As soon as I got home I went and had a shower. I wanted to clean the dirty feeling I had off me from the encounter with Oliver. Then, feeling a tiny bit woozy, I decided to have a nap.
I woke up to the sound of the doorbell downstairs. That was pretty weird in and of itself, no one ever used the doorbell here. They were always expected, and Anita would always wait at the door to open it as soon as visitors arrived.
Figuring the visitor had nothing to do with me, I got dressed, brushed my now-dry hair out, and decided to go down to the kitchen to get something to eat.
When I got to the lobby, however, I saw Anita talking to some cops.
“No, I don’t know where Mr. Alcott Jr. is,” I heard Anita told one of the policemen.
“Anita? What’s going on?” I asked, curious.
“These gentlemen are looking for Jack,” she replied.
“Really? What about?”
“An attack took place near Oxford University around 1:40 this afternoon, and the assailant fingered Jack Alcott as his attacker. Do you know where he is, miss?”
You know when you have those thoughts that go through your brain that seem like they would have taken an hour to get through, but in reality you go through them in a split second? Well, that’s what happened to me then.
Holy shit, that has to be about beating up Oliver.
I could tell them the truth, that Oliver was going to attack me.
But I didn’t go to the cops. There’s no proof.
Jack doesn’t exactly have a great track record with behaviour issues, they won’t believe him.
What should I do then?
You could lie.
Lie to the cops?
Do you have a better idea?
“At 1:40 this afternoon you said? That’s impossible,” I told the cops.
“Why is that?” the older one asked me.
“I was with Jack then. My class ended at 1:30, and we met up at a bar just off campus. I can’t remember the name, but Jack will know it. On George Street, near Chain Alley.
“What kind of bar is it?” the younger one asked.
“Some sort of dive. Jack chose it. Waitresses’ name was Rosa.”
“I know the place. That just happens to be a few hundred yards from where our complainant was assaulted.”
“Well I was there with Jack at 1:40. Rosa will back that up, too.”
“You’re his…”
“Step-sister. Soon to be, anyway.”
“Why should we believe you? You might be covering for him.”
I laughed, and it sounded so natural it surprised even me.
“You can ask anyone. We actually hate each other. I can’t stand his guts. In fact, if I could tell you where he was and that he did it, I could. He can’t stand the fact that I’ve come into the house and am being supported by his dad. But he wanted to buy me a drink, to tell me he was sorry about my mom. She was in the hospital recently,” I added as a detail.
I figured the safest way to go was to keep the lie as real as possible. Fudging as few details as possible meant there was way less of a chance that I’d get caught lying. After all, I wasn’t an expert on English law, but I figured it was probably pretty similar to America where lying to the cops was not a good thing.
Why was I lying to protect Jack? Was it because he’d saved me? It had to be that.
“She is telling the truth there,” Anita replied. “You can talk to the staff here. We all dislike John Jr, to put it mildly. And we all know how he treats Julianne. She has no reason to lie for him.”
“Alright, well, thank you for the report. If you wouldn’t mind Ms. Cuthbert, we would like to speak to the other staff about her relationship with Jack.”
“Of course,” Anita replied.
“Umm… can I go to the kitchen to grab dinner? I promise I won’t talk to anyone,” I asked sheepishly.
“That should be fine, miss,” the older policeman replied with a small smile.
“Thanks,” I answered, and made my way towards the kitchen, even though my appetite was gone. I could be in serious trouble if they found out I lied. All for a guy I hated.
Still, I knew I had to eat. I grabbed a meat pie and nuked it, eating it standing up at the counter before putting the dishes in the dishwasher.
By the time I was finished Anita was just letting the detectives out. I waited for her to come back in.
“So, are they still looking for Jack?” I asked.
“No. I think they spoke to enough people here that told them just how much you hate him that they believe you.”
The relief must have been obvious on my face.
“I’m curious, Ms. Reeves. If I may ask, why are you so relieved they believe you?”
“Well, I wouldn’t want Jack to go to jail for something he didn’t deserve to go to jail for. Even if I do hate him,” I answered.
“You’re a good girl, you know that, right?” Anita asked, and I smiled.
“Thanks, Anita.”
With that I ran back upstairs, and visited my mom quickly, who was busy in her room with a giant seating plan for the wedding.
An hour or so later I heard the now-familiar roar of the Lamborghini engine pulling up into the driveway before screeching to a stop.
When I heard Jack’s footsteps in our guest room wing of the house, I came out of my room and went into the hallway to see him.
“Hey, have you seen the cops yet?”
Jack looked surprised.
“Cops? No.”
“Good. They came by here earlier looking for you. Apparently Oliver snitched. I told them we went to that bar you took me to at 1:30, after my class, so you couldn’t have beaten Oliver up at 1:40. You took me out to tell me how sorry you were about my mom. Just FYI, in case they come back.”
Jack looked at me with an inscrutable expression. Finally, he spoke.
“I didn’t pick you as someone who would lie to the cops.”
I shrugged. “Normally I wouldn’t be. But if I told the truth it was he said/she said, and honestly Oxford is probably looking for any excuse to kick you out now. I kind of figured I owed you one.”
“You did owe me one. Thanks, sis,” he replied with a grin before going into his room.
I turned and went back into my own room, feeling more confused than ever. Jack was so guarded, so shielded, it was like he never wanted to let anybody in. I wondered what he was thinking, then eventually resigned myself to the fact that I would probably never know.