me blush.”
He runs a fingertip over my cheek. “I hate to tell you it’s working.”
“Ugh, I hate that more than anything.”
“You can’t hate my favorite thing.”
“Yes, I can.”
“Nope.”
He kisses me, making me forget why I was “arguing” with him in the first place. The more time I spend with him, the further I seem to get from the life I was leading before him. All I want is to be wherever he is, which is something we should probably talk about at some point. But for now, I’m too drunk on his kisses to think about anything other than what’s happening right now.
The T-shirt I slept in moves up and over my head, baring me to his heated gaze.
“You’re beautiful everywhere. I can’t imagine anyone overlooking you.”
He sets me on fire with his words and soft caresses. But more than that, he makes me feel everything in a way I never have before. Maybe because I was never free to enjoy something like this the way I am now. His lips are everywhere as he seduces me one kiss at a time. When I reach for him, he stops me. “Just relax and let me love you.”
Relaxing is easier said than done when he moves down between my legs and uses his tongue and fingers to bring me to an orgasm that has me moaning and thrashing from the power of it. That’s never happened with a partner before, and it’s way better than the solo version.
“Do we need birth control?”
“I’m protected and safe if you are.” This isn’t the time to tell him my periods had been erratic and painful until I went on birth control to regulate them.
“I’m very safe in all the ways that matter.”
“And you know just what to say to me.”
Propped above me, he uses his fingertips to brush the hair back from my face. “I want you to be comfortable with me. Always.”
“I’m a little un comfortable right now,” I tell him with a flirty smile and a seductive wiggle of my hips that I wouldn’t have been capable of a few weeks ago. It’s amazing how my unburdening has changed me so profoundly and made me see what I’ve been missing for all the years I carried that terrible weight.
“I bet I know just how to fix that.” He pushes into me and makes me gasp from the intense pressure, the tight fit and the emotional overload that comes from doing this with someone I truly care for. “Is this okay?”
“Mmm, yes. Very okay.”
Because he’s got me so aroused and relaxed at the same time, because my conscience is clear and my life is full of new possibilities, I enjoy this more than I ever have before. I’m able to fully let go with him.
“I knew it would be amazing with you,” he says after we’ve made Fenway bark from the noise we’re making.
“Did you?”
“Oh yeah.”
“Thank you for being patient with me.”
“Blaise…” His eyes close as his head falls back. “Tell me you’re close.”
“I am.”
He picks up the pace and takes us both to a finish line that has us gasping and clinging to each other. It’s a moment of complete unity that fills me with brand new emotions.
“We need to do that again,” he mutters from his perch on top of me. “And again and again and again.”
“You didn’t tell me you were a fiend that way.”
“I never have been before, but I have a feeling I could be with you.”
“Oh, lucky me,” I say with a laugh.
He raises his head to kiss me. “No, lucky me .” As he gazes down at me with his heart in his eyes, I feel things I’d all but given up on before him. “This is good between us. Tell me you feel it, too.”
“I do.”
“What’re we going to do about that?”
“I’m not sure yet, but I need to go deal with work before Wendall has a meltdown.”
“I don’t want to let you go.”
“Even if I promise to come right back?”
“Well, I suppose if you’re willing to promise.”
Smiling, I draw him into a kiss that makes him groan.
“Don’t kiss me like that and then tell me you have to go.”
“I’ll be right back. Promise.”
“Fine,” he says with an adorable pout as he withdraws from me and rolls onto his back.
Fenway lifts her head off her dog bed to see what we’re doing. I hope she isn’t scarred for life by what went on in that bed.
Still feeling shy, even after what we just did, I wrap a throw blanket around myself to go into the bathroom to clean up and get dressed.
“Back in a few,” I tell him before I go downstairs and out the back door with Fenway hot on my heels.
As we emerge from the house, Fenway barks at a woman leaning against her car.
“Fenway, stop!” I run a hand through my hair, wondering if I look like I’ve recently been ravished. “May I help you?”
Fenway runs off to pee.
“You probably don’t remember me. I’m Mary Elliott.”
Oh shit. Ryder’s mother. “I, um, I remember you.” Even if I didn’t immediately recognize her, I do now that she’s filled in the blanks for me. Her hair has gone gray, and her face is more lined than it was the last time I saw her. She was one of those people who was at every game and event at the school. She blended into the fabric of our town. “What can I do for you?”
“I think you know why I’m here.”
“I can’t help you with that.”
“Can’t you?”
“No, I can’t.”
“You could tell them you’re not going to testify after all.”
“I’m not willing to do that.”
“Why would you come forward after all this time?”
“Because I should’ve done it then but wasn’t strong enough to deal with peer pressure and the fear of everyone hating me. I don’t care about that anymore.”
“Ryder is a good man,” she says tearfully. “He’s a loving husband and father to three sweet kids who adore him. His life went off the rails when it became clear he was going to lose Louisa. I don’t say that to make excuses for him.”
“There’s no excuse in the world for what he did that night.”
“Maybe you saw it wrong.”
“I didn’t see it wrong, Mrs. Elliott. I saw him rape her, and I’m going to testify to that. I’m sorry if that hurts you and your family, but it’s the truth. You should take it up with him.”
“ You think I haven’t? ”
The vehemence in her tone puts me on edge. Do I need to be afraid of her?
“That’s enough,” Jack says from behind me as Fenway runs over to him, greeting him as if she hasn’t seen him in days. “You need to be going, ma’am.”
She stares daggers at me. “I really hope you’ll think twice about what you’re doing.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“Not at all. I’m asking you to consider how your actions affect others.”
That statement is so preposterous coming from her that it’s all I can do not to laugh in her face. “My actions aren’t what caused this.”
“You should’ve stayed gone. Nobody missed you.”
“Get off my property,” Jack says. “ Now. ”
She gives me a hateful look and then gets in her car, blowing up dust as she stomps on the gas to back out of the driveway.