Page 105 of The Love Penalty

He raises his eyebrows at me, obviously drawing on the last of his dying patience. The guy must be having one of those days.

Maybe I should just bail… or ask to speak to someone else.

But then his look gets even more pointed as he clips, “What’s the problem, then?”

“Well, I, um…” I swallow. “I was raped.” My voice wobbles, and his expression flatlines.

The air in the room goes eerily still, and I’m thrown by the tension. Surely I’m not the first woman to walk in here with this, but the look he’s giving me right now makes me feel like I’m more than an inconvenience on his hectic day. I’m a big fucking problem.

Mikayla jerks forward with a frown. “So, are you going to ask her about it or just sit there staring at her like a dumbass?”

His eyebrows dip with a silent look of reprimand before he clears his throat and shuffles in his seat.

“Go ahead. Please tell me about the incident.” The way he accentuates the T is grating.

Caroline huffs. “Do we need to request a different officer? Maybe we need to talk to a female offi?—”

“That won’t be necessary. I’ve filed plenty of these reports. So, please—” He points at me. “—go on.”

I share a dubious frown with Caroline, but she nods and I somehow spurt out what I can remember. Which is more than I wish I could. As I walk my brain back to that party, it returns with brutal clarity, and I’m able to tell him exactly which house I was in and what I was wearing. I tell him about the dancing and the kissing and how we found that spare room, and then my eyes start to burn with tears and my voice gets shaky as I explain the details of the rape, including what he said to me after I told him to stop.

“That arrogant fuck.” Mick’s small hands make two tight fists, and she looks ready to throttle something.

For some reason, her indignant rage spurs me on, and I make it through the rest of my statement without falling apart.

I glance at Caroline. Her cheeks are pale, and tears are slowly trailing over her freckles. I reach for her hand, and she grabs my fingers. “You’re really brave, babe. I’m proud of you.”

Her words mean more to me than I’m able to express, so I just give her a weak smile and hope it’s enough.

The officer finishes typing into his computer, looking unaffected by the emotion in the room. Clearing his throat, he gives me a once-over, then nods. “And you know the person who did this to you?”

“Yes,” I whisper. “His name’s Harvey Carmichael. He’s a student at Lennox College. He comes down here for parties sometimes.”

“And you’re sure it’s him?”

I nod, but his stern gaze is unnerving me. “Pretty sure, yeah.”

“Pretty sure? You know there’s a difference, right?”

Mikayla huffs. “He raped her! What more do you want?”

The officer throws her a silent “shut up” before turning back to me. “You said in your statement that you were drunk, it was dark, and you didn’t exactly converse much before going into the room with him. How can you be sure it was this Harvey person?”

“Well, I… When I bumped into him weeks later, I just knew. I recognized his face and voice and?—”

“These are very serious accusations, Miss I…Io…” He huffs. “Miss. Do you know how many women come in here throwing out these statements like they don’t cost anything?”

I frown at him, thrown by his sudden venom.

“Someone brought charges against my nephew, and he was put through hell trying to prove his innocence. And before you ask, yes, he was innocent. The girl was pissed off that he dumped her and was out for revenge. So, we’ll need to know that you are sure, 100 percent, before we go after this Harvey guy.”

A cold breath rushes out of me. “I’m not after any kind of revenge. I told him to stop, and he didn’t. He raped me, and I don’t want him doing that to anyone else.”

The officer closes his eyes for a second, dipping his head with a sigh. “I’m very sorry about what happened to you. It shouldn’t have happened, I’m not denying it for one second. I just know the detective investigating your case will need you to be sure. And the DA might not press charges if there isn’t enough evidence.”

Mikayla scoffs. “The least you could do is go talk to the asshole!” Firing out of her chair, she slaps her hands on his desk. “Do you have any idea how much courage it took for her to even walk in here today? She was raped, and that has been harrowing. Now she finally finds the guts to come down here, and you’re telling her you don’t want to go after this guy because it might not be him?”

“What if it’s not him?” the officer bites back.

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