me for ID. I give it to her, and she makes a note of everything on my license.
“We’ll have questions for you,” she says. “You have to follow me to the station, back in Harkness County. Or else I’ll take you in the back of my cruiser.”
“I’ll drive,” I say, barely processing her words. I don’t want to go anywhere in a cruiser.
“All right,” she says. “You are right on my tail, then. If you’re not, we’re going to have a problem.”
“Got it,” I say, my good girl complex answering for me.
“I’ll give you a minute to get situated,” she says. “You flash the headlights when you’re ready for me to pull out.”
“Okay.”
She heads to the cruiser, and I get into the driver’s seat. My phone is right there on the charger. I pick it up, noticing that my hands are clammy and slick. I wipe my hands on the skirt I put on hours ago. A lifetime ago, really. And I unlock my phone.
Rickie wanted me to call his dad. But as my eyes fill with tears, I realize there’s someone else I need more right now. I hit a different name on my contacts list. The family lawyer. And then I hold my breath, listening to it ring.
“Daphne?” my sister’s voice says. “What’s up?”
“May?” I gasp. “I need your help. So badly. I fucked up. The police have Rickie!”
“What? Slow down. Tell me where you are. Exactly where you are.”
Instead, I burst into tears.
“Whoa, Daphne. Honey,” she says, her voice steady. “Are you in Burlington?”
“C-C-Connecticut,” I stammer between sobs. “On the s-side of the highway.”
“Where is Rickie?”
“Arrested! He punched Reardon!”
“Who?”
“My ex.”
May blows out a breath. “Okay, first I need you to move the car to a safer place, and then wait for me.”
“I can’t! The police expect me to follow them to the station.”
“Wow. Okay. First up, don’t drive until you’re calm, and you can see clearly. Then you can follow the police to the station, but do not talk to them. Wait in the car. No interview room for you until I get there. You tell them you’re waiting for your lawyer. You have no obligation to answer their questions. Got it?”
“Yes,” I sob. “Thank you.”
“Share your location from your phone, then wait for me.”
She hangs up before I can say anything more.
I put my head on the steering wheel and cry.
Forty-Two
Rickie
The holding tank smells like piss. It’s hard to focus on deep breathing exercises when every new breath is sharp with the scent of urine.
It’s also hard to breathe deeply when your nose is broken. Which mine is, thanks to the cop that brought me into this cell and punched me in the face when I asked to make a phone call.
“That’s for fucking with the senator’s son,” he’d said.
Spoiler: I didn’t get that phone call. And my nose is killing me.
Now I’m seated on the floor at one end of the cell. On the other end, there’s a bunk with nobody on it. Even though I’m alone in here, and exhausted, I can’t go near that thing.
At least now I know why. Halsey tied me to one—the bottom bunk. My roommate was up top, the poor guy, when some number of cadets climbed up there with him.
And then? I think it broke. I’m pretty sure the bed fell on me, and the weight of those guys is what broke my bones.
I’ve worked this out while sitting here all night, thinking over everything that happened to me. I don’t remember the moment I suffered the injuries. But Paul’s assault is coming back to me in bits and pieces.
I couldn’t help him. And then I woke up in a hospital with injuries consistent with falling from a high wall.
But there never was a wall. I remember watching that bed sway like a hurricane. I remember hearing the splintering of wood as the frame gave way.
After that, nothing.
So it’s been a long, difficult night. I’ve had a lot of time to sit on this cold floor remembering. There were some moments when the memories got darker. There were chills, and trouble breathing. But I’m feeling pretty calm now, especially for a guy who’s probably going to be convicted of assault.
Since I demanded a lawyer immediately, I’m stuck here ’til business hours, waiting for a public defender, or for whomever else shows up to help me.
Before they abandoned me in here, I overheard a policewoman saying that Daphne was waiting in the parking lot for her sister to show