Megan
“Stand on the line,” said the booking officer behind the desk.
I looked down, putting my toes up to the black tape on the floor. I was still wearing my bikini. My mug shot would make a good cover for the next Girls Gone Wild video.
There was a flash as the camera captured my image for my mug shot. Shoving Derek into the pool had provided me no end of satisfaction, but it had also gotten me handcuffed and hauled off on charges of resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. No civilian could have done what I did and avoid arrest, so he’d had to take me in, too, to keep up appearances. Of course, under the circumstances, nothing would come of the charges. Still, for Paige’s sake, I had to pretend to be worried. I chewed my lip and blinked my eyes a lot, as if fighting back tears.
“Turn to your left,” the officer said now.
I did as I’d been told, and he snapped a profile shot, another flash lighting up the room. It really was a good thing I didn’t have epilepsy or I’d be in full grand mal by now.
When he finished with me, he repeated the process with Paige. Her cheeks were tearstained and her gaze drifted down.
“Look up,” he said without feeling. “I need to see your eyes.”
She looked up at the camera. I noticed she was shaking. She probably felt terrified and angry and forsaken. Chaoxiang had done the girl no favors.
After the booking officer had taken her picture in profile, too, he led us down the hall to the holding cell. The area was dimly lit, quiet, and smelled of bleach and regret. He slid the door open and we stepped inside, joining two other women. One was a fiftyish dishwater blonde with gray roots. She leaned against the wall, asleep with her mouth open. The other appeared to be in her early twenties. She had her knees drawn up to her chest and was slowly rocking herself.
We took seats on the hard metal benches that were bolted to the wall on the left. Brigit hopped up and lay down next to me, draping her head over my thigh.
Now that Paige and I were alone, I could ask her some questions, see what information she might reveal.
I turned to her and whispered, “Where’d you get all that Molly?”
“It wasn’t mine!” she whispered back, her voice cracking with emotion. “I don’t know how it got into my bag!”
Sheesh, wasn’t it obvious? “Could Chaoxiang have put it there?”
“No!” she cried, so loud the sleeping woman opened one bloodshot eye to peep at us. “He wouldn’t do that to me!”
Don’t be so sure, I wanted to tell her. In my line of work, I’d seen men not only frame the women they supposedly loved, but beat them within an inch of their lives. Thinking over her words, I realized they implied that Chao had access to drugs. Otherwise, she would have responded with something like Chao doesn’t use Molly or Chao didn’t have anything on him tonight.
I leaned a little closer. “So Chao uses the stuff, though? Or sells it? There was an awful lot in that bag.”
Paige cut me a confused look, as if unsure whether she should open up to me, whether the cat was already out of the bag or not. Apparently, she decided to shove the cat back in. “I think that cop planted the drugs on me. That red-haired jerk who searched my bag. Did you see how he bent over it so nobody could tell what he was doing?”
“Why would he plant drugs on you?” As I asked her the question, I also asked it of myself. While Paige could only shrug in response, some quick answers came to me. Derek might have planted the drugs to look like a hero, get some attention. Derek might have planted the drugs to increase his arrest statistics. Derek might have planted the drugs to try to restore his reputation after losing the evidence in the earlier bust. Of course this last answer told me both why Derek might plant drugs and where he would have gotten them in the first place.
Uh-oh …
Despite these thoughts, none of these reasons seemed good enough for Derek to risk his career and his status as the chief’s golden boy. I knew, without a doubt, that Derek hadn’t planted those drugs on Paige.
Didn’t I?
I scrubbed a hand down my face as if to wipe away that horrible thought. No. Derek had not planted those drugs. Chao had put the drugs there, ditched what had been in his pocket in case the cops caught up with him.
We’d been able to make a phone call when we’d arrived at booking. Paige had called her parents, who in turn had called the law office of Anthony Giacomo, a notorious and notoriously successful criminal defense attorney in Dallas. He’d successfully defended the accused in a number of high-profile cases in the metroplex, and his name was synonymous with a get-out-of-jail-free card. Not that his representation came free, of course. With his track record and reputation, he was able to charge top dollar for his services. Fortunately for Paige, Giacomo’s high rates were no problem for her parents and the attorney’s assistant had promptly arranged bail. I’d been forced to call my fictional uncle Buster. Paige was sprung first. Looked like her parents were getting their money’s worth.
“McQuaid,” called the booking officer as he stepped to the cell door. “You’re out.”
“Thank God!” she cried, rushing to the door and exiting without so much as a glance in my direction.
Gee, I’ll miss you, too, I thought.
Uncle Buster arrived a half hour later, standing next to the officer at the door. He glanced over at the girl rocking herself before returning his gaze to me. “I hope you’re proud of yourself, young lady!” he shouted.
“You can drop the act,” I said cordially as I led Brigit from the cell. “That’s not Paige. She was already released.”
“In that case,” he said, his tone now friendly and sarcasm-free as he gave me a smile and a pat on the shoulder, “I hope you’re proud of yourself, young lady.”
“I’d be more proud if we’d caught Chaoxiang.”
“We got a search warrant,” Bustamente told me. “Officers are on their way to his apartment.”
“Yesss!” I clenched victorious fists at my chin. “One more dealer off the streets.”
Bustamente reached down and ruffled Brigit’s ears. “You two need a ride home?”
“I’d appreciate that.”
* * *
I woke in my own bed late the next morning, with Seth lying next to me, facedown with his arms arched over his head, the army eagle on his back staring up at me as if to say I know what you did last night. Good work, soldier.
I rolled out of bed, both Brigit and Blast climbing off the foot to follow me. I padded into the kitchen and let them out back. Brigit immediately took off after a squirrel, chasing it up a tree and leaping up onto the trunk. As if she had any hope of catching the quick rodent. But I had to admire her eternal optimism. She must really think she’d catch one someday.
I found a note from Frankie on the counter. At derby practice. Looked like Seth and I would have the place to ourselves for a while.
I went to the bathroom and took a shower, letting the hot water flow over me, feeling no pressure to rush so the next girl could use it before having to get to class. It felt so good to be back in my own place. Of course I’d need to swing by the dorm later to grab my things. I figured I’d tell Emily, Paige, and Alexa that after my uncle Buster had bailed me out, he’d insisted I live with him and my aunt until I could show sufficient maturity for them to trust me again. That sounds plausible, right? They might wonder why they didn’t run into me on campus but, then again, it was a big campus. And it’s not like we’d been close. They’d probably forget about me fairly quickly.
When I returned to the bedroom, Seth was stirring.
“Wake up, lazybones,” I said.
He rolled over, the eagle disappearing underneath him. “Don’t ever go undercover again,” he said.
“Why not?”
He sat up, plumping a pillow behind him. “Because life is boring when you’re not around.”
His sweet words warmed my heart. Unfortunately, my heart didn’t stay warm for long. My cell phone bleeped from the nightstand. I stepped over, saw that it was Detective Jackson calling, and took the call. “Hi, Detective.”
“I’ve got bad news,” she said. “The address we had for Chao was out-of-date. Nobody seems to have a current one for him. He must have sublet a place, or be renting a room from someone.”
“Paige would probably know where he lives.”
“She’s lawyered up. She’s not talking.”
Ugh. “So you couldn’t get any evidence on him.”
“No evidence. No fingerprints. Nothing. The same prints that were on the library cell phone and Paige’s cup are on the bag from last night. Paige’s prints aren’t on the bag. She never touched it. The only other prints on the bag are Officer Mackey’s.”
Another ugh.
“We need you back at that dorm,” Jackson said. “Work on Paige. See if you can get her to admit something.”
“But I just got back home!”
Jackson scoffed. “You’re the one who asked for this undercover gig, remember?”
She had me there. “All right. I’ll go back to the dorm.”
From his place against the pillow, Seth frowned. I raised a palm. What could I do? The investigation had to come first.
I ended the call with Detective Jackson. “I’m a college kid again.”
“So I was just a one-night stand? A booty call?” Seth’s grin said he didn’t mind being either of those things, at least not for me. He climbed out of bed. “How much longer do you think till it’s over?”
“Not too much longer,” I said. “I’m going to work on Paige, see if I can get her to tell me where Chao lives or admit she was working with him to sell Molly.”
He reached out and grabbed a tendril of my hair, twisting it around his finger. “If anyone can get this case resolved, it’s you and Brigit.”