doubled over, emptying her stomach onto the linoleum tiles.
“Oh, God,” she said. “I can’t believe I did that.” Her voice came out thick, words slurred.
“Partying a little early today, were you?” Medina said.
“Wh-what?” Jaime struggled to look up at her, eyes refusing to focus.
I tried to get to Jaime, but Medina yanked me back. “Your friend is fine. She just needs to lay off the booze.” She called to the young officer, “She’s one of those Hollywood types. Probably spent the night on Bourbon Street.”
“What?” I said. “No, we-”
“Should I send the mug shot to the tabloids?” the young officer asked with a grin.
“No, that’s exactly what these people want. There’s no such thing as bad publicity. I’ll handle the processing. Just stick her in the drunk tank.”
“Is that the charge then? Public drunkenness? For both of them?”
Medina nodded. I opened my mouth, but her look made me shut it.
She pushed me into the next open doorway and shut the door behind us as the other officer led Jaime to the cells.
“What the hell is going on?” I said, spinning on Medina. “First you question me about a bombing. Then you arrest me for it. Now you’ve switched to public drunkenness?”
“Would you rather the bomb charge?”
“There is no bomb charge. You-”
“There still might be.”
She cuffed me to a chair, then sat across from me and took out her cell phone. After a minute, I realized the beeps I heard weren’t from texting or e-mailing-she was playing a game.
I yanked on the chair. “You aren’t processing me.”
“Do you want me to?”
Part of me wanted to insist she charge me, just to see if she would, so I could confirm what I suspected was happening. But the rest of me said that was a very stupid idea.
So I seethed and writhed inside while she played her game.
“I want to make a phone call,” I finally said.
“You did.”
“That wasn’t my official call. You’re holding me, so I’m entitled to-”
“You’re entitled to a call if I charge you.”
I closed my eyes and concentrated. Find the core of stillness, then focus all my energy on casting-
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Medina said.
“Do what?”
“Whatever you’re doing.”
I leaned forward. “And what would that be?” I met her gaze.”Oh, wait… You know, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do.”
Just as I suspected. “Who are you working for? The moronic liberation movement that bombed their own building?”
Her head jerked up. “Are you accusing me of being a terrorist, Ms. Levine?”
“Is that what you think they are? Good, then we’re on the same page. Either way, holding me is a very bad idea. I’d suggest you reconsider and let me cut you a deal with the Cortezes.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Are you trying to bribe me?”
“If that’s what it takes.”
She leaped up and slammed me and my chair against the wall. As she shoved, she grabbed my shoulder, fingers digging in as she leaned down to my face.
“I don’t know who the hell these Cortezes are, but I can promise you that I’m not afraid of any gang. They can’t buy me and they can’t threaten me. Neither can you. I was giving you a break, Ms. Levine. Holding you on a lesser charge until I could consult with my superiors on the evidence we found in your back pocket. But if you want that charge-”
“No. I don’t. I-I made a mistake.”
“A very big mistake.” She shoved me again, the chair clattering against the wall. “And it’s not going to help your case. Since you don’t seem to like it here, let’s see if you prefer being in the drunk tank with your friend.”
Three
I found Jaime curled up, shivering and pale, in a corner of the holding cell. I tried to rouse her, but she wouldn’t open her eyes. When I said I was going to call a guard, she managed to murmur, “No. Don’t… cause more trouble. Just give… minute. Food… poisoning.”
I glanced around. The cell looked like… well, a cell. About eight by eight feet. A typical spot in a small station for holding people awaiting charges or the onset of sobriety. From the looks of it, more cells were needed. This one now had five occupants. Like Jaime, two were lying on the floor. Drunk, I guessed. At least they were quiet.
There was one bed, currently occupied by a chick with the kind of tattoos that scream “I got this once when I was really drunk.” Except that, judging by the quantity, it was more than once. A lot more, which might suggest it was complete lack of taste rather than serial-drunken stupidity. Her blond hair was frizzled at the ends, as if she’d overused her straightening iron. She wore cutoffs with several rolls of pitted cellulite hanging out below. Her upper half hung too, tank top screaming for a bra.
In short, she was not the sort of person I was in the mood to deal with nicely. Still I tried.
“Hey,” I said. “My friend’s really sick. Do you think she could take the bunk?”
“Go to hell, you skinny-assed bitch.”
All the frustration of the last hour flared and when I grabbed her, my hands glowed white.
The woman shrieked. “You’re burning me. You bitch, you’re-”
I pushed her off the bed and she landed on the floor, half on top of an elderly homeless woman. I apologized to the old woman, but she seemed beyond hearing me.
The biker chick scrambled up and charged. I raised my fists. She put out her claws, scratching and spitting and yowling. A blow to the stomach stopped her before I got my hair pulled. When she staggered back, I downed her with a kick.
“You’re going to regret this,” she whined from the floor. “I know people.”
“Men, you mean. Big, ugly men who ride big, ugly bikes.” I loomed above her. “Word of advice? If you’re going to trash-talk, get your ass off the bitch seat and learn to fight for yourself.”
She whined and hissed a little more, then shut up. Beside her, the old woman straightened.
“Did someone call a lawyer?” she asked.
I turned to the bars. No one was there.
“Is that your lawyer?” she said. “Can he help me? I need to get out of here.”
I followed the old woman’s gaze to the middle of the room. Still no one.
Jaime moaned. I hurried over and helped her to the cot. Before she lay down, she glanced at it.
“I’m not sure I want to touch that,” she said.
“You’re washable,” I said. “But on second thought…”
I pulled off my jacket and wadded it up for a pillow, so her hair wouldn’t connect with whatever critters might be living on the mattress.
“Thanks,” she said. “How much trouble are we in?”
I crouched beside her. “We haven’t been charged with the bombing but… something’s fishy. That powder and note weren’t mine, obviously. Neither of us were processed. Neither of us have been charged. But we’re locked up.”
“Medina works for someone,” Jaime said, her words coming slow, as if it hurt to speak. “The movement or a Cabal.”
“I thought so, too. I called her on it, and now she’s convinced I tried to threaten her with a gang called the
