“There’s been an allegation of assault made against you,” DC McLaughlin said. Dylan Wilson stared at him. Assault? That wasn’t what happened.
He and Betsy had been together, sure, but nothing had been wrong. She’d been fine when he left her. Now she was in a hospital bed after a stroke, and someone had told the police he’d hurt her. “I didn’t do this,” Dylan said.
“I’ve already told the police what happened. ”
His mother, Cassie, was standing nearby, arms crossed. “You’re just not allowed to bring flowers,” she said flatly. “Not real ones.
They’re not allowed. ”
Dylan ignored her. He needed to see Betsy. He needed her to understand he hadn’t caused this.
But when he got to the hospital, it wasn’t Betsy who met him at the door. It was her mother. “She told me to stop you from visiting her,” the mother said. “No.
No, she didn’t. I love her. ”
“Don’t you dare say that. You don’t love her.
You don’t even know what love is, Dylan. If you love her, you’re going to go now and forget everything she says, and you’re going to go. ”
He stood there, trapped. “Tell her I was here.
Tell her I love her. ”
“It never happened,” the mother said. “Tell her I was here and tell her I love her. ”
He left, stunned.
Someone had turned Betsy against him. And he knew exactly who. “It was Lauren who called the police on me,” Dylan told his mother later. “She just turned Betsy against me.
I’d have been charged with assault if she’d had her way. ”
His mother frowned. “Dylan, I’ve been calling you. Have the doctors said anything about what you did?
”
“It was hardly anything. Is anyone listening to me? ”
Betsy wasn’t speaking to him. She refused to see him.
But the news spread, and people started talking. Brody, the man who’d been after Betsy for ages, was suddenly very interested in the story. “She’ll see him, but not me? ” Dylan asked, his voice cracking.
His friend shrugged. “Well, didn’t you say he’d seen her the day she had the stroke? ”
“Yeah, but Ryan found her. Brody said he popped round earlier in the day.
”
“So what does that tell you? ”
Dylan’s stomach turned. He didn’t want to think about it. But the thought crept in anyway.
If it wasn’t Dylan, then who had hurt her? Meanwhile, Betsy sat in her hospital bed, staring at the sunflower in her hand. It wasn’t real. A plastic sunflower, meant to last.
She turned it over and over. “You’re still you, Bets,” someone said gently. She snorted. “Yeah.
Just with all this going on. ”
Her mother came in. “You need to make a statement. A statement.
You can still win. ”
“Please, don’t,” Betsy said. She closed her eyes. But her mother wouldn’t stop.
“He choked you and she had a stroke,” her mother said to anyone who would listen. “Choked her. ”
The accusations flew. Dylan’s mother, Cassie, heard it in the pub.
“Oi,” Cassie said to Betsy’s mother. “I hear you called the police on my Dylan. ”
“No. I wish I had.
No, I’m not serving you. ”
“Since when were you crowned landlady? ”
“Shall I outline to you exactly what he did to Betsy? ”
“What me and Betsy did didn’t cause that.
”
“You choked her and she had a stroke. ”
The pub exploded. Brody stepped forward. “You’re saying she cheated, is that it?
It’s never you, is it? Someone gets stabbed, someone gets half strangled for your own pleasure. ”
Dylan’s father grabbed him. “Dad, come on.
Let’s just go. ”
But the damage was done. The whole street was talking. Someone was spreading a story that Dylan had cheated on Betsy, and now everyone was saying he’d hurt her.
“Dylan’s going around telling everybody he’s cheating on him,” Beth said, her voice shaking. “He did? Dylan said that? ” Betsy’s mother exploded.
“To the old pub, yeah. I’m going to kill him. ”
“No, no. Look at me.
Look at me. Breathe. I’ve got you. It’s okay,” Beth said, trying to calm her.
“It’s okay. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. ”
Betsy’s mother was shaking.
Her daughter was in hospital, and now this. She collapsed into Beth’s arms. “This is going to be a long haul. Let me take care of you.
You need a shower, by the way. ”
Later, Dylan sat alone. His phone buzzed. It was a message from Brody.
“Can I call you? ” the message said. Dylan ignored it. He was thinking about the statement.
The police wanted him to make a statement. His mother wanted him to make a statement. Everyone wanted him to make a statement. But if he did, what would happen to Betsy?
He sat in silence, the phone glowing in his hand. Brody had been saying things around the street. Things about Dylan. Things about Betsy.
Things that didn’t make sense. “It’s like they’ve won the lottery and they don’t know about some of the ticket,” someone said, laughing about the money Grandma Linda was paying for the school fees. But Dylan wasn’t laughing. He was thinking about the phone data.
The cyber web guy had found something. Cash. Transfers. A lot of money moving around.
“Jay, did you find the cash? ” a woman’s voice asked. “Good. Just put that data on a USB stick or a hard drive for us, will you?
But the phones are priority at the moment, so just get them wiped and returned to me soon as. ”
The phones. The data. The money.
Dylan stared at the screen. Someone was hiding something. Someone had been lying to him. And it wasn’t Betsy.
The door opened. His mother walked in, her face pale. “Dylan, the police are here. They want to talk to you again.
”
He didn’t move. He just kept staring at the phone. “Dylan? ” she said.
“Did you hear me? ”
He looked up. “Mom. I think I know who hurt Betsy.
And it wasn’t me. ”
