A Selfie to Die For

26) A gut kicking surprise

"7 years" by Lukas Graham
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"I NEVER touched him" Emily said through gritted teeth. Her patience was being tried again and again. For the last six weeks, her life has been turned upside down along with inside out.
Detective Kinkaid hadn't been exaggerating with his statement that Carters were pressing charges. Assault in the second degree was filed on Emily immediately after that statement was said.

The rape victim was suddenly made to look like the ultimate villain. The Carters claimed Emily beat their son bloody before coming up with an elaborate plan to make herself look like the victim by pretending she was raped. They claimed she even manufactured her injuries to make it seem as though Declan had hurt her when in reality she was the one who did a number on him. The rape kit came back stating that Declan's DNA didn't match the semen residue in the rape kit, but Emily knew the Carter's somehow had the test rigged. Declan had been too smug as he smiled at Emily in the police department. It was all apart of the cover to make it seem as though he was innocent while Emily was guilty.

Even though Declan was arrested and charged with aggravated assault along with the rape charge, Emily was also charged with aggravated assault that same day.
The Carters were not stupid people. It was quickly realized by Emily and her family that the D.A was going to pull every string necessary to make sure his son faced no jail time. Declan's bond was immediately posted upon his arrest. Emily's was as well, but she assumed at least some jail time would be given to the monster who admitted to murdering others.

That wasn't the case. Declan's defense attorney mother and District attorney father had friends in high places. Declan's bail had only been two-thousand dollars while Emily's had been five-thousand. It was a miscarriage of justice if she had ever seen one. The monster got to walk free until his first hearing in a couple days time. He admitted to murder. He beat and raped Emily, yet he got to walk free due to a severe lack of evidence.

Emily felt as though the six full weeks that passed since the week must have been some bizarre nightmare. An alternate reality that twisted real life into something utterly absurd. That was the only way to explain how Emily was supposed to stand in front of a judge in a weeks time to discuss her charges for assaulting Declan. Not only had she supposedly broken two of his ribs, Declan's health report stated a small brain bleed had occurred from how hard he was hit.

It seemed like a sick joke anyone assumed the slender framed Emily could pack a powerful enough of a punch to not only knock Declan out but also cause bleeding of the brain. Yet, Emily had still been arrested and charged.
The special prosecutor took no mercy on charging her. Emily and her parents quickly realized the special D.A was just as corrupt as Declan's parents. Six weeks later and the D.A called a meeting to discuss Emily and Declan dropping the charges against one another. She claimed it was in the best interest for the both of them to not have this down on their permanent records.

This was appalling to hear. The callous woman basically said if Emily didn't drop the charges, Emily herself was going to be prosecuted for beating Declan. It seemed like a sick joke. Only, it wasn't.

The last two hours after discovering that the special prosecutor was discussing dropping all charges against Emily if she dropped the charges against Declan, Emily's father was pushing to find out every last detail of what happened the night of the rape. Ben had been flying back and forth from New York since finding out what happened, and today had been helping Tom try to piece together every last moment of the night of the rape.

"If you didn't touch him Em, why was his blood under your fingernails?" Tom pushed quietly, rubbing his tired eyes.

Even though Declan's DNA supposedly didn't match the semen from the rape kit, DNA evidence found his blood on Emily's hands.
That was something else that had worked against Emily's favor. DNA evidence. Luckily for Declan, the sheets of the spare bedroom the rape had occurred had been changed by housekeeping before police could collect them. They were already thrown in a washer with bleach, destroying any blood or semen collected on them.