The Society

Chapter 6: The Consultant Part I

The Consultant - Ian Dawn

I was walking towards her office for the second day in a row, Alan had instructed me to come in for my first day as a consultant, working through the Broffman case with Cassie. As I strode along the street I felt nervous, not only was I meant to be assisting and supporting her with the case but my task was also to help her deal with it all. She would find out soon enough and I would have to get to know her well, before she did. The air was filled with the scents of autumn mixed with the fumes from the traffic as I crossed the street, heading for the main entrance of the district attorneys office. Halfway across the street, I spotted someone walking a few steps ahead of me. Someone I recognised very well at this point. Someone who should not be seeking out Cassie. Once we had crossed the street, I reached out my hand and squeezed it in a tight lock around his elbow, he craned his neck round and met my eyes. At first he looked shocked, but quickly a defeated look washed over his face.

“Come with me,” I hissed at him.

I lead him without any resistance, away from the grey district states attorneys building. We rounded the corner and walked into an alley. Only when we were both a few steps into the slightly grimy but sufficiently secluded alley, did I let go of his elbow. He whipped around on his heal and faced me.

“What are you doing? Are you following me or something?” Duncan sounded defensive and angry. I ignored his questions.

“Hello Jason Blake or do you prefer Duncan White?” I said icily and stared at him. He stood there motionless unable to respond, it was like hearing his real name being said out loud had muted him. “You can lie to anyone you want. But you can’t lie to Cassie. So why do you keep seeking her out? Are you prepared to tell her who you really are and what you have done?”

“You can’t blackmail me into not seeing her!” His words came out hot with fury, he was not ready to back down from Cassie.

“Has she tried to contact you since you broke up?”

He shook his head.

“Did she want to talk to you the other night at Lenny’s?” He gasped, shocked and puzzled by my revelation. He had clearly missed me completely the other night. Good.

“Yes I know about that too.” I gave him a few moments to process this.

“Even if you mangae to get her to talk to you and forgive you for breaking up with her. The truth will come out, she deserves to know that Duncan is not your real name. She deserves to know that she was dating Jason Blake, who has been charged with possession and intent to sell…”

Duncan looked even more shocked, “I-I-I.. just tried to help myself, I couldn’t have gone to college otherwise….”

I looked at him and something in me snapped, “I know all about that, I know that you did it for causes that you deem honourable. Cassie is a good person, she would not have judged you for that. But the fact that you created a clean slate for yourself and a new identity... You have been lying to her all this time! About your background, about your family...”

Duncan made a sound like a wounded animal. “I know…” He winced the words out like they were causing him pain.

It’s time to end this, he needs to stay away from her. I filled my voice with as much authority as I could muster and stared him straight in eyes, “If she wants to see you or speak to you, she knows how to contact you. But after how you left her, broke her heart and not to mention lied all about yourself, I don’t see why she would.”

Duncan looked like someone had just ripped his arm off. He was clutching his shoulder with his other hand and I could clearly see that he way trying to control his breathing.