by Dianna Love
Just as she punched in the numbers, a siren wailed behind her.
She pulled over so the policeman could pass, but he followed her off to the shoulder of the road. I know I wasn’t speeding. She put her phone on the seat and cranked down the window. A young officer walked up to the car, one hand on his hip, the other on his gun. The gun looked proportionately large for such a small guy
“Good afternoon.” She smiled her best give-me-a-warning smile. It had never let her down.
“License and registration, ma’am.”
She handed him her license, then looked in the glove box for the registration. “I’m sorry, officer. The registration doesn’t seem to be here.”
He smirked. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
She pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head. “I don’t know. Happens all the time, huh?” Isn’t this where he was supposed to notice her pretty brown eyes and winning smile and let her go with just a warning?
“Ma’am, please step out of the car.”
She blinked in surprise. “Excuse me? For what?”
“Ma’am.” He shifted the hand on his holster. “I asked you to please get of the car.”
“Yes. Okay.” She fumbled with the lap belt and then with the door handle of the unfamiliar car. She stepped out on to the pavement feeling humiliated. There was a lot of traffic. She would swear that cars were slowing down and people were staring at her. Funny how no one had been interested when she was broken down on the side of the road, but they all wanted to see this.
“I’m in a hurry, but I wasn’t speeding,” she explained.
“Please step around to the back of the car here, ma’am.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Anything you want to tell me?”
“I’m late?”
“Put your hands on the trunk of the car, please.”
Kasey took a step back from the officer. “Now wait a second.”
He dipped his head in a very serious way. His voice was calm but firm. “Ma’am. Do as I say, please.”
She rolled her eyes, shaking her head.
Unbelievable. What else could go wrong?
She spun around and placed her hands on the trunk of the car. Just like on Cops.
“Do you have any weapons or anything I need to know about on your person or in the vehicle?”
“No-oo.” Kasey suddenly felt guilty though she knew she had no reason to. “Absolutely not.”
The officer peered into the car. “What’s in the bag?”
“Camera equipment.”
“Out taking pictures?”
“I’m late for a shoot in Richmond. I’m a photographer.”
“This your car?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“I didn’t think so.” He pulled one arm behind her back.
Her eyes shot wide. She looked over her shoulder at the officer as he pulled her other arm behind her back.
“What the heck are you doing?” Kasey said. “I didn’t do anything. I wasn’t even speeding.”
She heard a zipping sound. Her hands were bound behind her. “That’s what happens, ma’am, when you steal a car. You get caught eventually.”
“Steal? No. You don’t understand.”
He pushed her toward the cruiser. Passers-by stared.
“Yes, ma’am. I’m sure you have a story to tell me. They all do. We’ll do that in town.”
“I told you the truth. My Porsche broke down. I borrowed this car to get to my meeting.”
“Your Porsche?” His look told her that he didn’t buy her story.
“I swear. Run the tag. You can check.”
“You'll have to just get in the back of my Caprice Classic because my Ferrari is in the shop,” he said with a smirk.
“Go back and look. My car is on the side of Route 58.”
“Whose car is this?”
Her mind went blank.
What was his name?
“He stopped to help me. It was....”
Come on, what was his name?
“It wasn’t Nick…It was Scott.”
“Yeah, okay. Good guess from the license plate.” The officer nodded at the vanity tag on the back of the car that read GR8SCOTT.
“I promise I’m not lying.” She pulled away from him, but he grabbed her and guided her to the back of his car. He pushed down on the back of her head and forced her onto the backseat of the cruiser.
“This can’t be happening to me.”
The officer walked back to the T-Bird. He removed the keys from the ignition, pushed the lock on the door, and slammed it shut. He sauntered back to the cruiser as if he thought he’d just saved the world. Kasey was so angry she couldn’t even look at him.
He got into the car and snatched the transceiver from the dash to call in the details of her arrest. She didn’t bother to listen. It didn’t sound like anyone else was listening to him either, because no one responded.
There was no way she’d get to her meeting on time now. Just when things had been going so well, too. Her last hope drifted out of sight as they pulled onto the road heading to who-the-heck-knew-where.
Kasey leaned forward and spoke through the partition that protected him from her. “Sir. Excuse me?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Yechh. If he called her ma’am once more, she’d clobber the little guy. Good thing he’d tied up her hands. “What’s your name?”
“Taylor,” he said with a northerner-come-south drawl that made it sound like there was an extra L in there somewhere. “Dan Taylor.”
“Sheriff Dan Taylor?”
The young man smiled. “Deputy Dan Taylor.”
She flopped against the back of the seat. Deputy Dan. Well this just gets better and better. Sounds like a cartoon character. There was nothing she could do about this now. She might as well relax and resign herself to rescheduling her appointment with Preston. Hopefully it wouldn’t compromise her arrangement with his company. It was one of her favorite jobs. The new prototypes were fun to photograph. But she sure couldn’t tell Preston she’d been arrested on suspicion of grand theft auto.
The cruiser stopped. Kasey looked out the window. Spratt’s Market in huge letters spanned the side of a concrete building. Market? Geez, was he going to parade her all over town?
He had better not leave me out here while he goes grocery shopping.
Deputy Dan got out of the car and opened her door.
“You’re taking me to the market?” She couldn’t refrain from the smartass tone that came with the statement.
He glared at her, less than amused. “Let’s go.”
Frustrated, she puffed not-so-nice names for him under her breath and scooched to the edge of the seat. With her hands bound behind her, getting out proved to be harder than she’d imagined.
The deputy helped her to her feet, then spun her around to face a brick building with the words POLICE DEPARTMENT emblazoned across the front.
“I stand corrected,” she mumbled.
“Walk.” He gave her a little push.
She glared at him. “I’m walking.”
I’ll have his badge, damn it.
They made the short walk across the parking area and through the heavy wooden doors of the building. Once inside, Kasey stifled a laugh as she looked around. The place resembled the set of the old Andy Griffith Show. The desks and gun cabinets lined the right side of the space, and four barred jail cells—all of them empty—were situated on the left side. Did they have a town drunk who slept off a night or two here as if it were a modern-day Mayberry timeshare?
He parked her in a scarred wooden chair next to a metal desk that had seen better days. She wiggled and shifted in the chair, trying to get comfortable with her hands secured behind her. He opened a couple drawers, searching for something, and came up with a checklist.
I’m probably his first arrest.
Deputy Dan used his finger to keep his place as he read the list.
“Name?�
�
“Kassandra Phillips.”
“Address?”
“You’ve got my license. It’s all on there.”
He shot her a look.
“Fine.” She gave him the information and wished like heck she’d taken I-64 instead of Route 58 this morning.
Deputy Dan leaned in toward the screen to review what he had entered, backspacing more than he typed. He struck the keys with a slow monotony that had her wanting to offer to type for him.
“Look. Don’t I get a call or something?”
“Not yet.”
She tried to remain calm. “Can you take this thing off my wrists at least?”
“No. It’s policy. Until I put you in the cell, you must remain restrained. It’s for my safety.”
Pretty good damn policy, too, because she’d had about enough of this ridiculous situation and felt pretty sure she could kick his scrawny ass.
He asked her again about the vehicle.
“I already told you. His name is Scott.”
“What’s his last name?”
“I don’t remember.”
He picked up the keys from the desk and dangled them. “Scott is on the keychain and on the license plate. You may as well tell me the truth, lady. You aren’t doing yourself any favors here.”
“So you’re arresting me because I borrowed a car without asking someone’s last name. Or is it because I didn’t have the registration? Why did you stop me anyway?” Kasey became more agitated.
“I stopped you because I know the owner of this car.”
“Great. Call him, then.”
“I tried. He didn’t answer. But I know he wouldn’t let anyone borrow it. He loves that car.”
“Well, he did. I told you he offered to wait with my broken-down Porsche. He was going to take it to the garage for me. He let me use his car to go to my meeting.”
“Until I can reach him to clear you, I’m not letting you go.”
He walked her to the cell furthest from the front door and cut the zip-tie from her wrists before releasing her into the small space. The heavy metal-barred door clanked as it closed behind her.
“How long can you hold me here?”
He ignored her and walked through a doorway at the back that led down what appeared to be a long hallway.
“What about my call?” she yelled after him.
She sat in a chair in the corner of the cell and watched the clock tick off the minutes. After fourteen minutes and twenty seconds, the deputy returned. Kasey jumped from the chair, ran to the bars and clutched them, her hands on either side of her face. She hated to imagine how she looked. “Can I please make that call?”
The deputy picked up a cordless phone off the desk and handed it to her through the bars. “Here you go.”
“Thank you.” She nodded, then turned her back and dialed Prescott’s number. Thank goodness, she knew the number by heart. “Hi. This is Kasey Phillips. I was supposed to meet with Prescott this afternoon. Can you let him know that I have been…” she turned and eyed the deputy with disdain “…unexpectedly detained and am not going to be able to make our meeting?” She nodded, listening. “Yes. I understand. I'll get back with him to reschedule... Sorry...Yes...Goodbye.”
She ended the call and began to dial Riley.
“Ah-ah.” He shook his finger at her. “One call, Ms. Phillips.”
“But I need someone to get me out of here.”
“One call is the policy.”
She thrust the phone through the bars. “Don’t you ever bend policy?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Of course you don’t.” Figures she’d get the one no-testosterone, law-abiding rookie in the state. “How long do you plan to keep me here?”
“Until I can talk to the sheriff.”
“Have you called him? I’d love to talk to him.”
“Been trying all afternoon. No answer. It’s his day off.”
She plopped down in the chair and put her head in her hands.
The clock ticked to five o’clock. Now, technically, she could be accused of stealing that car. She was supposed to be meeting Scott right now. Deputy Dan cleared his desk.
Holy shit, is he going to leave me here all night?
“Sir. Deputy Dan.”
He looked up from the pile of paperwork he’d been shuffling around. “Yes?”
“Could you take me down to the diner next to Huckaby’s in Emporia?”
“You think we’re going to take you out to dinner? We’ll feed you, but you’ll be eating in your cell.”
“No, I mean I can clear myself if you’ll take me there. I was supposed to meet the owner of the car there at five.” She pointed to the clock. “He should be there waiting for me.”
His keys jingled on his hip as he walked to the door.
Her hopes sprang. “Are you going to check?”
“I’ll be back.”
She sat, keeping one eye on the door. A few cars passed the building at long intervals. What the hell was she going to do? Why had she wasted her call on Prescott instead of calling Riley?
I am such an idiot.
Kasey’s stomach growled. The deputy had been gone for over an hour and she was hungry. She hadn’t eaten all day.
The front door swung open. She hoped the deputy had some food in tow. But it wasn’t the deputy who walked inside. It was different man, and he didn’t give the wall of jail cells a second look. He headed over to the second desk in the room, a bigger one in the corner behind glass partitions, as if he were looking for someone.
She walked to the cell door, watching the visitor. “Scott?”
He jerked his head up.
It was him. “If you’re here to report your car stolen, you won’t need to do that. The deputy arrested me not long after I left you. He wouldn’t believe that you loaned me your car.”
“You’re kidding. That’s why you didn’t show. Why didn’t someone call me?” He unclipped his phone from his waistband and glanced at the screen. “Damn. I must have accidentally turned it off after I called the tow truck for you.”
“Thank goodness you’re here. I didn’t know your last name, and Deputy Dan wasn’t buying my story. Maybe he’ll believe you and let me out of here.”
“I can do better than that.” He headed toward the cell keys that hung on the wall.
“No. You can’t break me out. He has all my information.”
A wide grin spread across Scott’s face. “That’s funny. I had you pictured as an adventurous type of girl.”
“Yeah, but a law-abiding one.”
He opened the cell door.
Kasey didn’t budge. “You’re gonna get me in more trouble than I already am. With my luck, I’ll be the one they make an example of, and I’ll end up in one of those women’s prisons with Big Bertha callin’ the shots. No, thanks.”
“I wondered what happened to you when you didn’t show up for dinner. I’ve never been stood up before.” He shook his head. “Kinda hurt my feelings.”
“I’m so sorry. I’ve been here all day. I’m starved.”
“Come on, let’s get something to eat.”
“No. You just sit tight until that crazy deputy gets back so you can clear my name.”
The front door of the building opened, and Deputy Dan stepped in.
Kasey knew she was in trouble now with the door to her cell wide open.
“Hey, Sheriff,” the deputy said.
Kasey looked at Scott in surprise. “Sheriff?”
Scott shrugged. “Would appear so, huh?”
She dropped to the chair.
He turned his attention back to his deputy. “Dan, let’s review the case back here.” Scott pushed open the door to the back of the building and Deputy Dan scrambled in behind him, apparently eager to please.
Kasey sat there, dumbfounded.
After a couple of minutes, Scott returned by himself. He headed straight for the cell and motioned for her to come out. She complied. Scott handed Ka
sey her purse and camera bag.
“Thanks.”
“I tore up the paperwork. I’m sorry. I was trying to help you. I sure didn’t mean for your day to turn out like this. Can I buy you dinner?”
She smiled. How many times was this guy going to rescue her today? “I am starved.”
He put his hand on her shoulder. “If it’s any consolation, your car’s fixed.”
She brightened. “Thanks. What do I owe you?”
Her response seemed to amuse him. “Oh, I think I'll still owe you before we’re even. Let’s grab some dinner.”
“I’m only driving if we take my car,” she said emphatically.
“How about we walk? There’s a great little place up the block.”
“Even better.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Kasey dabbed her lips with the paper napkin. “I’m going to bust. That was the best fried chicken I’ve ever had.”
Scott nodded. “Hope you saved room for dessert. Kay makes the best cobblers and seven-layer chocolate cake ever.”
“U-u-u-ugh! No way. I’ll have to take a rain check. I am beyond full.”
He leaned forward. “A rain check? That sounds promising.”
Scott was easy to be with. Small talk had turned into heart-to-heart sharing and laughter during the last hour. Of course, the biggest laugh was over her almost-arrest by his overzealous deputy, and he’d assured her that all the evidence had been destroyed.
She was glad to learn that the little four-cell jail was not the official holding area. That portion of the building was part of the National Register of Historical places. Deputy Dan had done her a favor by not putting her in the general population, which was down that hall. It was harder to forgive Deputy Dan, though.
Kasey and Scott made easy conversation. When she mentioned Nick’s accident, she was surprised to hear that he was familiar with the case.
“A lot of us helped out on that search. Even my Aunt Ida Claire. She came out of retirement to see if she could uncover anything.”
Kasey almost spit out her sweet tea. “I’m sorry. Did you say 'Aunt I declare'?”
He laughed. “Okay, well if you say it like that, it’s kind of funny. It’s Ida. Her middle name is Claire.”
The name tickled her. She started laughing and couldn’t stop.
