This was something he had to do. I was here because Jasper couldn’t come alone. And because when I told him I’d go with him, Oakley smiled.
She was worried about her brother, and so was I.
He’d only decided late last night that we were going to attend. Oakley had slept for a solid four hours once we got home. Then she woke up, ate dinner, and spent the evening laughing with us.
She was the strongest person I knew. I was in total awe of her.
Being here today was spur-of-the-moment decision. It felt like a stupid one, too. How the hell would I be able to keep calm when he tried to make out that Oakley and the other women were liars?
The door to the courtroom opened, and people started filtering in. No one seemed to care about our presence. Or we just hadn’t been spotted. We stood out of the way, out of sight of the press.
“Well, we should go in, I suppose,” I said, looking at the doors like they were the entrance to Hell.
“Yeah.” He nodded, but neither of us moved.
“We can go home, if you want.”
“No. This might not make sense, but I need to be here.”
He hadn’t come to the first part of the trial, when the other women were giving their testimony and Max had to answer to things in his teen and young adult years, but now he was being questioned about Oakley.
She was due to get back on the stand so Max’s wanker lawyer could have his turn, but Linda petitioned for her to have a break between. The judge granted it, given how she’d reacted the first time she tried.
I slapped Jasper’s back and took a step towards the door. “Come on, mate. We’re in this together.”
Jasper followed, tension radiating from him. He was about to hear what bullshit his dad was going to spout, and he was raging about it.
There were too many charges against him, some already proven, but his lawyer seemed determined to knock the ones relating to Oakley off the list. So, who knew what was about to come out of his disgusting mouth?
Max was a true narcissist. He believed that he could win anyone over.
The line moved quickly. Jasper and I found a couple of seats together. We were at the end the other times we’d been in here, but this time we far away from the stand, neither of us wanting to be close to Max.
We sat side by side, and I wondered if I could leave. I didn’t want to be here, but I wanted to support Jasper… and be able to prepare Oakley if Max’s version of events changed anything—if the jury seemed like they were believing him.
His parents hadn’t turned up, no one was there for him. He didn’t deserve anyone.
I turned my head and fresh anger burned in my gut. Max looked like he’d aged by a decade rather than four years, but he still appeared every bit the respectable man. He wore a smart, expensive-looking black suit, crisp white shirt, and pale blue tie. His hair was neatly combed, and he was clean-shaven.
He sat confidently, back straight and chin up.
I wanted to wrap my hands around his neck and squeeze until his heart stopped.
Jasper’s fists were clenched on his knees, and he glared at his dad as if he was thinking the same as me.
Linda stepped up and gave Max a look that I wanted to applaud. She wasn’t intimidated by him, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to let him take control. She was in charge, and she was ready to rip him apart.
Max spoke fluently and calmly, the way he’d done when he was running the town committee to raise money for the new park and the church roof. I remembered watching him when Iwas young, hero-worshiping him because he was the reason our village was getting a skate ramp.
I hated myself for that. While that was happening, Oakley was being abused.
“Bastard,” Jasper growled under his breath.
“Mr Farrell, how did you feel when you first heard the claims your daughter Miss Farrell had made against you?” Linda asked.
She carried herself as if she’d already won the case. I wasn’t sure if that confidence would bite us in the arse or if it was good and would show the jury that she was certain Max was guilty.
“Devastated. Shocked. Confused. One minute, we’re setting up for a weekend camping trip, and the next, she’s taken off. I was beside myself, trying to find her, assuming she’d gone home, then I was being arrested. It still feels like a nightmare.”
