Page 145 of In the Air Tonight

“It’s no problem.” That’s not true, but I’m not interested in discussing the psychology of this situation with him. “Are the men who signed the original affidavit in trouble?”

“We’ll require each of them to issue a public statement that what they said then about Denise was false. Because they were minors at the time, they won’t be charged.”

“That seems ridiculously unfair to me, even though one of them is my own brother.”

“I understand and I agree, but our hands are tied by the law. There’s nothing stopping her from suing them in civil court.”

“I hope she does.”

“I guess we’ll see what happens. I’ll be in touch next week to confirm the time.”

After we say our goodbyes, I’m left with unsettled feelings. I update Jack on what Josh had to say. “I should feel bad for hoping Denise sues my brother and the other guys who made up outrageous lies about her to protect Ryder, but I don’t feel bad at all. They deserve it. They might’ve been minors, but they were old enough to know better. We all were.”

“They certainly knew exactly what they were doing when they lied about her, and I don’t think you should feel bad for hoping they get their comeuppance. Their lies probably influenced the judge.”

“No doubt they did. Ryder might’ve already served his time by now, and all of this would be a bad memory for the people involved. But they risked everything to protect him because they thought there wasno wayhe could’ve done such a thing.”

“Small towns are like that. They close ranks around people they’ve known all their lives and make assumptions based on what they think they know.”

“I remember something my mom said that summer, after Ryder was charged. Arlo was furious about it and wanted us to be as well. He said we knew Ryder because he’d practicallygrown up in our house, which was true. But my mom said we would have no idea how he behaved when the parents weren’t looking. Arlo didn’t appreciate that. He expected blind loyalty from us, because he thought he knew how Ryder would behave in any situation.”

“No one knows how someone is one-on-one except for the other person they’re with.”

“Exactly.”

“It must’ve been so hard for you to hear him defending Ryder when you knew what’d happened.”

“It was torturous. I felt sick twenty-four hours a day for months. I couldn’t eat or sleep or think about anything other than what I saw and what I’d failed to do.”

He reaches for my hand across the table.

I link my fingers with his.

“It’s almost over,” he says.

“Sometimes I wonder if it’ll ever be over.”

Chapter 28

Houston

NOW

I return from a routine appearance at District Court in Newport to someone waiting for me outside my office. Her head is down, so I can’t see her face, only her long, shiny dark hair.

“Ryder Elliott’s wife,” Marge says quietly.

Oh, shit. “Thanks.” I go over to her. “Caroline?”

She looks up at me, and it’s all I can do not to gasp at the way grief and sadness have ravaged her face. “I’m sorry to bother you. Ryder and Dallas always spoke so highly of you, and… I…”

“Come in.”

I hold the door while she goes into my office ahead of me.

After I close the door I take a seat behind my desk while she takes one of my visitor chairs. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m not sure, exactly. I…I guess I want to understand…” She looks up at me with brown eyes swollen and red with dark half-moon bruises under them. “Why is this happening now?” Her voice is barely a whisper.

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