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I smile. “I’ll pick you up in twenty minutes, Nova.”
She sighs. “You better come in there with me. If she starts talking crap, I can’t be trusted not to jump over the table and choke her.”
I laugh.
Nova doesn’t.
I swallow hard. In a more serious tone, I promise, “I’ll make sure you don’t commit any felonies.”
* * *
It’smy first time in an interrogation room, although it’s not my first time in a police station.
I’ve been arrested once. In college, I got dared to walk naked in the park and spent a night in jail for public indecency, but that’s about the extent of my run-ins with the law.
It’s strange to beinthe room I’ve only seen onLaw & Orderepisodes and legal thriller movies. I almost want to smash my hand on the table and yell ‘you can’t handle the truth’.
But that would be foolish.
And inaccurate. Jack Nicholson was in a courtroom, not an interrogation room, during that scene inA Few Good Men.
The air is silent and still. I shudder from the cold, but I’m not sure if it’s due to the air conditioner or the frosty looks shooting out of Lyra’s eyes.
Nova’s sister is sitting across from us, her hands cuffed and her body shrouded in an orange jumpsuit. It’s a far cry from her usual, tight-fitting outfits.
“Why’d you bring him?” Her lips curl into a dark scowl. She points at me.
Nova ignores the question. “What do you want, Lyra? Why aren’t you working with your lawyer?”
“I want to talk to you alone.”
Nova checks her watch. “Fine. We’ll both leave.”
Lyra’s jaw drops.
Nova stands up. “My time is worth a lot, but Adam’s is worth three times more. You can’t afford to waste it.”
“You smug little rat.” Lyra’s grin is dark. “You always have to be right, don’t you?”
Nova sits back down. “Beggars can’t be choosers, Lyra. Get to the point before I change my mind and drag Adam out of here.”
“Adam, Adam, Adam. Are you so obsessed with this white man that you’d abandon your own family?”
I don’t flinch.
But Nova turns into a tigress. “Listen here, Lyra.” She smacks her hand on the table, her tone harder than granite. “This coldness that I’m showing you? It didn’t happen overnight. It took trusting you over and over again and getting slapped in the face every time to get to this point. I learned my lesson, but mom didn’t and it sent her to the grave early.”
Lyra rolls her eyes. “I knew you blamed me for that. Mom died because it was her time.”
“She died because you refused to take responsibility and kept making the same mistakes over and over without learning a damn thing from them.” Nova’s trembling slightly.
Under the table, I slip my hand into hers. She curls her fingers around mine and sucks in a deep breath.
“I don’t care about the past.” Lyra turns her head to the side. “Just tell the police this is all a misunderstanding and get me out of here. I can’t have another strike on my record.”
Lyra folds her arms over her chest and lifts her chin obnoxiously. She fully expects Nova to fix her problems. The entitlement is astounding and I begin to see why Nova would rather avoid her.
“I thought I was a witch and a rat and a sell-out?”
