CHAPTER 201: YOU KEEP SHOWING UP IN PLACES YOU SHOULDN’T

By the time Dom and I got to Blackwell, everything seemed disorganized. The hallway was a mess.

Kids clustered in groups, whispering too loud, eyes darting around. Teachers looked like they were pretending to keep order, but nobody was really paying attention.

Some kids looked terrified, some looked way too excited.

"Everyone back against the walls, please. Keep the noise down," Mr. Han commanded. He stood at the far end of the hall. "If you are called, you will cooperate. This is not optional."

Two cops stood beside him... in uniform and stern expression. One held a clipboard. The other scanned the crowd, watching us like hawks.

"Ash!"

I turned and saw June pushing through the crowd, her bag falling off her shoulder. She grabbed my wrist before I could even speak.

"What’s going on?" I asked her, scanning her expression.

Her words tumbled out fast, almost tripping over each other. "The cops. They’re here. They’re... they’re investigating students. About Liam."

My stomach dropped so fast it made me dizzy.

"Shit," I widened my eyes.

Without thinking, I spun on my heel and headed straight back to where Dominic was leaning near the lockers, his eyes already scanning the chaos.

"Dom....the cops are here. They’re questioning students about Liam."

His body went rigid instantly.

"Fuck," he whispered, too soft to hear.

My hands shook as I grabbed the strap of my bag just to steady myself. "What do we do?" I whispered.

His jaw tightened. "Stay calm. Don’t say a word unless you have to.."

A kid near me muttered, "This is insane," and someone else hissed, "Shut up before they think you know something."

I stayed still, Dominic’s arm brushed mine.

Then, the classroom door creaked open.

Casper walked out. His head was low. He shoved his hands in his pockets. A couple kids leaned in to whisper his name.

Dom’s jaw tightened. He didn’t say anything, but I could feel the storm inside him like it was inside me too.

"Alright," the cop with the clipboard called. "Next, Ash Rivera."

My head jerked up. Every eye near me seemed to swing my way.

Dominic’s eyes softened. "Just be yourself, you’ve got this. I trust you." He whispered.

Mr. Han cleared his throat, stepping closer. "Mr. Rivera," he said carefully, looking at me now, "please go with the officers. It’s standard procedure. Just answer their questions."

Standard procedure. My hands were sweating so badly, I thought the straps of my bag might slip right off.

My throat was dry. I nodded anyway.

"Mr. Rivera," the officer repeated, holding the door open to the office. "This way."

The office door shut behind me.

At the desk sat a man I knew too well.

Officer Harris.

He leaned back in the chair, one leg crossed over the other, his badge glinting under the fluorescent light. His expression was calm, like he’d been waiting just for me.

"Well, well," he said, smoothly. "Ash Rivera. We meet again."

I forced a small, nervous smile, my hands twisting against each other in my lap as I sat down. "Uh... yeah. Good morning sir."

He leaned forward now, elbows on the desk. "I’ve been carrying out some investigations. And you, Ash, keep showing up in places you shouldn’t."

My throat tightened. "What do you mean?"

He slid a folder across the desk. A photo peeked out from inside....grainy hospital security footage. My chest clenched.

"The cameras at Estrella Hospital were tampered with the night Liam Everhart died," he tapped the photo. "And guess whose faces I caught before the feed cut?"

My mouth went dry.

"You. And Dominic."

My heart skipped. "We were... we were visiting. He was our friend..."

"Friend?" Harris cut in. "Interesting. Because according to witnesses, you and Dominic left a party that same night. Abruptly. In haste."

He leaned closer. "Care to explain why?"

I couldn’t breathe. My tongue felt heavy in my mouth. Every word I thought of tangled itself before it could leave.

"I..." I stammered. "We just....Dom wasn’t feeling well. We left early. That’s all."

Harris tilted his head, studying me like he already knew the answer. Then he flipped open another page of the folder.

"Tell me, Ash. Do you know who murdered Liam?"

Omg, omg. My heart dropped.

My lips parted, but no sound came out.

"We know it was murder," Harris continued. "His autopsy confirmed he was injected with something. A paralytic agent in high dosage succinylcholine."

My eyes widened, sweat breaking hot across my forehead.

He didn’t stop. "In a patient already in a coma, that drug would’ve triggered a seizure. Respiratory failure. Death."

I froze, nails dug into my palms.

Harris narrowed his eyes at me. "So tell me again, Ash what were you and Dominic doing in that hospital the night Liam Everhart was murdered?"

Harris’s words rattled in my head... injected, succinylcholine.

"I...I don’t know anything about that," I stammered, nervously glancing around not to make eye contact with him.

Harris didn’t blink. He just sat back, watching me.

"You expect me to believe," he said slowly, "that you and Dominic happened to be at the hospital, the night Liam Blackwell dies, and you didn’t know anything?"

My fingers dug into my jeans. Say something. Say anything.

"We... we just went there to... to see him," I managed, my words tripping over themselves. "He was our friend, we were worried...."

"Worried enough to tamper with hospital security cameras?" His tone cut sharp, like a blade.

My breath hitched. He knows. He knows too much.

"I didn’t...We didn’t..." My voice cracked, and I hated the way it sounded. "We weren’t... I really don’t know what you’re talking about."

"You’re nervous," Harris observed, leaning forward.

"I swear," I whispered, scratching the back of my hair. "I don’t know who killed Liam. I don’t."

But even to my own ears, it sounded weak. Like a lie.

Harris let the silence stretch until my skin burned with it. Then, almost casually, he tapped the file with his finger.

He didn’t need to shout. His calm was worse....it made every word dig under my skin.

"You know what’s funny, Ash?" he said. "The people who claim they don’t know anything... they’re always the ones sweating the hardest."