You Know Better
Previously: Ryan Dominguez finally comes in for a chat.
Jeannie looked at Mark who slowly leaned back in his chair at this and glanced back at Jeannie. Jeannie looked to Ed next who was still looking at Ryan with concern. Jeannie consciously had to try and catch her breath to speak, but no one else was filling the silence.
“Okay Ryan, let’s just slow down for a moment because I need to make sure we understand all of this clearly, okay?” Ryan looked at her with watery eyes and nodded slightly. “Alright,” she began, pushing out a breath, “let’s go back to that moment when you were alone with Tripp in his room. You heard banging and yelling on the door. At what point did you realize the person banging and yelling was Tripp’s father?”
“Pretty quickly. I mean, the second the pounding started, Tripp stopped and said: “oh shit, it’s my Dad”, so yeah.”
“Okay, what did you do and what did Tripp do?”
“Tripp moved away and told me to fix my pants, and went over to his mirror to straighten up.”
“Was he wearing a costume?”
“Um - what?” Ryan looked confused.
“Was he wearing a costume? You said he went to the mirror to straighten up, what outfit or costume was he wearing?”
“Oh, Tripp?” Jeannie nodded. “Tripp was like an old-timey flasher guy? But like, he wasn’t naked or anything. He wore one of those muscle t-shirts, you know with like a cut bod printed on it? And a trench coat and hat, and then some shorts so it would look like he was naked when he pulled the coat closed. He - he had this like rubber banana that he’d stick in his fly too. It was kinda dumb, but it was the kind of thing he does so he can be sort of the party guy, I guess.”
“So, what did he straighten up when his father was at the door?”
“Um, like his shorts I guess, and he tucked in the tee again and yeah - it was all really fast.”
“What did you straighten up?”
“Just my pants, and I went over to the mirror to straighten my tie and coat when he went to the door.”
“And you were in your vintage suit to be YSL? Correct?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, so Tripp goes to the door and then what happens?”
“He opens the door, kinda slowly, I guess, and his Dad bursts in and he’s yelling and he looks at Tripp and he looks at me and tells us both we have to get out into the hallway.”
“Was he angry?”
“Um, yeah.” Ryan made an exasperated face. “He was pissed.”
“Okay, the door opens, Jim Hartman tells you both to come into the hallway and he’s angry. What happens next?”
“We’re in the hallway and he shoves Tripp against the wall and tells him to shut up. And then he gets up in my face and tells me that I need to keep away from his son. And I tell him, I’m not the one approaching his son, but his son was approaching me, and then he got really steamed. All of a sudden he’s got an arm up against my throat and his red face is right up in mine and Tripp is saying something and his Dad is telling Tripp to shut up, and I’m just so freaked out that there’s this big guy — somebody’s Dad — cussing me out in my face. I — I didn’t know what to do or think, and I couldn’t really move, I just kept trying to say it wasn’t me it wasn’t me, you know?” Ryan’s eyes were huge in his pale face, fear taking over.
“So how did it end?” Jeannie asked calmly. Ryan shuddered a breath and licked his lips.
“Would-would you believe that Alexa was there? She-she was just there. She was at the end of the hall and then she was right next to Mr. Hartman and told him to take his hands off of me. She told him she’d taken a picture and that she had proof he was assaulting me. She like held up her phone to show him, and that made him really pissed. He looked at her but it was like, it was like he knew he couldn’t put hands on her or anything, so he just told her to get the fuck out of his house. Actually said something like “you and your friend need to get the fuck out of my house, NOW” and Alexa just sort of nodded at him and said “c’mon Ryan…” and, and we just walked away.” Jeannie glanced at Mark who looked at Paco just as he stood up.
“I’m on it.” Paco said quietly exiting the room.
“Did you see this photo, Ryan?” Mark asked.
“Yeah, of course. It showed everything. She came up the back stairs same as I did and saw the whole hallway.”
“Okay. And then you saw Tripp and Jim Hartman at the meeting yesterday, correct? I wondered what that encounter was about.”
“Yeah.” Ryan shrugged. “Yeah, but he showed up at my work later on.”
“What was that?” Ed asked quietly.
“Mister Hartman.” Ryan looked at Ed. “When you dropped me off yesterday? He showed up maybe five minutes later. I think he was waiting for me.” Ed took this in and then slowly looked to Jeannie and Mark. The older man’s frustration was barely below the surface.
“Just to clarify, Ryan,” Mark began gently, “you left the meeting yesterday, Ed dropped you off at Rose’s Cafe for work and you say Jim Hartman arrived there to speak to you about five minutes after you arrived?”
“Yes sir.” Ryan whispered.
“What did he say to you, Ryan?” Ed was terse. Jeannie knew it was Ed’s job to keep Ryan in line with the law, but it was also his job to protect him.
“He - he pulled me aside and told me that I shouldn’t bother telling anyone what happened on Friday night because no one would believe me over him. He said he would be my lawyer if I needed one, which I kind of knew was bullshit. I knew he was just covering for Tripp and himself, but like, what could I say?”
“What did you say?” Jeannie asked.
“I just nodded at him and said I wouldn’t say anything.” Ryan sobbed. “I mean - I - I just wanted him to just go away, you know? It’s my work, and those people are so kind to me, and I didn’t want him there. He, he put his big finger in my face and said I had to make sure I didn’t tell anyone. He- he embarrassed me, and I just wanted him to leave.”
“To be clear,” Mark began again, “you weren’t to tell anyone about you and Tripp and how he — Jim Hartman — had pushed you around, or was there something else that happened that he didn’t want you to tell anyone?”
“You, you mean like with Alexa?” Ryan’s face was ripped with hurt. Mark nodded at him. “No - he, he didn’t mention Alexa. He just meant about me and Tripp and what happened in the hallway. I-I never heard him say anything about Alexa.” Jeannie let out a slow breath and glanced at Ed who nodded at her slightly.
“Okay Ryan, we’re back at the beginning. How did you get home from the party at the Hartman’s on Friday night?” Ryan winced and more tears fell. He yanked a fresh piece of tissue from the box.
“Um, Charlie took me home. He-he was the only one who had his car there, and Alexa asked him to take me home so I’d be on time.”
“Okay, well at least that’s the truth.” Jeannie was annoyed. Ryan’s eyes snapped to her face. “Why did you tell us on Saturday morning that you took an Uber home, Ryan? All we had to do was check your Uber account to know it was a lie.”
“Um. I don’t know. I - I didn’t know what to say.” Ryan’s face was pale fear.
“Not good enough.” Jeannie quipped.
“Ryan you know better,” Ed said quietly, “you know you cannot lie to an officer, let alone federal officers. You know better.” Ryan looked up slightly, tears falling.
“I - I was scared. Alexa was missing then, and the last time I saw her I was driving away in Charlie’s car and she was walking on the sidewalk with Carolina. I didn’t want to get her into trouble. Maybe she was with Seb or someone else that night? I didn’t know.”
“I think you knew she was NOT with Seb.” Jeannie retorted. “You made it out like there was some romantic reconciliation happening, but everyone else we talked to made it pretty clear that Alexa wanted nothing to do with Seb any more.” Jeannie raised an eyebrow at Ryan. “Your version of events doesn’t fit, Ryan.”
“Wh-what do you mean?”
“I mean that you tried to misdirect us a few times on Saturday for some reason and I want to know why.” Jeannie tilted her head at him, her annoyance growing. “First, you told us the tale about Alexa and Seb seeing each other across a crowded dance floor, and all that, and then you said Charlie Dagonet had brought drugs to the party, and then that you took an Uber home. We know, Ryan, that Alexa hated Seb and wanted nothing to do with him, that Charlie is sober and doesn’t use alcohol or drugs, and that he drove you home himself on Friday night because Alexa asked him to.” Ryan rolled his lips, tears streaming. Jeannie leaned forward slightly. “Everyone else told us it was Tripp who had all of the drugs and alcohol, and who was known to always have them at every party. Tripp Hartman. So, I want to know why you told us all of these stories which we were able to find out were completely untrue almost immediately? Why would you do that Ryan?” Ryan looked at the table.
“I- I’m not lying to you, not now.” Jeannie sighed and folded her arms.
“Okay, how do we know that?”
“I - I didn’t mean to lie, I just, I just didn’t want to say anything against anyone.”
“You mean you didn’t want to say anything against Tripp?”
“No. I don’t care about Tripp, fuck him. I- I guess I, you know, I don’t know any of them - like, they aren’t my friends. I just drop in and out sometimes. I made it up so I’d have something to say — I don’t know them or any of them. But if I said something against one of them, I knew it would come back on me, so I made things up. These people all turn on you, you know? Even Alexa, like we didn’t really talk all summer until she was back again, and I told her about what had been going on with Tripp and she lost her shit.”
“When was this?” Mark asked.
“It was like early September, I guess? We went to Haight one day, and we were getting coffees and I told her about how Tripp had come to Rose’s and how we’d hung out and sort of hooked up over summer. She got so mad at me.” Ryan sobbed. “She didn’t even tell me why she was so mad. She just got so angry she was shaking and then she left and went home. She-she called me the next day and asked if we could get together and then told me not to trust Tripp, that he was a manipulator, that he’d humiliated her at Lake Tahoe, that he was the reason she and Seb broke up…on and on. She didn’t really tell me what happened, but just that Tripp was what made it all a mess.”
“She didn’t tell you what happened at Tahoe on July 4th?” Ryan shook his head.
“I mean, she just said that Tripp and Seb and Dash were disgusting and that they all just use Jen Tyson and that they tried to use her, too, and that Seb was going to let them. And I felt so guilty for hanging with Tripp and believing anything he said.” Ryan took a shaky breath. “After that, we didn’t spend much time together. But she did want me to see her Halloween dress and help her out with it, and then we sort of talked a bit more.”
“Okay, and what did you two talk about then?”
TO BE CONTINUED…
Ughhhh cliffhangers!!!! That dad is hiding something.