Page 128 of A Little Jaded
Raine’s breath hitches, and I close my eyes, hating the pain she’s being put through while knowing that tiptoeing around the situation won’t get us anywhere. Not anymore.
McDonnell’s attention shifts to Raine beside me. “You’re the girlfriend, I assume?”
Raine nods, gently pulls her hand from mine, and twists her fingers in her lap. Not gonna lie. It stings a little, but this isn’t about me. Not right now. This is about Raine, and if she needs to pull away for a minute to cope with this shitshow, I’ll be by her side until she’s ready to open up again.
“My, uh, my ex won’t leave me alone,” she whispers.
Concern spreads across his features. He closes a manilla folder in front of him, places it on the edge of his desk, and leans closer. “Okay. How long has this been going on? Do you have evidence?”
“Um…” Tucking her hair behind her ear, Raine stares at her hands. “We were seeing each other for a while. The abuse didn’t turn physical until I tried to break up with him. Then he hit me, and…then he hit me again, and…then I moved in with Everett”—she peeks at me and gives me a pathetic smile—“then he filmed me being…intimate with Everett, and then tonight, he shared it.”
“With who?” he asks.
“Everyone,” she whispers.
The divot between McDonnell’s brows deepens. “And you have proof of this?”
Raine shrugs, turning to me. “He took the video. I know it. And who else would be vindictive enough to share it?”
“Did he send it from his phone?” McDonnell prods.
“I have no idea, but…” I unlock my phone and start to hand it to him, but stop myself. Instead, I look at Raine. “You good if I show him?”
Her cheeks turn red, and it’s like gasoline on an already blazing flame.
I’m gonna fucking kill him.
“Raine?” I try keeping my voice steady, but fuck if I’m not fuming.
“Take my phone.” She pulls it from her back pocket and gives it to me but doesn’t look up. “If he tries to call or…anything, you can use it as evidence, right?”
Hating that this even needs to be done, I hand her phone to McDonnell, shoving mine back into my pocket. “It didn’t come from his number, but I know it was him,” I add. “No one else would film us, let alone send a video of it to the entire school.”
With wide eyes, McDonnell takes the phone but sets it face down in front of him. “The entire school has this? Are you sure?”
I replay the evening for the thousandth time, but even now, I can’t find a way to erase it. To make it go away like it never happened. If I could, I would’ve done it already.
“We were at a party when the message was delivered,” I explain. “Everyone’s phones started buzzing at the same time. I don’t know anyone who didn’t receive it, but I guesshe could’ve targeted the hockey team and regular fans. I’m not sure.”
“I’ll see if I can have one of my guys look into this,” McDonnell promises. His focus moves to the Raine again. “Miss, you said he hit you?”
She nods but doesn’t look up.
“Do you have any evidence of this? Photographs or…anything?”
Chewing on the inside of her cheek, she pauses before her shoulder lifts a few inches. “Honestly, I don’t, uh, I don’t think I took any pictures.”
He exhales and reaches for his pen, clicking the top. “That’s unfortunate.”
“I saw them,” I interject, cursing myself for not taking pictures when I picked her up on the side of the road. “The bruises. My friends all saw them, too. We’ll make a statement as witnesses or…whatever you need. However it works, we’ll cooperate, but I promise she’s telling the truth.”
“I’m sure she is,” he replies. “Unfortunately, physical proof has a lot more sway in these situations. Considering the circumstances, we need to be careful exactly how much we push. The video’s good,” he adds, “as long as we can connect it to the perpetrator. For now, I think the best we can do is file a restraining order and go from there.”
I shake my head. “Not good enough. Can’t she press charges for assault or something?”
“She can,” he confirms, “but without evidence, I’m afraid it’ll be hard to prove.”
“And the video?” I push. “It isn’t enough evidence?”