“No one said you did, Mr. Stone. I’m here on behalf of Miss Carter. She’s retained me to represent Ryan.”
“No, your services aren’t needed. You can leave.”
“Very well.” Only she doesn’t leave. She sets down her briefcase on the table and looks at me. “Ryan, I need you to tell me to go. You’re old enough to consent to have a lawyer present and Miss Carter has asked that I assist you in any way needed. The choice is yours.”
I look from her to my dad. His face is red. His hands are clenched at his sides. I know that if I ask this lady to stay, things at home aren’t going to be good. I should probably start fearing for my life once I walk out of these doors, but I also know Officer Daniels can press charges against me and I’ll need help with that.
Either way, I’m screwed. One thing I do know is that I want out of these handcuffs and I think this lady is my ticket.
“Ryan, don’t you dare.” My dad knows what I’m about to do and for the life of me I can’t understand why he doesn’t want me to have help. Does he plan for me to sit in jail or do an excessive amount of community service? Why wouldn’t he want me to have a lawyer to help me out of this mess that I’m in? That’s what dads should want for their kids.
I look at the lawyer, who is ignoring my dad. I like her already. “You can stay.” She nods and pulls out the chair next to me, sitting down. She opens her briefcase and pulls out some papers, slamming it shut. I jump, my nerves getting the best of me.
“My son is a minor. You need to leave.”
“Your son is of sound mind and at the age of consent. He doesn’t need your permission.”
“Consent for what? He’s not an adult.”
“Mr. Stone, I’m going to ask you to leave if you can’t be quiet.”
“Again, lady, he’s not an adult. He doesn’t know what’s good for him.”
“Mr. Stone, I assure you that what you have planned with the police department here will not work. I’ve seen the report you filed and I intend have it withdrawn.”
“You can’t.” My dad leans over the table and points his finger at her. “That whore raped my son and she’ll pay.”
“WHAT?!” I yell. “She did no such thing. Are you crazy?” I try to stand, but having my hands in cuffs proves this to be a difficult task.
The lawyer puts her hand on my shoulder and waves her other hand in the air. The door opens as if she was a magician and another officer comes in. “Please escort Mr. Stone out so I can speak with my client.”
“Let’s go, Joe.”
“This is bullshit. That’s my son.”
“I know, but the law’s the law.” The officer, who I’ve never seen before, follows my dad out of the room. His voice grows louder and louder as he shouts throughout the station.
“I’m Jessica Danville. As I said earlier, Miss Carter has retained me. Now, while I don’t know her personally, my firm, which has offices all over the world, has represented her for years. I’m here to help, Ryan. Your father has made some very serious accusations against our client and we’d like to get this cleaned up.”
I take in what she’s saying, repeating the words over in my head. She’s not here to help me, but to make sure everything is okay with Hadley. I’m not sure how to process that.
“Can someone take off these handcuffs?”
“Sure.” She gets up, goes to the door and opens it. The officer that took my father out comes in and takes off the handcuffs. My arms ache from being in the same position and my wrists are red, the skin rubbed raw from the metal. I lean forward and rest my head down on my arms, willing the pain to go away. I’m not angry anymore, just emotionally drained. I feel like I could cry for hours if I let myself, but I won’t. I can’t.
When she sits back down, she rubs my back. I really don’t want her touching me, but right now she’s the only friend I have in here.
“Am I going to jail?” I ask. My voice echoes against the table because I’m too ashamed to look her in the eye and ask that question.
“No, Ryan, no one is going to jail. Chief Ross has spoken to Officer Daniels and he is willing to forego pressing charges against you. You have a good ally in Chief Ross.”
I pick my head up, resting my chin on my arm. “Well, that’s good. What my dad said about Hadley, that’s not true. She didn’t do anything like that to me.”
“Tell me about your relationship.”
I sit up and look at the mirror. I wonder if Hadley is on the other side or if it’s my father telling anyone who will listen to him that I can’t speak for myself.
“Everything you say in here is private. They can’t use it against you.”
I nod. “We met at her show and she invited my friend, Dylan and I, to her hotel room for an after-party. We’ve been seeing each other ever since.”
“Sounds like a whirlwind romance.”
I shrug. I don’t know what it sounds like, except it was destined to fail from the start.
“When can I see Hadley?” I need to see her, to know that she’s okay.