She liked most of them, especially Chase and Jamie, but she felt uncomfortable with them now and knew they could never be friends after what had happened. But she didn’t want to ruin their lives, get them expelled for drinking, and she didn’t want it to be her fault if Rick went to prison. It was too much responsibility for her. What he did was wrong, but ruining his life wouldn’t make it any different. She was confused about what to do, and had no one to talk to about it. She didn’t want to talk to her parents, and she thought of everything Gwen had said. Sending Rick to prison for years seemed too harsh, but so was what he’d done to her. She wondered if any of it was her fault, for drinking with them and getting drunk, or if she’d encouraged Rick in some way. But even drunk, Chase and Jamie hadn’t raped her. And once she told the truth, she couldn’t stop what would happen to them. A jury and the courts would decide, and no one would listen to her. It still seemed better not to say anything at all, and do her best to forget it. The consequences for speaking up were so extreme.
She hadn’t texted Lana or Zoe or any of her girlfriends in L.A. since it happened, or answered their texts or requests to FaceTime with her. She didn’t know what to say to them. The rape wasn’t her fault, but she was ashamed anyway. Too ashamed to even tell her mother. They were already upset about her breaking the rules and drinking.
Lana and Zoe had asked her how her Halloween was, and she didn’t answer them. She didn’t want any of them to know what had happened to her. They would never look at her the same way again. If she told them the truth, they’d think it was her fault because she’d been drinking in secret alone with the boys after curfew, and got so drunk. They might think she was a slut too. Maybe everyone would if they knew.
Vivienne lay in bed and cried until the sleeping pill they’d given her took effect and she fell asleep. All she wanted to do now was go home to L.A. with her dad, to turn back the clock and climb back into the womb of her past life. Maybe she wouldn’t even see anyone while she was in L.A. She couldn’t face Lana or Zoe. But at least she’d be there, in her own house, with her dad, where she knew she was safe. After the rape, by someone she knew, she didn’t think she’d ever feel safe again. She had never expected Rick to rape her, or for a night of drinking tequila with the boys to turn out the way it had.
Chapter 8
Nicole arrived at the cafeteria at a quarter to eight the next morning. She and Taylor had decided that her presence would be less noticeable at that hour than his. He was waiting in the van outside, and the two detectives from Boston were due at eight o’clock, to escort them to the hospital and the police station.
She spotted Jamie and Chase first, having breakfast together, as they often did. They were eating steaming bowls of oatmeal and they both looked tired. She stopped to speak to them quietly, so no one else would hear her.
“I’m sorry, boys. We need you to come with us this morning. We’ve got some business to take care of. If you’d head out now, the van is outside.” They both looked startled and scared for a minute, and then covered it with false bravado, as they stood up, bussed their dishes and dumped their unfinished breakfasts, and walked outside. They barely had time to whisper to each other on the way out.
“Fuck, what do you think it is?” Jamie said to Chase.
“Nothing good, I suspect. Be cool. Don’t talk,” Chase instructed him, and Jamie nodded and then both saw the headmaster waiting for them in the van. A few students noticed, but most hadn’t paid any attention. They were in a hurry for breakfast before class.
Steve Babson and Gabe were together, and looked like they were having an argument about something. Nicole rounded them up and Rick was just coming through the line with a tray laden with food he hadn’t touched yet. She asked him to go outside too. Then she had to look for Tommy Yee, and was concerned that she couldn’t find him. Then she saw him dash in with his violin case, with the violin he’d borrowed from the music department. He grabbed a banana and was about to leave when Nicole caught up with him, and escorted him to the van to meet the others. By then Detectives Martin and Brendan had arrived. Their car was parked off to the side. It was eight o’clock sharp. The two detectives got into their car, and followed the van off the grounds. Not a word was said in the van as Nicole drove. She didn’t explain where they were going, and no one dared ask. They were sure they were about to be arrested, and several of them had gone pale when they got into the van and said good morning to the headmaster sitting in the front. He greeted them politely but made no attempt at conversation with them. He was going to leave the explanations to the detectives, and didn’t want to say too much. He didn’t want any of them bolting from the car.
All six boys looked surprised when they stopped at the hospital, and they wondered if they were being taken to be confronted by Vivienne or accused by her in person. Instead Dominic and Gwen led them to a lab on the ground floor, where the insides of their cheeks were swabbed and they were told it was a DNA test. Chase finally had the guts to ask them what it was for.
Gwen answered him simply and clearly for the benefit of all. “It will clear you of any involvement with the rape of Vivienne Walker, which would be a very good thing. And in any case, the police are requiring it as part of their investigation. The full results will take several weeks, and we’ll have a preliminary report in a few days.”
“Why us?” Rick asked, trying to look surprised and unconcerned.
“We’ll talk about that when we get to the police station,” she said, as she shepherded them back to the van. Detective Brendan brought up the rear.
Once at the police station, the boys looked wild eyed and silent. None of them had ever been to a police station before or been arrested.
“Are we being arrested?” Jamie wanted to know.
“No. We brought you here for questioning,” Gwen said, as she and Dominic led them into a conference room, and Nicole and Taylor took their seats at the far end. They invited the boys to sit down around a large scarred-up table. The police station was in ill repair, and there was a jail next to it, for drunks and those who had committed minor crimes. The station was noisy and bright with fluorescent lights. There was nothing welcoming or attractive about it, and all six boys looked terrified.
“You’re here, boys, because a tequila bottle in the location where Vivienne Walker was raped had seven sets of fingerprints on it. The bottle was nearly empty. One set of prints belonged to Vivienne Walker, and the other six sets of prints were yours, which potentially puts you at the crime scene the night it happened. The bottle was fresh, so at some point that night the six of you polished off that tequila with her. What happened after that, we’re not sure. This is your chance to tell us the truth. Tell us what you know, what you saw, what happened, whether or not things got out of hand, what time you left, when you last saw her, and what condition she was in. Generally speaking, if you lie, someone will talk eventually, some piece of evidence will lead us to the truth. I strongly urge you to level with us. It’s going to go a lot better if you do. We’ll talk to each of you separately, and if the stories don’t match up, then we’ll know you’re lying to us. For the moment, you’re not under arrest, unless you make a full confession today. But you are under investigation. You can’t leave the area, in your case, the school. I can’t stress strongly enough how important it is to be honest with us. Things are going to go a lot better if you do. Even if your friends don’t tell the truth, you’d be a lot smarter to be truthful with us. Loyalty among friends is a wonderful thing, but not when it comes to breaking the law. I think your parents would tell you the same thing.”