41. The Charges
The Charges
Eli
The police station is busy, but they show us all to a room toward the back. As we pass through the station, I spot Zach. Rage burns inside me, but outwardly I’m calm. Something my parents taught me.
His father stands with his arms crossed next to him, listening to the officer and nodding along. I nudge Luke and lift my chin in that direction.
Luke turns to look and narrows his eyes.
Yeah, they aren’t keeping Zach Gray overnight.
If Zach is as smart as he seems, he’ll make one or two of the other guys the fall guys for tonight’s events.
They may have even volunteered for it. Even listening to hours of them playing games and shooting the shit, we don’t know enough about the way they work.
I doubt he has the balls to show up at the party tonight. But we need someone there to tell us if he shows up.
Because letting Caden anywhere near Zach will turn into a bloodbath. Harper leans against him. He’s kept her with him since he took her into his arms from Nico. As they walk ahead of us, they’re too occupied with each other to notice Zach.
Good.
Sidney’s mom bursts in through the front door, and I can hear her yelling to see her daughter at the front clerk. Her indignation rings through the station. I step into the room and close the door behind us, shutting out her cries to talk to their superior.
The room is a good-sized office, but with ten teenagers and one adult, it’s a little crowded.
The detective clears her throat to get our attention. She’s in her thirties. She takes us all in while she waits until all our gazes are on her to speak.
“Does anyone need to call their parent or guardian?”
I watch everyone shake their head.
“Okay, I’m going to be with you this whole time. I’ll be in the room while they question you. If you feel like you need a parent or lawyer, feel free to speak up. We understand tonight was difficult for you all. We just want to get your statements while everything is fresh in your mind.”
Her eyes land on mine. “Is your father coming?”
I smile. “No, not unless I need him to.”
She looks visibly relieved. My father is known around the police station. He’s a criminal lawyer who makes sure things don’t stick to people like Zach Gray. I should really reach out to my father, so he doesn’t take Zach as a client. But it might be inevitable.
After all, my father may not represent William Foster’s business anymore, but he may have to represent Foster’s drug business.
Especially if they get charged with possession, but I doubt any of those guys were carrying tonight.
It would be stupid to put themselves in this situation and have drugs on their persons.
Especially when it seems like they knew they’d get caught. Or at least it was a possibility, even if it wasn’t the plan.
I don’t know how deep my father’s loyalty runs with William Foster. Not very, if that conversation was anything to go by. But he also indicated that my mom was somehow involved. Even though they may not like each other, my father will keep my mother safe if it comes down to it.
“Okay, let’s start with the trapped girls.” She waves over Kenz, Penny, and Emma. When she looks at Harper and Ashley, she smiles. “I’ll be back for you when we’re done.”
Ashley settles into a chair and crosses her legs. She changed out of her cheerleading uniform and into jeans and a t-shirt. Her black hair is twisted on top of her head with a couple of hair sticks through it.
Caden sits and draws Harper down on his lap, but she immediately gets up to help Nico into his chair. Luke’s fingers twitch like he wants to grab her for himself, but we need to behave. Who knows who’s watching us?
There’s a mirror on one wall even though this is an office.
I’m not going to even pretend like we’re alone.
Jack sits next to Caden, and Luke leans against the wall.
Harper bites her lip like she doesn’t know where to go in this situation.
Her eyes bounce around us. Punishment for biting her lip is the last thing on my mind right now.
“Come on, kitten.” I hold my hand out to her, and she takes it. I lead her to the other chairs and wait for her to sit on her own before taking the seat next to her.
“We need a chance to talk after this.” Ashley meets my eyes. “Somewhere we won’t be overheard.”
Caden nods and runs his hand through his hair. “You on our side now?”
Ashley’s laugh is sharp and brittle. “Yeah, there’s no way Sidney can maintain this. She sicced her guard dogs on all of us. We chose to help Harper and her friends. That was our choice.”
I nod. Ashley’s always been a little cold and logical about things. It’s what drew me to her. That and she didn’t usually play the games the other girls played. Except to stake a claim on me. Just so the others didn’t get their hopes up that I’d be only theirs.
“You protect what’s yours.” Her words are for us, but she looks at Harper. She knows Harper is ours. “We’re going to need protection too.”
“And you’ll have it,” Luke says. He tips his head. “You’ll also have your talk. Once we get to Jason’s. We’ll use one of his rooms.”
She nods and rubs her hands together. Her gaze flicks to Harper again, but not to me. It’s almost like she’s seeking permission from Harper to speak with us.
Harper might not even be aware of the power she has now.
And that’s one of the reasons we all love her.
She’s not the kind to lord it over the entire school.
She just wants to be with us. If she craves power, it’s not obvious.
And from the way she hid for so long, I honestly don’t think she wants it.
But she does crave our touch and our love, which I’ll gladly give her. I slide my hand over hers and she turns her hand to link it with mine. It’s that fucking simple with this girl.
She rests her head against my shoulder as we sit quietly and wait. Jack has his phone out and is working on it.
“Did anyone find my phone?” Harper asks after a few moments.
“What happened to it?” I ask.
“It was in my hand. I was using it for a light and then when Ashley pulled me into the room, I dropped it.” She rubs a hand over her face. “I completely forgot about it until now.”
I glance at Jack, who I know started tracking it as soon as she asked.
“Last ping was when you went into the locker room.” Jack’s gaze lifts to Harper’s. “It could still be there or it might have run out of battery using the flashlight—”
“Or someone could have picked it up.” I shake my head. “Can you remote wipe it?”
Jack meets my gaze and nods. “I can set it up to remote wipe as soon as it turns on.”
“But my stuff...” Harper sighs.
“I have a clone of your phone on my computer at home.” Jack smiles. “We’ll get you a new phone in the morning.”
“We could stop and look in the locker room on the way to the party.” Nico straightens a little.
“Not you.” Luke shakes his head. “Head injuries are serious. We need you to recover.”
Nico’s eyes flare with a little heat like he’s going to argue, but then he nods. It’s hard on him to be injured, but we need him to get better. He’s already dealing with a knee injury.
“I can do it.” Caden cracks his knuckles. “I’ll need someone with me in case Zach’s already sent in a clean-up crew or they get there the same time as us.”
“I can go.” Luke raises his gaze to Harper before looking at me. “You, Jack, and Nico can head to the party with the girls.”
In essence, I’ll need to protect Harper and the others. Though Jack seems a lot more alert and present than he has been. Sleeping with Harper has done him good.
Fuck, sleeping with Harper would do me good too. I missed out on that part of our night. But not tonight. We have plans to crash at Caden’s. Together.
Harper
I yawn as my eyelids grow heavy. I don’t know how long we’ve been at the police station, but I’m so ready to be done and just crash for the night. That’s not on the agenda though.
Caden stands and I look up to meet his green eyes without lifting my head from Eli’s shoulder. “Coffee or soda?”
“Soda, please.” I give him a weak smile and then he asks everyone else before heading out into the station.
“Should he have gone by himself? Pretty sure Zach is still out there.” Ashley has her arms and her legs crossed with her foot bouncing.
I straighten.
“I got it.” Jack gets up and follows after Caden.
I didn’t even think that Zach and Sidney would be here. But this time I’m not vulnerable. The guys are here and so are all these police officers. While I know some are in the pockets of the rich men in this town, not every cop should be.
Caden and Jack come back and hand out the sodas before resuming their seats. The door opens, and we all glance toward it.
“All right. The other two girls and then we’ll get to you guys.” The police officer’s last name is O’Brien on her shirt. Emma, Kenz, and Penny come in and take seats as we get up to leave.
I kind of hope when they come for the guys, they only take them one at a time, so it won’t just be us in the office. O’Brien leads us down a hallway and into what has to be an interrogation/interview room.
Maybe I should have called my mom, but then she would have had to leave work. I don’t want her to get in trouble with work. Not when everything is already upside down. And this doesn’t feel like it warrants a mom intervention.
We’re the victims in this case. Not being charged. Just giving our statements.
Besides, it’s over, and the police have been notified. I can text her later to let her know something happened.
O’Brien gestures to the chairs and we sit down. Before she sits down, she asks, “Do you need anything to drink?”
Both Ashley and I hold up the sodas that Caden brought us. She chuckles.
“How about a snack then?”
“No, we’re good.” Ashley sets the bottle on the table and leans back in the chair with her arms crossed. “We’re just ready for tonight to be over.”
Apparently, Ashley is going to be our spokesperson. Which I’m perfectly fine with.
Before O’Brien can say anything else, there’s a sharp knock at the door, and a male officer comes in with a folder. He sits down next to O’Brien.
“I’m Sargent Tom Wallace.” He lifts his gaze to Ashley and then to me. “Just so you know, this room is being recorded.”
I’ve seen a few true crime shows so I’ve seen the recordings from when they get confessions. Fortunately, we’re not being charged with anything.
“Can you tell me what happened tonight?” Tom holds a pen ready to take notes on the notepad in front of him.
Ashley tells him about the locker room. The lights going out. Hiding in the office. Sidney bringing the keys. She leaves nothing out. Though everything feels surreal now like it didn’t even happen, but hearing it from Ashley makes it so real again that my heart races.
When she finishes with the guys tackling the basketball players to stop them from getting in, Tom looks between the two of us. His dark eyes settle on me.
“Anything she left out?”
I shake my head. She gave them everything right down to what everyone said. “That’s what happened.”
Tom nods and sits back in his chair, looking between us again. “You know their names?”
“Sidney Brown, Zach Gray, Trace Masters, Adam Hutchins, and Bryant Smith.” Ashley leans forward on the table and meets Tom’s eyes.
“I know the first two are going to be tricky to charge, and they’re probably going to blame everything on the other guys, but just so you know, Zach and Sidney coordinated everything.
There’s no way either of them would let someone else call the shots.
But I also know you won’t take my advice and lock them all up.
Because believe me, their intent was to rape us and maybe worse.
So if you’re okay letting a rapist go... ” She shrugs and sits back.
O’Brien looks a little pale, but Tom nods.
“I’m surprised your father isn’t here, Ms. Kim.” Tom leans back in his chair.
“My father has other things to attend to. What matters is you don’t look the other way like their families are going to ask you to do.” Ashley’s smile is tight. “Or maybe my father will come and pay you all a visit.”
That cockiness falls off Tom’s face. Who the fuck is Ashley’s father? All I really know about Ashley is that her mother and Nico’s father are having an affair. I don’t say anything or even respond to what she’s implying.
“Don’t worry, Ms. Kim. We’ll make some of the charges stick.” Tom shuffles his things together. “Now, Ms. Davidson, I need you to tell me what happened tonight.”
This is going to be a long night.