Page 56 of In the Air Tonight

“Will do.” I shake his hand and head out with the info I came for, feeling a bit guilty for deceiving Ronnie by not telling him why I was really asking about Neisy. He was good to me during the four summers I waited tables for him and his parents, who ran the place before he took over.

Now that I know Neisy married Kane and they live in Norfolk, it takes about four seconds on my phone to track down an address for them, even before I knew his last name was Messner.

Denise Messner.

Who is she these days and does she still think about what happened on that long-ago summer night? What would it mean to her to hear there’d been a witness? Would she want to reopen the case or keep it in the past? If the AG is willing to go forward based on Blaise’s eye-witness testimony, it’ll come down to what Neisy wants to do.

I send an email to Josh letting him know I’ve located the victim.

I’m back at the station when he replies.I’m meeting with Roberts at two. Will get back to you after.

I call Blaise to update her and to make sure she isn’t having regrets the day after her confession.

She answers on the first ring. “Hi.”

“How’re you doing?”

“Okay. I think. Jack’s place is great. Thanks for the recommendation.”

“I’m glad it worked out. I wanted to update you on what’s going on. I’ve notified the attorney general’s office that a witness has come forward. The assistant AG is meeting with the AG today. I’ve also located Neisy in Norfolk, Virginia, where she lives with her husband and four children.”

“Wow, she’s married with four kids.”

“She married her childhood sweetheart, Kane. He’s a lieutenant commander in the navy.”

“I’m glad she’s happy.”

“What about you?” I ask the question before I take two seconds to think about whether I should. “Are you married?”

“No. That hasn’t been in the cards for me. I’ve barely dated.” She pauses before she continues. “I want you to know… What I saw that night has haunted me in ways I can barely fathom let alone describe. I’ve had health problems, trust problems, emotional issues, anxiety… It messed me up badly, Houston.”

“The AG will ask why it took you so long to come forward.”

“And that’s a fair question. The only answer I have is that so many people I loved would’ve been hurt by me coming forward at the time, so I chose not to. I own that choice, but it was the wrong thing to do. My only excuse is I was seventeen, and the person being accused was someone I grew up with. He was my brother’s closest friend. My best friend was dating Ryder’s brother and is now married to him. All I could see at the time was everyone I loved turning on me for telling the truth. And that doesn’t account for the fact that I was expressly forbidden from being in LE that night. If my parents found out I was there, I would’ve lost their trust.”

“I understand all that, but it’s been fourteen years, Blaise. Surely you could’ve come forward at some point after you left home.”

“I almost did once.”

“What stopped you?”

“Ryder’s longtime girlfriend, Louisa, died. I lost my nerve after that.”

“I guess I can understand that.”

“I wish you knew how many nights I stared at the ceiling thinking about telling the truth. I have no defense for why I haven’t done it sooner. Maybe I wasn’t ready to blow up my life. I’m still not, but I can’t live with this anymore. I just can’t.”

“If the AG decides to reopen the case, I’m worried about it getting ugly. I want you to be prepared for that.”

“I tell myself I’d prefer that to the purgatory I’ve been in all this time.”

“You know how people are around here. They close ranks around their own, and Ryder is one of their own.”

“I know,” she says, sighing. “All I can do is tell the truth and let the fallout be what it is. I saw him rape her, and I’ve been sick with guilt over my own inaction ever since.”

“One thing you haven’t said is if you were alone when you saw what you did.”

“I’m not going to comment on anything other than my own story.”

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