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“You’re lying,” she accuses, but the worried look on her face says the opposite. “You’re just saying that to—”
“To what?” I taunt her. “You have no more information that I need, Miz’ Be
“The answer I gave you is enough!” she roars, her disheveled hair falling more about her face and sticking to her lips. “Yes! We love each other, you fucking bastard! And yes! We’d do anything for each other, even if it means ruining another person’s life! Because that’s what love is! It’s the meaning of unconditional! You would never know!” She spits on the floor and looks at me with such hate and violent retribution in her wet and narrowed eyes.
I grit my teeth privately at her last comment.
Without taking my eyes off her, I call out to Dorian, “Bring Emerson in here!”
The sound of the metal door to the break room opening echoes through the large, empty space and Emerson steps through first with Dorian behind him with a gun pointed at Emerson’s back.
“Ross! Ross!” Be
Leaning forward and tapping the blade of my knife against the top of her bare leg I say, “Volume, Miz’ Be
She swallows hard and lowers her voice.
“Ross, I-I’m so sorry”—more tears stream from the corners of her eyes—“I’m so sorry!”
Dorian forces Emerson to walk the rest of the way with only the gun as incentive, while Dorian makes sure to stop next to me and not put himself in view of the hidden camera I have on them.
Ross is a short man with curly dark hair and broad shoulders and a look of terror and cowardice. Early thirties. Work boot construction-type who smells of cigarettes and cheap aftershave that he finds easier to pull off than showering. He wants to look at her, but he’s scared. He keeps his dark eyes on the floor, his hands tied behind his back.
“Ross—”
“Please, Kelly, just be quiet,” Emerson says in a low, defeated voice. “Don’t make this any worse.”
“Are you…pissed at me?” Be
Emerson shakes his head. “No, baby, no. I love you, you know that.”
I roll my eyes and glance at Dorian. “Help Mr. Emerson have a seat, why don’t you?”
Dorian grins. “I’d be delighted,” he says properly and with a broad smile.
Two shots ring out. Emerson’s cries fill the space as his kneecaps are taken out by the bullets. He falls to the cold floor onto his side, the side of his face hitting the concrete.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Be
I shoot up from my chair and wrench Be
I put the blade to center of her tongue.
“Please! Don’t hurt her! I’m begging you!” Emerson cries out from the floor, unable to lift himself into a sitting position, much less to his feet.
I pause indifferently with the blade still on her tongue.
“I know what we did was wrong,” Emerson speaks out through troubled breaths and painfully twisted features. “Paul threatened her,” he goes on. “Said if she ever left him and their daughter, that he’d make her life a living hell. That he’d take custody of Abigail and force her to pay child support.” He stops only long enough to catch his breath and let more pain shoot through his legs. “The plan was my idea. To accuse him of molesting my daughter. We just wanted him in jail. Out of the way. It was better than killing him.”
I shake my head with disbelief.
“Better to live a life banished by society and by his own daughter because he wears the label of a child molester?” I laugh lightly and press the blade a little harder against Be
Emerson has no rebuttal.
“Do you see me, Mr. Emerson?” He looks up at me from the floor, pushing through his pain. “Tell me, what do you see when you look at me? Be completely honest. I won’t hurt you for telling the truth.”
Be
Emerson appears baffled by the question, and leery of it just the same. It takes him a moment, but finally he begins to stammer. “Y-You’re a man of justice.”
I look upward in an a
Dorian laughs from behind.
“That’s fucking hilarious,” he says. “He’s being kind—I’ll give you an honest answer.”
“I didn’t ask you,” I say without looking at him.
“Well, I’m just sayin’, you want the truth, I’m your guy.” He laughs again and says below his breath, “A man of justice. Fucking hilarious.”
I look only at Emerson.
“I said I wanted the truth.”
“But…that is the truth.”
With deep aggravation, I release Be
“You tell me the truth, Miz’ Be
Be
I smile gently and take a step away from her.
“What you’re really seeing,” I say, “is a man created by people like you. Evil incarnate who dance their way through society dropping poison on the tongues of the i
“FUUUUUCKKK!” she cries out.
Emerson cries out too, reaching a hand out to her, but still unable to move.
Casually, I step backward and out of view of the hidden camera and turn to Dorian.
“You might want to go wait in the car,” I tell him.
“Don’t have to tell me twice,” he says, shoves his gun into the back of his pants and heads toward the exit.
“Jesus!” I hear him say to himself as he gets farther away. “I’ve got to get a reassignment.”
The tall metal door closes behind him and I look back at Be
I waste no time and get right to work.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Fredrik