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The North Carolina state trooper stood next to my car at the driver’s side looking appropriately menacing. He frowned as I retrieved the requested documents, my license from my wallet and the car registration from the glove compartment.
He took both items and stalked back to his car. It had been six weeks since my encounter with Cyclone and no matter what I did, I couldn’t move past it. Probably because he’d been my first. He’d been the man to take my virginity and it had been glorious. Well, what I could remember of it anyway. Bits and pieces of the night came back to me in the ensuing days, and I’d come to four conclusions.
First, I was certain it had been the best night of my life thus far. Second, I wanted a repeat. Third, there was no way I was getting a repeat. Fourth, there was no way I could see Cyclone with one of the other women in the club. Or anyone else for that matter. Which all added up to me needing a break from Somerset.
“Do you know what the speed limit in this area is, ma’am?”
My attention snapped back to the problem at hand. Which was that North Carolina officer. “I…” I glanced at my GPS which indicated the speed limit on the interstate where we were. “Sixty?”
He scowled at me. “Please step out of the car.”
“What’s going on?”
“Please step out of the car,” he repeated, none too gently.
I swallowed hard and did as he ordered.
Once I was out, he shut my car door. “Turn around and face the vehicle. Put your hands on the hood.”
“I don’t understand what’s happening. Are you arresting me?” My heart pounded and I broke out in a sweat. Tears threatened and I wished like hell I’d called my mother while I’d waited on the officer to come back to the car. At least they’d know something was wrong.
“Ma’am, I clocked you doing ninety-eight miles an hour. My radar gun’s been calibrated recently, but even I found that hard to believe, so I paced you for over a mile to verify what I was seeing before I hit my lights.”
“I… ninety-eight?” My voice squeaked. Dear God. I was in so much trouble…
“That’s correct. Were you even paying attention to anything? I was right behind you, and you never let off the gas.”
When I just stared at him, he took my shoulder and spun me around before patting me down. Once done, he took my upper arm, urged me in the direction of his car, put me in the back seat, then started reading me my rights.
After that, things were kind of a blur. I have no idea if he shut my car off or got my purse and wallet or my phone. I wanted to cry, but I was too scared to do anything other than sit there in shock.
He got in the car and turned to face me. “If you’re running from something, you need to tell me now, ma’am. I’m not about punishing someone who’s trying to get away from a bad situation, but the speed you were driving isn’t safe for you or other drivers around you.”
“No,” I said quietly. “I didn’t realize I was going so fast.”
“You were nearly forty miles over the speed limit.” He looked as stern and cross as any cop would in his position. “I’m charging you with reckless driving. I’ll have your car towed. Once we get to the station, you can call someone to come get you and get the car out of impound.”
“I’m not from here, sir. I don’t have anyone to call.”
“Do you have family?”
“I do, but they’re all in Kentucky. I was, uh, on a trip.”
“Then you can call Kentucky once we get to the police station.”
“My phone is in my car with my wallet.”
“I’ll get your phone and your wallet. They’ll be checked at the station, but they’ll let you make a call.”
“How long will I have to stay there?”
“Until someone comes to pick you up. I’m sorry, ma’am, but I’m doing this for your own good. At seventy, I’d have given you a citation and let you go -- but ninety-eight? You’re going to get yourself killed. Or, worse, kill someone else. Do you understand?”
I blinked several times, trying not to cry. “Yes, sir.”
“Good. I’ll be right back.”
He went to my car, turned it off and put a tag on the driver’s door before he returned with my wallet, phone, and keys. After doing a quick inventory, he sealed it in a bag with my phone and my keys.
