They sure as hell would talk more if they knew how lucky they were that I let them take me.
We get to the station, and they haul me out of the back of the patrol car. It’s a two-man job — I’m a whole hell of a lot bigger than either of these pigs and they’re being cautious as hell to make sure I don’t even have a chance to use my size. Together, they hurl me straight into a holding cell.
There are three other cells in the holding area, and all three concrete, steel-barred cells are empty. There are a couple desks and a steel table in the center of the holding area, and the younger cop puts the laptop, file folders, and ledger down on the desk and takes out his own clipboard and starts processing the evidence.
It’s just me and the two cops in here.
Then the older cop pats his younger partner on the shoulder and takes the clipboard out of his hand.
“Why don’t you let me finish processing this evidence? Officers Carlisle and Reynaud could probably use a hand back at the crime scene.”
The younger officer looks up at him. “You sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” the older cop says. “This guy’s wanted for armed bank robbery, kidnapping that bank chick, and that’s in addition to the burglary. This could be a high profile case, and I don’t want any mistakes that could end up setting this asshole free. Besides, you know Carlisle can be sloppy sometimes — remember that case last year where he mixed up the VIN number on those stolen vehicles and that whole chop shop ring nearly walked?”
The younger cop nods. “Shit, you’re right. I’d forgot about that.”
“Go back there and make sure they do this shit right. And bring me a sandwich from the Starlight on the way back. Got it?”
The door to the holding area hardly shuts before the older cop turns to me, grinning. He takes a cell phone out of his pocket and dials.
“Yeah, it’s me,” he says into the receiver. “Picked up someone going through your home. Got a tip from some bitch of a concerned citizen. This asshole had some of your files and a laptop. Figured you’d want a heads up before we went any further. How do you want to play this?”
There’s quiet for a few seconds.
Then he nods.
“We’re alone. Just me and the suspect. I sent my partner back to your house to do a little supervisory duty.”
Quiet for a few more seconds. Then his smile grows.
“Yeah? So you got some of your boys out cleaning up the rest of this mess?”
Tiffany. My mom. They’re in danger.
“You son of a bitch,” I scream, throwing myself at the bars. I grip the steel in both hands and pull. I know it’s fucking useless — I’m no fucking Superman — but just thinking about someone threatening Tiffany or my mom is enough to make me lose all control. It doesn’t matter that Tiffany ratted me out, or that she’s an uptight bitch, or that the two of us are through; I’ll still kill anyone who threatens that woman. “You touch her and you are fucking dead. Do you hear me?”
The cop just laughs and turns his back. “Yeah, that’s him. He’s angry now, but you should’ve seen him earlier. Turned himself in and started rambling about some scam, as if it mattered. Like he thought anyone would listen to a piece of shit like him. How do you want me to take care of him?”
More quiet.
“Oh, you’re coming here?” He says. “Yeah, I can switch the cameras off. And, with his record, no one will question it if I say he got out of control and had to be put down.”
Quiet again. He nods as the voice on the other end of the line gives him his marching orders.
“No problem. He’s all yours, Ms. Ebri. I’ll see you and your guys soon.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Tiffany
“I can’t believe you just did that,” I shout, advancing on her for a few steps and then halting as she waves the knife at me. “He’s your son. Your own son. And you’re going to get him sent to prison. Why?”
“I’ve given him too many chances, and it’s all lead to disappointment. Well, I’m through. Maybe this will be the lesson he needs.”
“A lesson? Maybe that his mom is an unforgiving bitch. But then, we already know that, don’t we?”
“This coming from a moralistic whiner like you? Oh, Tiffany, for someone so smart, you are so incomparably dumb. Can’t you see that he’ll never change?”
My eyes flare and I grit my teeth and reach for the nearest thing — a coffee mug — and I hurl it at the wall right next to her beady-eyed face. The mug shatters into a thousand pieces and she flinches.
“Dumb? You call me dumb? Do you have any idea why he’s been sneaking around like he has? Why I haven’t just called the cops? Because these people are dangerous, and they know what they are doing. There’s an entire crew of men working for Anna and her father, and they are using these doctored loan papers to put you in debt, so they can intimidate you and force you to give up your home. Do you want to take a guess about what will happen to you if you continue to just ignore this problem? Those guys will come back. Except they won’t be as nice. They’ll hurt you,
