The âGet Out of Jail Freeâ Card
Her sneakers were dirty around the toes. May scuffed them along the smooth tile floor, just barely grazing it and causing an unpleasant little squeak that made her flinch belatedly. Her eyes were fighting to stay open. The building was slightly warm from the summer heat.
Above her, the flourescent lights built into the ceiling buzzed, like cicadas humming from far away. It was a nearly calming noise, white and fuzzy in her head.
Her head snapped up from where it had hung towards the ground. For an inane second, she had the mental image of a little puppet on a string suddenly snapping to with a single tug. She stood up, out of the chair across from the receptionistâs window, with a tired little blink.
âHeâs coming out now.â
The jaunty music that suddenly blared through the second bedroom was followed, after a few moments, by a muffled swear. It continued to play undeterred, looping nearly perfectly.
I am gonna make it through this year, if it kills me!
I am gonna make it through thiâ
There was a fumble, a groan, and then, blearily, May held the phone to her ear. Her voice was heavy with sleep as she spoke.
âAm I speaking to May Sparrow?â
She rubbed the crumbs from her eyes, still prone, still half-unconscious. The bedroom was mostly dark, save for the little glow stars that were pasted on the walls. âThis is she. Whoâs speaking?â
âI apologize for the early hour. This is the county police department, calling on behalf of a Jack Niemand.â
Unseen, the girl made a face in the darkâa confused scowl, her eyes pinched up in a squint. âWho?â
âMr. Niemand has noted you as his emergency contact, stating your relationship as both residents of 3, Tesla Drive.â
A beat, then two. And thenâ
âOh, him,â May said, a touch irritably. âYeah, um, I know him. Whatâs going on?â
âMr. Niemand was apprehended this morning and put into temporary custody at the county police office for overnight holding. Heâs requested you come and pick him up.â
She dropped the phone. It landed oh so kindly onto the side of her head and slipped onto the pillow. There was a squeak of displeasure and surprise as she picked it back up, and its screen flashed brightly in her eyes. She squinted, grimacing.
âWhat time is it?â she asked, to no one in particular.
2:41 am, her phone told her. She swore quietly, pushing herself up into a sitting position.
âGod, Iâm gonna kill him.â
Then she blinked, and sheepishly glanced at her phone again.
âYou, uh. You didnât hear that.â
âFrankly, miss,â the tired voice on the other side of the line said, âI donât blame you.â
She stood by the receptionistâs window, holding herself up on the little platform that jutted from it as she waited. There was something quite disheveled about her appearance, from her sleepy blinks to her mussed hair.
Sheâd gotten over most of her annoyance on the fly to the station, but May was never the happiest when awoken suddenly. Sparrows were, after all, morning creatures more often than nocturnal ones.
She turned to the receptionistâs window suddenly as a thought occurred to her. âNâ theyâll give him his stuff back before he comes out?â
The woman behind the glass looked equally as happy to be awake as May felt at the moment, but she, at least, looked a good bit more put together. That was probably due to the very large mug full of dark coffee that she could see on the desk, sitting beside the little fan that spun fast as it could.
She nodded, and then glanced back to an area May couldnât see, before pressing a button built into the desk.
There was a loud buzzing noise, and the sound of a metal bolt unclickingâand then another buzz. Her wince was a second or two late, as, finally, the thick door that led deeper into the building, opened.
It wasnât a big police station. This kind of cookie-cutter building could just as easily have been used as a government office, or a jail, and the straight square rooms and plain cinderblock walls were as ugly as they were functional. The corridor they walked him down from the cells was comically short, the cell itself had been maybe a quarter of the size of the garage at 1, Tesla Drive.
Kass said nothing as the officer on duty handed him his coat and a gallon ziplock with the few effects theyâd confiscated hanging in a heavy lump at the bottom. No sooner had the words âYou have the right to remain silent,â left the arresting officerâs mouth, than heâd shut up tighter than a bear trap and let out nothing aside from the purpose. The most heâd said had been Mayâs number, her address. The rest heâd said had been very, very very careful lies.
Frank was in the bag, he could tell by the weight. He stuffed the bulk of it into his pocket with his better hand and narrowed his eyes against the savage buzz of the security door as the attending officer herded him through it. Christ on a bicycle, he needed a smoke.