The Path to Love: A Sonny Carisi Love Story

48: A Voice

Later that afternoon, we get the break we are looking for in the case. "Heather. Thank you so much for coming in." Olivia says to the young women, now knowing her identity.

Her advocate comments "I hope you realize this does not mean we're pressing charges."

"We?" I ask her, wondering why she used that pronoun.

Olivia jumps in "you know, Professor Dillon, we think it's probably best if we speak with Heather alone."

"Actually, Sergeant, could you and I talk?" The professor asks Olivia.

The two of them step aside and I usher Heather to the interview room. When Olivia and the profession return, I direct Heather to tell us what happened to her. She starts off "It was December 12th. I was on a date with an Alpha Zeta Pi hockey player." She looks to her friend who encourages her to continue. "Brian Mackey. He's the team captain And--" She pauses.

"and the date was at his frat?" Olivia asks.

"No, no. First we went to a bar, and then we went back to the house" she continues. "We were making out in the hallway when he pulled me into his room. Three guys were waiting. And they jumped me. Like a pack."

"And Brian led you in?" I ask, taking notes.

She nods "he was in charge. He had two guys hold my legs while he held my arms."

"And did you know the others?" Olivia questions.

She responds "His buddies from the hockey team. I-I'm not sure I want to tell you their names."

"Okay. Okay, well, we... we can get back to that. No problem. And you were sure that there were four men?" She asks, wanting to make sure all her facts are straight.

"Yes." Heather assures.

"Okay, because President Roberts told us that you only mentioned one." Olivia elaborates why she asked.

Professor Dillon says "President Roberts blamed Heather. She didn't feel safe disclosing to her."

"Well, you're safe here, Heather. Okay?" Olivia ensures "all right, so what happened next?"

Heather shakily continues "Um... Then they took turns raping me. Sodomizing me." She starts to hesitate, tears forming in her eyes. "Um, sorry."

"Go ahead." Professor Dillon comforts Heather. "We didn't talk about this part on TV." She informs us.

Heather says "they used an object. The handle of a hockey stick. And then— And they high-fived each other and they left me there. When I tried to pull myself together and leave, the other guys in the frat threw beer cans at me and they yelled at me to go to church. They said that I should call my dad and apologize for ruining his life. It was so horrible."

"Did you tell anyone? Did you tell your parents or your roommate?" Olivia asks.

She shakes her head, wiping at a tear "my parents still don't know."

"Why is that?" I ask.

"They're in the Central African Republic, fighting malaria."

I then ask "did you go to the doctor? Is there anyone to corroborate?"

She shakes her head and the professor speaks up "show them the text, Heather."

Heather moves in her chair to her purse, pulling out her phone. "Oh. Um... Brian sent me a text. His attempt at an apology." She pulls it up and pushes the phone towards us "here."

"Sorry about last night. My boys were out of control. But you deserve better than what they did." I read it out loud before giving it to Olivia.

She looks at it and tells Heather "this is great, Heather. So is there any other physical evidence? Like, maybe the clothes you were wearing? Anything like that?"

"Um, actually, one of the guys handed me my panties back before class that Monday, just to humiliate me." She informs us.

"And you kept them?" I nod hoping she still has them.

She nods back "I shoved them in my backpack, and then I threw them in my drawer when I got home. They might still be there."

"Okay, good. So if you decide to give us the other boys' names, that will be enough to get a DNA sample." She explains to Heather and Professor Dillon.

"It... it still won't be easy." The professor leans forward and grabs Heather's hand lightly.

Heather looks to her then back to us "No. It's okay. I want to. After the rally, all those other women need to know that they can do this too." She takes a moment to breathe then gives us the other men "The other names were Connor Howell, Lance Mosconi, and Zach Franklin. All on the hockey team."

"Thank you so much for coming forward." Olivia returns to her as I finish writing the names down. I walk the two of them out of the precinct, letting Benson work on calling Barba for the DNA warrant. I fill the rest of the team in on the interview and within the next hour, Olivia comes out with paper in hand "All hands on deck, I need you all to head over to the Frat house." She passes the paper over to Finn and we get going.