Beyond the Point(84)
“They’re just, uh, asking for an alumni donation.”
“God. As if you haven’t given that place enough already.” She pulled the pot roast out of the oven, its juices oozing into the bottom of the pan. “Who’s ready for dinner?”
“Oh, we’re . . .” Noah looked to Avery. “You didn’t tell her?”
After slipping the envelope in her purse, Avery furrowed her brow, unsure of what Noah meant, until she realized the hunk of meat steaming in the dish didn’t fall within Noah’s restrictive vegetarian standards. “Right. Sorry, Mom. He’s . . . Actually, we’re both vegetarians.”
Avery faked a smile to Noah, ignored the silent derision in her father’s eyes, and then helped set the table. But as a bowl of salad passed from one set of hands to the next, Avery filled her plate, without a second glance toward the main dish. Somehow the news delivered in that thin envelope had ruined her appetite.
THAT NIGHT, IN Blake’s childhood bedroom, Avery couldn’t sleep. Noah was in the living room, on the pullout couch. She’d tried to convince him that her parents wouldn’t notice if he slipped into her bed after they’d all gone to sleep, but he’d refused.
“It’s one night,” he’d said. “I’ll see you in the morning.” Then he’d pointed her down the hall.
Flipping on a light, Avery reached for her purse, dug out the envelope, then buried herself under the covers, holding it between her hands. Back then, Dani had been so certain that going to the authorities was the right thing to do. But she didn’t know what it was going to cost.
None of them did.
They’d traversed campus in silence, until they stood inside the Criminal Investigation Command office, staring at a man behind a reception desk, whose eyes bulged when they explained why they were there. He’d moved them to a windowless office, offered water. The investigator, a short woman in her midforties, had thanked them for coming forward and had started with simple questions. Dani had turned over the photos. Hannah had made a statement about what she’d seen the year before: Collins, coming out of the girls’ locker room, with a thin excuse and a guilty look in his eyes. After Avery admitted that it was her body in the photos, she’d answered the investigator’s questions honestly and directly, encouraged by the presence of Dani on her left and Hannah on her right.
“We’re going to need more evidence to pursue charges. We’ll use your statements to get a warrant to search his room.”
Avery had turned her eyes pleadingly to Hannah. The truth was, if John Collins was arrested out of the blue, people would want to know who’d turned him in. Locke was trustworthy enough, but Avery knew how rumors at West Point worked.
“Is there any way to do this without relying on our statements?” Hannah had asked. “At least for now?”
The female detective had exhaled heavily. “It’s hard to protect victims and witnesses on college campuses,” she said. “Rumors spread so fast. A story like this is hard to contain.”
“His computer,” Dani announced suddenly. “Cadet computers are government property, right? And the academy does sweeps every six months or so to check for viruses and porn and whatever. Can’t you do a sweep? I mean, get the warrant. But search everyone. That way, it can seem random.”
The detective had exchanged a glance with her colleague, who looked simultaneously annoyed and impressed by Dani’s suggestion.
“It’s not a bad idea.”
The detective had nodded, then looked back at Avery.
“This kid. This . . . Collins. It seems like the risk of getting caught was part of the thrill for him. We can charge him with criminal trespassing. Criminal video voyeurism. Distribution of pornography. Misuse of government property. Maybe more. He could go away for a long time. But, Miss Adams, since the majority of these photos are of you, you’ll still have to be the one to press charges in the end.”
She’d paused, rubbed her forehead.
“It’ll take at least twenty-four hours to do the sweep. And for this to work, the three of you have to stay silent. You can’t tell anyone that you came here tonight.”
Avery breathed a sigh of relief and looked to Hannah and Dani as if to check that this was the right plan. Dani nodded.
“So that’s a yes?” the detective asked. “As you can imagine, I haven’t had great success with nineteen-year-olds keeping secrets.”
Dani spoke with certainty. “We’re not your normal nineteen-year-olds, ma’am. We’re like a cult. You can be certain, nothing will leave this room.”
Now, staring at the letter in her hands, Avery’s eyes began to water. So much time had passed since that moment, and yet, she still felt the same sickness in her stomach that she’d had forty-eight hours later, when military police had escorted John Collins out of the barracks in handcuffs. The Corps of Cadets had turned into a cacophony of gossip as the students guessed at the cause of his arrest. No one understood why someone so close to graduation would be taken away. They’d grasped at straws, wondering who had turned him in—was it a member of the football team who’d seen the photos, or the girl—who was that girl?—on display in them?
Putting those memories out of her mind, Avery unfolded the letter and read it quickly, as if the faster she read, the sooner it could all be behind her again.