Free Trial by Fury by K.G. MacGregor

that the Earth could teem with woman’s tears, each drop she falls would prove a crocodile. Out of my sight!”
    Duncan Tripp, a sophomore who’d barely passed Celia’s Intro to Theater class as a freshman, delivered the lines with all the emotion of an ax handle. It was a mystery why he’d signed up for Fundamentals of Stage Acting.
    “Whose voice is that, Duncan?” she asked, walking across the stage to face the students in the front row of the tiny theater. “Yours?”
    “It’s supposed to be Othello’s.”
    An Othello who sounded like Duncan . “And what is he feeling?”
    “He’s upset.”
    “What could he possibly be upset about? He has power as a general, and he’s married to a beautiful woman who loves him.”
    The silence went on long enough for her to know he’d memorized the lines without comprehending the story. He was bailed out by Hayley’s friend Michael. “He believes he’s been betrayed by Desdemona.”
    “Correct.” She spun back toward Duncan and noticed several of her students had begun stowing their scripts and notes, as the hour had ended. “We’ll give this another try on Monday. A little practice in front of the mirror, everyone. And read the script—several times if you have to. Acting is about occupying these characters.”
    Though she’d managed not to completely humiliate Duncan for his abysmal performance, she still felt guilty for calling him out in such a negative manner. It wasn’t her usual teaching style.
    “Duncan.” She strolled deliberately toward him with her arms folded across her chest. “You’re the only one in class who got all the lines right. Good job. We’ll work on that delivery next week.”
    “Dr. Perone?” Michael had lagged behind waiting for the others to leave.
    A gifted stage actor, he had delicate features she could only describe as pretty. His future as a leading man would be enhanced if he added muscle to his slender frame and grew some facial hair.
    He produced a thumb drive. “I got what you asked for—all the IMs from Hayley since the rape—but I deleted the name of the guy who gave me the video. That needs to stay confidential.” He must have noticed her confusion because he clarified, “Instant messages, Facebook. A couple of gmails too, but what’s weird is that all the stuff we sent through our student accounts is gone. It was mostly notes for class, nothing personal. Looks like Harwood deleted her account. That makes sense, I guess, but I thought it was weird they even wiped the ones I sent to her.”
    “It’s not weird to me, Michael. I think the university’s trying to get rid of all the evidence against the players. That video you gave me…I had a copy saved on the computer in my office and now it’s gone. Wiped off Harwood’s server. Good thing I still had it on the stick.”
    “Joke’s on them then. Like I said, practically every time we talked about private stuff, it was IMs on Facebook. They’re all here, including the chat we had the day after it happened. She told me everything she remembered, and then all about what they did at the health center.”
    After hearing the video had been erased from the folder on her computer, Theo had asked her to help collect preliminary information that might be relevant to their case. She’d get access to everything else through discovery, she said, but only if she could convince a judge they had a legitimate cause of action. She’d be glad to get her hands on these messages.
    “Michael, this attorney I told you about…she really needs to talk to you and your friend in person.”
    He shook his head adamantly. “No way. I’ll give you everything I have, but I can’t be involved any more than that.”
    “You’re already involved.” She guided him toward the wings of the stage where their voices wouldn’t carry. “You’re the one Hayley talked to most. There’s a process called discovery. It basically means the players who did this are legally entitled to know how