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Come on, Gomer Pyle. Two plus two equals four.
“I heard Mayor Campbell cut the department’s annual budget last month.”
He pauses, narrowing his eyes at me. Irelease a breath when he turns off his body camera. “Nearly ten percent,” he gruffs.
Now we’re getting somewhere.“I’m not great at math, but I’m guessing that’s... what, about twelve million?”
He looks around as if someone might be watching, then shifts his weight and nods once. “Something like that.”
“That must be frustrating. Sixteen is my lucky number. Will I see you at the fundraising gala in a few weeks?” I smile.
The wheels in his head are turning, but it’s clear he’s conflicted. I wonder if Bryan bribed him to arrest me, and now I’m bribing him not to. Nah, knowing Bryan, he probably threatened and asked for a superior when he made the report of astolen vehicle. You catch more flies with honey.
I relax my shoulders. “Look, take the car. Impound it. I don’t care. But don’t arrest me, it’s unnecessary. This has been a huge waste of your time due to an angry ex-fiancé, and I apologize that it’s impacted your day. He can have the car. I’m happy to walk away from it. I think we can agree minimizing this traffic stop will be less paperwork for both of us.”
My heart is racing. I cannot get arrested. I will have a mental breakdown on the spot if this guy puts me in cuffs, and that’s probably what Bryan requested. He probably told them I was violent when he reported it stolen. He could have said anything he wanted about me. Thank God my family padded the budget for those new vehicles last year.
He’s studying me. My luck could go either way.
“I promise, I’m not a menace to society.” I give a small chuckle, trying to appear as least threatening as I can, as if to say, “What a gas! Can you believe this silly little mix-up we’ve found ourselves in?”
He nods. “Yeah, that’s fine.” He opens my door. “The department appreciates your donation, Ms. Landry.”
I grab my purse, and he hands me back my ID.
“I appreciate your discretion.”
“Can I drive you to the bus station?” He offers.
I’m not getting on a bus; I don’t even know how the public transportation system works. I’ll take a rideshare.
“I’ll walk. Do I leave the keys with you?”
“You can leave them in the car.”
“Fabulous.” I throw them on the floor of the vehicle and shut the door, stepping onto the sidewalk.
“Have an outstanding rest of your day, officer.” My response is dripping with sarcasm, but he lets me get away with it, and the side of his mouth tips up in a smirk. I’m sure he recognizes I’m having a bad day, but there’s nothing he can do about it.
“You too, Ms. Landry.” As I hoof it down the sidewalk, I find a bench and sit down. Pulling out my phone, I open the rideshare app. “Wonder if I can get my driver to stop at the liquor store first,” I say to myself.
A text message flashes across the screen.
Bryan: Ready to come home yet?
I pretend I didn’t see it and open the rideshare app to request a car.
Payment declined.What the fuck?
I switch the payment method.
JP Morgan Reserve. Declined.
AmEx Black. Declined.
Did he deactivate my cards? The problem with ultra-wealthy people is we don’t “have” money, because having money costs money. We have assets, liabilities, and commodities. Any transaction is done with an equity line of credit, a loan secured against a financial portfolio. As long asmy portfolio returns more than the interest on my credit, everything’s copacetic. The downside of this is rarely having any liquid money or cash.
This is ridiculous. As fast as I can, I open my banking app to check my finances.
