I stood close to the bars. “I need to talk to Chief Rivera. I have to explain this to her.” I didn’t want to be stuck in here. “Jack, come on.”
“The chief is busy.” He shifted as Norm said something from the main office; for a minute, I thought he was going to leave me in here.
“What about the Chevelle?” I said. “The Chevelle is at the motel.”
“It’ll be impounded for now,” Jack said.
“Impounded? But—Busterholds the impounded cars. At the junkyard.”
“Yeah,” Jack said.
I swallowed.
“My dad could go get it. Has anyone called him? He was sleeping. He could run over there with my sister and get it. Please, Jack, you have to call him.”
“They can pick it up from the junkyard later.”
“No—no, Jack, please—Buster will destroy it—”
Norm said something else. Jack walked away to answer him, and the door slid smoothly shut. The lock clicked. I was alone.
Ludwig wants me dead,I thought. Now he had me somewhere I couldn’t escape. Why not make it look like I’d killed myself by setting the police station on fire? That would be rebelliousness up my alley, right? Fire, fire everywhere. Fire for everyone, including me. That was the truth for Addamsville. I was a firestarter. I would go down in flames.
I didn’t sleep that night. The phone rang off the hook for the first few hours, then stopped. I only knew it was morning when the light outside the small hallway window brightened. They’d taken my jacket, and my phone and the Chevelle’skeys, the only two things I’d had on me, so I didn’t know what time it was until Dad and Sadie arrived.
Chief Rivera was the one who let them in. The expressions on their faces were unreadable, and as soon as I saw them, fear clenched in my stomach. They could get trapped here as easily as I was, and they wouldn’t know until it was too late.
Dad looked at my hand, my arm, my face. Sadie just stared at the floor.
“What happened?” Dad asked.
I opened my mouth to answer, then stopped. Even Dad had a limit to how much bullshit he was willing to listen to, and I had lied to him last night. I glanced at Chief Rivera. There was no way she would take this as anything other than me either losing my mind or building a fantasy world.
“I didn’t do it” was all I could say. “He framed me; all I wanted was the memory card back. I didn’t do it; I swear I didn’t.”
My insides had started shaking again. They wouldn’t believe me this time. This was too much. I’d built this wall, and now I had to live on my side of it, alone.
But then Dad took my hands from the bars, both of them, carefully, and held them in his.
“Someone’s been calling Harrisburg trying to get their police involved, too. Sadie has to go to work, but I’ll see what I can find out, and later I’ll go speak to them myself.”
“You don’t have to do that—the Harrisburg cops—the prison—”
He kissed the back of my right hand. “No one’s gonna take my girl away. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here for you before. I’m sorry I made such a mess and left you in it. I’m here for you now.”
Sadie stepped up beside him. “Don’t say anything more than you already have, okay? We’re going to try to get a lawyer.”
“We can’t afford a lawyer.”
“We’re going to try!” she snapped. “This is serious, Zora!”
“I know it is!”
“Stop it, both of you!” Dad said. Both of us shut out mouths immediately. “This is not the time to argue. Zoo, we’re not going to let you stay in here for long. I promise. I love you. Sadie, let’s get going; you can’t be late for work.”
Dad let go of my hands. As they left, Sadie paused for a second to grab my fingertips. “I love you, too,” she said quietly.
Then they were gone. The phone was ringing in the main office again, and I was alone.
