“All right. If you’re sure.”
Before I could dwell on the nerves starting to grow in my stomach, doubling by the second, I walked out of the house.
It didn’t take me long to want to run away. I wouldn’t, not ever, but as about ten people turned to me, ice slid down my spine.
You can do this.
Mum and Jasper stood on either side of me, a step behind. Just knowing they were there gave me enough courage to do the speaking part alone.
For late afternoon, it was still so bright outside. Squinting against the sun, I mentally prepared myself to speak with them. After keeping my distance and telling them no repeatedly, I was now going to ask them to believe Cole and me.
They already did—they’d printed it enough times. They were, rightly, on the side of the children my… Max and Frank hurt.
“Oakley, why was Cole arrested?”
“Do you feel fifteen years is long enough?”
“What charges is Cole facing?”
“What have the police discovered about Cole.”
I held my hand up. “I will answer your questions, but I need one question at a time.”
To the person who’d asked what the cops had on Cole, I said, “Firstly, he wasn’t arrested. The police have taken him in for questioning, they have nothing on him because there is nothing to find. I believe someone my father knows has given false information in a final, pathetic attempt to control me.”
“What was the charge?”
“Where is he now?”
“No charges have been brought to him,” I said, clearly needing to put that point across again. “He’s currently being questioned at the station. I have also given a statement about that time.”
“Is it true he was arrested for having sex with you when you were a minor?”
“Yes,” I said. “But that’snotwhat happened. Cole and I aren’t even two years apart in age, and we didnotsleep together while I was underage.”
“You believe your father said that to hurt you?”
“He controlled my entire childhood. I didn’t speak because he told me not to. I refused to engage in appointments with doctors and other medical professionals because he told me to. He can’t control me anymore, and he hates that.”
One of the reporters nodded. “What do you think this means for Cole?”
“Absolutely nothing. I told the police the truth, and he’s doing the same now.”
“Do you expect him back soon?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why would he be questioned if the police know what happened?”
“The police had information they were duty bound to act upon. I was fifteen when Cole and I first slept together, but we were in Italy where the legal age is fourteen. When we got home to the UK, we waited until I was sixteen. He was seventeen. Cole has done nothing wrong. Neither of us have.”
“How do you feel about your father?”
Wow, what a question. “I think he needs a lot of help. I think he needs to be off the streets for the rest of his life. He can’t be around children or have Internet access. I don’t know who he speaks with or who visits him, but I hope they wake up. If they continue trying to ruin the lives of the people I love, we will press charges. I just want to be left alone to heal and find happiness.”
“Is that why you moved to Australia?”
“I needed time. There was a lot to process, and I couldn’t do it in a place that held a lot of bad memories.”
