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“Oh, yeah? And I bet you only picked it up so you could return it for the recycling deposit, right?”
“Come on. Yeah, I wanted the beer, but I didn’t steal it.”
The kid’s hands were clenched into tight fists, making the black dots tatted onto his knuckles stand out.
“All right, Thomas. I have no choice but to get in touch with the D.A., then.” He cut his eyes to the door and Simone followed him out.
“Let me try alone,” Simone said as soon as the door closed.
Luke shrugged. “If you think it’ll make a difference.”
“He keeps eyeing my stomach with an odd look.”
“An odd look like he’s schizophrenic and he thinks the baby’s plotting to jump out and get him?”
Her mouth flattened. “Luke.”
“All right, as long as you think it’s safe.”
Simone went back in, and Luke motioned a uniform to the door before he slipped into the room next door to watch Simone on the monitor.
“Where’s your friend?” Thomas sneered.
“He’s on the phone with the district attorney, discussing your case.”
The boy slouched lower, snorting in false arrogance, but just as Simone had said, his eyes slid down to her abdomen and paused. Simone put her hand to her stomach and let it rest there.
Thomas’s chin jerked toward her. “My girlfriend’s pregnant.” Even over the tinny sound of the monitor, Luke could hear past his bravado to the vulnerability beneath.
“How far along is she?” Simone asked.
“Six months.”
“Have you felt the baby move yet?”
He cracked a smile. “Yeah.”
Simone slipped into a chair, but she kept her hand on the round bulge of her belly. “You look excited,” she said. “Proud.”
“We’re gonna get married as soon as I can find an apartment.”
Her smile disappeared. “But not if you’re in jail.”
“Shit.” He kicked the empty chair, and Luke started to rise, but the chair only shifted a few inches. He was frustrated, not threatening.
“We’re trying to help you.”
“I didn’t do it! I swear to God, I had nothing to do with it. Look, I’d turn over anyone’s name I could if it’d help me, but I can’t. I found it in an alley, just like I said.”
“When did you find it?” Simone asked.
“This morning. I told you already. I was driving behind some apartments checking for stuff people had thrown. Furniture and shit, you know? Stuff for the baby.”
“What’s the address?”
He rolled his eyes. “Crap, I don’t know. It was those apartments on Sixteenth, off of Pearl.”
Simone raised an eyebrow. “Those apartments have security cameras, Thomas. We’ll check them, you know.”
