Broken Silence (Silence, #2)(23)

“It’s gonna be okay,” Cole said, rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb. “If you want me to come in I will.”

“Thanks.” My throat was dry, making my voice hoarse. I could do this though. It was just about what was going to happen. I wasn’t actually going to see either of them in my lawyers office! “Okay, let’s just get this over with.”

I got out and followed Cole inside, sticking to him like glue. He was safety, and I didn’t want to let him go.

Linda stood by the reception desk putting blue files in a wooden tray. She looked up.

“Hello, Oakley. Come on through.”

She was a petite lady with long, prematurely greying hair. She looked like more of a teacher than a lawyer, but her looks were very deceiving, the woman was like a shark in court, apparently. I had every faith that she would get them sent down.

“Thank you.” I looked up to Cole, biting on my lip nervously. “Come with me?”

He squeezed my hand. “Course I will.”

Cole and I sat opposite Linda. My stomach felt like it was tipping upside down. I was being stupid! I was only here to talk about what was going to happen when the trial started; that was it. Reaching out, I grabbed Cole’s hand, holding it in a death grip.

I took a deep breath. “So what’s going to happen then?”

“Well, as you know the trial is starting in just under two weeks. I’m not exactly sure when you’ll be giving evidence yet though.” She frowned. “This is a very complex case, but I predict it’ll be in roughly three or four weeks; it just depends on how cooperative Mr Farrell is. His lawyer also has a long list of witnesses to call.”

“They’re still pleading not guilty, aren’t they?”

Linda waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about that. Their plea is a joke; there’s too much evidence against them. The jury can’t ignore the evidence. There are five girls, including you, giving evidence against your father. This trial will be a long one, but you have the truth on your side, and a lot of people willing to back it up.”

Linda was so positive. I suppose she would have to be, but we all knew guilty people walked free occasionally.

“So you have complete confidence then? They won’t get away with it?” I didn’t know what I would do if they got away with it. If they were free to carry on with their lives. I don’t think I would ever be able to come back to England if they did. I couldn’t face the possibility of running into them.

“I have confidence, yes.” She leant forwards. “I believe you, Oakley, and I believe justice will be served, but I can’t promise.”

“How close will they be to me?” I whispered. A shudder ran through my body. The same room was too close, but there was no way around that.

“They won’t be close to you, I can promise you that. There is no way they can get near you. You’ll be safe, but if at any point it becomes too much I can ask for a break.”

“Okay. Thank you. What if they try talking to me?”

“They won’t be allowed to. If they attempt to, there will be consequences. It will look incredibly bad on their part if they try anything like that. They would have been severely warned not to.”

I let out a deep breath. Thank God.

“How long are we looking at them getting?” Cole asked, frowning angrily.

“I’m going to ask that the judge considers the maximum sentence.”

“Good. Just a shame we don’t still have the death sentence.” I squeezed Cole’s hand. He was getting angry.

Once Linda had explained everything, we stood up. I was relieved to be leaving. “I’ll be in touch soon if anything has changed. You can call me if you think of anything else.”

“Thank you.”

“Thanks,” Cole replied.

We stepped out of the building, and I felt more scared than before. It was getting way too real now. I could no longer say it was months off or ages away: it was soon. I turned to Cole, and he wrapped his arms around me.

I gripped hold of him and buried my head in his chest.

“It’s going to be okay. I’ll be with you; I promise.” His lips pressed against the top of my head. “I never stopped loving you, Oakley,” he whispered into my hair.

I smiled and gripped him harder, needing to be closer. “I never stopped loving you.”





Chapter Eight


Cole




‘I never stopped loving you’. Those five words made me feel a thousand feet tall. I knew she hadn’t moved on or met someone else, but hearing the words meant everything.

She pulled back and gave me a weak smile.

“You gonna be okay?” I asked, trying to hold off kissing her.

“I’ll be fine,” she whispered, still gripping onto my T-shirt.

Her actions contradicted her words.

“I need ice cream. Do you have to get back to work or do you have some time?”

“I’m yours all day.”

Oakley smiled, and that playful glint returned to her eyes.

“They did fire you, didn’t they?”

“Why would they fire me? I’m a fucking legend!”

She laughed, quickly covering it up with a cough. That was what I wanted though, to make her laugh.