You Know You Want to Watch by Tall78701..,
I never touched a single one of them, I swear.
The freshly mowed athletic field glistened with dew in the early morning light. It was going to be a glorious day, Jane thought as she patiently waited for her girls to form up. As her championship girls’ soccer team gathered in their matching blue and gold warm-up suits, they all stood facing her, waiting for the morning’s instructions. But Jane could sense they weren’t actually looking at her, rather beyond her to something or someone looming behind her.
Jane turned to see what was so fascinating. To her surprise was Jim Lassiter, the university’s athletic director, approaching at a brisk pace with two other people she’d never seen before. Fully turning to face them head-on, she tucked her clipboard into her armpit and placed her hands on her hips in a ‘hey, you’re interrupting me here’ stance.
As they approached, Lassiter spoke first, “Jane, we need to see you in my office immediately.”
“Jim, we’re just about to start practice here — can’t it wait?” Jane responded indignantly, but with a slight hint of fear sensing the seriousness in his voice.
Jane stood for a second pondering her options before turning to her assistant and saying as she handed her the clipboard, “Take over Kaitlyn, warm ’em up, I’ll be right back.” She only had a mild respect for Jim Lassiter in the first place. After all, he was male, and what did he know about woman’s soccer? And besides, Jane was not the type of person to take direction from any authority figure, much less one in a suit. She was the authority around here, and everyone that had to deal with her knew it.
As they briskly walked off the practice field and through the athletic building to Lassiter’s office, Jane couldn’t help but notice that the two individuals accompanying them were staying several steps behind her, but very close. Maybe too close for Jane’s comfort. Who were they, she thought — cops maybe? They kind of looked like cops. One was a big burly male, and the other was female, perhaps only five-foot-four, but not petite and clearly in pretty good physical shape.
Both were wearing what Jane considered ‘cheap suits,’ with open collars and bulges along one side of their beltline. They could have both been carrying guns, which with every step further convinced her they were both very likely cops.
As the four of them entered the Athletic Director’s suite, every pair of eyes silently watched as they headed straight towards Lassiter’s office. Once inside his office, Jim motioned for Jane to sit down as the big burly guy closed the door and took a position behind the chair Jane was sitting in. The woman took the seat next to Jane. Jim sitting behind his massive oak desk, placed both hands on the desk pad and said, “Jane, this is detective Wilcox,” glancing at the woman sitting next to her, “and detective Logan,” looking toward the big guy standing behind her.
Jane gulped hard. She had absolutely no forewarning that this day was coming, but she did have a pretty good idea why they were there. “Well, what can I do for you?” she asked as a bead of sweat began to appear on her brow.
“Ms. Lehman,” the female detective started.
“Oh please, no one has called me that in twenty years. It’s Coach Lehman — or just simply coach,” Jane said as she began to squirm in her chair.
“Coach Lehman,” detective Wilcox continued, pulling a folded legal document from her inside jacket pocket. “We have a warrant here to search your office, your car, and your home; additionally, to seize all computers, cameras, cell phones, and all other electronic devices in your possession.”
“A warrant,” Jane stuttered. Sweat was now visibly forming on her brow, her stomach started flopping around like a fish out of water, and suddenly she had to pee. “What did I do — I mean, what do you think I did?”
Detective Wilcox continued, “Coach Lehman, I’ll get straight to the point; we have convincing evidence that you placed or caused to be placed video cameras throughout the women’s locker room and showers. And that you have secretly been recording your students, as well as others, without their knowledge or consent. Further, we believe you have stored these images over an extended period of time and that you have shared these images with select friends for the purpose of sexual gratification.”
Jane knew it was true, but how in the hell did they find out? Who ratted her out? She sat motionless for several seconds before blurting out, “That’s ridiculous — that’s a lie.” She knew it wasn’t, but her competitive nature had always conditioned her to take the offense.
Sweat was now visibly starting to roll down her temple, and she began turning a ghostly white. Her entire career flashed before her eyes. But she had to stay strong — she had to salvage as much as possible.
Jim Lassiter and Detective Wilcox both stood up. Jim spoke first, “Coach, the evidence is pretty compelling. You are hereby suspended indefinitely — at least until this matter is cleared up.”
Jane slowly stood and almost immediately felt Detective Logan grab her arms and pull them to her back. Wilcox turned to face her and said, “Jane Lehman, you are under arrest for unauthorized photography and the promotion of pornography.”
Jane could now feel the cold steel of the handcuffs tightening around her wrists as Wilcox continued, “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?”
Jane had never felt so vulnerable in her life. She was always the one that dished it out. She was the one always in control. For God’s sake, she was the tough bull dyke. She didn’t cry; she made others cry — this was so surreal she was left speechless with tears starting to leak from her eyes. The last time she can remember crying was thirty years ago in elementary school when she got hit in the face by a soccer ball so hard it almost broke her nose. She was seven years old, and her face was covered in blood; it was okay to cry then — but not now. She had to be strong!
Being led to the police car in handcuffs was the most humiliating and indignant thing to ever happen to her. If she ever got out of this, how was she going to face these people again? But she was guilty, and she knew it. Who in the fuck ratted on her — ‘God damn, God damn, God damn — how could I have been so fucking stupid,’ she kept silently repeating over and over to herself?
Once at the police station, Jane was taken to an interrogation room. The handcuffs were taken off, and she was left by herself for a good twenty minutes. But it didn’t seem like twenty minutes; it seemed like an eternity. Every scenario ran through Jane’s mind; what would happen to her career, what about the team, what about the girls, what would their parents think when they found out? ‘Who will pay my bills, will I lose the house?’ ran in a continuous loop in her head. But her greatest fear was, ‘what’s going to happen to Laura?’ Laura, her partner for sixteen years, the only person she has ever actually loved.