The deputies handcuffed Danita and took away her phone, but not before she pressed the button to fire off the text she’d previously cued up. The ride to the station was uncomfortable with her hands cuffed behind her back. Every curve of the road meant her body swung out of control. The feeling of helplessness triggered a wave of panic she had to fight to keep under control. She kept reminding herself she’d chosen to come here, knowing her arrest was more than likely. In fact, it was desirable in that it gave her the opportunity to gather information from the inside. She also reminded herself that she wasn’t alone. She had Barb behind her.
When they arrived at the station, the lead deputy pulled Danita out of the car, being none too gentle with her. He dragged her inside, leading her through an open office area. She looked at each desk as they passed, taking note of the person behind it. The faces were unknown to her except for one. Toby Callahan sat at the last desk in the corner. She knew Toby well. In fact, he’d been her first true love in that desperate, world-shaking way only high school romance could be. As Danita passed, he had the decency to look ashamed. She wondered if he was an active participant in the persecution of the Sanchezes or merely caught up in a bad situation.
The deputy led her to a small room where he took off her handcuffs and pushed her down onto a plain metal chair in front of a small table. He’d said nothing to her since the moment he’d handcuffed her, and he said nothing to her now. He walked out the door, letting it slam behind him. One of the few benefits of her time with Dave were the cop stories he’d liked to tell. He often bragged about how they broke down suspects by isolating them, making them wait, and letting their own imaginations work against them. When they were in a state of maximum panic, Dave and his partner Joey would pretend to be sympathetic, offering simple human kindness to the frantic suspect. It was the rare person who could resist spilling their guts.
“You should see these tough gangbangers break down and tell us everything just to keep us friendly,” he’d told her. “It works better than a rubber hose ever could.”
Thus, Danita wasn’t surprised to be left alone for what felt like hours. There were no clocks in the room, so she couldn’t know for sure how much time had passed. That was all right with her. She occupied her mind by thinking about her new apartment and how it would look with the paint, carpeting, and furniture she’d chosen. It would be the first place she could truly make her own. She’d gone from her parents’ house to a college dorm to Dave’s house with not even one day between. She found she really looked forward to creating an environment tailored just for her.
She was in the middle of designing window treatments when the door opened, and a female deputy stepped inside, carrying a folder full of paper. Danita rolled her mental eyes at the choice of a woman to interrogate her. She supposed they thought they were being subtle, but it could hardly have been more blatant.
“Hey,” said the deputy. “Danita, right?”
“Yes,” said Danita.
“I’m Susan.” She took a seat across the table from Danita, setting down the folder. “I want to apologize for my fellow deputy’s treatment. There was no need for him to handcuff you like that.”
Not hearing a question, Danita felt no need to speak. Susan was quiet as well, letting the silence extend for an uncomfortable period. This was another trick Dave had described, so Danita let the silence stretch on, looking across at Susan, curious what her next tactic would be.
“Are you thirsty?” said Susan when it became clear the silent treatment wasn’t going to work. “Can I get you a soda?”
“I’m good.”
“Okay. Well, as I was saying, you shouldn’t have been treated like a common criminal, and I apologize for the department.”
“Does that mean I can go?”
“There’s the pesky business of that warrant. If you help me clear that up, I’m sure we can get you on your way.”
“Are you going to read me my rights?”
“Didn’t they do that already?”
Danita shook her head.
“Those guys,” said Susan. “I swear they’d forget their heads if they weren’t attached to their necks. Anyway, you sound like you know all about that. Did your boyfriend teach you?”
That was telling. They knew about Dave. They either had some kind of dossier on her—or they’d overheard her conversations with her parents and the Sanchezes.
“Since you already know your rights, I won’t waste your time reading them. Just sign right here, and we’ll get this whole mess settled.”
Susan took a sheet of paper from her folder and pushed it across the table. Danita skimmed it and signed.
“What am I charged with?” she said.
“Interfering with the course of an active investigation,” said Susan, rolling her eyes. “I know. It’s ridiculous. You just went over to see your friends. You weren’t trying to interfere with anything. I get that, and I’m sure we can clear this right up.”
“How can we do that?” said Danita.
“Answer a few questions and we can put this whole silly business to rest.”
“What questions are those?”
Susan opened the folder and began paging through its contents. Danita studied the papers upside down. She couldn’t make out the individual words, but she saw the pages were formatted like a transcript. That answered her previous question. Somehow, they were eavesdropping on conversations.
“Who’s ‘Barb?’” said Susan, nonchalantly.
There it was. Danita knew she hadn’t said Barb’s name in front of her parents. That left the single slip-up in her conversation with Maria and Ramon.
“Excuse me?” said Danita.
“Who’s ‘Barb?’” repeated Susan.
“Who?” said Danita, pretending to be confused.
A flash of irritation flitted across Susan’s face, as if she suspected Danita were playing with her. But as soon as it appeared, it was gone, and the mask returned stronger than ever as Susan gave Danita a big smile.
“I understand you want to protect your friend,” she said. “But the best thing you can do for them is tell us how we can get in touch and have a polite conversation. You’ve seen how my colleagues get when they have to track somebody down.”
Danita decided she’d heard enough. There was nothing more to be gained from this charade.
“I’m ready for that lawyer now,” she said.
“What?” said Susan.
“The Miranda form I just signed says I have the right to a lawyer. I’m exercising that right.”
“You don’t want to do that,” said Susan. “If you do, I can’t help you anymore.”
“I’ll take my chances,” said Danita.
The kindness disappeared from Susan’s face. She looked across the table at Danita, her eyes hard. If Danita had held any doubts about this woman, they were gone now. She was clearly a full participant in the scheme to take down the Sanchezes. She looked at Danita with an expression of disgust, as if she were some kind of annoying pest.
“You don’t know who you’re fucking with,” she said. “This is no game.”
“Lawyer,” said Danita, smiling. “Lawyer, lawyer, lawyer.”
Susan gathered her papers into the folder and stood. Without another word, she walked to the door. There was an electronic click, and she opened the door. She walked out, letting it slam behind her.
Danita smiled to herself and went back to designing window treatments.
#
A loud hubbub interrupted Danita’s imaginings. The door to the interrogation room slammed open, followed by a tall man in jeans and a brown suede jacket. His hair was a glorious gray mane flowing down to his shoulders. His skin was leathery and his eyes a piercing blue. Everything about him screamed self-confidence and scorn for the deputies scurrying in his wake.
“Don’t say another word!” he proclaimed.
Two deputies ran into the room.
“What are you doing?” said the first one. “You can’t be here!”
“On the contrary,” said the tall man. “I am this dear woman’s legal representative, and it is you who should not be here harassing her without benefit of counsel.”
The second deputy reached for the tall man’s arm.
“Please do lay hands on me,” said the tall man. “I’ve been wanting to add an indoor pool to my mansion.”
Danita saw he had his phone out and was pointing it at the two deputies.
“Deputy Cunningham, is it?” He read the deputy’s name tag. “And Deputy Zander. Don’t worry. I’ll be careful to spell your names correctly on the lawsuit.”
The two deputies stood completely befuddled and paralyzed by this larger-than-life figure. He turned his attention to Danita like a spotlight shining from above.
“Don’t you worry, pretty lady,” he said. “Julian Sands, Esquire, at your service. I’ll have you right out of here.”
“She’s under arrest,” said Deputy Zander, finding his voice.
“Is she now?” said Julian Sands, Esquire. “Produce the warrant. Show me the judge’s signature.”
The deputies looked at each other helplessly.
“That’s what I thought,” said Sands. He held out his arm to Danita. “Come. Let’s get out of here.”
She stood and walked around the table to join him. He headed straight for the door. The deputies stumbled backwards out of his way. Danita followed him out of the room and into the open office area, where everyone had stopped what they were doing to stare at the circus in their midst. The only exception was Susan, who was frantically speaking into the phone.
“He came out of nowhere,” she was saying. “I don’t even know how he knew she was here.”
Sands led Danita through the office and out the front door. There, idling in the parking lot, was a long white limousine. Sands strode to the back door, pulled it open and gestured with his free arm for Danita to get inside. She climbed in and scooted across the seat, feeling the smooth leather beneath her hands. Sands climbed in after her, closing the door. He took a deep breath and let it out.
“Forgive the theatrics,” he said in a voice the complete opposite of the booming tones he’d used in the station. “I find them most effective when dealing with the common peace officer.”
“Thank you for getting me out of there,” said Danita.
“Don’t thank me,” he said. “Thank the generous individual who engaged my services.” He inclined his head toward the front of the limo.
Danita looked forward. She found a pair of eyes beneath a chauffeur’s cap looking back at her in the rearview mirror. Eyes she recognized.
“Hello, dear,” said Barb. “Let’s get you out of here, shall we?”