Love Me ~ Through the Storm (16 page)

24

Oakley

“Clay, pick up the phone! I swear, I’ll murder you if you had anything to do with this.” I leave another message on my brother’s cell phone. He’s more pissed at me than I thought to not be answering my calls. I’m pacing the bedroom floor. I’m lost. I have no idea what I need to do to get Kane out of jail. I’ve never dealt with this before in my life.

I dial Lizzie, straight to voicemail,
dammit
! “Hey, Lizzie, where are you guys? Don’t tell me you’re in on this thing, it’s not right what y’all did!”
Shit
!

Maybe I’ll have luck with Bailey, “Bailey, what’s going on? Why aren’t any of you answering your phones?”
Urgh! What the hell?
Should I call Cash? Is he just going to ignore me, too? Why am I even bothering with them?

Think Oakley, think.
What about Margie? Will she freak out? It’s worth a try, I pick up my cell again, “Margie? Hey, it’s Oakley.”

“Hey, hun, how are you? Everything okay?” she asks.

“No, not really, Margie. Do you know where Clay and Lizzie are?”

“Oh, they’re taking the horses out through the woods this afternoon. Can I help you with something?”

“Uh, Kane’s been arrested.”

“Arrested?” Margie’s voice goes up three octaves.

“Yeah, do you think Clay had anything to do with this? Do you know how to get someone out of jail?” I ask, putting on my jeans.

“My heavens, what happened? Why would Clay have anything to do with it?” she asks.

“Because he’s pis—mad about us dating, and Kane got arrested for statutory rape. I’m eighteen, I’m legal. Clay needs to back off.” I can feel the tears running down my face.

Margie’s voice softens. “Oh, honey, I don’t think Clay would have anything to do with this. Like you said, you’re eighteen. Wouldn’t the police need some kind of proof?”

“Okay, whatever, but how do I get him out of jail?” I ask her, pounding my hand on the desk, I don’t want him to spend one extra minute locked up.

“Calm down, you getting all flustered isn’t going to help anything. Well, everything I watch on TV makes me think he’ll go in and they will take his fingerprints. Then they are in a holding cell until they go in front of a judge the next day.”

“Margie, that doesn’t tell me how to get him out of jail.”

“That’s what I was getting to. They go before the judge for a bail hearing.”

“So, how do I get bail for him?”

“Well, that’ll depend on if the judge grants him bail. A bail hearing is when a judge decides if a defendant
can
be released from custody. Bail is the amount of money or property that a defendant must pay to secure their release from jail before trial.”

“So, I just need to come up with money?” Maybe I need to call GG, I wish I had Ruby’s phone number. I’m sure she would know exactly what to do.

“Or he could use his personal residence, if he owns his home. The judge may decide that he doesn’t have to pay bail at all. It's still called a bail hearing even if no money is required for release. They could release him on his own recognizance. In any event, a hearing is held to determine if release is appropriate.”

I’ve never been so freaking glad that someone watches as much TV as much as Margie has. She’s watched one too many C.S.I.’s. “So what do I need to do now, like right now? They just left with him. He said for me to call Clay.” I know I’m whining now.

“I’ll go out to y’all’s place and see if I can find him and Lizzie then I’ll call you back, hun.” Margie hangs up and I still don’t know what to do.

I grab my purse and head out the door. I’m going down to the jail and see if I can find answers there. Someone has to know what I need to do to help him.

I walk into the jailhouse and I’m a nervous wreck. The place is nothing like I thought it would be. Inside, there’s a tiny room with a window. It has one of those small round holes cut out of the center to talk through. I see a policewoman sitting behind the glass and she’s typing away at a keyboard.

I let out a long exhale, straighten my shoulders, and approach the window. “Excuse me, my boyfriend was just brought in and I need to know how to get him out.”

“Name?”

“Oakley Wilson.”

“What was Oakley charged with?”

“No, I’m Oakley. His name is Kane Treadway, I mean Luther Kane Treadway, he was charged with…” I lean closer to the window. “statutory rape,” I finish in a whisper. “But, you see I’m already eighteen. I’m sure this has to be some misunderstanding.”

“Oh, sweetie, I’m not supposed to give out any information when a case involves a minor.”

“Please, please, ma’am. Do you need to see my license?” I plop my purse on the sill of the window. I dig around until I find my pouch that I keep my IDs in. Putting it up to the window, “See, I’ve been eighteen for months now.”

“Let me look and see what I can find on him,” She pecks away at her keyboard. “No, it’s not you that he’s being charged with raping.”

“Not me?”
What the fuck!

25

Kane

As soon as I was booked, they tell me who I supposedly raped. My mouth hit the nasty floor! “I need to see my lawyer,” I demand. That whore has pushed me too far.

“Who’s your lawyer?” the fat ass guard asks me.

“Marshall White.”

“Yeah, we know him. Jerald, call White.” Fat ass is just sneering at me. “So you think it’s fun to fuck little girls?” He snarls up his lips, “They’ll have fun with you in the joint.”

“I’m not going to the joint because there’s a misunderstanding here somewhere or someone is lying,” I tell him through gritted teeth.

“Yeah, that’s what they all say.” He laughs. “I think there’s a bubba in there that will like your pretty face and make you his wife.”

“Look, I’m not talking until my lawyer gets here.”

“Suit yourself, pretty boy.” He lets out a roaring laugh.

It feels like forever for my lawyer to appear but in all reality, he probably got here as fast as he could. I keep him on retainer for SugarKane Productions.

“Kane, I came as soon as they called,” Marshall says to me then turns to the guard. “I need a moment alone with my client please.”

Fat ass gets up and waddles out of the room.

“Who is Gretchen Fortenberry? That’s who’s accusing you of rape.”

“She worked for me up until a few weeks ago. She kept coming on to me so I fired her.”

“Did you ever sleep with her?”

I hang my head. “Yeah, once.”

“Damn, Kane, what did I tell you guys? You can’t be screwing those girls. Once is all it takes. What did her background check show?”

“You do the background checks, you tell me.”

“I didn’t run any reports on a Gretchen Fortenberry.”

“Yeah you did; she started in January.”

“Kane, I didn’t start doing those checks for you until March. Before then CJ was doing them…when he remembered. That’s why you had me take over doing them.”

“Fuuuck.” I want to punch something.

“Yeah, fuck.”

“Get a hold of CJ for me. Hell, just get me out of here,” I tell him.

“Let me go see what I can do.” Marshall gets up and leaves the room.

Gretchen must have been the one sabotaging everything from slashing my tires to spray painting my garage. This bitch is going to pay because she’s over eighteen; I’d bet my life on it. I guess in a way I already did. 

I’m going to sue her ass for defamation of character. If she makes me lose Oakley, I’ll… I won’t be held responsible for my actions.

26

Oakley

The next day

I didn’t sleep at all last night, and when I finally closed my eyes, Clay, Lizzie, the whole band, and every freaking body showed up. In the middle of the freaking night. People I barely know are here, trying to wage in on Kane’s innocence. I want them all to go the fuck home. I wish I’d never called my brother.

“See, Oakley, I told you to stay away from him.” Clay fumes while he paces the living room.

“Clay, how’s that going to help her? It’s not, so shut the fuck up and leave her alone,” Mercy tells him.

The person I barely knows is the one taking up for me while all the people who are supposed to love me, my family, are only here to belittle me. I think I like her. She’s closer to Ryder’s age and has an air of authority to her.

“Mercy, this doesn’t concern you, so stay out of it,” Lizzie hisses at her.

“Lizzie, don’t start being overly dramatic. We all know how you can get. All of you need to back up,” Mercy walks over and puts her arm around my shoulder, “Oakley, what did they say when you went to the police station?”

“Just that it wasn’t me that he was charged with raping. Margie seems to think that there’ll be a bond hearing in the morning,” I tell her.

Denise is over by herself with her head bowed. Levi’s sitting really close to her, rubbing her back.

“Oakley,” Denise says, looking up. “I’m so sorry this has happened. I’m praying for Kane because he was always really sweet to me.”

“Thanks, Denise.”  I’m glad that at least Denise is trying to help. I know she’s always in church come hell or high water. I hope she has a direct line with God and her prayers are being heard.

My phone finally rings. “Hello, Kane! Oh my God! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, baby. You can come get me now, I’m free to leave,” Kane says.

“Okay, where do I go? What exactly do I need to do?” I ask him, fishing through my purse for some paper and a pen.

“Just come down to the jail, baby. Come in the front door and tell them you’re here to pick me up.”

He sounds so worn out.

“I’ll be right there,” I tell him.