Broken Silence (18 page)

Chapter Eighteen

Oakley

My father’s lawyer, John Bee, was such an intimidating man. He made me feel like a child. His face was hard with angular lines and a pointed jaw. Everything about him screamed ‘I’m going to break you.’

Cole and Jasper hadn’t said much about watching my father give evidence, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. Whatever it was I didn’t want to know. I had enough stress at the minute, and I didn’t know how much more I could take.

John stepped in front of me. He wasn’t even that close, but it felt as if he was just an inch from my face. I looked at him straight on, determined not to show how scared I was.

“You claim that your father first took you to meet Mr Glosser alone when you were five years old, is that correct?”

“Yes,” I replied.

Without blinking, he fired off the next question. “And how soon after that did you stop talking?”

“I can’t remember exactly. About a month, I suppose.”

He started walking back away from the jury. “So there was a gap between the start of the alleged abuse and you stopping talking?”

“Yes.”

“I see.” He clicked his tongue, turned to the jury and held his hand up, extending his index finger. “And you claim that you were forced to remain silent
forever
because your father did not want anyone to find out.”

“I never said forever. He never said forever, but yes.” He never mentioned a time limit, and I never really thought about it. I was too afraid to talk again, so I tried living a new kind of life.

“So between the start of the alleged abuse and when you stopped talking there was nothing in your way of speaking out. Is that correct?”

I shook my head. “No. That’s not true.”

“You claim your father threatened you. Is this correct?”

“Yes.”

“And what did he say?”

“That
he would kill my mother. I was terrified that it was true.”

“You believed words could kill her?” He cocked his head to the side. 
Patronising, word-twisting bastard.
When I was five, I believed my dad – every word. I had no idea what could or couldn’t kill a person then. I didn’t understand any of it, all I knew was that I loved my mum and didn’t want her to die.

I said nothing.

“Miss Farrell, did you like playing games as a child.”

What kind of question was that? “Yes, of course,” I replied. What child didn’t play?

He nodded and swiftly moved to his next question. “Did you play make-believe games?”

“Yes,” I replied cautiously, knowing this couldn’t be leading anywhere good. Me, Jasper, Cole, and Mia used to play all sorts of games, pretending we were our favourite TV show characters, from
Power Rangers
, and programmes like that. Every child did.

“Mmm. And when you stopped talking, you liked the attention you got, didn’t you?”

My face fell. That was where he was going. “No, that’s not how it was.”

“You said you liked to play make-believe games.”

Keeping calm was almost impossible. What kind of a person would make up something so evil? I hated that anyone could even suggest I was lying about it. All I ever wanted was a happy, normal family. I never wanted any of this.

“I did not make that up.”

John turned on his heel and took a few steps towards the jury. He had been walking around the whole time. He seemed so at ease here, as if this was his house and we were guests.

“Miss Farrell, you state that after the first time Mr Glosser accompanied you and your father he was there every occasion after that, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Did he meet you at your house?”

“No. My family were never aware he was with us.”

“He was waiting for you?”

“No, he always came after we’d set up and been to the local shop.”

Being on the stand meant that I was slightly higher than him, so I used that to my advantage and straightened my back, forcing him to look up to me. “You said your father took payment from Mr Glosser?”

“That’s correct.”

“Could that not have merely been Mr Glosser paying for his half of the food bill? You said he showed
after
you’d shopped.”

“No,” I growled through my teeth. Linda looked up and widened her eyes, warning me to remain calm. I needed to, but I couldn’t help it. He was twisting everything I had said to make it look like I was lying.

“How did you know what the exchange of money was for? Were you told?”

“No, but
—”

“So it could have been his share of dinner. Miss Farrell, you’ve also alleged your father took photographs during the abuse, even though no pictures of you have been found.”

I narrowed my eyes. “They should look harder.” I didn’t even bother looking at Linda’s face. No doubt she would be wincing at my knee-jerk response, which was exactly what the defence wanted. The photos existed, I
knew
they did.

“Every phone, tablet, PC, and laptop in your father’s position has been searched, Miss Farrell. I can assure you there aren’t any pictures to back up your claim.”

I didn’t know if I should be pleased they were gone and no one would ever see them or frightened that them being gone backed up Dad’s story.

“It happened,” I whispered, and looked to the jury.
Please believe me.

“Miss Farrell, could you at least tell me what camera was allegedly used?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. It was silver, but I don’t know which make.”

“Of course,” he replied. “And was this the family’s camera?”

I looked at him coldly. “My father’s sick, not stupid.”

Linda stood up. “Can we please a five-minute break?”

John the arsehole objected but the judge agreed and called a recess.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, dropping to the seat in the little room where I passed out a few days ago.

“Oakley,” Linda said, sitting down beside me. “You’re doing great but you need to try to keep your cool. Their whole argument is that you’re a troublemaker that craved the attention. Unfortunately any sign of anger or temper from you – however understandable in the circumstances – means you’re playing right into their hands. I know it’s frustrating. I’ve been sitting there wanting to throw my briefcase at him, but I can’t. You
have
to stay calm.”

I nodded and ran my hand through my hair roughly. “I know.” She was right. If I let him get to me and blew this chance of getting Dad and Frank sent down then I would have messed up the whole reason I spoke out in the first place. For me and all the other girls, I had to do this. “I’ll be fine now. I won’t let him get away with it.”

She smiled. “Good girl. You can do this. Just stay calm. He can’t trip you up, because you’re telling the truth.”

“Okay. I’m ready.”

Linda squeezed my hand and stood up. “Let’s get back in there.”

“Welcome back, Miss Farrell,” John Bee said, almost sarcastically. I wanted to give him the finger. I’d never given anyone the finger before, but he was a good place to start. “You said the alleged abuse lasted for eight years, until you turned thirteen?”

“That’s correct,” I said.

“And how did that make you feel?”

My heart dropped. I had to talk about that. “Dirty, worthless, and broken.”

“So broken that you started a relationship with Mr Benson?”

With shaking hands, I gripped the bottom of my top. “That was completely different.” Why was he doing this? No one had the right to tell me when I could have a relationship, or my reasons for doing so. There was no set time for everything to be okay: none of this would ever be okay, but I had to keep going on. I would never apologise for my relationship with Cole. It may have been ‘too soon’ to other people, but it was right for me. I found a little bit of courage buried deep.

“I wasn’t aware there was a time limit on when I was allowed to be happy again.” I mentally kicked myself and refused to look at Linda. I knew she would be giving me a warning stare. I couldn’t help it, he was getting under my skin.

He ignored my comment. “So your physical relationship with Mr Benson started at the beginning of summer in 2008?” How did he know that?

My heart stuttered
. I knew he might bring Cole up, but I had no idea he would be so personal. “Yes.”

His eyebrows shot up. “And when did you turn sixteen?”

Oh, God. My eyes flicked upwards to Cole. No! Was I going to get him into trouble? I couldn’t. We hadn’t done anything wrong. Cole nodded, telling me to continue. “August.”

“Hmm. Your physical relationship with Mr Benson started relatively quickly, wouldn’t you say?”

“No. I’d known Cole my whole life. I trusted him, and it felt right. For the first time in my life something felt right, and it was completely different to what Frank did; I chose it.”

Someone barged into the room and approached the judge, interrupting John’s line of questioning. I looked to Linda to see if she knew what was going on, but she wasn’t looking at me; her eyes were also on the judge. The room fell deathly silent. I tried to listen but could only hear muffled voices. What was happening?

“We’re going to take a break,” the judge announced. “Mr Bee and Mrs Rake, please approach.” John and Linda walked over.

Walter, Linda’s colleague came over to me and gestured towards the exit: “Follow me, please.” I stepped down and followed him into the room I’d fainted in before.

“What’s happening?” I asked Walter.

“I’m not sure. We’ll just have to wait for Linda. Can I get you something? Tea or coffee? Water?”

“No, thank you,” I replied.
This is bad.
Why would they stop? Dad must be getting off. It wouldn’t surprise me. He was so well liked and respected. Everyone believed him and looked up to him. Of course he was getting off.

I sank into the worn chair, and my heart dropped to my feet. Pulling my legs up, I pressed my face into my knees.
This can’t be happening.
What was I going to do now? Run. I wanted to escape back to Australia. Coming here was a mistake.

A stray tear rolled down my cheek, and I angrily swiped it away. I was so stupid. Who was going to believe me over a well-respected businessman? At least he couldn’t deny the other charge though. There
was
evidence of him abusing a little girl when he was in university. Evidence of him and the other people in the paedophile ring. And evidence of him having images of girls on his computer.

Even if there was now nothing linking him to me and what Frank did, he would still go to prison. He
had
to go to prison. I closed my eyes and breathed in for five seconds and out for five. Those familiar feelings of panic were threatening to take over again.

Time ticked by slowly as I waited for news. No one else came in, so I assumed everyone was still in the public gallery, or were not allowed to come in. Walter had been to find out what was going on, but all he knew was Linda and John were no longer in the court room.

The door opened, and Linda walked in. It had been almost two hours. Her face betrayed nothing; I couldn’t tell if the news was good or not. “I’m sorry I was gone so long,” she said.

“He’s getting off, isn’t he?”

“No,” Linda replied.

What?
“No?”

She shook her head. “They found a folder on his laptop. It had been very well hidden and was only just found by one highly determined man who knew this was his last chance. He had to call someone in else in to assist it had been that well hidden. We’ve had them re-examining the evidence all week. They found it, Oakley, and brought it straight here.”

She still had people looking over evidence? I thought all that would have been left by now. They kept looking and looking. “What folder?” I asked, even though knew what folder she was talking about.

She placed her hand over mine. “The pictures of you.”

I felt like I had been hit by a bus. That folder. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I didn’t even want to think about it. “So what does that mean?”

“It means your story is proven to be true, and your father is exposed as a liar.”

My eyes filled with tears. “What happens now?”

“The public gallery has been closed. The jury will be shown the photographs, and then the trial will be wrapped up. I see no reason to call your father back to the stand. The pictures speak for themselves, and, surprisingly, John is not calling for him to take the stand again. I thought he would so he could try and help him talk his way out of it.”

“Do I have to go back in there?”

She shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. It seems unlikely his defence will call you back in now this new evidence has come to light. I’ve got to go back, but Walter will take you to your family.”