With two hands, I busted through both police station doors and scowled at the young officer sitting behind the front desk. It wasn’t until two years ago the city had the funds to even afford a night shift. Before that we relied on the local county officers to patrol the city in the evenings.
“Mr. Kensington, what brings you here at this late hour,” the officer said, righting his posture in his chair and trying to look official. His words only made him sound like he watched too much British crime TV.
I took a deep breath, trying my best to remind myself my anger wasn’t with this person in particular but with someone he held behind the doors I saw directly to his right.
“I’m here to collect Katy.” Since her cousin didn’t.
The officer’s eyes widened, and he pinched his lips together before opening them to speak. “Oh. I’m sorry, sir. Detective Anderson said she needs to sit a while.”
He did what? I almost lost my cool and yelled, but as a Kensington, I had an image to protect in the city. I refused to let Katy’s stupid decisions ruin it. I could yell at her all night after I had her safely tucked inside my house.
“Did he?” I asked through gritted teeth.
The officer nodded. “He said she needs to think about her actions.”
It’d been a long night and apparently wasn’t going to end anytime soon, but I couldn’t blame being tired on losing my cool in that moment. “She’s not a fucking kindergartner, and I don’t give a fuck what he says. I don’t answer to Anderson. Take me to her.”
Fear flashed in his eyes. Genuine fear and I couldn’t help but smile. Ridge wasn’t the only person in this town to get things done with a poor attitude and commanding no-nonsense tone.
“Of course, right this way.” He rolled his chair back and led me through the thick solid metal door to the tiny jail of Pelican Bay.
There, in the second cell in the corner of the room Katy sat on the small cot they made available for people to sleep off a night of debauchery. The blanket and pillow sat folded on the end and she’d placed herself on the floor with her back bent over in the small space. Upon hearing us, a small scraping sound I didn’t notice until it ended and then she turned around and shot to her feet hiding something white behind her back.
“What the fuck, Katy?” No way had we caught this woman trying to dig herself out of a jail cell, one with thick concrete blocks, using only a plastic spoon. I had to be seeing things. Lack of sleep.
But it was Katy, so of course we did.
She didn’t look contrite, but seeing the jig was up, placed both her hands in front of her, giving us a full view of the broken off spoon. “They put me in the cell I don’t like because the view is atrocious. I was escaping.”
As I said. Something was wrong with her. Neurons in her brain fired incorrectly. It was the only explanation.
I turned back to the officer. “Leave us.”
He hesitated for a moment. “I need to report she tried to escape.”
Katy sighed so loudly it echoed through the empty room. “Bradley, it’s a plastic spoon,” her words were full of annoyance, which only ticked me off more. How did she think she got away with this shit?
“Why, Katy?” I asked the question I’d asked myself since fifth grade whenever she found herself in one of these situations.
She shrugged. “The pudding cup was shit too, but you gotta begin somewhere. I figured I could get a head start on it now so the next time I’m here it would go faster. It will probably take a while to dig myself out with a plastic spoon.”
I gently rested my head on one of the lead bars separating the two of us and used the moment to gather strength. The giant warning bell going off in my brain said I’d need it.
“I don’t know what about that statement concerns me more. That it sounds like you honestly expect to dig yourself out with a spoon or that you are admitting you expect to find yourself here again.”
At times I questioned my sanity when dealing with her. A sane person would’ve hightailed it to New York years ago, but for whatever reason I refused to go. And that meant we were dancing to the same song on repeat.
It was late and my exhaustion compounded in the moment. I had a long day ahead of me, and in that moment, I just wanted to get home and crawl into bed. Pretend this wasn’t my life now.
“What would you like me to do,” Bradley asked as if I was the chief of police. Hell, he’d make a better chief.
“Let her out.”
He stepped one foot closer but then stopped. “Sir?”
I banged my head against the bar lightly. “Let her out or I’ll have your badge.” The words were quiet but left no room for doubt. I had enough power in this town that I could have him fired by breakfast.
The jail keys dangled from his hand, and he slipped one in the lock, releasing the door with a grinding sound. Katy stepped out all smiles. How did she look so radiant at the late hour while coming out of a jail?
