Riley herself is gasping for air at this point.
“Do you need a short break, Riley?” Halligan asks.
“No, no, I’m okay,” she says after taking a longer breath.
“And then somehow, thank goodness, you got away,” I say.
“It was justluck. I kicked at him and managed to hit his testicles, and when he bent over, I had enough time to slide off the table and run. My shorts were still below my knees so I could barely move, and he was never very far behind me, calling me a fucking bitch.
“When I got to the edge of the creek, I could tell he was about to catch me, so I just threw myself in. The water was moving really fast, and I ended up being carried away by the current.”
She takes another breath and exhales a ragged gust. “I thought I was going to drown. My shorts were still down, but I managed to get them back up, and the leash off me, too, and somehow, I kept my head above water. Then finally, maybe a mile away, I was able to paddle to the shore and scramble up. I was sure he was going to come after me, but there was no sign of him. My phone was gone—I think in the creek—but I got to a road and flagged down a driver. It was this older woman, who dropped me back at my apartment.”
The attorney lays her hand supportively over Riley’s. For a few moments the room is completely silent.
“Thank you, Riley,” Halligan says. “That must have been very hard, but I know how grateful Melanie’s parents must be.”
“Weare,” Logan assures her. “And if you don’t mind, I have one more question. First, please know that I’m not blaming you in any way, but I’m curious. Hadn’t you heard that a girl from the college had been murdered in an area park that weekend?”
Exactly. How could she have had the nerve to go running by herself?
Riley clears her throat. “Yes, but people said the cops were talking to Melanie’s ex-boyfriend and he probably did it. That he wanted to get back together and was mad because she didn’t want to.”
Her shoulders sag even more, and she brushes fresh tears from her eyes.
“If that’s all, I think it’s finally time to give Riley a break,” the attorney announces.
“Please, Riley, I have a question, too,” I say, “and then I swear we’ll let you go. Are we the only ones who know all this?”
Because I’m bothered by something I can’t put my finger on and I could use corroboration. I’d settle for anything, even an eight-year-old diary entry of hers.
Riley shakes her head. “No, my fiancé knows about it. I told him when we started to get serious. And my gynecologist knows now, too.”
“What about the woman who drove you home that Sunday night?” I say.
And then, oddly, her eyes flicker again.
“I never got her name,” she replies. “And all I told her was that I’d been running along the creek and accidentally stumbled in.”
“And you didn’t speak to anyone else back then? A school friend, a relative other than your par—”
“I believe that’s enough,” the lawyer interjects.
“No, that’s all right,” Riley says. “Therewassomeone, yes.”
“Okay,” I say expectantly, and squeeze my hands together, warning myself not to pounce.
“Her name’s Morgan Kroll, and she was a teaching assistant for the Carter English department. I went by there the next morning and ended up telling her everything.”
Halligan has a pad and pen in front of him, but he’s not writing anything, which makes me think he’s already been given this information.
“She really wanted me to go to the police,” Riley adds, “but I told her I couldn’t, and I pleaded with her not to say anything. A few weeks later I decided to drop out of school. All my parents knew was that I was having a mental health crisis, and eventhatpissed them off.”
The room goes briefly still again. And then Halligan is rising, signaling we are indeed finally done. He tells the two women that he wants to see us out, but that he’ll be back momentarily. I thank Riley for her honesty, and so does Logan, and then we both rise from the table.
As tragic as the story is, I should be relieved by it. But there’s an even bigger pit in my stomach than the one I arrived with.
Chapter 16
