“Dad told you about that, huh?”
John nodded.
“I was angry and I wanted to make sure Salem hadn’t been mistreated even more than when he was arrested.”
“Good. Next time, be more careful. Don’t get caught.”
“I don’t think Deputy Breslin reported me. He’s been very sympathetic.”
“At this point, the sheriff isn’t going to do anything about it even if he does find out. He’s in more than enough trouble himself. His energy will be spent figuring out how to save his own hide.”
“True. We have incriminating photos.”
“So your father said. I need copies.”
“I’ll get them to you.”
“You need to get into that cell for a brief visit before I have to boot you all out.” The sparkle in his eyes actually became laughter and a smile. “I know you want to.”
Without further encouragement, Emily flew inside and against Salem. He staggered then righted himself. His arms became steel bands across her back, hard and reassuring. “Thank you,” he whispered. “You were the fiercest of all.”
He pulled back. “When the darkness threatened to eat me alive, I thought of you three fighting for me, and I knew I would get out of here one day.”
“Time’s up,” John said. “I’ll get Salem’s case into the court system today, but I need to talk to him first. I’m stronger if I have all of the information.”
“Come, girls,” Emily said. “Mr. Spade is right. He has to get this show on the road. The sooner he does, the sooner your dad can come home.”
Salem kissed and held each of his daughters before turning to shake John’s hand. “Thank you for coming.”
When she left, Emily looked back over her shoulder. Salem watched her go with an expression she thought she understood. He didn’t want any of them to leave. He didn’t want to be left in that jail cell even one more day. And he wanted Emily to see the depth of his love.
In those dark, deep-set eyes, it smoldered. Again with that gorgeous smoldering.
Oh, saintly relics, did he smolder.
* * *
JOHN SPADE WAS able to get Salem into court but not until Thursday morning.
Salem’s dad hadn’t yet come home from the reservation, so Emily was still staying with Aiyana and Mika.
Emily spent Wednesday in a state of frustration. Late that afternoon, Iris came home from school with Aiyana.
“Iris wants to talk to you, Emily.”
“Sure. You girls hungry? Should we go to the kitchen and I’ll fix us a snack?”
“No, we need to sit in here.” Iris led the way to the living room and sat on the sofa. Aiyana joined her and Emily sat in the armchair opposite.
“What’s up?”
Iris had her hands locked in their familiar position, one fist inside the other, but Emily noted that her fingers were more relaxed. It wasn’t a death grip. “I’ve been thinking a lot since we talked to the sheriff yesterday. It wasn’t right for me not to report Justin after he raped me. If I had, other girls might not have been hurt since then.”
“You had been through a terrible ordeal. You didn’t have anyone to talk to. How could you possibly have known what to do?”
“Yes, Iris. I was lucky to have Emily here the morning I woke up and found all of those awful tweets about me. What you lived through was much worse, and you had no one to confide in.”
“I wish I’d had someone like Emily.”
“Or me. You can call me anytime you need someone to talk to. The lesson I learned from all of this is that you have to reach out. If you need help, ask for it.”
Iris’s smile lit up her face. “I’ll probably have to take advantage of you in the future.” She turned her attention to Emily. “I’ve decided I’m going to press charges against Justin. I want him arrested and taken to court.”
Hallelujah! “That’s amazing. I’m not surprised, Iris. You’re a strong person.”
“Most days I don’t feel strong.”
“Aiyana’s right. On the days when you don’t, you have to reach out.”
“I have a confession to make.” Iris started to wring her hands again. “I lied about the rape kit. There wasn’t one. I’m usually the most honest person you’ll ever meet, but I wanted to shake up the sheriff, to get him to take us more seriously.”
“You certainly did that,” Emily said dryly. “So you didn’t go to the hospital?”
Iris shook her head.
“May I ask why not?”
“I wasn’t sure if they’d have to call my parents because I was so young. I didn’t know. I love my mom and dad more than anything. All I could think was that I didn’t want my dad beating up Justin. Not for Justin, but for my dad. I don’t want him in jail. He loves me and he’d be really angry with anyone who hurt me.” She looked at Emily with a plea for understanding in her eyes. “I know it sounds stupid now, but I didn’t want them hurt by this.”
Oh, Iris. I understand. I really do. “They’ve probably been hurt anyway, though. Haven’t they?”
Iris looked down at her white fists. “Yes. I changed a lot after that night. They knew something was wrong. They might even have guessed what kind of thing. That’s why my dad drives me everywhere. To protect me.”
Glancing at Emily, she asked. “Have I screwed everything up? Do I still have a case without the rape kit?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
“What does having him charged entail? I mean, I can’t go to the sheriff, can I?”
“I haven’t got a clue, but John Spade will know. Let’s go now. Aiyana, will you come with us?”
The three walked to John’s office ten minutes away. His receptionist was still on vacation, so they called out to him when they entered the reception area. He came out of his office.
“Hey, it’s the cavalry. I heard what all of you did yesterday before I arrived at the sheriff’s office. Salem brought me up to speed.”
Emily laughed. “I thought you were the cavalry.”
“Nope. You shook up the sheriff. He was already reeling by the time I got there. Did you know his son showed up just after you left?”
“I wish I could have been a fly on the wall at that meeting,” Emily said. “Do you think his dad gave him hell?”
“There was a fly on the wall. They didn’t bother to keep their voices down. Salem heard everything.”
“When he comes home,” Emily vowed, “we’re getting the complete conversation. I want to know every single word.”
“The sheriff was angry with his son. He’s grounded from here until eternity. Nothing. No car. No dates. No internet. They’re also putting him in counseling.”
“Good.”
“So, what can I do for you?”
Emily urged Iris forward. “This is Iris Walker. She has something she wants to discuss with you. Are you hiring John, Iris?”
“Yes, but I want Emily and Aiyana to sit in on our conversation. I need them with me.”
“This sounds serious. Come into the office, all of you.”
John snagged his receptionist’s chair and dragged it into the room so they could all sit. “Go ahead.”
“I haven’t talked about this with many people. This is hard.” Her knuckles were white again. Emily took her hands and massaged them, then held one. Aiyana took the other. Iris gave them both a look of gratitude.
“Two years ago, when I was fourteen, Justin White raped me.”
John sprang forward, opened a black leather binder and started taking notes. “I understand this will be difficult for you, but I need every detail.”
Emily hadn’t thought the man would show much emotion, but when he looked at Iris, his compassion leaked through while the girl told her story.
A
t the end, Iris said, “I didn’t go to the police then. I didn’t want it to become public or for my parents to be hurt, but what he did was wrong and now I realize I have to be strong and see him punished, so he’ll never do it to anyone else.”
“You’ve changed your mind?” John asked. “You want to have him charged now?”
“Yes, but I can’t go to the sheriff. Where can I go?”
“Let me take care of it. I’ll get it to the right people.”
“So, you’ll be my lawyer?”
John smiled with a hard glint in his eye. “I already am.”
Emily suspected John was fired up by the challenge, and the probability of putting Justin out of commission.
“I didn’t get a rape kit done,” Iris said. “Will it matter?”
John leaned back in his chair. “I don’t know. It might be hard to win the case without solid proof. It would only be his word against yours. But at the very least, the hassle would make Justin think twice about ever forcing another girl. Plus, the publicity would alert other girls to who he really is, even if he’s not convicted. He won’t find it easy to fool as many in the future.”
That seemed to be good enough for Iris. “That’s exactly what I want. To protect other girls.”
They left John’s office feeling more hopeful than they had when they went in.
Emily took Iris and Aiyana out for dinner. Afterward, she called Mika at her friend’s house to see whether she could stay there a little longer while Emily took care of one more thing.
“What do you need to do?” Aiyana asked. They stood on the pavement outside the restaurant.
“We need to go home with Iris. I’m guessing you’re going to tell your parents tonight. Correct?”
Iris nodded. “Surprisingly, what happened in the sheriff’s office hasn’t got back to them yet. People have been discreet, I guess.”
“Do you need support?”
“Yes. Please.”
They went to Iris’s house, where she introduced Emily and Aiyana to her parents. Emily had lived out of town for so long, she didn’t know much about them.
Mr. Walker would be considered a handsome man if not for a nonexistent chin. His nervous energy contrasted with his wife’s warm welcome. A woman of delicate bones and a fragile air, she smiled, and in that smile, Emily saw her youth.
“I brought Emily and Aiyana here to help me talk to you.”
“Talk to us?” Her father frowned. “About what? Why do we need strangers here for you to talk to us?”
“It’s about something that happened a couple of years ago. Aiyana is helping me to get through it. The same thing almost happened to her.”
Her parents’ expressions sharpened. Of course, they’d seen changes in their daughter. They must have known something was terribly wrong and perhaps hidden that from themselves. Now, here it was about to come out, and Mr. Walker looked ready to spit nails, while Mrs. Walker withdrew. Her smile became vacant.
Iris told them about the rape. Mr. Walker covered his face, because he didn’t seem to know what else to do. His breathing roared in the quiet room. Then he paced as though being driven by a giant itch he couldn’t scratch. When he stopped, he took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and shook one out. He glanced at the front door and then at Iris, clearly torn between smoking and staying with his daughter.
“Just this once,” Mrs. Walker said. “Go ahead. Light up.”
He did and the smell filled the room, even though he’d moved away from everyone. “You should have told me. I would have taken the bully down for you. I would have killed him.”
His voice resonated with anger, yes, but also with grief.
“That’s what I was afraid of, Daddy.”
Emily wondered whether Iris realized she’d used the childish term and how young she sounded.
The pain on Mr. Walker’s face broke Emily’s heart.
Mrs. Walker, who’d started to cry, sat beside her daughter and took her into her arms. She rested her daughter’s head on her shoulder and caressed her hair. “I’m so sorry. What can we do for you?”
Overcome by the tension in the room, in her father, Iris withdrew into herself. She looked tense, so Emily and Aiyana told them what had been happening.
“Yes, we heard Salem had been arrested.” Mr. Walker pulled himself under control. “I can’t believe Roger didn’t follow the book. He’s usually a stickler for details.”
Emily described how Salem had gone to the school to confront Justin after he’d found out about Justin’s Facebook and Twitter nastiness, and how that had angered Sheriff White.
“It would,” Mr. Walker said bitterly. “He thinks the sun rises and sets on his son.”
“Not anymore. It’s kind of hard to deny the truth when ten girls are accusing your son of hurting and taking advantage of them. And worse. There would have to be a massive conspiracy for it not to be true.”
“I’m pressing charges.” Iris pulled out of her mother’s embrace. “He needs to pay for what he’s done. I don’t want this to happen to more girls. This guy isn’t going to stop. He’s hurt other girls. We don’t even know if I’m the only one he’s raped.”
Mr. Walker flinched. “The whole town will know what happened.”
“After yesterday in the sheriff’s office, Dad, it’s going to get out anyway.”
“But—”
“Harold.” Mrs. Walker’s tone took on a thread of steel. “Iris has made up her mind. We will support her in this.”
Mr. Walker lost his steam. “You’re right. Okay. What do you need us to do?”
Iris started to cry. “Help me. Support me. Don’t judge.”
Emily and Aiyana left Iris with her parents.
Despite how exhausted she was from the intense emotion, Emily was also happy. “How do you feel about all of this, Aiyana?”
“Ecstatic. Justin will finally get what’s coming to him. He won’t have a chance to hurt anyone else.”
Emily whooshed out a relieved breath and started the car. “Yes, and it’s all because of you and Sophia and Iris being such strong women.”
“Iris is amazing. I hope we can stay friends.”
“I think you will. I have to stop off at home for clean clothes and to pick up my mail.” Emily drove them both to the Jordan house and Aiyana followed her upstairs.
“Wow, this room is awesome. I love it. I could so live here.”
“Isn’t it wonderful? It was a great retreat when I was a teenager.”
“Is this where you came when the girls at school were bullying you?”
“Yes. I threw myself into schoolwork. Math, science and history. I wanted to excel so I could get into the best college and get a good job and leave this town far behind.”
“But you did come back.”
“I did.” Emily threw clean clothes into an overnight bag.
“Are you glad?”
“Yes. There is a time for everything. I’ve healed. I have you to thank for that.”
“Me? What did I do?”
“I was in a very bad place when I came home. You took me outside of myself. I couldn’t retreat inside to lick my wounds. Instead, I was motivated to help you. You forced me to look at everything that had happened to me in high school and to finally put it to rest.”
“I thought you were helping me.”
“I hope I did.”
“Oh, you really did. I’ll never forget it.”
On impulse, Emily hugged Aiyana, the warmth between them real and necessary. She’d thought life had thrown her a few unfair punches, but here in Accord, where she’d least expected it, she’d found affection and support.
Aiyana touched Emily’s music stand. “This is where you played your music, too, isn’t it?”
“M
y lifesaver? Yes.”
“I’m glad you had something to help you. Now Iris has music, too.”
“She has a lot more to overcome than I did.”
“Yeah, but she’ll have us. Right?”
“Right. We’ll stick by her.”
“I heard Dad tell Grandpa you won’t be staying in town.” Aiyana sounded worried. “Is that true?”
“Nope. I’m home to stay. Your dad just hasn’t figured that out yet.” Emily added fresh underwear to the bag. “He has reason to doubt me. History. But I’m going to do my best to change his mind.”
“Good. I want you to stay. I would miss you if you weren’t here.”
“I would miss you, too. And Mika.”
“And Dad?” There was a smile in Aiyana’s voice.
“You’re too smart, you know that?” They started downstairs. “Yes, I would miss your dad terribly.”
At the bottom of the stairs, Laura appeared. “Hi, Aiyana. I brought more cinnamon buns to your dad this morning, and guess what?”
“What?”
“Sheriff White didn’t try to stop me. He seemed subdued. Just let me waltz right on to the back without saying a word. Whatever all of you did yesterday was powerful magic.”
“We just made him see the truth. Right, Emily?”
“You received a couple of letters while you’ve been staying at the Pearces’, Emily.” Laura retrieved them from a small desk in the foyer. “I love the exotic stamps.”
Exotic? Penelope, maybe? Please, please, please.
“Yes!” She had two letters, one from Arthur and one from Penny. She opened Arthur’s first. He had sent the package to his sister by express delivery.
The second letter was from Penelope, short and to the point.
The eagle has landed. What do I do with it?
Penelope had the prayer book. Thank God. Relief left Emily’s knees weak. Good question, though. What now?
She finished reading the note.
Sad news, dear. The young student you found with Jean-Marc discovered him in bed with her roommate. She was distraught. She tried to kill herself. Fortunately, she was found in time and was taken to hospital. Her parents have since taken her home, poor thing. That man needs to be stopped.
Always Emily Page 24