“I don’t know.”
“Where’s Tessa?”
“I said I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“No,” Raines replied. “You are desperate.”
Scout’s hands tightened on the edge of the table. “Don’t do that.”
“You’re looking at me because I’m convenient.”
“You’re on video. You lied. That’s not convenient.”
Raines sat back.
“I want to speak to my attorney.”
Burke straightened by the door. “Professor?—”
“I said I want my attorney,” Raines snapped, louder now. “This is over.”
Scout didn’t move. His eyes stayed on Raines like he couldn’t accept the words.
Raines looked at him with cold satisfaction. “You don’t get to threaten me into a confession.”
“You don’t get to shut this down,” Scout said, voice low.
“Watch me,” Raines shot back, mouth tight.
Scout’s hands came off the table. He kicked the chair behind him so hard it shot backward and slammed into the wall.
Raines jolted.
“Scout—!” Burke barked.
Scout was already moving. He grabbed the front of Raines’s shirt and hauled him out of the chair like he weighed nothing.
Raines sucked in a breath, shocked—then angry. “Get your hands off me?—!”
Scout slammed him into the wall.
The impact rattled the framed notice behind him.
Scout’s forearm came up across Raines’s upper chest and pinned him there. Solid. Controlled. Not choking him—just letting him feel it.
Raines’s anger vanished. His eyes went wide. His breath hitched.
Not defiant. Not calculating.
Just afraid.
Scout leaned in close, voice low and dead serious.
“You lawyer up, and she stays out there.”
Raines swallowed. “Deputy?—”
