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Tristan took out his phone and brought up the video he wanted. He handed the phone to Mary Beth. After Miss Bauman left his office, he’d gone to the pharmacy where the supposed theft had occurred. There was a small jewelry and makeup section, and he’d reviewed the security feed for that area. Sure enough, there was Melissa, slipping the earrings into her purse.
He kept his attention on Melissa as she watched the video with her mother. The blood drained from her face, then she eyed the door. She was going to run. He moved to block her escape.
“Why, Mel?” her mother said as tears streamed down her face.
“Because I wanted them.” She shrugged as if wanting a pair of earrings meant it was okay to steal them.
“Then ask me for them.”
Melissa rolled her eyes. “Like I’m going to ask you for money. You already work two jobs and still have trouble keeping the lights on.”
Standing in front of the door, Tristan pulled his handcuffs from their pouch. Fear filled Melissa’s eyes as she stared at them. “I’m going to give you two choices, Melissa. The first is a trip to the Juvenile Detention Center where you’ll wait for a judge to pass down your sentence. The second is that you’ll spend two hours a day after school working for Miss Bauman. Do you know who she is?”
“She’s that old woman from the library. Why would I want to work for her? She hates kids.”
“Two reasons. The most important one, if you agree, it will mean you won’t be making a trip to the detention center today. The other reason, she’s going to pay you. That means you’ll have money to buy the things you want instead of stealing them.”
“I have to help mom with my brothers after school.”
“You come home from school, close yourself up in your room, and don’t lift a finger to help, so that excuse doesn’t fly,” Mary Beth said. She glanced between him and Skye. “She does have to be home at night to watch her brothers, but in between my two jobs, I’m here in the afternoons. She’s free to work for Mrs. Bauman.” She put her arm around her daughter. “Do you want to go to juvie?”
Melissa shook her head.
“I guess you only have one choice then,” her mother said.
When they stood to leave, Skye whispered something in Melissa’s ear.
“Thanks for coming with me,” Tristan said as they drove away.
“No problem. I’m glad I could help.”
“What did you whisper to her?”
“I told her I really liked the earrings on her, but that she’d feel a lot better wearing them if she went back to the store and paid for them.”
“Did you ever steal anything when you were a kid?” He hadn’t because he knew if he got caught, his aunt would skin his hide. She’d also threatened to stand him and his brothers in front of any store they stole from with a sign around their neck announcing their thievery. He hadn’t doubted for one minute that she meant it.
“I almost did once. David Rhodes was my first crush, and he liked me back. A few weeks before Christmas he hinted that he’d gotten me something. When I told my mother I wanted to get him a present, she refused. She didn’t think a thirteen-year-old girl had any business giving a boy a Christmas present. Can you imagine how embarrassing it would be for him to give me something and he got nothing from me?”
“Horribly embarrassing,” he said, thoroughly amused by her story. “So you tried to steal him a present?”
“I did, a pocketknife. And I could have gotten away with it, even had the little knife hidden in my hand, no one the wiser.”
“What stopped you?”
“I was halfway to the exit when it hit me that if I walked out those doors, I would officially be a thief. I didn’t like the idea of that, so I put it back.”
“What did your David Rhodes give you?”
She laughed. “Nothing. A week before Christmas, he decided he liked Emily Henderson better. He gave her a bottle of perfume.”
“Your perfume?”
“No doubt.”
“If I ever buy you perfume, I promise not to give it to another girl.”
She turned her face to the window, but he didn’t miss her smile.
