"DIEGO," LAFORGE SCOFFED, looking at his partner, Picard. "Yes, Diego, as you say."402Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡstuuS0YtdB
LaForge dropped another photo on the table, a different man, sitting dead in the same car, similar wounds, including a bullet to the forehead.
Mischa turned her head. It was Renaud, the race-car driver.
Diego and Renaud had been murdered!
She lurched forward and vomited into her lap.
"Maybe now we can---dispense with your games? You will tell us what happened, yes?"
She looked up at LaForge, catching her breath. "Surely----you don't think I had anything to do with that? You don't think we----killed them?"
LaForge dropped both palms on the table and leaned into Mischa. "We know you did," he answered. "It is just a matter of how long it will take you to admit it."
No. No. This was wrong. This couldn't be. Don't talk, Mischa. Get a lawyer. Don't be an asshole. This is murder we're talking about.
"My boyfriend is a famous actor, currently working in Austria," she said. "I want to talk to him. I want a lawyer and I want someone from the...."
His hand flew up so fast she didn't have time to react. Another blow to the head, this time to the soft part of her skull near her temple and hairline. Not enough to send her to the hospital,, or even to exhibit a bruise later. But enough to send a message.
"You are not in Austria and you are not in the United States," LaForge said, his anger rising. "No phone calls. No boyfriends. No lawyers. Not until you confess this to us."
"I'm not going to say another fucking word to you," Mischa managed.
"Then you are saying something with your silence." This time it was Picard. "In this country, when you do not talk to us, it appears you are hiding something. This is not America," he reminded Mischa for the second time.
LaForge said, "You must understand, this is for your protection. If you are able to show----how do you say----remords---if you show you are sorry, yes?"
"Remorse," said Picard. "It is your only chance. You will spend your lifetime in prison if you do not....."
"I didn't kill anyone," said Mischa. "I don't know anything about it."
Stop it, Mischa.
"That is----not helpful." LaForge looked disappointed. "And your friends? You can say the same of them?"
"My friends would never kill anybody."
LaForge held the photos of Diego and Renaud up to her face. "They were on your yacht, yes?"
"Yes, we were all on the same yacht....."
"And by this you mean you and your friends?"
"Yes. Correct. And Diego and Renaud."
"And Monsieur Mascarenas? Le proprietaire?"
Mascarenas? The fat American. The owner of the yacht. "Yes," I said.
She'd left out one person: Benito. But she didn't see where he figured in. Surely this whole thing could be resolved without her having to talk about that, would it? She wouldn't have to choose between admitting to infidelity and being charged with murder.
Or would she?
"And when you declare your innocence, you do the same for your friends? You can----make excuses for your friends at all times? Account---account for them? At all times?"
She couldn't, of course. Nor could they account for her, not once the bedroom door closed with Lindsay, Rihanna, Nicole Richie, Diego, and Renaud on one side and Mischa on the other.402Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPcgZ8d02t4
Shut up, Mischa. What the hell are you doing?! Don't you know that even innocent people can get in trouble during interrogations. Shut the fuck up!402Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡydbtoSUko0
And pray that your friends are smart enough to do the same.402Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA9Hdik3uyA
"She does not respond," LaForge said to Picard.402Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYyyb3hFzAJ
"She is protecting her friends, perhaps," he answered back.402Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5FQ8aGYasd
"I want a lawyer!" thundered Mischa.402Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbK9buKILu6
"We give her an opportunity to explain the facts and she does not," said LaForge. "So, instead we ask her friends."402Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkAGdShap4V
He turned back to Mischa, one final comment, almost as a whisper, his nose inches from hers. "Your friends will be as loyal to you as you are to them? You are a fool if you believe that!"402Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOzQw2N9mS7
The two of them walked out of the room, leaving Mischa sitting amid the bleached white walls and blinding lights. Leaving her in a cotton robe stained with vomit, her head woozy and throbbing. Leaving her to her imagination and fears.402Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhu3kfNz1X
Leaving her alone, more alone than she'd ever felt.402Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDr3Dk6Q7YD
