The Veil by Cory Putman Oakes

Author:Cory Putman Oakes
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Octane Press
Published: 2011-10-23T22:00:00+00:00

“I’m so sorry, Olivia!” Casey kept blabbering as firefighters rushed into the auditorium, dragging water hoses and axes behind them. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t know! I swear I didn’t—”

“Hold up there, young lady.” A heavily mustached fireman, who seemed to be in charge, put a hand on Casey’s shoulder and guided her gently to a bench before turning to face the adults.

Olivia left her dad’s side and came over to stand beside me. She gripped my left hand hard in hers; Luc was already crushing my right hand, and he was searching through the crowd behind me.

Looking for the man, I thought to myself. The man he seems to know.

“Let’s just start from the beginning,” Moustache Man said. “You say there was a school play going on in there?”

“Yes.” Mrs. Grimsby stepped forward. “We were using a flare gun to simulate a murder scene. Ms. Hamilton was our shooter—” she pointed to Casey—“and Ms. Barton was the victim.”

Principal Chatsworth inhaled sharply and glared at Mrs. Grimsby. “You mean you allowed them to use a real gun?” he demanded of the drama teacher.

Mrs. Grimsby, who was not one to be easily startled, even by the near death of one of her students or the fact that her theater was on fire, stood her ground. “Obviously it was not supposed to be loaded.”

“Who does the gun belong to?” Moustache Man asked.

Olivia raised her hand, and it was her father’s turn to gape.

“Olivia!”

“And were you the one who loaded it?” Moustache Man inquired.

“Obviously not,” Olivia retorted, locked in a glaring contest with her father. “I’m the one who almost got shot with it !”

Everyone turned to look at Casey.

“I didn’t know it was loaded!” she said pleadingly. “I didn’t even touch it until I picked it up from the table, like I was supposed to, right before . . .” she trailed off. Then her eyes wandered over to me and widened. “Addy tackled me right before I shot the gun! She must have known there was a flare in it!”

Everyone’s heads now swung around in my direction, and Luc’s grip on me tightened to the point where I actually wanted to gasp in pain. He was paying attention to the interrogation, but he was also scanning the crowd, looking for the man I had seen.

“What exactly was your role in this production, young lady?” Moustache Man asked me; his eyes narrowed.

“Props,” I said, clearing my suddenly dry throat. My mind was racing; I had to think of something plausible, immediately. “I put the gun on the table at intermission, but I forgot to check to see if it was loaded. When I saw Casey pick it up, I remembered I hadn’t checked. I sort of panicked, and Casey didn’t hear me when I tried to get her attention, so I ran onstage.”

“I’m glad you did.” Olivia hugged me suddenly, and I could feel Luc’s hold on my arm relax somewhat. I let out a ragged breath, frankly shocked my lie had sounded so good.

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