Wanted for slaughter

Counselling

"So let me get this straight." The boy mumbled, pacing the floor while David picked the papers up from the ground "This 'summer camp' is actually a top secret operation designed to catch a cultist, and this Campbell guy you called is the one running this whole thing?"

David nodded, tapping the files against his desk to straighten them out "umm...yea that's the gist of it."

"So we're bait?"

"Well I wouldn't exactly use that word to describe the situation..."

"You're using us to trick a cultist into coming here so that you can catch them?"

"Yea, that's more like it."

Max threw his hands up and sat down on David's bed "That's exactly what bait is, you moron."

"Oh..." David placed the files facedown in a neat pile on his desk, planning on doing some more work after this conversation. "But I'm here to protect you guys, so you don't have to worry about a thing!"

Max shook his head "Oh my God. I'm going to die in this hell hole...At least tell me you're strapped."

David rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm not. Um- it's a bit unsafe to be in possession of a firearm around kids, Max"

Max's jaw dropped to the ground and for a second, he only stared at him, "That was a joke, right? You're not really planning on taking down a cultist with just your hands, right?"

"No, Mr. Campbell told me to just handcuff the perp and then call him. Mr. Campbell will take care of everything from there."

"And if the cultists are packing heat? What then? Are you just gonna offer them a cup of tea and have a chat?"

"None of the victims in the reports were shot, Max. The cultists probably don't carry guns."

Max ruffled his hair, clearly getting frustrated, but then he let out a sigh, "So out of all the cops this Campbell guy could've chosen, you were the most qualified to go undercover?"

David's back straightened out in pride at the realization and beamed at the child "I suppose you can say that. Yes!"

"Wow. And here I thought the justice system couldn't lower my expectations any further than it already had. Guess I should know better by now."

The redhead deflated at the statement "Hey...what's that supposed to mean?"

"You look in a mirror lately? You're more of a baby pretending to be a man than a cop pretending to be a camp counsellor. How am I supposed to have faith in you to 'protect' us if you can't even protect yourself on top of not having a gun?"

David frowned and sat down next to the boy. "I've been doing this for a long time now, Max. This is the first case I'm lead detective on, but I've already helped a lot of other people. I know what I'm doing and I have full confidence in my abilities to keep you kids safe." That was a lie. Those pictures on his desk depicted the work of an absolute monster and David was scared as all heck to face him. He couldn't let the kids know that though, obviously.

Max folded his arms around his chest, huffing in defiance "Yea, right. A guy like you probably never even stepped foot in the bad part of town, let alone a murderer's playground."

A momentary silence stretched between the two of them. David sucked on his teeth, picking at his fingernails, gaze not daring to move away from them. "It's ah...It's getting pretty late, buddy...I think now's a good time to go to bed. Gotta have a lot of energy for tomorrow, right?" David smiled at the boy, standing up and removing Max from his bed in the same motion.