Chapter 33
Chapter 33
Caroline
NOW
I hadn’t planned to come. What good would it do, I asked myself, to hear the details of what he’s accused of doing to that poor girl? But with the kids in school and preschool this morning, I found myself showering and dressing for court. I don’t want Ryder or anyone else to know I’m there, so I wait outside until I’m certain everyone else has arrived.
As I stare up at the stone stairs, I question my sanity once again in coming here.
No one would blame me for staying away.
“Caroline?”
“Oh, hi, Houston.” Is it weird to think how handsome he is in his uniform when I’m here to watch my husband face rape charges? I’m getting weirder by the day lately.
“I thought that was you.”
“It’s me, asking myself what the hell I’m doing here.”
“Anyone in your situation would be curious.”
“Really? You think so? Because it feels somewhat masochistic to me.”
“It might help you to get closure, whatever that is.”
“So you don’t think I’m insane for subjecting myself to this?”
“Not at all. Would it help to sit with a friend?”
I look up at him with gratitude. “It would help very much. I was also wondering what I was thinking coming here alone.”
“I’ll be happy to sit with you and be there for you as long as you need a friend.”
“That’s very kind of you, Houston.”
“It’s no problem at all. Shall we?”
“I guess we shall.”
We walk up the stairs together, and he holds the door for me, guides me through security, and directs me to the proper courtroom. He makes everything about this easier than it would’ve been if I hadn’t run into him outside.
We take seats in the back row, just as the prosecutor calls Denise to the stand.
As I listen to her story, I try to reconcile her recitation of the events with the man I thought I’d known so deeply over the last decade. The Ryder she describes bears no resemblance whatsoever to my husband.
I believe every word she says. I can hear the pain and agony in her voice as she relives the horror.
“After the assault, what did you do?” the prosecutor asks.
“I went home and showered. I was shocked, traumatized and injured.”
“Can you please describe your injuries?”
I want to cover my ears, so I won’t hear her recitation of the many ways the attack left her in pain. “I…I’d never done that before, so it hurt for a long time afterward.”
“Was there anything else that took place as a result of the attack by the defendant?”
“Yes, I became pregnant.”
“Oh my God,” I whisper. Just when I thought this couldn’t get worse…
Houston reaches for my freezing cold hand and puts it between his warm ones.
“What happened to the baby?”
“I miscarried right before the baby’s DNA could’ve tied him or her to the defendant.”
The courtroom erupts into chaos that’s contained by the judge banging her gavel and calling for order. “Outbursts of any kind will not be tolerated in my courtroom.”
In the quiet that follows her directive, I hear the distinctive sound of someone weeping.
I lean in for a closer look and see that Ryder has his head in his hands as he listens to Denise’s testimony. Is he weeping at hearing more about how she suffered?
“Mrs. Messner, can you please describe your overall state of mind in the months that followed the assault?”
“I was as low as I’ve ever been. Not only because I’d been assaulted and suffered through a painful miscarriage, but also because his brother and friends rallied around him afterward, claiming I’d slept with all of them, which was a lie.”
“Have those men admitted to lying?”
“They have.”
That causes another gasp and more intense whispering that has the judge banging her gavel again.
“Thank you, Mrs. Messner. Nothing further.” As she leaves the witness stand, Josh says, “The state calls Ramona Travers Silvia to the stand.”
Ramona is sworn in and seated.
“Mrs. Silvia, can you please tell us where you were on the night in question?”
“I was at the party held by Houston Rafferty at his parents’ home in Land’s End.”
“While you were at the party did you see Ryder Elliott?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Did you see Denise Sutton Messner, who was known then as Neisy?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Did you at any time see them together?”
“I saw them leave the party together and walk into the woods.”
“Did you report this to the authorities after Mr. Elliott was accused of sexually assaulting Ms. Sutton?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Why didn’t you report it?”
“Because I was afraid the other kids would do the same thing to me that they’d done to her when she reported it.”
“Why did you choose to come forward now?”
“Because I heard someone else had witnessed the assault itself and had come forward. I wanted to do the same. I’ve always regretted that I hadn’t done it before.”
“Had you ever known of Ryder Elliott to be inappropriate with girls or women?”
“Objection! Anything she heard from someone else is hearsay and is inadmissible.”
“Overruled. I want to hear her answer.”
“Mrs. Silvia?”
Ramona licks her lips before she speaks. “Once in the library when we were juniors, he backed me into a corner and told me he thought I was pretty. He got very close. I was afraid he was going to try something more, but thankfully someone else came along, and he backed off.”
A gasp goes through the courtroom as people start to whisper.
“Did you report the incident to anyone?”
“No, I was afraid to. He was so popular, and I… well, I wasn’t.”
“Did you ever hear anyone else say he was aggressive or inappropriate with them?”
“Objection!”
“Overruled. Please answer the question, Mrs. Silvia.”
“A few people said things here or there, like he wasn’t as devoted to Louisa as he wanted everyone to believe, he was flirty and wasn’t afraid to touch them if he wanted to… That kind of thing.”
“Objection!”
“Nothing further. Thank you, Mrs. Silvia. You’re dismissed.”
The courtroom descends into chaos that has the judge repeatedly banging her gavel and demanding order in her courtroom.
I simply cannot believe what I’m hearing about the man I thought I knew so well. I’d never known of Ryder to be inappropriate or out of line with any woman. But I believe Ramona. What reason would she have to lie? What reason would anyone have to testify under oath about something like that if it wasn’t true?
After Ramona is excused, Blaise Merrick is called to the stand.
She raises her right hand, which is supported by a splint, and swears to tell the truth.
“Ms. Merrick, would you please explain your obvious injuries to the court?”
“I was involved in a car accident on the Mount Hope Bridge earlier this week.”
“Was this accident intentionally caused by someone else?”
“I was hit from behind by truck, which forced me into oncoming traffic, where I was hit head on. I was later told the license plate of the truck that hit me was tied to Mr. David Elliott, the defendant’s father.”
Josh delivers several papers to the judge. “I would ask the court to note that Mr. Elliott has been the subject of an intense manhunt that now includes the U.S. Marshals. He remains at large. When he’s arrested, he’ll be charged with two counts of attempted murder of Ms. Merrick as well as arson, after the cottage where she was staying was burned.”
“So noted,” the judge says with a frown.
“Will you please tell the court what you saw on the night in question?”
The details are no less excruciating the second time I hear them.
“What did you do after Miss Sutton was assaulted?”
“I did all the wrong things. I was worried about myself when I should’ve been worried about Denise. I should have gone to her, offered help and told the police what I’d seen. I did none of those things because I was afraid everyone would hate me if I told the truth.”
“Why were you so afraid?”
“Everyone loved Ryder. He was a star in our class. I was afraid no one would believe me. And he was my brother’s closest friend, which made it that much harder to believe what I’d seen.” Blaise glances at Arlo, who has his head down. “I love my brother. I didn’t want everyone to hate me, so I stayed quiet, and that nearly killed me.”
“How so?”
“I had so many health problems. Anxiety, depression, eating disorders. I was literally sick with guilt.”
“And you’d had none of these issues prior to witnessing the attack?”
“None of them. I withdrew from my life as a high school senior, and as soon as I was able to, I left for college out of state and never looked back. I’d been back to Rhode Island only once before I returned recently, and that was when my father died.”
“When you were growing up together in Hope, did you ever know of Ryder Elliott to be inappropriate or aggressive with girls or women?”
“Objection!”
“Overruled. Please answer the question, Ms. Merrick.”
“No, I’d never seen or heard of anything like that, which is why I was so shocked by what I saw him do to Denise. He’d been with Louisa for years.”
“Why did you decide to come forward now?”
“I heard Ryder was running for Congress, and I couldn’t live with this secret for another minute. I drove home and reported it the next day.”
“Ms. Merrick, did anyone else witness the attack on Ms. Sutton, that you know of?”
“I’m speaking only for myself.”
“Ms. Merrick,” the judge says, “you’re under oath. Please answer the question.”
“Ms. Merrick,” Josh says, “did anyone else witness the attack?”
I can tell Blaise wasn’t expecting them to push her on this point.
“Yes.”
“Who was that person?”
“Sienna Lawton Elliott.”
Once again, chaos erupts.
I’m shocked to my core to hear that Sienna, my sister-in-law and friend, knew all along that Ryder had done this and never told me.
“I think I’ve heard enough,” I whisper to Houston.
He gets up and gestures for me to go ahead of him out of the courtroom.
I’m surprised when he follows me.
“I’d ask if you’re all right…”
“Four people giving the same story, including my own sister-in-law, who’s known, for all this time, I was married to a rapist.” I look up at him, my eyes full of tears. “That’s a lot to process.”
“I can’t imagine.”
“At least now I know for certain.”
“Does that help?”
“In some ways. Since he was arrested, I’ve sort of had it in the back of my mind that maybe it was all a big mistake. But denial is no longer an option, is it?”
“No, it’s not.”
“Thank you for being there for me today, Houston. You really helped me.”
“I wish there was more I could do.”
“You were exactly what I needed—a friend. So, thank you again.”
“Would it be okay if I checked on you later?”
“Sure, that would be nice.”
“Let me walk you to your car.”
Sienna
NOW
This cannot be happening. If they call me to testify, I’ll refuse. They can’t make me, can they? I look at Cam, but he’s staring straight ahead.
The judge is pissed as she bangs the gavel and demands order in the court.
The hot stares of everyone in the courtroom burn the back of my neck.
I want to expire on the spot.
“What do I do if they call me up?” I whisper to Cam.
“You go up there and tell the truth.”
“I can’t do that.”
“ You have to. ”
The defense attorney, a frosty blonde with four-inch heels, walks over to Blaise, her arms crossed. She didn’t have any questions for Denise or Ramona, but she stares at Blaise long enough that she squirms on the witness stand.
“Fourteen years is a long time.”
“Yes, it is.”
“And in all that time, you never reported what you saw, not to the police or your parents or anyone, is that right?”
“Yes.”
“Why not?”
“I was afraid of what would happen to me if I did. He was a big part of my community, my brother’s best friend…”
“But you had no compassion for the woman he allegedly assaulted?”
“I thought of her every day of those fourteen years.” She glances at Neisy. “Every single day. I was sick over it.”
“Why now?”
“I heard he was running for office, and I couldn’t live with the secret any longer.”
“What’s in it for you to come forward after all this time?”
“Nothing other than the chance to right a terrible wrong. As you can see, it’s been anything but easy for me.”
“Why should we believe a word you say about something that allegedly happened so long ago, you can probably barely remember it?”
Blaise is unflinching as she stares down the attorney. “I remember every second of it. I remember every detail of that day and the days that followed. According to the Land’s End chief of police, my description of events exactly matched that of Ms. Sutton’s, and there was no way I could’ve known what she reported.”
I swallow hard. She’s very believable.
After a long pause, the attorney says, “Nothing further.”
Blaise is dismissed from the stand.
She walks back to her seat without looking at me.
I still cannot believe she ratted me out after she promised she never would.
“The state calls Sienna Elliott to the stand.”
I’m rooted to my seat.
“Objection.” The defense attorney is on her feet. “This witness isn’t on the list we were given.”
“Overruled. I want to hear what she has to say.”
“Mrs. Elliott?” The prosecutor gives me a pointed look. “You can testify willingly, or we can subpoena you.”
Cam gives me a nudge. “ Go .”
As I get up and walk to the front of the room, my legs are trembling, and I feel like I might faint.
They tell me to raise my right hand and swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but he truth.
Ugh. I do not want to do that.
“Mrs. Elliott, were you with Ms. Merrick on the night in question? And I’ll remind you that you’re under oath.”
“I was there.”
“Did you see Ryder Elliott attack Denise Sutton?”
I hesitate before I nod.
“I need you to answer the question out loud for the stenographer.”
“I saw him attack her.”
“And you chose not to assist her or report the crime to authorities?”
“Yes.” My face burns with shame.
“Why?”
“I was dating his brother, who I later married. I did what I thought was best for my boyfriend and his family.”
“At the expense of a young woman who’d been assaulted?”
“I didn’t know her at all. I’d grown up with him. It was terrible, what he did. But… I did what I thought was right at the time.”
“And do you regret that?”
“Sometimes.”
Denise
NOW
Sienna’s testimony is shocking and devastating as I hadn’t known before then that someone was with Blaise. Sometimes she regretted leaving me in the woods, broken and bleeding. Only sometimes ?
What kind of monster isn’t haunted by such a thing?
Kane’s arm tightens around me.
This has to be excruciating for him, too.
“When Ryder Elliott was initially charged with assaulting Ms. Sutton, did people believe it?”
“No, no one did.”
“But you knew it was true, right?”
Sienna looks down. “Yes.”
“Did you tell anyone that?”
“No.”
“Not even your boyfriend?”
“No.”
“So you’ve never told the man you married what you saw his brother do?”
“I told him recently.”
“After Blaise Merrick reported what she saw, you still didn’t come forward?”
“You don’t understand!”
“You’re right. I don’t. Nothing further.”
I want to stand up and cheer for Josh’s takedown of Sienna. I hope she enjoys the rest of her life in her tiny town with everyone knowing what an asshole she is.
Sienna leaves the stand and goes straight to Blaise, slapping her across the face before anyone can anticipate her intention. “ You fucking bitch! This is all your fault! Why couldn’t you have just kept your fucking mouth shut ?”
Cam grabs his wife from behind and hauls her away from Blaise.
Sherriff deputies surround them, cuffing Sienna as she screams like a hyena.
The judge bangs the gavel. “I want her charged with assault and contempt of this court. Get her out of my courtroom.”
I turn to Blaise. “Are you all right?”
“I, uh, I think so. What’s another bruise?”
I can tell she’s making light of it for everyone else’s sake, but her eyes are glassy with shock.
“I’ve heard everything I need to hear,” the judge says. “Mr. Elliott, you’re remanded to trial. You’ll remain on bail until your trial, which will begin on February twentieth.”
“Wait!” Ryder stands. “I want to plead guilty.”
His lawyer grabs his arm. “Ryder, sit down.”
He resists her efforts to get him to sit. “No!” He looks over at me, appearing anguished. “I’m so sorry, Denise. I don’t know what came over me. I did it, and I want to take my punishment so we can all have some peace.”
A roar from behind Ryder precedes a man flying through the air to tackle him.
The man goes crazy, punching Ryder as he screams at the top of his lungs. “ How could you do this to my sister? She loved you with all her heart! She was fucking dying, and this is what you were doing? ”
Oh, God. Louisa’s brother.
“ You son of a bitch! ”
By the time the deputies pull Louisa’s brother off of Ryder, he’s unconscious and bleeding.
“ All these years, he’s been lying to us while pretending to care about my sister’s legacy? ”
The man is completely out of control as he rails against the deputies trying to cuff him.
“Holy. Shit.”
Two whispered words from Kane sum things up rather succinctly.
The judge bangs her gavel, demanding order in the court as paramedics arrive for Ryder.
“I want to see the attorneys in my chambers. Right now.”
She bangs the gavel again. “Court is adjourned.”
The judge leaves the room with Josh and Ryder’s attorney following her as Ryder is wheeled out of the room on a gurney.
“What the hell just happened?” Kane asks, seeming as shocked as the rest of us.
“Ryder’s girlfriend, Louisa, had entered hospice care around the time of the attack. That was her brother.”
“Oh, damn. Wow. So all this time, he thought Ryder was innocent.”
“I guess so.”
A group of sheriff’s deputies make sure the courtroom is cleared in an orderly manner as people talk amongst themselves on their way out, expressing shock at the proceedings.
Cam Elliott appears in front of me. “I wanted to tell you face-to-face that I’m sorry for what we did after Ryder was charged the first time. The other guys and I will issue public apologies and provide the seed money to begin a rape crisis center for teens in the area.”
“I accept your apology and appreciate the gesture.”
I’m sure they’re doing that hoping I won’t sue them for smearing my reputation, but whatever. Their center will do a lot of good for kids like me who have nowhere to turn after experiencing such a trauma.
“I’m sorry for everything that happened,” Cam adds.
“Thank you.”
His apology doesn’t change anything, but I can’t deny there’s an element of vindication to this day.
Josh calls to me.
Kane and I walk over to him.
He gestures for us to come with him to a quiet corner of the room. “The judge is inclined to allow Ryder to plead guilty to end this thing once and for all. I told her you were opposed to that. She wants to know if you still are.”
I take a deep breath as I consider what he said. “I wanted what I had today—for people to hear, in open court, that he did rape me, that he left me pregnant and shattered. I wanted them to hear from Blaise and Ramona that I wasn’t making it up.” I glance at Kane, who looks at me only with love and admiration. “I got my day in court—and then some. That’s enough for me.”
“I’ll let them know you’re open to a deal.”
“Thank you for everything, Josh.”
“I wish I could say it was a pleasure, but justice was done here, however messy it got.”
“What kind of sentence will he receive?”
“Most likely five to ten years, followed by several years of probation and lifetime registry on the sex offender list. There’ll be another hearing to set the sentence in a couple of weeks. He’ll be remanded into custody at that time.”
Once again I glance at Kane to gauge his reaction. He gives a subtle nod.
“Okay,” I tell Josh. “Make the deal.”
“I’ll be in touch.”
After he walks away, I step into Kane’s arms and let him wrap me up in his love.
“I’m so damned proud of you.”
“Thank you for your unwavering support through it all.”
“I love you. I’ve always loved you, and I always will.”
“Love you, too. More than anything. I need to text my dad.” He wanted to come to court, but I asked him not to, knowing it would be too upsetting for him hear the details of what happened to me. I send him a quick text to tell him everything is fine, and I’ll call him later. Then I put the phone in my pocket and turn to my beloved. “You know what we’ve got?”
“What’s that?”
“Twenty-four hours without the kids before our flight tomorrow.”
“Yes, we do. How would you like to spend that time?”
“Let’s check into a fancy hotel, get room service and forget about all of this.”
“I’m with you, babe.”
Blaise
NOW
Jack has been tight with outrage since Sienna hit me.
It was a shock to me, too. When she came toward me, I barely had time to react before she’d slapped me so hard I saw stars.
“I can’t fucking believe she hit you,” Jack says when we’re in the State Police SUV. We’ve left my family members with promises to see them soon. I’m already looking forward to that. “I hope they throw the goddamned book at her.”
“I’m okay.”
“Well, I’m not! That was bullshit !”
I’ve never seen him so worked up, and that it’s on my behalf is enormously sexy to me. I’ve never had anyone who cared that much about me before, except my own family. “Come here.”
“I’m right here.”
“Come closer.”
He releases his seatbelt, scoots across the seat and puts his arm around me.
“I’m okay. You’re okay. Fenway is okay. Everything is fine.”
“She freaking hit you.”
“I know, and it hurt. But it’s over now.”
“I’m sick of people hurting you.”
I lean into his warm embrace. “I can’t believe what Ramona said in court. She never mentioned the incident in the library to me when we got together.”
“I wonder why.”
“She was probably afraid of people turning on her the way they did to Denise when she first reported the rape. I bet Ramona never would’ve said a word to anyone about that if she hadn’t been asked about it while under oath.”
“It definitely helped to establish a pattern of sorts.”
“Which only adds to the never-ending shock. I had no idea Ryder could be like that until I saw it for myself.”
My cell phone rings.
Jack sits up so I can grab the phone from my coat pocket.
“It’s Josh.” I press the button to take the call, while nearly dropping the phone. Everything is more difficult with my right hand and arm in the cast. “Hey, Josh.”
“Well, that was quite a spectacle, huh?”
“Sure was.”
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.”
“Sienna is being charged with felony assault.”
“Oh, wow. Okay.”
“And we’ve agreed to a plea deal with Denise and Ryder’s attorney. Pending Ryder’s approval once he’s able to review the terms, he’ll serve five to ten years with several years of probation after he’s released and lifetime listing on the sex offender registry.”
“So it’s over then?”
“Pending Ryder’s approval of the deal, which he said he wanted, and the judge sentencing him, yes, it’s over.”
I close my eyes and release a deep breath. It’s over. Once and for all, it’s really over. “Will I have to testify against his father?”
“I’ve just received word that he was in a shootout with the Marshals in western Massachusetts. Mr. Elliott was killed.”
“Oh God.” How is it possible to feel sorry for the Elliotts, even after Mr. Elliott tried to kill me?
“The good news is we can release you from protective custody now that he’s no longer a threat.”
“Okay.”
“Are you all right, Blaise?”
“I will be. In time. I never could’ve imagined everything that would happen after I reported what I’d seen to Houston.”
“No one could’ve predicted this.”
“For what it’s worth, I don’t think Louisa’s brother should be charged with anything. He’s already been through enough.”
“I tend to agree. I’ll discuss it with the AG. We’ll do what we can for him.”
“Thank you for everything, Josh.”
“You’re welcome. Thank you for your courage. It made all the difference here.”
“It’s over,” I tell Jack after I end the call and tell him Mr. Elliott has been killed.
“Thank God it’s over.”
“I want to go home and sleep for a week.” I pause and then glance at him, feeling shy all of a sudden. “I’m not sure when it happened, but when I think of home, I think of your house.”
“That works out rather well, because when I think of home, I think of you, and I know exactly when it happened.”
“When?”
“The day a gorgeous redhead drove into my driveway and turned my whole life upside down in the best possible way.”
I lean my head on his shoulder, amazed by everything that’s happened. By coming home to right a terrible wrong, I also found true love. “I feel like you’re my reward for finally doing the right thing.”
“I can live with being your reward for a job well done.”