Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 23935 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23935 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
“Can you tell me a bit more?” Officer Niks asks, and I find myself wondering if this a trap.
“Do I need a lawyer?” I know the answer should be yes, and she actually surprises me by nodding her head.
“Probably, but we get a lot of girls who run away, and sadly a lot of them are justified in leaving home. I’m only trying to figure out what I should do right now. The way I see it, if you let me check your bag and tell me why you ran away, then we’ll go from there.”
I might be naïve, but I really want to trust her. “What happens if you don’t find them in my bag?”
“If they’re not in there and I don’t come across a pawn shop receipt or crazy stack of cash, you can walk out of here.”
“You’ll let me go?” I ask, and Officer Niks shrugs. I’m guessing she’ll likely look in the opposite direction as I slip out.
“I mean, at the end of the day, this is a civil matter, but you would still be pulled in for questioning. I don’t want to have to get a busy detective involved if I don’t need to.” She sounds sincere.
“Okay,” I agree, having nothing to hide. I put my bag on the desk and let her go through it.
“You didn’t pack much,” Niks says when she’s done, and her demeanor softens more.
“Only what I could haul around myself.”
“You ran away as soon as you were legally able to?” she asks, and I nod. “Is there something you need to tell me about your stepmother or someone else that lives in that house?”
Officer Niks is at best a handful of years older than me, so she can’t have been a cop for long, but she’s good at reading situations.
“I would rather not talk about it and cause problems. I just want them to leave me alone.”
“Them?”
“What I will say is that my stepmother has got a wicked temper, and it’s worse when she drinks. On top of that is her stepson." I shake my head, not wanting to go there.
I still have a bruise, but I know if I say anything, nothing will come of it. It would be his word against mine, and it would only drag all this out even longer. My stepmother can be vindictive, and I just want to be done with her.
“I can’t remove you from missing persons without having you questioned about the jewelry,” Officer Niks says, and my heart sinks. “But that said, you’re not under arrest, and I can’t force you to stay while we wait for a detective to come talk to you.”
“Thank you,” I tell her as a whoosh of air leaves me in relief.
“I wish I could do more. Are you at least staying somewhere safe?” Like Niks says, there isn’t much she can do, and I’m not going to burden her with thoughts of me not being safe.
“Yeah,” I say and try to sound sincere. In reality, I was able to afford two nights at a cheap hotel before I found a shelter. They fill up quickly with how cold it is outside.
Luckily I found someone’s lost key fob to a fancy gym. The gym is mainly for boxing, but they have showers and a nice locker room for the women. It’s typically pretty empty, and I can hang out in there and not be bothered. When I pull my hood up over my head, I blend in and can come and go. I accidentally bumped into someone the other day, and they called me “boy.” It’s a male-dominated space, so the hood and my small stature must be working.
“Take this,” Officer Niks says and pulls out a card before she hesitates. “You don’t even have a phone, do you?” I shake my head. There was no way I could take the cell phone I used because it wasn’t mine. “You didn’t even take your phone, and they’re saying you stole jewelry?” Niks rolls her eyes, irritated. “Call me in a couple of days, will you? I’m going to poke around a little.”
“Please don’t.” It’s kind of her, but I know it will only make things worse.
“I know it feels like running might be easier, but these things always catch up to us. It’s best to get it sorted out and clear your name.” She stares at me for a long moment while I chew on my bottom lip. “Just call me, okay?”
“Okay,” I agree, taking the card from her hand.
“Be careful out there.”
I nod before I slip out of the station. As careful as I try to be, sometimes that’s still not enough.
CHAPTER
TWO
MAVERICK
“Hey boss, you free?” Lonnie, one of the younger guys, asks as he knocks on my door.
“I’ve got five if you can make it quick,” I say, looking up from my computer. “But shouldn’t you be warming up?”