“Did you agree?” I asked.
“No, of course not, and no one is buying it. Not even my editor. Kent is being frozen out. He asked Buzz to defend him, and when he refused, he asked Buzz’s wife to post on social media to deny the authenticity of the video. She’s a moderator of one of those groups.”
I was surprised. If I’d known that, I might have not posted it. She could have prevented it from being posted or taken it down before it got viewed. We’d dodged a bullet there.
“The video looks real; no one will believe him,” Ames said.
“What if he creates one that looks like Channing is assaulting him, it could go on and on?” I asked. “And what about Channing’s case?”
“It’s all going to be fine, Dahee. I think it’s over. I think Channing is safe. I’m just telling you so you know what Kent is up to.”
I thanked her, but when I told Channing, she continued to be suspicious of Ames’s motive. “She’s a double agent,” Channing said.
The next day, Wire finally called us into his office. It was a month after the social media post. The video had racked up six million views and was still climbing. He told us that the grand jury had dismissed the charges for insufficient evidence. He doubted the video had influenced the jurors.
“You’re free to leave East End,” he said.
“That’s it?” Channing asked. She looked confused. I felt the same disbelief. Kent would not give up this easily. “Are you sure?”
He said he had the paperwork to prove it.
Channing’s eyes teared up, in relief, I thought, but then she said, “What about how long I was in that jail without even being charged? Isn’t something going to happen to those men so they can’t do that to someone else who’s innocent? Can’t we do something about that? Make sure no one else is detained that way?”
I agreed. It didn’t feel like justice. Were others who didn’t have the ability or resources to defend themselves at the mercy of men like Kent, the police chief, and the mayor?
Wire raised his hands in surrender. “We do what we can one case at a time.”
“Is nothing going to happen to Kent?” Channing repeated.
“You should count yourself lucky,” he replied.
“Kent lost his job,” I said. “He’ll never be able to run for political office again.”
“Who cares? That’s not enough,” Channing said through gritted teeth.
“My advice: Take this as a win and leave this town and don’t come back,” Wire said.
“Not come back? Ever?” I asked. East End no longer was the ideal town in my eyes but to never return? It wasn’t fair. Why were we being punished when we hadn’t done anything wrong?
Just then, we heard a pounding on the stairs, the muffled voice of a woman speaking to Wire’s legal assistant, and then Ames came rushinginto the office. Her face was bright with sweat. She had on a dark blazer and matching pants.
“You’ve got to come with me. Kent’s giving a press conference in front of Town Hall.” She addressed Channing. “You’re going to want to hear this directly from him. You’re not the one in his crosshairs anymore.”
I jumped to my feet. “When?”
Ames looked at her phone and turned to me. “In ten minutes. That’s why I had to come get you. I called but you didn’t answer,” she said.
My phone showed a missed call from her.
“Are you coming?” she added. “Paul and my grandparents are already there. I promise you you’ll want to see this.”
Channing and I looked at each other. We were still nervous to be around Kent. Despite the lawyer’s announcement, the case had hung over our heads for so long it felt surreal to have it wiped away now. As we walked to the municipal building, Ames asked, “Did either of you reach out to the justice department about Kent?”
We told her no.
“Maybe it’s not about him then, but I got a call the other day from a junior official about corruption in East End. I thought maybe you had something to do with it.”
On Saturdays in October during the afternoon while the weather was balmy, East End was filled with the return of tourists taking advantage of lower hotel room charges and harvest festival events.
