“I have no idea how else to help,” Liam said, and it was the amusement in his voice that pushed Ben over the edge.
“You’ve done enough already,” hesnapped. “More than enough. What the hell are you even doing here?”
“Have you been drinking, sir?” Laura demanded.
“Oh my God, Laura, enough with thesir! We went to school together forfourteen years! I used to take piano lessons from your mom and you hit me with a baseball bat in third grade—you knocked out two of my teeth!”
“They were baby teeth. And none of that answers my question aboutdrinking. Sir.”
“No, I haven’t been drinking! I was at work. Yeah, at the same school you and I spent so much time at together. I teach in the old eighth-grade classroom, the room where you and that blonde girl who was only here for a couple years—what was her name?”
“Stacey Martin?” Liam suggested.
“The room where you and Stacey Martin got caught drinking wine coolers before the spring dance.But, no,Idon’t drink in that classroom. That’s notmytrick.”
“Sir,” Laura started, and there was enough chill in her voice that Ben knew he needed to stop or he was going to end up in handcuffs. Not because he deserved it, just because he was dealing with Laura Doncaster. Well, also because he’d just sideswiped a police car for no good reason.
Except therehadbeen a good reason. Liam Marshall.
Liam fucking Marshall.
“Why are you here?” he demanded of Liam. At least he managed to squirm the rest of the way out of the car as he said it.
“I’m trying to help,” Liam said.
“Sir. Please pay attention. I will be administering a field sobriety test—”
“I’m notdrunk!”
“So you should have no problem with the test. Please look at this pen, sir. I’m going to move the pen and you need to—Ben!Pay attention! You need to follow the pen with your eyes.”
Well, at least she’d dropped the “sir,” although she picked it up again as she ran him through the other tests. Walking heel-to-toe, standing on one foot—all on Main Street with half the town staring at him. With Liam Marshall staring at him.
Ben tried to do his breathing, tried to bundle up his emotions and store them in an imaginaryglove box, tried to turn the stupid sobriety tests into mini meditations, focusing his awareness of the weight of his entire body on one foot, the way it shifted his muscles and changed his balance—
“Sir. Have you consumed any medications or other drugs today?”
“What the hell? I kicked ass on those tests, Laura. Don’t even try telling me I failed!”
“People don’t usually make that humming soundwhile performing the one-leg stand test. Not unless they’rehigh.”
“I was meditating!”
“Were youmeditatingwhen you ran into my cruiser?”
“No. I was—okay, obviously I messed up. And I don’t mean to sound—well, I guess mostly I don’t mean to sound drunk or high—but also I don’t mean to sound like it wasn’t a big deal that I ran into you. But it could have been a lot worse, right? If I’d hita pedestrian, or an old person—”
“If there had been kids in the car,” Liam contributed.
Ben scowled at him. “The point is, considering how bad my mistake was, this is actually a pretty good outcome. Can we try to focus on the positives?”
“The positives.”
“I sense you don’t want to focus on the positives. Okay, I can understand that. You’re the victim here. I got distracted. This is all myfault. Absolutely.” Except it wasn’tallhis fault, because he’d been a safe driver his entire life, and the only reason he’d messed up was thatLiam Marshallhad suddenly appeared where he had no damn reason to be. But that was something he’d worry about later. “What’s the next step? We’re kind of blocking the street.” Not that there was much traffic in North Falls, even on Main Street. “Do weneed to take photographs or something, or can we just—”
“Sir. Please, let the professionals handle this.” Laura glowered at him. “Please step to the side of the thoroughfare and wait. I have already radioed for backup and for the assistance of mechanical operators.” She turned to Liam. “And can you stick around as well? We’re going to need a witness statement.”
“Sure,” Liam agreed easily. Ofcourse it was easy forhim.
