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“Ask Nick,” I repeat desperately.
He leans back in his chair.
“I did ask him. He says that you gave him the code, that you used to date the professor and things ended badly, and you wanted revenge. Now, we have asked the professor if that’s true, and he swears up and down that it’s not. He says that if you told Nick that, it was either a lie or a delusion. Nick says that you absolutely insisted that they go to the professor’s house, you threatened to break up with him if he didn’t go, and the entire thing was your idea.”
Holy. Crap. I cannot believe that Nick did that to me.
I stare at him in shock.
“Does that make any sense to you whatsoever?” I demand. “I assume that Nick told you that the professor failed him and because of that, he’s off the football team, and his parents are probably going to force him to go back home to Indiana?”
“Uh...” Detective Ahearn frowns. “No, he didn’t mention that. But it doesn’t change the fact that you’re in that video.”
“Oh, please. It’s not me and no jury would convict on the basis of that video.”
“Not just on the basis of the video. But there’s Nick’s sworn testimony.”
My heart sinks. This cannot happen. I cannot get a criminal record, and be kicked out of the mentoring program, and probably out of college, based on a lie.
“Do you have an alibi for last night?”
“No, I don’t have an alibi. I didn’t think I’d need one. Think about this, Detective. Would Nick’s friends actually go vandalize a place so that Nick’s girlfriend wouldn’t dump him? Or would they do it because Nick was the ringleader and told them to do it because he’s mad that he got booted off the team?”
“I have no idea why people do the things that they do, Miss James.” The detective heaves a sigh. “I’ll go talk to him about his little memory lapse when it comes to getting kicked off the team. Wait here.”
“Remind him of the penalty for perjury. And it’s illegal to make a false report to the police,” I call out as he leaves. He gives me a wry look.
“Thanks. It wouldn’t have occurred to me.”
As he leaves the room, my cell phone rings with a text. I pull it from my purse. Don’t say a word to anybody. We’re getting you a lawyer.
I grab the phone and call her quickly. I tell her the detective has left the room for a couple of minutes, and I fill her in on what’s happening.
“Ruby, was the professor the person that you were dating?” she asks.
“Rowan, I am about to have a panic attack. Please don’t lecture me,” I beg. “I don’t want to talk about it. It’s long over with.”
“Holy... okay. Okay, we’ll deal with one thing at a time. Right now, we just need to get you out of there. That little bastard Nick fucking fuck-face. I’m going to tie his dick in a knot,” she curses.
“You can say I told you so,” I say mournfully.
“Hey, no. Look, I’ve dated my fair share of toads. It’s fine. We all make mistakes; that’s what being young is all about. You’ve learned your lesson and then some. We are going to get you out of this. Just hang in there and don’t say anything else to the police, okay? Tell them a lawyer is on his way.”
“Thank you,” I sigh.
The detective is gone for quite a while. It’s about twenty minutes before he walks in, shaking his head. “He’s sticking to his story. So are his friends. He also claims he’s not off the team because he’s filing an appeal and he’s completely confident that he’ll win.”
“Denial is a beautiful thing.” I glare at him. “I need to go use the restroom. Is that permitted?”
“Yes. It’s down the hall to your left. Don’t leave the building. Come back here after you’re done.”
A couple of minutes later, as I’m coming out of the bathroom, I see Nick pacing the hallway and talking on his cell phone.
I walk over to him and slap it out of his hand.
“Hey,” he barks at me. “If you broke my phone, you’re buying me a new one.”
“Dream on,” I scoff. He bends over and picks it up. There is a spiderweb of cracks running across the screen. “Damn it. My parents are already pissed at me. They’re not getting me a new one,” he whines.
