Chapter 24 Indie
Indie
Not About Angels - Birdy
Age Twenty-Two
“And are the two individuals known to you?” the officer asks, and I force a swallow down my throat.
“Conrad and George Montgomery,” I answer, my mouth tasting bitter, finally saying their full names out loud after months of blocking them out.
The officer’s pen stops, hovering over the ‘C’ of Conrad’s name.
He drags his gaze up at me, brows pinched together. Before I can even ask what’s wrong, he shoots to his feet.
“Just give me a moment. I’ll be right back.” He rushes out the room, face drained of colour as the door clicks closed behind him.
Jenna pops her head through the wide-open door, looking back down the corridor the officer practically ran through.
“Everything okay?” she asks, her face etched with concern.
“I’m not sure. I think so?”
I don’t know what the hell that was. He asked me to start from the beginning, and didn’t ask for the names until the end.
Regina’s a few rooms down from me, and Jenna has been waiting for us outside until we’re ready to leave.
She walks inside and hands me a bottle of unopened water, seeing as I nervously kept sipping at mine between every detail.
It’s almost been six months since that night.
I’ve been working in therapy the same as Regina; we’ve both decided to take professional martial arts classes, anything combining self-defence. Jenna, too.
All of those combined have lessened the dark cloud above my head. And I know where I’ll be headed tomorrow.
Twenty minutes later, the officer comes back in, his face now sporting a scarlet blush as he’s accompanied by a man. When he sits at the table, I notice he has a badge that says Chief.
What the fuck is going on?
Jenna walks beside me, one hand placed on the back of my seat.
“Miss…Kent, is it?” he asks, flipping through the papers and eyeing me at the same time.
“That’s right.”
He leans back, the officer who was taking my statement now leaning on the wall behind him.
“I’m Craig Patterson, Chief of Police. It’s my understanding that you and Miss Regina Riley have both reported the same crime, is that correct?” His gaze darts from me to Jenna.
“Yes, we were both at the same party.”
He leans back in his chair, eyes narrowing on me. “And this happened…six months ago?”
I nod in response, anxiety starting to prickle over my scalp.
Why do I suddenly feel like I’m the one brought in for questioning?
“Is there something worthwhile you’d like to ask?” Jenna snaps, and the officer glares at her, like he’s just noticed she’s not supposed to be in here with me.
“You see, the problem we have here is that the alleged event took place some time ago; we’d be unable to use a kit to verify your statement.
No drug test was done”—he flips through the papers again, but something tells me he’s doing it for show—“and that building has been closed for quite some time, well before the date you stated. Years in fact. There’s CCTV that runs around the perimeter.
It has a twenty-four-hour patrol for health and safety reasons to the public, and we haven’t had any reports that anyone’s been inside the grounds. ”
My heart stops beating.
“I-I don’t understand?” I stutter.
Is he saying I’m lying?
If there’s surveillance, then surely they’ll be able to access and see that I’m telling the truth.
Craig leans forward, interlinking his fingers, and I give in to the size he’s making me shrink into.
“I saw what they did!” Jenna snaps, waving her hands in the air.
My eyes flutter shut to keep the tears from breaking free, a tingling spreading across my neck.
“Look, I know how university parties go. Everyone gets too drunk, takes some drugs, and things get out of hand. Are you positive this is what happened? Could there be a possibility that you may have cheated on your boyfriend, the guilt eating away at you?” He mockingly shuffles the paper again.
“Maybe envisioned the wrong outcome? The mind can play tricks if you’ve taken any psychedelics; we see it all the time. ”
I stare at him in utter devastation.
Tears threaten to spill over my eyes, and the pit in my stomach begins to turn.
He thinks I’m lying.
“Are you fucking serious? Why don’t you get one of your clowns to check the cameras! There were plenty of people there that would be able to back up their stories that they were there, everything that took place after. I could name you two right now—”
Craig holds up his hands, and I can feel the red mist seeping from Jenna.
“I’m not sure if you’re aware, but Mr Montgomery’s father is the federal judge of this state.
A very rich and powerful family. Now, I’m not sure if there’s any monetary gain you’re looking for here, seeing the time lapse in this being reported is questionable.
But it wouldn’t go down well for any of you if you were found to be lying. It’d be catastrophic, actually.”
The first tear runs down my cheek.
“I’m not,” I whisper, but my plea goes unanswered.
Craig stands up, buttoning his jacket as he glares at me. “Why don’t you go home and sleep on it. And if you’re really sure about this, come back tomorrow, and you and I can go through this all again in detail.”
He turns and leaves the room, followed by the officer who holds the door open for us to leave. The air is so thick in this room I can’t breathe, but I’m frozen in my seat.
I can’t move.
I feel like every single shred of confidence I managed to slowly piece back together has had a wrecking ball slammed through it.
They didn’t believe me.
Jenna wraps around my bicep.
“Come on, Indigo,” she says to me gently, before sharpening her voice to the Chief. “This isn’t over. Not by a long fucking shot.”
I rise to my feet with her, staggering to the door as she takes my hand. Regina is already standing in the hallway, arms wrapped around herself, tears soaking her cheeks as she eyes the chief marching past her.
“No, no fucking way,” Jenna grits out, stomping through the police station.
I finally manage to find my voice as Regina and I chase after her.
“Jenna, wait.” My hands slam against the glass door as she rampages into the street.
When we reach the bottom of the stairs, I slam into her back—shortly followed by Regina. My eyes search her face, and she’s staring into the parking lot.
I follow it, and freeze.
My blood turns to ice, and bile rises in my throat.
Conrad is exiting a sleek silver car, followed by George and a man in a crisp black suit.
“Jenna, no,” I gasp, trying to grab her, but she’s already gone.
“You pieces of fucking shit! Look at you both, hiding behind your daddy! You won’t fucking get away with this. You’re a rapist. You both are!” she screams, her voice echoing through the street, attracting the attention of every single passerby.
“Jenna, it’s okay,” Regina finally says, her arms wrapping around Jenna’s body, trying to tug her away.
It’s no use; she’s cemented to her spot as her voice soars across the parking lot.
“No! Neither of you are getting away with this. Every single person in Kingstone will know that Conrad and George Montgomery are rapists! Did you hear that, people? Rapists!” she screams, her voice getting louder so everyone can hear.
I feel like a deer in the headlights. Jenna’s face is blotched red with the anger that’s bubbling inside her; tears roll down her eyes whilst her body vibrates in Regina’s hold.
I walk up to her on shaky legs, ready to drag her away when the man in the suit steps right into us.
“I would suggest you keep your fucking voice down,” he threatens, eyes wide with fury. “You have no idea who you’re fucking with.”
My hands grip her shoulders, feeling her step back into me, and something inside me finally snaps.
“I couldn’t give a shit who you or your family are. Your sons violated us, and they’ll fucking pay for what they did.”
My chest rises and falls with the sharp intakes of breath. It feels like an inferno is burning inside it, filled with a wrath I can no longer contain.
“I wouldn’t care if you were the fucking president.
You don’t scare us, and you’re not above the law.
You raised men who drug women and take their consent from them.
I don’t know how you can stand there and protect either of them.
You should be fucking ashamed. It makes me sick to even breathe the same air as you,” I snap, my voice deathly steady compared to the storm that’s finally erupted inside me.
Judge Montgomery slowly drags his glare from Jenna to me, looking me up and down, huffing a laugh. “Careful what you wish for.”
He eyes his sons, a sharp and firm tilt of his head for them to follow.
Conrad’s gaze catches with mine; a sick, evil and forbidding smile tilts on his lips, forcing me to look away as a tremble shudders through my body.
“Yeah, walk away. Hope you enjoyed your sleep this morning, because it’s the last time you’ll ever rest peacefully, you bunch of pricks!
I’ll make sure everyone knows what you two did!
” Jenna yells, and the three of us finally manage to leave the station, a crowd now gathered as we make our way to her car.
“I’m going to try to hack into that security system, put that shit I learned to good use,” Regina says, stepping out of the back of Jenna’s car, the first words to be uttered the entire silent journey home.
“Grab some things, and let’s head to my place before they do anything shady with the footage.” Jenna nods, opening my front door to let us in, and I thank God Mom isn’t back from work.
“I was going to try and speak to Saint. I’ll see if he and Rex can help us too. Maybe if we have more witnesses.” I swallow, wetting my lips.
Jenna’s eyes soften when she looks at me.
“Are you ready to speak to him, try again?” she asks, and I stare down at my fingers knotted together, flattening them against my thighs, trying to break the nervous habit I’ve picked up.
“Hopefully. I mean, I don’t expect him to wait for me like that. If I can at least speak to him with a clearer head, I can apologise for pushing him away.”
Saint hasn’t contacted me at all since we broke up, and I’ve only seen him once since the image of him leaving my backyard burned into my eyes.
He was on the other side of the street when I was out running, and we both stopped in our tracks when our eyes locked.
Even from a distance, I could see his eyes softening, and he flashed me that heartbreaking smile.
That was weeks ago.
I knew then that I had to work harder, get back to the best person I could be.
I know it will be a long road to get to where we once were, if he still wants it.