Chapter 3 - The Interrogation of a Mistress
The precinct was a maze of fluorescent lights and the constant chatter of typewriters and radios,
a world that felt entirely separate from the luxury Jason had built for us.
I stood behind the two-way mirror in the interrogation room,
watching Chelsea Vance sit at the metal table with an air of bored indifference.
She was still wearing the expensive workout clothes from the video,
her hair perfectly styled,
her nails a bright,
aggressive red.
She looked like she was waiting for a brunch reservation,
not a felony arraignment.
Detective Guzman sat across from her,
flipping through a stack of photos of my wrecked SUV.
"You seem pretty proud of yourself,
Chelsea,"
Guzman said,
tossing a picture of the shredded car seat onto the table.
Chelsea didn't even flinch;
she leaned back and let out a short,
sharp laugh that made the hair on my neck stand up.
"It was a statement piece,"
Chelsea said,
her voice high and mocking.
"Emily needed to understand that she was just the placeholder,
the 'duty' Jason felt obligated to fulfill until I came along."
"He hates that she’s pregnant,
you know,
he calls it the 'ultimate trap' she set to keep his money."
I felt my father’s hand tighten on my shoulder as he stood beside me,
his jaw set so hard I could hear the grinding of his teeth.
Detective Guzman leaned in,
her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
"You realize you're looking at ten to fifteen years for this,
right?"
"Reckless endangerment,
vandalism,
stalking...
and given that Emily was inside the building,
it could be argued as an attempted assault on a minor."
Chelsea rolled her eyes,
flicking a piece of lint off her sleeve as if the detective were a fly she was tired of swatting.
"Jason will have me out by morning,"
she said,
her confidence so absolute it was almost pathetic.
"He told me that if I did this,
it would finally give him the leverage he needed to end things with her without losing the Potter family’s support."
"He said the Commissioner would be so embarrassed by the scandal that he'd force Emily to go away quietly."
I watched her face,
waiting for the realization to dawn on her that she had been used as a pawn in a game she didn't even understand.
Detective Guzman smiled,
but it wasn't a kind expression.
"You think Jason Sullivan is coming to save you?"
she asked,
pulling a small digital recorder from her pocket.
"This is a recording from Jason’s phone,
captured by our technicians thirty minutes after the incident."
Guzman pressed play,
and Jason’s voice filled the room,
cold and dismissing.
"I don't know why she did it,
Detective,"
Jason’s voice said,
sounding like a man talking about a stranger.
"Chelsea has been obsessed with me for months,
she’s unstable,
and I was actually planning on firing her this week because she started following my wife."
"I had nothing to do with it,
and I hope you throw the book at her for what she did to Emily."
The color drained from Chelsea’s face so fast it was like a curtain falling over her features.
Her mouth hung open,
her eyes darting around the room as the walls of her fantasy world began to crumble.
"He...
he said..."
she stammered,
her voice cracking as the first tear of genuine panic tracked through her expensive makeup.
"He said he loved me!
He gave me the tire iron!
He told me where she’d be!"
Detective Guzman leaned back,
folding her arms across her chest.
"Well,
Chelsea,
if you want to avoid the full fifteen years,
maybe you should start telling us exactly how Jason Sullivan helped you plan a felony."
Chelsea looked at the mirror,
as if she could see me standing there,
and for the first time,
I saw the person she really was.
She wasn't a winner;
she was a desperate,
hollow woman who had traded her soul for a man who didn't even see her as human.
"I'll tell you everything,"
she whispered,
"I'll tell you about the money,
I'll tell you about the plans,
just don't let him get away while I'm the one in jail."
My father turned to me,
his eyes hard and focused.
"The trap is set,
May you like
Emily."
"Now we just have to wait for the courtroom."
