Asshole.
It isn’t until Silver boots me under the desk that I realize I’ve hissed the word out loud and at least three other people have heard me. Still, I stand by my accusation. This piece of shit is trying to make light of what happened to Silver. By the way he’s speaking, you’d think he was here to investigate a missing fucking skateboard.
I don’t care who he is, or what government agency he works for. If he causes problems for Silver or even thinks about pulling some dodgy shit to get the charges against Jacob dropped, then I will end this cunt myself.
“First up, I’d like to talk to, uh…Cillian Dupris?”
This…mother…fucker…right…here.
“Uh, I’m sorry, Detective Lowell. You may have your paperwork mixed up. Cillian Dupris isn’t in this class anymore. He ended up with a severe case of hypothermia last year and unfortunately he’s taking a while to recover—”
Unfortunately? Hah. That fucker got what he deserved.
“He probably won’t be coming back to school for a while yet,” Dr. Harrison continues. “My colleagues and I are taking his work to him and helping him out at home whenever we can, though.”
Lowell smirks. His gaze passes over the kid sitting on the other side of Silver, but then he lingers on her, pausing a second too long for comfort. It’s as though he’s taunting her. Teasing her with the name of one of her attackers. If this had happened a month ago, I would have launched myself at this bastard and torn his fucking face off. My temper’s cooler now. I know better than to be so reactive, when my ass has only just been released from fucking Stafford Creek. This guy will pay, that goes without saying. I’m just going to be a little smarter about it than declaring all-out warfare in front of thirty other witnesses.
“Nice to know Raleigh’s faculty are so accommodating,” Lowell says slyly. “I heard about Cillian’s injuries. Such a shame that an athlete in his prime was paralyzed like that. I played high school football. I know how hard it’d be to lose a career under such tragic circumstances.”
Oh yeah. I can totally see it. This prick on a football team, calling the shots, lording his power over his teammates and terrorizing the other students. I bet this shithead was as bad as Weaving. Maybe he didn’t try to rape or kill anyone. Maybe he fucking did. Either way, he’s the type of guy to bully and manipulate, and that’s precisely what he’s doing here, in this classroom. This is all a show, supposed to get under Silver skin. From the way she’s nervously tapping the end of her pen against her notebook, I’d day his little performance is working, too.
“Does the DEA sympathize with rapists now, Detective?” I call out.
“Mr. Moretti! We haven’t suspended common decency in class just yet. If you have a question, raise your hand.” Dr. Harrison’s face is purple. Hilarious that he’s taken exception to the fact that I spoke without being given permission first, and not because of what I said.
“You people know Cillian hurt Silver. You all fucking do,” I growl. “You’re all just too chicken shit to hold your hand up and admit you threw your weight behind the wrong fucking team.”
No one says a word. Members of the chess club and the theater club alike all look down at their hands. Track stars, trendsetters, and teacher’s pets: their heads all hang in shame, looking anywhere and everywhere but at Silver. They know what they did. Every last one of them knows the pain and humiliation they put her through, and not a one of them has the nerve to face her and apologize for it. Motherfuckers.
“Alex, if you don’t curb your language, you’re going to find yourself on your way to see Principal Darhower. Now, Agent Lowell, is there someone else on your list that you’d like to speak to?”
Agent Lowell’s forgotten about Silver; he’s turned his gaze onto me, a curious smirk lifting up one side of his mouth. “Ahh yeah. Moretti. The trigger-happy kid. I heard they’d let you out.”
“Why would they keep me locked up? I saved someone from being murdered.”
His smile spreads. “We don’t know that, though, do we? We can only go off your testimony, along with what the girl said.” He nods in Silver’s direction. “You love this kid, sweetheart? You’d lie for him? Say something that wasn’t true to get him out of trouble.”
To my left, Silver looks like she wants to jump out of her chair and carve this guy’s face up. My fiery, fierce Argento. Her cheeks burn bright red. I watch the color spread down her neck, feeling my own ire rising. Dr. Harrison, at last, remembers who he is—the adult in charge of this situation—and speaks up. “I don’t think this is an appropriate conversation to be had in front of the rest of the class after all, Agent Lowell. Sorry, but I’m going to have to insist that you talk to any students you wish to question individually. We’ll have to call their parents in first as well. I didn’t realize what kind of topics you were going to be covering, and without a legal guardian present—”
“It’s okay, Doc,” Agent Lowell says, cutting him off. “That won’t be necessary. I don’t think I need to ask those questions after all.”
Shhh, mi amore. Breathe. Nice and deep. If you do something stupid, they’ll shut you away again. How will you protect her if you’re behind bars?
Been a while since I’ve heard my mother’s voice in my head. I heed her, even though it requires monumental effort. My jaw cracks. I’ve been clenching my teeth so hard that my pulse is strobing in my gums. It’d be so satisfying to lay my fist into that fucker’s face. I can already feel it now—the pop of the connection. The blister and sizzle of pain in my knuckles. The rewarding thump of his body hitting the deck. I savor the thought of it, turning it over in my head again and again.
I’d sit here for hours, happily caught up in the process of mentally beating the shit out this guy, but Silver snatches me out of the violent loop; her hand grasps mine underneath my desk, and the image of Lowell’s teeth exploding out of his head blinks out in a flash.
“Don’t,” she pleads under her breath. “He’s not worth it. They’re just clutching at straws. Jake’s guilty. The cops know that. There’s no way they’re gonna let some asshole like Lowell stab holes in their case.”
Lowell’s still smirking like he knows better. He gives Dr. Harrison an arrogant bow of his head before slipping his hands into the pockets of his jeans and slowly sauntering out of the classroom. Forcing my body into submission, I ease the tension out of my shoulders and sit a little straighter in my chair, shaking free of my anger. Gripping onto it so tightly isn’t going to make me feel any better. No, I need to save it for later, for a more opportune moment. Lowell needs to let his guard down at some point. There’ll come a time when he gets distracted and he forgets to watch his six…and by then I’ll have figured out where he lives. I’ll have picked the lock on his front door. I’ll be waiting for him in the dark.
Smiling, I squeeze Silver’s hand, which is still gripping mine tightly under the desk. “No worries, Argento. My shit’s on lockdown. Nothing to worry about here.”
For now, at least.
The rest of the day, I’m wound so tight I’m on the verge of snapping. Silver’s none the wiser, since I make sure to maintain an ease around her that requires an obscene amount of energy, but on the inside I seethe away like that storm on the surface of Jupiter that’s been raging for hundreds of years. I fidget in my seat in the last class of the day, anxious to get the fuck out of school.