Chapter 21
Twenty-One
Ryder
NOW
“Keep your eye on the ball, Miles. Wait for your pitch.”
The umpire calls a ball.
Watching my son play fall ball and helping to coach his team are among my favorite things. I’ve missed more games than I’ve made this season, so I’m thankful to be here for his last game.
“That’s the way. Wait him out.”
“Who’s on deck, Coach?” Petey Johnson asks.
“Jalen. Get out there and take some swings. Come on, Miles! You got this.”
The crack of the bat connecting with a ball has the whole team cheering as Miles grabs a standup double and an RBI. We’re now up four to one. “That’s the way to do it!”
“Mr. Elliott?” The voice comes from the right side of the dugout.
I give the man a distracted glance. “Yeah?”
“I need you to come with me, sir.”
I give him another look and do a double take. A state cop. No. No fucking way. My stomach drops to the ground.
“Sir?”
The kids in the dugout immediately realize something big is happening and turn their innocent stares my way.
I put down my clipboard and walk toward the cop. “I’ll go with you but please don’t make a big production of it in front of the kids.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but we’re under orders. Put your hands behind your back.”
“Please. My wife and kids are watching.”
“Put your hands behind your back.”
As the cuffs encircle my wrists, I glance toward the stands where Caroline is watching with a confused expression. She hands Grace and Elise off to a friend and comes down the bleachers to the fence. “What’s happening?”
“Where are you taking me?”
“Wickford Barracks.”
“Call Cam. Tell him I need him in Wickford right away.”
“Ryder… What’s going on?”
“Call Cam, Caroline. Right now.”
They lead me out of there as everyone watches in stunned silence. The game has come to a complete halt. As we walk to the State Police SUV, one of them tells me I’m under arrest for first-degree sexual assault and sexual assault of a minor. They recite my Miranda rights.
My son comes running in from second base. “Dad! Wait. Where’re you going?”
“Stay with Mom,” I tell him over my shoulder. “Just stay with Mom.”
“Ryder!” Caroline’s hysterical cry breaks me.
Tears fill my eyes.
They don’t know yet that I’ve ruined their lives.
Cam
NOW
I’m eating dinner with Sienna and the kids when I get a call from Caroline. I’d hoped to make it to Miles’s game, but I got home late and was starving. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Cam! They arrested Ryder! Just now at the ballfield. No one will tell me anything. He said to call you.”
Her every word hits me like a knife stabbing me in the heart.
“Cam!”
“I’m here. Did they say where they’re taking him?”
Sienna gasps, immediately putting two and two together from what she can hear me saying.
“The Wickford Barracks. What’s happening, Cam?”
“I’ll find out.”
“What should I do?”
“Take the kids and go home. I’ll update you as soon as I know anything.”
“Miles will want to finish the game.”
“Then finish the game.”
“What do I tell people?”
“Just say you don’t know what’s going on, which is the truth. I’ll be back to you as soon as I can.”
“Cam…”
“I know, Caro. I’ll take care of him. Try not to worry.”
“My husband was just arrested in front of our children and half the town. Why would I worry?”
She’s understandably distraught, and I wish I could say something that would soothe her. But things will get a whole lot worse when she hears the rest. “I’ll see what I can find out and get back to you. Try to stay calm for the kids.”
“He’s my whole life, Cam,” she says on a whimper.
“I know. Let me go so I can get on it.”
“Okay.”
The phone goes dead, and I glance at Sienna.
Her expression is hard with anger. “Why would she do this after all this time?”
“Because he’s running for Congress.” I have no doubt that’s why she came forward.
Sienna is less convinced. “What?”
“This is why I told him not to run, Sienna. Because I knew something like this would happen.”
“You knew a witness would come forward?”
“No, I couldn’t have known that, but I knew it might be relitigated and could smear him and the rest of us with shit from the past. Goddamn it!” I pound my hand on the table, causing my kids to startle. “I’m sorry guys. Dad’s upset. I need to go back to work.”
“Finish your dinner,” Sienna says to the kids as she gets up to leave the room with me. “That fucking bitch. That motherfucking bitch! How can she do this to us?”
“It doesn’t matter at this point why she did it. The fact is she did, and now he’s totally fucked.”
“There has to be a way to keep this from ruining him.”
“There isn’t. He’ll stand trial for raping Neisy, who’s probably agreed to testify. With a witness backing her story, he’ll lose.”
“No. That’s not possible.”
“It’s not only possible, but also probable. Now pull it together for the kids while I go see what I can do to get him out of jail.”
I’m on the road to Wickford when my mother calls. “Camden! Your brother has been arrested. What is going on?”
“I’m on the way to figure that out, Mom.” I don’t have the heart to tell her a witness has come forward who saw Ryder rape Neisy. She’ll find that out soon enough.
“What in the world could he have done to warrant such treatment? They hauled him away from the baseball game like a common criminal! Caroline is beside herself, and the children are hysterical.”
“I’m getting another call. I’ll get back to you when I know more.”
“Please do something, Cam.”
“I’ll do what I can.” I juggle the phone to take the call from Rich Morton, my law school friend who works for the AG. I’d texted him to tell him Ryder is my brother and to ask what he could find out. “Hey, Rich. Thanks for calling me back. What’ve you got?”
“The grand jury has issued a true bill on first degree charges of sexual assault and sexual assault of a minor.”
Oh fuck. He’s been indicted. That means this has been in the works for weeks.
“Cam? Are you there?”
“I’m here.”
“You didn’t know about this?”
“No, we hadn’t heard a word about a grand jury or any of that.”
“Oh, wow, sorry it came as a total shock. I assume it was handled very carefully due to his campaign. Prosecutors never want to be accused of trying to influence politics.”
“Was the grand jury verdict unanimous?”
“I believe it was.”
Son of a bitch.
“Why did the state cops arrest him?”
“Apparently, the LE chief has a conflict of interest as the alleged assault took place at a party at his former home. He turned the case over to the State Police.”
Of course I already know about Houston Rafferty’s party because I was there, but Rich doesn’t need to know that. It’s also a shock to learn Houston has been involved in this for weeks and never said a word. “Okay. Thank you, Rich.”
“No problem. I’m sorry about your brother.”
“I am, too.”
“Did he do it, Cam?”
There’s no way I can tell someone from the AG’s office, even a friend, the truth. “I don’t know.”
“Well, good luck to you and your family.”
“Thank you for calling.”
“Of course.”
I feel worse than I did before Rich filled me in on the details.
This is bad. As bad as it gets and about to get so much worse.
I’m furious that Ryder didn’t take my advice about running for office.
I’d told him it was a huge mistake, and I hate to say I told you so, but…
If someone had been sitting with this information for all this time, hearing Ryder was seeking that kind of office would’ve been enough to push the witness into doing something about it. I’d bet my life that’s what happened.
And now I also have to worry about what’ll happen if it gets out that we lied about Neisy in a sworn affidavit when the original charges were filed.
I’ve no sooner had that thought when Arlo calls. “What the fuck is happening?”
“Ryder’s been indicted on rape charges.”
“Who are they saying he raped?”
“Neisy.”
“That was fourteen years ago! How is this coming up again now?”
“Apparently a witness has come forward who can corroborate her story.”
“What?” Arlo asks on a long exhale. “A witness? Where was this so-called witness all this time?”
“I don’t know anything more. I’m on the way to the Wickford Barracks now to see Ryder.” Someone else can tell Arlo that the witness is his sister.
“We went out on a limb to save his ass years ago.”
“I’m well aware.”
“Will that come back to bite us now?”
“I really hope not.”
“Christ, Cam. How can this be happening after all this time?”
“I don’t know.” People would find out soon enough how it happened.
“Let me know what’s going on, if you can.”
“I will.”
On the drive across the bay to Wickford, I take three more calls from guys who signed the affidavit about Neisy back in the day, all expressing the same fears Arlo had.
I do what I can to reassure them, even as I’m filled with dread over what this will mean for me and my family.
If I’m disbarred, how will I provide for them?
In Wickford, I wait more than an hour before they let me in to see Ryder.
He looks wild in the eyes. “Cam! They came to Miles’s game. They arrested me in front of Caro and the kids and everyone we know. They fucking strip-searched me! Is this because of Blaise?”
“Yes.”
“So she went to the police after fourteen years of holding onto this secret.”
“She did, which means she no longer cares about the implications for herself.” I run my hands through my hair as I pace the claustrophobically small room. “Goddamn it, Ryder. This is exactly why I told you not to run. It was fucking arrogant to think the past wouldn’t resurface.”
“How was I supposed to know there was a fucking witness?”
“She might’ve stayed quiet forever if you hadn’t run for Congress.”
“Maybe you could pay her a visit?”
“And say what?”
“Ask her not to testify.”
“I’m not doing that.”
“Arlo would.”
“If you want him to do that, you can ask him yourself.”
“How can I do that from in here?”
“I’m sure you’ll be released on bond after the arraignment. If you want Arlo to deal with his sister, you can take care of that dirty work on your own.”