"Soone murdered Liam. And I’m going to find out who. If you know sothing and you keep it from ?" His eyes locked onto mine. "You’ll go down with them."
Fuck. Fuck. What if he already knows it was the Coil? What if he knows about what Dom and his friends did?
I forced myself to breathe, to keep my face as steady as I could manage, but inside...I was breaking apart.
"Ash," he went on, "we’ve been digging. This isn’t just about Liam. This goes back to that night at the party...the night you got also stabbed, and witnessed him pushed off the roof."
My stomach flipped. My mouth went dry.
He kept going.
"Liam ended up in a coma. Both of you tied to the sa night. The sa people. The sa place." He leaned in closer. "And now Liam’s dead."
My hands were really shaking. "I... I already told you everything I know about that night," I muttered, but it sounded weak even to .
My knee bounced under the table.
Harris’s eyes didn’t move. "Did you? Because we’re still looking for the guy who stabbed you. He’s not a ghost. He was at that hospital. And our caras caught sothing." He flipped open another file and slid a blurry still fra toward ....two shapes running down a dim hospital corridor.
My heart stopped. It was and Dom. You couldn’t see our faces clearly, but I knew.
Harris tapped the photo with his finger. "The hospital’s main security caras were fried, like soone wanted them gone. But one cara, an old maintenance unit, caught this. You and Dominic. Running after soone who left on a motorbike. Do you rember that?"
My breath hitched. I tried to answer but my voice caught. "I..uh, yeah but it...it wasn’t like..."
"It wasn’t like what?" he asked softly, leaning in further.
I stared down at the table, sweat sliding down my forehead to my eyes.
Shit. Shit. He’s piecing it all together.
He dropped his voice even lower. "Ash, we know what’s happening. We’ve been watching. All of it."
My head shot up. My chest tightened. "You... you do?" My voice cracked.
"Yes," he nodded, like it was a fact he didn’t even need to explain. "We’ve been watching you. You, Dominic. We know more than you think."
Panic surged through . What does he know? Everything? The Coil? Ren? Ian?
I forced a laugh, but it ca out shaky, not even close to real. "If you’ve been watching , then you already know I don’t have anything to do with Liam’s death."
"Don’t play gas with , Ash." Harris’s tone sharpened. "I’m not saying you killed him. But you know who did. Or you know sothing that leads to them."
I stared at the table, my fingers gripped the edge so hard.
Don’t slip. Don’t slip. Don’t say their nas. Don’t say Dom’s na. Don’t give him anything.
"I..." I steadied my voice this ti. "I don’t know who killed him. I swear I don’t."
But Harris just watched , like he was waiting for to break.
Harris leaned back in his chair, arms folded, still studying . "You know, Ash... I’ve been in this job long enough to tell when soone’s lying. And you...." he pointed at ,"you’re choking on sothing."
"I’m not." I tightened my grip.
"You are," he said evenly. "Your eyes twitch when I ntion Liam. You can’t sit still when I bring up the hospital. And right now, you’re sweating bullets."
I wiped at my forehead, too quick. Shit. He’s right.
"Let ask you plain," Harris continued. "Why were you and Dominic chasing that man out of the hospital the night Liam died?"
Think. Think. Don’t say too much.
"I..I don’t know who he was," I stamred. "We just... saw soone running. It was instinct.."
"Instinct?" Harris cut in. "You’re telling you just decided to chase a stranger, in the middle of the night, in a hospital? You expect to buy that?"
My chest tightened. "It’s not that simple..."
"Then make it simple," he pressed. "What connection did that man have to Liam?"
"I don’t know!" The words burst out of too loud. My own voice startled . "I don’t know who he was, okay? I just... I just know he didn’t belong there."
Harris narrowed his eyes. "Didn’t belong there? Interesting choice of words. So you did notice him before. You knew sothing was off."
My chest tightened. Damn it, Ash. Careful. Careful.
My leg bounced uncontrollably under the table. My lips parted before I could stop them. "I..."
Stop. Don’t say it. Don’t give him their nas. Don’t ntion The Coil. Don’t...
"I... I think I saw.." I choked, catching myself mid-sentence. My breath ca fast. "But I can’t be sure. It was dark."
"You think you saw." Harris repeated my words slowly. "And you’re too scared to tell who."
My chest was heaving now, every instinct screaming at to shut up, but I was teetering on the edge, one wrong push from spilling everything.
Harris sat there, eyes locked on like a hawk. "You’re good, Ash. Really good. Most kids your age would’ve cracked by now."
My palms were almost dripping, nails digging into my knees under the table. Breathe. Don’t shake. Don’t blink. Also don’t sweat. Even tho I can’t control that.
"But you’re not as good as you think." His voice dropped. "You and Dominic think you’re ghosts. You’re not. Two high schoolers can’t outsmart us."
I stared at him. "We have no experience to do that sir." My voice ca out shaky.
He smirked, leaning back. "Oh really?" His eyes glinted like he was enjoying this. "We know about you two. The little thing you have going on is no longer a secret."
The air in my chest vanished. My head jerked up, eyes wide. "H-how do you?"
"Co on, Ash." He tilted his head. "Do you know how many years I’ve been doing this?"
My throat burned. Ohmy God. They know. They know about and Dom.
Are they going to announce it to everyone?
He leaned forward again. "You’re not telling the truth. You’re either protecting soone... or sothing. And I’m going to find out which."
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