Chapter 24 Chapter 24
"Questions Wear Masks Too"
Patience had a strange way of stretching time inside the Penitentiary. The four recruits stood in a stiff row along the inner wall of the administrative hall, waiting for Chief Reporter Truth and her camera crew to finish inspecting the corridors. Distant voices echoed down the hallway, muted discussions, shoes tapping, equipment shuffling but for the four of them, the wait felt like an interrogation all on its own.
Mina’s hands shook nonstop. She tried to hide it by gripping her wrist, but the tremor only traveled up to her elbow. Trinity noticed instantly.
“Hey...” Trinity reached out and lightly tapped Mina’s shoulder.
Mina jumped, actually, jolted, as if electricity had shot straight through her spine.
Trinity’s brows shot up. “Why are you acting like someone poured ice water down your back? You okay?”
“I’m..." Mina swallowed hard, eyes darting to the doorway where Truth had disappeared minutes earlier. “I’m really nervous. I feel like… I feel like I’m going to say something incriminating. Or something dumb. Or something that’ll get me fired immediately. My stomach is actually hurting.”
Clara stepped closer, her voice soft and warm despite the tightness of the moment. “You’ll be fine, Mina. Just be yourself. And if she asks anything you’re not sure of, just… don’t answer. Silence can’t be quoted.”
Mina looked grateful for the reassurance.
Trinity nodded in agreement. “Clara’s right. Don’t volunteer information. Just stay calm.” Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Actually, Mina, how long have you been here? Did they transfer you from another unit? Because I’ve never seen you around before this week.”
Mina blinked. “Oh. No, I wasn’t transferred. I was just recruited. Fresh. I’m hoping to stay here for a long time though" she smiled ear to ear "the pay is too good to let go.”
Trinity hummed. “Fair enough.” She turned to Caleb, leaning slightly onto one leg. “What about you? You look like someone who counts down days. How long have you been in this lovely little establishment?”
Caleb shrugged in that lazy, unbothered way of his. “Same day as Mina. But I’m not staying long. Just two months, max. After that, I’m enrolling in college.” He gave another shrug. “That’s the goal anyway.”
Trinity snorted. “College is overrated. Especially in this town. Your money is better spent elsewhere.”
“Trinity!” Clara scolded, swatting her lightly on the arm. “Don’t discourage him. Let him dream.”
Caleb laughed, Mina managed a weak smile, and for a fleeting moment the four of them felt almost normal like coworkers on a lunch break instead of recruits inside a government facility with secrets thicker than the walls.
Their moment was short-lived.
Because the door opened and Chief Reporter Truth walked in.
Truth carried tension the same way some people wore perfume, unavoidable, lingering, and sharp. Her scowl appeared carved into her face, deep-set and permanent, as if smiling might actually injure her.
Her gaze swept across them immediately. “Well.” She crossed her arms. “It seems Mayor Brattfield wasn’t exaggerating when he said this environment is perfectly safe. You’re all laughing, Relaxed.” Her eyes narrowed. “Comfortable.”
Trinity lifted one shoulder lazily. “Who wouldn’t laugh when they’re getting paid so much to do so little?”
Truth’s brows rose, the expression almost predatory. “So little? What exactly do you mean by that?”
“We only clean,” Trinity replied bluntly. “Then help serve food in the General Hall. That’s it. Nothing dramatic.”
“Strange.” Truth tilted her head. “I would assume working with hardened criminals would be… stressful.”
Trinity shook her head. “We don’t work with criminals. We work for the government, making sure the facility stays clean and functional. And we’ve had zero challenges so far.”
Truth let out a dry, sarcastic chuckle that clearly meant she didn’t believe a word of it.
Then she turned her head slowly, eyes resting on Clara and Caleb before returning to Trinity. “Why are you the only one speaking?”
Her tone wasn’t loud. It didn’t have to be. The weight behind it was enough to make Mina stiffen.
Clara stepped forward, voice steady. “Because your questions were directed at her.”
Truth’s eyes slid to Mina. Her gaze dropped briefly to Mina’s chest tag. “Mina, correct?”
Mina nodded quickly.
Truth stepped closer, studying her face with unsettling precision. “Tell me, Mina, have you noticed anything unusual? Anything at all? Disruptions, strange schedules, odd noises, inmate behavior… anything?”
Mina’s eyes widened, and her entire body went rigid. “No,” she blurted. Too fast. Too sharp.
Truth’s suspicion didn’t just deepen, it sharpened.
“I see.” She clasped her hands behind her back. “And how long have you been working here?”
“A week. A week plus,” Mina answered, almost in a whisper.
Truth tapped her finger against her elbow. “Interesting. The board says you were recruited alongside three others; Trinity, Clara, and Caleb.”
Mina froze.
Her face turned ghost-white, the color draining from her skin so quickly Clara instinctively reached a hand toward her.
Mina’s throat bobbed. She made a choking sound, not quite a gasp, not quite a cough, more like someone whose heart had just dropped through the floor.
“I...I need the bathroom,” she stammered.
And then she bolted.
Truth watched her leave with the blank, assessing stare of someone marking down a new clue.
When the bathroom door clicked shut in the hallway, Truth exhaled sharply and turned back to the room.
“Well,” she said lightly. Too lightly. “That was illuminating.”
Caleb shifted uneasily. Clara felt her palms dampen.
Truth shifted her weight, her eyes landing squarely on Clara and Trinity. “You two. Stay.”
Caleb’s head jerked up. “Uh...”
“You’re dismissed,” Truth said without looking at him. “Both of you.” Her hand flicked toward the door.
Caleb left immediately, a little too relieved. Mina didn’t return from the bathroom. And soon it was only Clara, Trinity, and Truth. The air suddenly heavy enough to taste.
Truth clasped her notebook to her chest and spoke in a low voice that didn’t match her earlier sarcasm.
“We,” she said, “have unfinished business.”
And then she closed the door behind the two recruits.