“No,” I turn to Olivia.
“Oh, she speaks. Maybe she'll tell us why she did it,” Mason snaps.
“You won't find fashion styled sewing machines in the mall. You need to probably order it online, but there's a shop about an hour away.”
“I'll get the address. Once I've dropped Olivia off, I’ll come and get you two.” I end the call, and I see Olivia shift in the seat.
“Is Declan the only one that has a girlfriend?”
“Yes.” I don’t need to talk to her.
“Mom made some cookies for me. Would you like some?” Her voice is low, as if she’s scared to say anything.
“No.” I still remember Mrs. B's cookies, they’re probably the best cookies I ever had. “Hayden?—”
“I would like to continue the rest of this journey in peace and quiet. I don't need to hear anything you’ve got to say to me.” Cain said he'd look into Olivia for me, and I said no, but maybe it would give me some peace about why she did it.
Do I care? Do I want to know? No, I don't. I don't care. I don't want to know.
“All I wanted to say was, you look good.”
I tighten my hands around the steering wheel, telling myself to calm down, so I don't snap at her, and ell her to shut up. She doesn't get to be nice to me anymore.
18 years old
I look around the room waiting for my lawyer to walk in. The officers have been asking me the same question for twenty minutes. I know the rules don't say a word.
Twenty minutes. Twenty fucking minutes. How long does it take my lawyer to get here?
“You don't get to speak to my client.” About fucking time. “I would like a moment with my client please.” The officers look between each other and leave. “And you don't get to listen tothis conversation. I have another attorney outside this window to make sure you are not listening.” This is why my dad pays them the big money. “What have you said?”
“Nothing, I didn't do anything,” I reply, waiting for him to tell me some good news, and I can get out of here.
“Okay, Hayden, breathe.”
“No, I didn't rape her,” I snap, how the fuck am I meant to breathe when I’m being accused of something I haven’t done.
“We can't find her.”
“What? She was at the fucking hospital.” He needs to go there and find her.
“We don't know where she is. Hayden. She's not in the hospital. The hospital said that she discharged herself. We've been to her place. Your dad has been to all her dad's workplaces. Her phone has gone off. Her dad's phone is off. We can't find her. We don't know what's happened, but I've read the report.” He goes quiet and looks at the window before turning back to me.
“And?”
“She's saying that you raped her and…empty your pockets. Hayden.”
“What?”
“Empty your pockets.” I empty my jacket pockets, and Olivia's underwear is there.
“I picked them up, because I didn’t want her to be embarrassed if someone else saw them.
“She said you raped her and took her underwear as a souvenir.”
“I never fucking raped her.”
“We're trying to see if we can get DNA samples, a rape kit from the hospital, everything. We're going to get you… everything off you, fingerprints, anything under your nails,see if you've got scratches. We will do everything Hayden, I promise.”
