Nothing But the Truth: A Ryan Morgan Series Book 1 [Now on Amazon]

Chapter Ten: [Edited]

Chapter Ten

I unlocked my car door, sat down and turned on the engine.  I was ready to go to the office for another day's work.  Jacob had just texted me.  I grabbed the cell phone and read his text. Jacob said he had just been in a fight, and the principal wanted to expel him. 

"Great!," I said softly to myself. 

"Can it get any worse?" I grabbed the gear shift, put the car in reverse and headed for school. 

As soon as I arrived, I went straight to Principal Mallows' office.  He explained to me that Jacob had hit another student and that he had no choice but to suspend him for a week. With a big sigh, I apologized to Mr. Mallows. 

I then turned to Jacob. I was so frustrated with him.  I told Jacob to get his stuff together as I stormed out of the principal's office. 

Jacob stood up and followed me to the car.  I drove silently home.  I kept thinking about what I was going to say to him once we got home. We both got out of the car at the same time.  When we reached the door, Jacob said softly, "I'm sorry." I looked over at Jacob, "What happened?," I asked, trying to restrain my anger. 

"I don't understand why you would get so upset as to hit someone.  Did he call you a bad name or something?" Jacob was almost crying. "He was telling me I belonged in prison, because I killed Izza."  "That is no reason to hit someone," I said. 

"George Henderson is always bothering me and calling me a killer. I just couldn't take it anymore," said Jacob. 

He began to cry even harder. "I just couldn't take it anymore, Ryan," said Jacob. I took a big deep breath, closed my eyes, opened them again, and sighed.  I stroked my hair to the side of my face.  Jacob was miserable, and so was I.  Jacob just stood there in front of my car looking sad. I went on to work.

I began my work day by interviewing an alleged victim of sexual assault, Vanessa Stevans.  She is only seventeen years old.  Her mother filed divorce papers against her father, because the father didn't seem to want to get justice for his daughter. 

He just wanted to pretend that it never happened. I told Vanessa and her mother that I would do everything in my power to find her rapist and put him behind bars.  Detective Jonesberg was in my office, too, listening to the interview.  She was infuriated as well, and vowed to do everything in her power to see justice served as well.

Vanessa Stevens had always had the most amazing life, until shortly after her seventeenth birthday, when she was raped by a stranger. I felt terrible for Vanessa. She and her parents had always been very close until her father decided not to fight for his own daughter.

The family lives in a very luxurious neighborhood. The mother works as an accountant for a large firm downtown. Her father is a well known neurosurgeon.

Shortly after the rape, Dr. Stevans moved out.  He and his wife had started arguing constantly after the rape and it seemed could no longer agree on anything. Vanessa had lost both of her parents in a car accident when she was just three months old.  Since there were no known relatives on either side she was placed in a state-run orphanage.

The Stevans were looking for a baby to adopt. One place where they always looked was where baby Vanessa had been placed.  They immediately fell in love with her and seemed to know she was meant to be their daughter. They immediately started adoption proceedings.
After the interview was over, Vanessa and her mother left my office. I was alone with Detective Jonesberg. 

She asked me if there was something wrong.  She could tell I was furious.  I couldn't help but to become emotional.  I wanted justice for all of my victims, but sometimes it didn't happen. I was very concerned about Vanessa and wondered if she would ever have a good relationship with her father again. I was worried about my brother as well. 

I so wanted justice for him, but I was afraid the jury would not see it my way and he might be convicted. I told Detective Jonesberg what I was thinking. 

She responded, "You're a fighter, Ryan." You may not see it now, but the way you genuinely want to help your victims shows me you're a very good person. And if you want to help your victims,  never give up on them, and don't give up on Jacob either." I shook my head thinking about what Detective Jonesberg had just said to me. I sighed, still sitting at my desk, trying to convince myself not to worry so much. 

"I know Jacob is innocent,"I told her," but I somehow need to find out who killed Izza.  So far neither I nor the private investigator have come up with anything, not even a good theory. I just want the truth so Jacob 's name can be cleared and we can live in peace again.

Izza, who was an innocent victim, was murdered in a very violent manner and her killer needs to be found. Izza was not only Jacob's best friend, but she was also a witness to the bullying Jacob took from George Henderson. George and Jacob have never gotten along. George has bullied Jacob since middle school. 

Jacob tried to be nice to George, but he just scoffed at Jacob and made fun of his autism. One time George beat Jacob so bad I had to press charges. I never could figure out what the fight was about but it left Jacob with a broken wrist.  George was suspended from school for a month which he spent in juvenile detention.

All of a sudden, Detective Jonesberg got an urgent phone call and said she had to leave right away. I needed to get back to work anyway.  As she was walking out the door, she turned around and said to me, "Just hang in there.  Everything will be alright."

That was a comforting thing to hear. I immediately got back to work.  I still had several things to do before I could call it a day. The rest of my day was pretty quiet and seemed to go quickly. By the time I got home, I was happy to be with Jacob again.