A Dangerous Liaison

-25-

May

Tuesday

May tapped her fingers on the surface of the café table, her eyes fixed on Jenny Sombat. It had been over an hour, and Jenny still hadn't cracked. Every word out of the woman's mouth felt rehearsed, a lie being told repeatedly in her defense. She sat across from May at Artis Coffee Shop, her posture rigid; her inability to cooperate waned on May's patience. Jenny's dismissive attitude and relentless denial had started to push May to the edge, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could take it.

Jenny took another sip of her iced mocha, though the cup had long been drained. Her lips clamped around the straw, like an excuse to avoid answering any real questions. May had seen through her little act within minutes, but retrieving any information from her was proving to be more difficult than anticipated.

May leaned forward slightly, resting her forearms on the table, her voice low but firm. "Jenny, we both know you're not here to make small talk. You have a chance to help yourself. But if you keep refusing to comply, I won't hesitate to make things...complicated for you."

Jenny raised an eyebrow, her lips twitching in a semblance of a smirk. "Is that a threat, Officer?"

May smiled thinly. "I don't need to threaten you. I'm giving you a way out. Cooperate, and we both walk away happy. Keep playing games, and I start looking into your involvement in Star's financial mess and have you arrested on grounds of complicity."

The subtle shift in Jenny's expression told May she had hit a nerve. Jenny might have been loyal to Star, but her self-preservation was starting to falter.

"So," May said, pulling her phone out and sliding it across the table, "what do you know about these?"

She tapped the screen, displaying the series of document - those papers she had taken images of in Star's office. Illegal bank transfers, chemical plant contracts, and the trail leading to Star's failed expansion of her company. Jenny's eyes darted toward the phone, the slightest flicker of recognition crossing her face before she quickly masked it with a frown. 

"I don't know anything about that," Jenny said, her voice flat as she slouched back into her chair, arms folded defensively. "Probably fake documents."

May held her gaze, unblinking. "Really? Because your signature is at the bottom of several of them."

Jenny's eyes flicked back to the screen, then down to the table. She bit the inside of her cheek, a subtle sign that May had noticed before in other interviews - a sign that the lies were beginning to unfold. 

"I need you to be honest with me, Jenny," May pressed. "Your signature being on these documents puts you in a very precarious position. If Star is going down, she's not going down alone. If you help me now, I can protect you. If you don't..."

May let the sentence hang in the air like a guillotine.

Jenny shifted in her seat, her face suddenly tight with anxiety. She looked away, out the café window, avoiding May's piercing gaze. "Star... Star had no money left. She drained it all trying to expand her brand, Celestia. But she couldn't make it work, no matter how hard she tried."

May nodded, jotting down notes, but her mind was working faster than her pen. Celestia... that part made sense. Star had poured millions into launching it, but something didn't add up. The funds weren't just missing - they'd been moved elsewhere for other investments. 

"And these production plants she's funding?" May asked. "Chemical facilities? What was she really up to?"

Jenny hesitated, her fingers tapping nervously on the table. "I don't know everything, only that several close friends of hers gave her the money and....and that she also paid people off. People were talking... so she shut them up. She was always careful. She couldn't trust anyone...that paranoid her."