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A startled laugh escaped Emery before he put a hand over his mouth.
“But—” Auggie said, his eyes searching the room before coming to rest on Theo. “How—”
“It’s ok,” Theo said.
“But—”
“I know. It’s ok.”
“We won’t do it again, Dr. Stratford,” Stevie said.
“What’s the big fucking deal?” Dot asked. “We’re helping with a murder investigation.”
“I understand that you were trying to help,” Theo said. “And I appreciate that. But you also have to understand that there’s a limit to what you can do, and that when you go beyond that limit, you not only put yourselves in jeopardy, but you compromise the investigation itself. Does that make sense?”
“For example,” Emery said, “by committing a felony.”
“Did you consider that we might have wanted to ask some questions about Keelan before he knew we were interested in his relationship with Leon? Or that by bringing him here at gunpoint, you’ve made him much less likely to cooperate? But the biggest reason is your safety; you put yourselves in danger, and Emery and I don’t want that.”
Dot looked like she wanted to argue about it some more, but Stevie gave an unhappy nod. Arthur, of course, opened his mouth, but he shut it again when Lorcan whispered, “Dude.”
“Do you want me to get rid of them?” Emery asked.
“No, we’ve got a few things to ask them,” Theo said. “I want to talk to Keelan first, though.”
He took a moment to study the hockey player. The boy looked angry, yes, and perhaps even uncertain. But he didn’t look scared, and he didn’t even look too…unsettled was the best word Theo could come up with. Keelan met Theo’s gaze without flinching, which was strange, because often teenagers, once they’d been caught by an adult—the way Theo had caught Keelan on the first day of school—were quick to make themselves accommodating. Even stranger, though, there wasn’t a challenge there, either.
“You’re welcome to start wherever you’d like,” Theo said.
“Start what?”
“Everything connected to Leon Purdue.”
Nothing changed on his face. “What?”
“That’s not the right answer,” Emery said.
“What happened between you and Leon?” Theo asked.
Keelan shrugged. “He’s the kid who disappeared, right?”
“Try again,” Theo said.
“I don’t know what you want me to say, Dr. Stratford. He was in my grade. Yeah, I knew him. But he’s gone now, and it’s not like we were close.”
“I’ll be curious to know if you can continue to play any sports once we turn those pills over to your athletic director,” Emery said.
Keelan clenched his jaw.
“Come on,” Auggie said, “show him the video.”
Theo glanced at Auggie, and Auggie nodded.
So, Theo showed Keelan the video from Shaniyah’s cloud drive. He didn’t show him all of it, only the clip of Keelan and Leon fighting in the commons.
“I understand that you feel like you need to protect yourself at this moment,” Theo said. “But please believe me: the best thing you can do for yourself is tell us everything right now. Two kids are missing, and if you’re involved, even the slightest bit, it’s going to be worse for you when we have to uproot your life looking for answers.”
Keelan stretched in the chair, the movement carrying him away from Theo; then he dropped back into the seat, and he began to play with the severed strip of tape around one arm. “Ok. We had sex.”
