Broken Silence (Silence, #2)(65)

“You can’t do this.” Mum sobbed. They can do this. I’d had sex with Oakley when she was fifteen. They were supposed to do this.

“It’s okay, it’s going to be fine,” I said as I was pulled towards the door.

She shook her head fiercely. “No! No, please. You can’t do this. Please. Please?”

Jasper caught her as she fell towards me. I wanted nothing more than to grab her and wrap my arms around her, but I couldn’t do a fucking thing. “Oakley, it’ll be fine,” I repeated.

She shook her head. “No. Please don’t do this,” she pleaded with the police officers.

It broke my heart. I hated seeing her like that. What the hell could I do to make it better though? First, I needed a damn good lawyer. In my head, I was mentally planning the worst case scenario and what I should or shouldn’t say.

As we approached the car, I noticed the neighbours’ curtains being pulled back, and some even came outside. “Leave him the hell alone,” Mr Gregory from across the road shouted. I flashed him a grateful smile. “They’ve been through enough. How dare you!” he roared.

Shit. The whole street were getting involved. By the time the officer had opened the door at least ten more people had come out of their houses to protest. As the car door was slammed shut, I looked back at Oakley. Sarah grabbed her as her legs gave way. My heart felt like it had just been ripped out of my chest. ‘I love you,’ I mouthed as the car pulled away.





Chapter Twenty-Two


Oakley




I laid in bed staring at the ceiling in a zombie-like state. Arrested. Arrested because of me. That night was the best night of my life: it was the night when I had felt so loved, and safe, and normal. How could that possibly be wrong?

Wiping my face again, I noticed there was nothing there any more. Had all my tears dried up? I felt as if I had nothing left inside me to come out. It had been almost thirty-five minutes since Cole was arrested, and I just wanted to be with him.

‘It wouldn’t look good if you went to the station’ were the officer’s words. Wouldn’t look good? Surely it would show that I love him? The only reason I was still in the house was because I was too scared of making it worse for him.

There had to be something I could do? Deny it and say I had lied in court? But then why would I lie about sleeping with him in the first place? I could say we didn’t go that far. That Cole stopped it just before we’d actually had sex. I pressed my face into the pillow and whimpered. What could I do?

“Oakley,” Jasper said softly, sitting on the edge of the futon. I hadn’t even heard him come in. “Oakley?”

Squeezing my eyes shut, I pretended he wasn’t there. I felt bad for ignoring him. He was only trying to help, but I just couldn’t talk to anyone. The only person I wanted to talk to was Cole.

Jasper sighed and got up, making me roll a little as the mattress sprung up. “I’ll be downstairs. David and Jenna have gone to the station. We’ll get him a good lawyer and figure this out.”

As the bedroom door closed, I sat up and gasped. Linda. Of course! She’d helped me, she could help Cole too, surely? I called her straight away.

“Oakley?” she said, picking up on the second ring.

“Linda, I need your help. They’ve arrested Cole.”

“They’ve what?” She sighed as it obviously sank in why. “Oh. Okay,” she said, changing to her business-like tone. “I assume they’ve taken him to the station already?”

“Yes, half an hour ago,” I whispered. A strangled sob escaped my throat and I clamped my mouth shut. What the hell would I do if he was actually charged? His whole life would be ruined because of me.

“Alright, they might offer him one of their lawyers, but I’ll call now and tell them I’m on my way. Don’t worry. I’ll do everything I can.”

Hearing her say that gave me hope. She was the only person I would trust with this. No other lawyer would be good enough. “Is there anything I can do to help?” There must have been something. I couldn’t just sit around and wait. “What if I said that I made it up?”

“Oakley, no. You’ll undermine everything you said in court.”

“Please, Linda. I need to do something. Please?” My heart dropped. I felt so useless.

“Well…” she trailed off, sounding unsure if she should tell me. Or whether what she was going to suggest would be right.

“Please, I just want to do something. I’ll do anything,” I promised. And I would. There wasn’t anything in the world I wouldn’t do to get him out of that station.

“I’ve not looked at the TV, but I assume it’s news.”

“Yes,” I confirmed. Two people from the press and most of the neighbours had witnessed the arrest. They would be having a field day writing their stories for the papers, reporting half-truths with their own messed up fantasy twists.

“I thought so. Well, since it’s already news it might be a good idea to get the public behind Cole. This isn’t something I would usually suggest, but then this isn’t your usual situation.” She let out a shallow breath. “Oakley, I think you should go to the local press with the truth, before they put their spin on what they assume to be the truth.”