to ask you and I hope you can tell us the truth,” Mr. Current begins , his voice caressing me. It’s a fake kind of sweetness, too gentle to be sincere.
“Okay,” I say, thankfully strong and clear. My poker face is getting better now that I’ve had to use it so often.
“We need to know if Mr. Mason has said anything to you about the case that we should know. Has he confessed anything? Is he willing to confess to the murder?”
I look over at Steven to see if there’s any indication of confusion on his face. He must be as confused as I am. I have no idea what Current’s talking about. But Steven doesn’t look confused at all. In fact, he stares at me with almost the same suspicious expression as Mr. Current.
I look back towards Mr. Current. “Why would he tell me anything?”
Mr. Current cocks his head sideways, giving me a knowing smile. “Dylan, come on. Let’s be real now. This is important. You know we’re about to make the arrest and we don’t want to be stuck come trial time. Do you think you can get him to confess?”
I go over every word in my head a few times, breaking them down to find the meaning in them. Let’s be real now? Real about what? Why does he think I can get him…to…
Oh shit.
I can tell Mr. Current sees the exact moment the realization hits me. My eyes widen and my mouth pops open just a little. I exhale sharply, as if the breath is being forced out of my body. We all sit silently for a few moments as they allow me to get my bearings straight.
He knows. They both know. They know exactly who I am.
I feel the anger burning in my core, resonating through my body. “How long? How long have you known?” I ask sternly.
Mr. Current shifts weight on his feet. He smiles crookedly. “Oh Ms. Ackhart. It’s our job to know things. I’m shocked you didn’t assume we knew from the beginning.”
Panic. “ Did you know from the beginning?”
Steven shrugs. “Of course we did.”
What. The. Fuck.
I feel the tears start to fill up my eyes. My breathing increases exponentially. I’m not sad, though. I’m embarrassed and angry. Turns out, I’m still just as naïve and stupid as ever, just as Jeremy claimed.
“Is that why I got the internship?” I half-whisper, afraid the tears are going to spill over. I don’t want to give them the satisfaction, but I have to know.
“No,” Mr. Current says, certainty in his voice. “We didn’t know until after you began here. You truly did deserve the internship. But you can’t honestly think that it’s custom ary to move interns over to homicide and give them such a high profile case? Come on, Dylan.”
Oh, God. I feel so stupid. I look down at the floor.
“But you’ve done a great job for us. I truly am impressed and hopeful that I can offer you a job here after graduation. But we know you’ve been seeing him and we need to know if he’s confessed anything to you.”
I stare at him, appalled. He sees that I’m not going to give him what he wants. “Come on, Ms. Ackhart. This is your career. Your life. You’re not even officially with him anymore, right? We know he’s guilty and so do you. Get him to confess to this and I’ll give a lot of the credit to you. Your career will skyrocket before it’s even begun.”
We stare at each other. I release eye contact with him to look over at Steven. Steven seems to be on board with what’s going on. I disappoi ntedly look back at Mr. Current before I stand from my chair.
“Mr. Current, I don’t feel I need to discuss my personal life with you. But no, Mr. Mason has not confessed anything to me because, quite frankly, he’s not guilty.”
Mr. Current chuckles. “Oh, I seriously doubt that.”
I scoff. “We all know you have evidence, but nothing concrete enough to prove he did it beyond a reasonable doubt. Your case will fail and you know it. And it makes me sick to think that this whole time you’ve been using me as a pawn to get the information you need.”
“We’ll
“Okay,” I say, thankfully strong and clear. My poker face is getting better now that I’ve had to use it so often.
“We need to know if Mr. Mason has said anything to you about the case that we should know. Has he confessed anything? Is he willing to confess to the murder?”
I look over at Steven to see if there’s any indication of confusion on his face. He must be as confused as I am. I have no idea what Current’s talking about. But Steven doesn’t look confused at all. In fact, he stares at me with almost the same suspicious expression as Mr. Current.
I look back towards Mr. Current. “Why would he tell me anything?”
Mr. Current cocks his head sideways, giving me a knowing smile. “Dylan, come on. Let’s be real now. This is important. You know we’re about to make the arrest and we don’t want to be stuck come trial time. Do you think you can get him to confess?”
I go over every word in my head a few times, breaking them down to find the meaning in them. Let’s be real now? Real about what? Why does he think I can get him…to…
Oh shit.
I can tell Mr. Current sees the exact moment the realization hits me. My eyes widen and my mouth pops open just a little. I exhale sharply, as if the breath is being forced out of my body. We all sit silently for a few moments as they allow me to get my bearings straight.
He knows. They both know. They know exactly who I am.
I feel the anger burning in my core, resonating through my body. “How long? How long have you known?” I ask sternly.
Mr. Current shifts weight on his feet. He smiles crookedly. “Oh Ms. Ackhart. It’s our job to know things. I’m shocked you didn’t assume we knew from the beginning.”
Panic. “ Did you know from the beginning?”
Steven shrugs. “Of course we did.”
What. The. Fuck.
I feel the tears start to fill up my eyes. My breathing increases exponentially. I’m not sad, though. I’m embarrassed and angry. Turns out, I’m still just as naïve and stupid as ever, just as Jeremy claimed.
“Is that why I got the internship?” I half-whisper, afraid the tears are going to spill over. I don’t want to give them the satisfaction, but I have to know.
“No,” Mr. Current says, certainty in his voice. “We didn’t know until after you began here. You truly did deserve the internship. But you can’t honestly think that it’s custom ary to move interns over to homicide and give them such a high profile case? Come on, Dylan.”
Oh, God. I feel so stupid. I look down at the floor.
“But you’ve done a great job for us. I truly am impressed and hopeful that I can offer you a job here after graduation. But we know you’ve been seeing him and we need to know if he’s confessed anything to you.”
I stare at him, appalled. He sees that I’m not going to give him what he wants. “Come on, Ms. Ackhart. This is your career. Your life. You’re not even officially with him anymore, right? We know he’s guilty and so do you. Get him to confess to this and I’ll give a lot of the credit to you. Your career will skyrocket before it’s even begun.”
We stare at each other. I release eye contact with him to look over at Steven. Steven seems to be on board with what’s going on. I disappoi ntedly look back at Mr. Current before I stand from my chair.
“Mr. Current, I don’t feel I need to discuss my personal life with you. But no, Mr. Mason has not confessed anything to me because, quite frankly, he’s not guilty.”
Mr. Current chuckles. “Oh, I seriously doubt that.”
I scoff. “We all know you have evidence, but nothing concrete enough to prove he did it beyond a reasonable doubt. Your case will fail and you know it. And it makes me sick to think that this whole time you’ve been using me as a pawn to get the information you need.”
“We’ll
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