"Goodbye, Jules. And take care of yourself."
I can still hear her crying as I hang up. Then I call one of the officers over and hand him the phone.
"Do you have a lawyer we should contact?"
I tell him a name and then sit down on the bare concrete block that will serve as a sleeping place.
So that’s it. After more than three years, I get the punishment I deserve even though I’m being locked up for something I never did.
I don’t know how long I sat there, but eventually, another officer shows up and opens my cell door. "Your lawyer’s here. Would you please come with me?"
What is it with these cops that they’re so fucking friendly? Have there been too many complaints about police brutality?
Once again, I’m led through the corridors until we enter an interrogation room where my lawyer, Theodore Eliander, is already waiting. Hours of conversation follow, in which I tell him that I’m going to confess, and then do so. The officers taking mystatement question me about every little detail, and I willingly tell them what they want to hear.
I describe how I ordered Sophie to get into my vehicle, and that I looked for her and took her back after she tried to run away from me. I tell them that I touched her and invited her to my bed when I was drunk. That I kissed her and eventually had sex with her even though I knew it was wrong.
Maybe it’s because of my confession, or it’s because it’s nighttime by now, but the cops are content with anything. I even get a coffee that doesn’t taste like goat piss. The only thing they won’t let me do is smoke, but I’ll have more than enough time for that in prison.
"I think that’s it," one of the two officers ends the interrogation. Then he turns off the recording device and the camera and closes the file in front of him. I wait for him to stand and leave, but he doesn’t. Instead, he drums his fingers on the file and stares at me with narrowed eyes. "You know what I don’t understand, Mr. Walker?"
I shake my head silently because I don’t give a shit about the question marks swirling around in his mind.
"Sophie’s mother clearly testified against you, but the girl told us a completely different story."
Goddamn, darling…Why can’t she just hate me?
"According to her statement, you didn’t kidnap her. She says she got into your vehicle voluntarily and also stayed with you of her own free will. She also says that at no time did you harass her in any way or even sexually coerce her, let alone rape her. Everything had happened by mutual consent until the day you dropped her off in front of the police station."
The silence stretches between us because I have nothing more to say, and he’s surely going to explain what he wants from me in a moment.
"Do you have an explanation for why Sophie’s statement is so different from yours, Mr. Walker? Do you know why it seems like she’s trying to protect you?"
He leans forward a little as if he were a truffle pig sniffing out if I’m lying or not.
"I haven’t got the faintest idea."
FORTY-FOUR
SOPHIE
I have set off an avalanche.
After Cole got arrested, my mother and I were asked to come to the station to testify again. But this time, I talked. And I told themeverything.
The interrogation went on for hours. My mother raged at my willingness to testify but couldn’t do anything about it because I turned eighteen four days ago. She no longer had to be present, which is why she couldn’t silence me anymore.
It seems like she’s forgotten that I’m no longer a child.
Because of my mother’s behavior and my being of age, I don’t have to go back to her, but the case became much more complicated when I explained to the officers why I had run away in the first place. Apparently, the fact that my mother systematically cut me off from the outside world had a significant impact on my psyche. At least that’s how the law sees it.
A psychological evaluation has been ordered, which puts all further investigation on hold. No one knows what to believe anymore, since it’s one person’s word against another’s. This, in turn, means that Cole is to be transferred to county jail, where he’ll await trial.
When they’re finally done asking questions, a female officer takes me to the reception area of the station. "Do you have somewhere to stay?"
I look at her blankly. There’s only one place I want to be, and that’s with Cole, but even though he’s still in the same building, they won’t let me see him.
Before I can reply, a loud voice draws our attention.
