66. Jude
Sheriff Di Toro frowns when I hand him my cell phone, but he takes it without argument. We’ve been in the sheriff’s office in downtown Cinderhart for over an hour. First we had to wait for him to come back from a call out, then we had to wait for him to get his mandatory cup of coffee. That’s what we’ve been drinking ever since we arrived, and damn they make it strong here because I’m bouncing off the fucking walls.
“What’s this?”
“Evidence of a crime,” I say.
Harper is silent beside me. She kept telling me she couldn’t do this. I don’t believe her, not for one second, but she doesn’t have to say a word until it comes time for her to give a statement.
Di Toro eyes Harper and me suspiciously before tapping the screen. I glance over at Harper as he stares at the phone, and reach over to give her hand a squeeze. She throws me a startled look and quickly pulls away, but not before a blush rises up her cheeks.
We came home from Camp Joy a week ago. Most days, I still wake up thinking I’m in the Mustang Lodge, wondering why it doesn’t smell like thatch.
I swear some of the counselors had tears in their eyes when we left.If there’s one thing me and my stepsister have learned to do, it’s to get away with murder. No one suspected a thing the entire time we were there. We served our time, and now we’re back home.
I don’t want to be careful anymore. I turned nineteen while we were incarcerated, and I know that doesn’t mean shit in the real world, but I feel like a changed man. I couldn’t care less about what people think about Harper and me. All that matters is that we’re in love.
Pretty soon, this shitty town will be a speck in our rearview mirror.
“What...?” Di Toro’s face contorts into disgust. But he doesn’t look away. I guess he can’t.
He’s watching the original video Daniel sent me. The unedited one. The one where it’s pretty damn clear that Harper is fucked out of her mind, and Sean and Eric are about to do the unthinkable to her.
Di Toro looks up at me, but his eyes slide almost immediately to Harper. “When and where was this taken?”
“About six months ago,” Harper says. She leans forward, studies the upside-down screen for a second, and then points. “That’s Sean Pembroke, and that’s Eric Keats.”
I desperately want to grab her hand again. Her voice is strong, not a tremble on her lips, and I’m so fucking proud.
Sheriff Di Toro turns off my phone and keeps his eyes down. “How old are you?”
“I’ll be nineteen in November.”
Di Toro hands me back my phone and laces his fingers, resting on his elbows and staring at us above the mesh. “Why didn’t you come forward sooner?”
“I was scared,” Harper responds. “And...I guess I was kinda hoping it would all just go away.”
His eyes move to her. “Did they rape you?”
Her throat moves as she swallows. I can’t help it—I reach over and grab her shoulder, squeezing her. If the Sheriff thinks anything of the gesture, he doesn’t show it.
“No,” I say when Harper remains silent. “A friend of mine called me. I...made sure they didn’t get any further.”
“You stopped them?” Only his eyes move.
I nod. “They drugged her.” I squeeze her shoulder again. “We think maybe crack? But we’re not sure.”
Di Toro nods a few times and then stands. “Wait here.”
He leaves, and I turn to Harper with a grim smile on my face. “See? That wasn’t so bad.”
“He doesn’t believe me,” she whispers.
“What?” there’s a laugh in my voice. “We have evidence.”
The door opens before she can reply, and Harper pulls the two halves of her zipped open hoody closed as Di Toro sinks down into his seat again. He toys with a form, pressing down on it with his fingertips as he twists his wrist.
“I need you to send me a copy of that video. And I need to know who was filming.”
“I can’t do that,” I tell him. “The only way I could get a copy of this was to promise that I wouldn’t give his name.”
“Do you think I care what promises you made?” Di Toro says.
My stomach coils uneasily. Why the fuck is this guy acting like we’re as suspect as the guys on the fucking video? “I can’t.”
“I need to verify this—” he points at my cell phone with the back of his pen “—with someone.”
“My friend?—”
“An unbiased third party.”
“But he’s their friend.” I open my phone and poise my fingers over the screen. “Where do I send it?”
Di Toro crosses his arms over his chest, eyes narrowing. “How do I know it wasn’t you who took the video?”
I almost lose my shit.
Almost.
But Harper grabs my hand out of my lap, and this time she squeezes me. When I find her blue eyes, she gives me a faint smile. “It’s okay,” she says quietly. “You can tell him.”
I grit my teeth. Daniel was in the wrong, for sure, but if he hadn’t sent this video, we wouldn’t even be here. How can I rat him out? But then Harper tilts her head just a little, and I understand.
“Alex Sutton,” I say. “He...he’s the one that told me she was in trouble.”
“Before or after he started filming?”
“I...don’t know.” I shrug. “Honestly, it’s all a blur.”
Di Toro watches me for another long second, and then puts his head down and starts taking Harper’s statement. It’s painful to hear her recount what she remembers of that horrible event, but what’s worse are the questions Di Toro throws at her, interrogating her like she’s a fucking criminal.
When we finally walk out of there, she’s leaning against me like her legs can’t support her anymore, and my shirt is wet with her tears.
If this wasn’t the Sheriff’s office, if I didn’t know how bad it would end, I’d have killed him.
How dare he make my princess cry? How dare he even think to accuse her of being a slut? The number of questions he’d asked about her alcohol consumption that night, how much weed she’d smoked, why she’d even gone to the party in the first place...it was disgusting.
We walk out into dull, late afternoon sunshine. As soon as we’re around the corner and out of sight of the main road, I wrap Harper in a hug. She resists for a millisecond before melting against me with a heavy sigh.
“Why did that feel so wrong?” she murmurs.
“Because they’re used to protecting those guys,” I say, leaning back and cupping her face in my hands. “The Pembrokes are one of the oldest families in Cinderhart. Sean’s dad isn’t one of the higher-ups in that family tree, but they’d still do anything to protect one of their own.”
“Is he going to get away with it?” she whispers.
Staring into those sky-blue eyes, all I want to say is “no.” But I can’t lie to her. I’m done with that life.But that doesn’t mean I can’t make a promise of my own.
“He’s going to pay, Harper.” I draw her against me again, stroking her head and inhaling the smell of her until it feels like my lungs want to split open.
I don’t know why I just told her that, but it doesn’t matter. Whatever it takes, I’ll make sure Sean Pembroke doesn’t just walk away with a slap on his wrist. He’ll get what’s coming to him. If the cops won’t do it...then I’ll have to take care of it myself.
Sliding my hands down Harper’s body, I give her ass a rough squeeze. She squeals, blinking up at me with surprise before glancing around to make sure no one saw us.
God, I can’t wait until we’re out of here so she can stop looking over her shoulder.
“Hey...I know we said we’d wait until we graduate, but...”
She narrows her eyes at me. “But what?”
“Let’s get the fuck out of here. Now. Tonight.”
Harper studies me for the longest time, her eyes searching mine, but then she shakes her head. “No, Jude.” She puts her hand on my chest, and I swear her warmth makes my heart swell to double its size. “We have to graduate. We made a promise to each other.”
That we did.
But I won’t lie—it’s a promise I wouldn’t mind breaking. I can’t wait for the day Harper is all mine...and I don’t have to hide our love away anymore. With her by my side maybe, just maybe, I’ll make it.
I don’t have a choice. I love her too much.
The End