Merritt came home the next night, and they talked about it again. She agreed with Matthew, and she said that no matter what his friends did, Chase had to do the right thing. After telling him what they thought, they let him figure it out for himself.
They had a quiet Thanksgiving at their apartment, catered by a restaurant. They didn’t want to have to deal with people asking for autographs in a public place. They got besieged by fans when he went out with both his parents. It had already been in the news that Chase was one of the six boys being accused of rape and other charges at Saint Ambrose. It was a good time to lie low.
Chase decided to stay in New York with his father for the time being. They were going back to L.A. for Christmas with his mother. But in the meantime, he could help his father with odd jobs. Merritt left for L.A. on Friday and told him, as she always did, how much she loved him. He noticed that his parents still seemed to be on decent terms, which he knew didn’t mean anything. They were always civil to each other in front of him, and never argued, but they were still getting a divorce, so he assumed that his father’s affair with the actress Kristin Harte was still on. His mother had slept in the guest room in New York. He saw the sad look in her eyes. Now he didn’t know if it was because of his father, or because of him, which was a terrible feeling. He hated to hurt her.
Chase was lying awake every night, thinking of everything his father had said. On Sunday morning he walked into his father’s bedroom, with tears in his eyes and a tortured expression.
Matthew was reading the Sunday New York Times in bed and looked up at his son.
“What happened?” How much worse could it get?
“I want to give the police a statement now and tell them what happened that night. Everyone’s lying. I can’t do it anymore. I want to change my plea to guilty. I didn’t know Rick had raped her until after he did. But I’ve been lying to protect him and everyone else. The others will hate me for it, but I don’t want to lie about it anymore. I want to do what you said and finish it right.” He felt better when he said it.
“I’ll call the lawyer in the morning. You can think about it tonight.” Matthew was calm when he spoke to Chase, but relieved that he’d come to the right conclusion on his own.
The next morning, Chase said he hadn’t changed his mind, and Matthew called the lawyer, and told him, and he said he’d contact the police in charge of the case.
“I’ll see if I can get a deal for him, a lesser charge, or a lighter sentence, or both.” He called back half an hour later. They had an appointment the next morning at the police station near school, for Chase to make a statement and change his plea. They had refused to make a deal. They were taking a hard line on it, and charging them as adults. “They’re afraid of the media if they make a deal with you. You and Merritt are too well known. It would cause an explosion in the press and go viral.”
* * *
—
Chase and Matthew drove to Massachusetts the next day, and their attorney met them there. Gwen and Dominic had been advised and drove in from Boston to take the statement.
Chase looked quiet and serious as he did it, he told them everything he remembered, although a lot of his memories of it were confused because of the tequila. Gwen spoke to him softly when he finished.
“I know you told the truth, Chase. The victim made a statement recently. Your story corroborates hers on every point. She didn’t want to do it until now either. She didn’t want to be responsible for any of you going to prison.”
“How is she?”
“She’s doing better,” was all Gwen was willing to say. Their attorney told Matthew and Chase afterward that Chase had done the right thing by confessing. Vivienne’s statement would have buried him, if he continued to lie to them about it. The attorney said he might be able to get Chase sent to a lighter security prison, but that was probably the best he could do. The attorney thought he might get a year or two as an accessory, and another year for the obstruction. It sounded like a life sentence to Chase, especially for a first offense. Matthew had to fight to keep his composure.
They had Chase sign his statement, and they went to court to enter the guilty plea. They spoke to the judge in chambers. She gave him a sentencing date of January 8, and agreed to let him remain out on bail, as long as he was staying with either of his parents. Matthew said he was. Then they left and stood outside in the cold winter air.
They drove back to New York, and neither Matthew nor Chase said a word. When they got back to the city, Matthew turned to his son. “You did the right thing, Chase. I’m proud of you,” and then he hugged him as tight as he could, and they went back to the apartment. Chase looked around and realized that five weeks from now, he might be in prison, or shortly thereafter. Merritt knew what they were doing that day, and Matthew had called her after they saw the judge. They were both going to be at the sentencing with him. And they agreed that whatever happened, they would stand by him.
Chase texted Jamie that night. “I told them the truth, and changed my plea to guilty. I’m sorry. I had to.” Then he sat down to write Vivienne a letter. He’d wanted to do that ever since it happened. He regretted everything about that night, especially to her. And now he was trying to do all he could to make it right, and do the right thing.
Chapter 15
Five days later, after agonizing nights, Jamie called his lawyer. He admired what Chase had done and told his attorney he wanted to do the same. He hadn’t told his father, but the lawyer called Shepard and felt he should inform him, before Jamie changed his plea to guilty. They weren’t pleading guilty to rape, and he wasn’t accused of it, but to having been there, drinking to excess, having become aware of the rape after Rick had done it, and abandoning Vivienne while unconscious from the alcohol, and lying about all of it later to protect Rick and the others. The only thing Chase had done right was call campus police to report her whereabouts when they left her. Jamie had punched Rick as soon as he became aware of what he’d done. And Steve had pulled Rick off her.
Shepard told their attorney not to do anything yet when he called him, and he had a major confrontation with Jamie, with Ellen present. The lawyer had told Shepard that he thought Jamie was right to step forward and change his plea. He couldn’t win the case, and Jamie being honest would only help the outcome and possibly lighten his sentence. And morally it was the right thing to do, and not shield Rick, who didn’t deserve it. The truth was the only way to go. It didn’t change the fact of the rape for Vivienne, but it proved Jamie to be an honest person, no matter how foolish they’d been to get so drunk. It was a powerful and costly lesson to all of them. But his father was violently opposed to his entering a plea of guilty, and forbade him to do it.
“Are you insane? Do you want to go to prison for years? We have one of the best criminal lawyers in New York for you. He can get you off,” Shepard insisted.