No Control

Chapter 32

Laurine's P.O.V

Ciara disappears with Harry and I decide to go for a walk though when I actually step out into the bitter cold that stings my eyes and makes my hands numb I decide against it. I'm trying to decide what to do when a car pulls up outside the house. The driver stays seated. Dayl and Dean get out and rush over in my direction.
"Get in the car." Dayl shouts toward me.
"Wow that's not scary at all."
Dean takes a politer approach.
"Please Laurine. We're all needed. If you don't show you will immediately become the guilty." I sigh and get in the back seat of the car. They arrive back with Ciara minutes later, Harry looking like he's about to kill someone and Ciara glaring at the boys. Her protests are ignored. Dean gets in the front seat and Dayl opens the door for Ciara. But instead he hops into the middle seat himself and Ciara is forced to sit the other side.
I wonder why Harry doesn't protest more? I hadn't thought of him as a quitter.

Some 80's music comes on the radio and Dayl sings along chirpily, dancing to the beat. I roll my eyes. What is wrong with him. A slight giggle interrupts my thought process. Did Ciara actually just laugh. Dayl takes advantage of the opportunity and takes both of our hands , trying to make us move our arms to the rhythm.

Dean glances back, shocked and smirks, shaking his head.
"You're not supposed to make them laugh mate. They won't take us seriously."
Dayl shrugs. "Hey we have them now. We're already fairly certain of the verdict so why torture them."
Ciara jerks her hand away and I do likewise.
"So Dayl." Ciara's tone has taken a mocking edge.
"Tell us our fate. Are we in fact guilty?"
Dayl sniggers and Ciara returns to glaring at him.

I turn to him.
"Do you still think it was me?"
Dayl looked at me, his face a careful mask.
"I can't tell you til we get there what's gone down."

We arrive and all the other boys are looking very formal. Liam and Louis are here. This shall be fun. We sit down and Brendan clears his throat, feeling awkward.
Dayl starts to speak.

"Ok so Ciara you're all clear. You didn't have an opportunity to take Cian's copy as far as we can remember and he's fairly certain you wouldn't have reason to anyway." Ciara rolls her eyes. "I'm so relieved."
Ryan laughs.
Dayl continues.
"Laurine it was harder to figure this one out with you." Cian looks at me for the first time since I walked in and he begins to speak.
"The coat I lent you that first night." Cian starts. "It was in the pocket. But I don't think you realised.  You threw it in the corner of the back room I'm pretty sure. And minutes later Liam left that room. It wasn't you but we now know it was him."

Liam scoffs.
"That's bullshit. Yes Cian I found the memory stick with it. I was very tempted to hurt you Cian on several occasions but leaking a song isn't something I would do. It wasn't me."
All of the lads look puzzled now. They seem to believe this much.
"But you took it?" Dean asks.
Liam nods. "I took it and I left it on the fucking shelf with all the stuff for the show. The lowest one down." And then his face falls.
"Maybe the dogs?"
Louis rolls his eyes now.
"Would've eaten it Liam. They wouldn't give it to someone."
Liam shakes his head.

"Well see I'd think that too if that hadn't been exactly what they were doing all the time I had them. Burying things, digging them up, dropping them in front of random strangers." 
Louis looks back at me.
"So maybe they did give it to the girls again then. Maybe it was them after all." Ciara slams her fists on the table and jumps up.
"This is ridiculous." She walks out the door. We hear her footsteps stop and she comes back. Her face has just drained of colour. What does she know now?

"Laurine?" I get up and run out. I pull her slightly further from the door.
Oh no. It was her. This is bad. What are we going to do?
"I...I...I" she can't even admit it.
"It was him."
I look at her truly puzzled now.
"Who?" she reaches into the coat she's wearing and pulls out a little memory stick, only far enough for me to see and drops it back.
"I just found it now." Her voice is shaky.
And then it hits me. It's Harry's coat.