Balancing Act by Rachel Churcher

Author:Rachel Churcher [Churcher, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taller Books
Published: 2021-05-19T22:00:00+00:00

*****

“Don’t think you’re off the hook, Corporal.” Lee points at me across his desk. “I know you were there. I know you made the recordings. I’d ask what you were thinking, but I’ve already spoken to Corporal Smith, and she was pathetically clueless. I’ll assume you suffered the same momentary lack of judgement.”

I thought I’d made it. I thought I’d reached the end of the day without any of this rubbing off on me, but I was wrong. Lee is still mad about the PIN clip, and it’s my turn to be shouted at. I stand to attention, fixing my eyes on the wall above his head, and let him shout.

“Tell me, Corporal,” he says, his hands clasped in front of him on the desk. “Was it worth it? Did you gain some insight into Corporal Smith’s weaknesses? Her secrets? Other than the mutual lack of intelligence, of course.” He leans towards me, his voice hushed. “Are you any closer to tempting her into your bed?”

I could give him an honest answer. I could tell him that, far from learning about her weaknesses, I learnt more about her strengths. I saw her take another prisoner apart, using their own convictions against them.

But that’s not the whole story, and it’s not what he wants to hear. I could tell him about her reaction to Elizabeth’s question. The violence in her childhood that Elizabeth figured out and threw back at her.

Or I could keep quiet, and let him shout. If I’m going to get anywhere with Ketty Smith, she needs to think I’m on her side. Spilling her childhood secrets to Lee won’t help me, and right now I need less drama, not more. I don’t need to be in trouble with her as well as with Lee.

“Corporal?”

“No, Sir,” I say, my gaze still fixed on the wall.

“Well. You know what you have to do. Corporal Smith is your problem.” He raps a finger against the desk. “Solve it.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Dismissed.”

I have work to do.

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