Symphony of Bones by L.T. Ryan (little bear else holmelund minarik .txt) 📕

truth, okay? We want to get to the bottom of what happened to Connor.”

Mara wiped her tears and took a deep breath. Cassie couldn’t tell if the dark circles under her eyes were from a lack of sleep or her running makeup. Maybe a combination of the two.

“Okay.”

Viotto took out a little notepad. “You were together with Connor for almost a year?”

“Yes.”

“How would you describe your relationship?”

Mara thought for a moment, and then a small smile crept over her face. “Interesting. We weren’t really each other’s type.”

“Why do you say that?”

Mara gestured to herself. “I’m not the type of girl he could bring home to his parents. We came from different backgrounds. I’m here on a scholarship. He’s here because his father is a senator.”

“Do you think that’s why he liked you? Because the two of you were so different?”

Cassie wanted to slap a hand over Viotto’s mouth, but it was too late. Mara’s face fell. “If you’re asking me whether he was dating me because it’d piss off his dad, the answer is most likely yes. We both knew it. Sometimes it bothered me. Sometimes I liked how that made me feel.”

Viotto nodded but didn’t make any notes. “Did you guys fight a lot? Have any arguments in the last week or two?”

“We fought sometimes.” She shrugged. “Everybody does. He had shitty communication skills. I had trouble telling him how I really felt.”

“And how did you really feel?”

“I loved him.” Tears welled in her eyes again. “Even though I knew it wouldn’t last forever.”

“Why not?”

Mara shrugged. “He was destined to end up in jail or in congress. There was no in between for him.”

“In congress?” Viotto sounded genuinely confused. “Didn’t he hate his father and his occupation?”

“I heard this thing once. The things you hate about other people are the things you hate about yourself. They were more alike than he wanted to admit.”

Viotto stared at her for a few seconds, like he was sizing her up. “Why did you break up with him?”

Mara looked away. She sniffled. “It had to happen eventually.”

“So, you woke up one day and figured it was time? There was nothing that pushed you to make that decision?”

Mara twisted her fingers together. “Not really.”

Viotto and Cassie exchanged looks. She wasn’t a good liar.

“Mara, we want to help you,” Cassie said. “Right now, it looks pretty strange that you broke up with Connor days before he died. We know you had nothing to do with it, but we need to understand why you broke up and if that had anything to do with his death.”

“I can’t talk about it.”

Cassie leaned forward. “I know it’s hard—”

“No.” Mara looked her dead in the eye. Her stare was heavy with fear and loss. “I mean, I can’t talk about it.”

Viotto sat up a little straighter. “You mean someone doesn’t want you to talk about it.”

She nodded. Now they were getting somewhere.

“Was it his father?”

“I’ve never spoken to his father.”

“His lawyer? His publicist?” When Mara diverted her eyes, Viotto leaned forward. “Okay, his publicist. Did she make you sign a non-disclosure agreement?”

Mara stood up. “I’m scared. I don’t want to talk about this.”

Viotto stood up, too. “Okay, okay. We don’t have to talk about it. You won’t get into trouble, okay? Thank you for telling us that. We won’t say anything.” He exchanged a look with Cassie. “But we need to know something else.”

Mara looked between them. “You want to know if his father killed him.”

“We have to ask. Was Connor afraid of his father? Do you think his father would be capable of that?”

“Capable?” Mara laughed and fell back into her chair. “Yeah. The way Connor talked about him, it’s like he was two different people. I guess it wasn’t always like that. But as soon as he set his eyes on running for president, everything changed. They had to be the perfect little family. Connor hated being told what to do.”

“Was he afraid of him?”

“He didn’t act afraid.” Mara thought for a minute. “Mostly, he just wanted to teach his dad a lesson.”

“What kind of lesson?”

Mara glanced at her backpack and then back to Viotto. “If I tell you, will I get in trouble for keeping it a secret? I was just so scared. And nobody came to talk to me. I didn’t think it was related to anything. I just—”

Viotto tucked his notebook away and knelt in front of Mara. “We’re more interested in finding out who killed Connor than getting you in trouble for being afraid, okay?”

Mara looked at Viotto and then Cassie. It was only after Cassie gave her a reassuring smile that Mara got up, walked over to her backpack, and pulled out a USB drive. She cradled it in her hands like it was a precious gem.

“Connor and I had a similar sense of humor. Dark but harmless. I guess you could call us hacktivists.” She rolled her eyes. “I thought it was a stupid word, but he liked it. Made him feel like he was sticking it to the man. To his dad.”

“Did you target anyone in particular?”

“Mostly we just liked to be annoying. We hacked the school’s website once. Drew mustaches on all the admin’s pictures and re-uploaded them. Stupid shit like that.” She laughed, but it was strangled with sadness. “Then we started looking at major corporations. Total shitbags. We talked a lot about figuring out ways to take them down. To give money to all the workers and leave the CEOs with a minimum wage salary. But we never did it.”

“Okay. That’s understandable. Can’t say I blame you for wanting to do that.” Viotto pointed to the USB drive. “What’s that?”

Mara looked at the object in her hands and held it out. She waited until Viotto took it, then walked over to her computer. She opened up her email and clicked on a message. Cassie couldn’t read it from her vantage point, so she stood and crossed the room. Mara stepped to the side. If it wasn’t for