“Umm, like ten grand, I think, but I’m not sure?”
“What is the account number?”
“I don’t know.”
“So, let me summarize: you think you have a bank account and that someone spent all the money in it, but you’re not sure.”
“That’s right.”
“Hey, Mike, you hear this? This lady said she feels like she should have money and wants to report it.”
At that moment, Max walks in smelling like a coffee shop and Old Spice. “Hey how’s it going? Wrapping up here?”
“Totally. Let’s roll.” No point in dragging this out more.
“That’s great news! You have an address and money and everything then?”
I shake my head. “I’m not sure about the address, but—”
Max’s nerdy dad side comes out. “Kumar, could you tell us what address you have on file?”
“As soon as you come back with the police—”
“They have JP’s address,” I lie. Max doesn’t need to know that I can’t pay him. Maybe he’s staying around for more than money, but maybe not. Regardless, I can’t afford to lose him.
But Max isn’t dumb. He can fill in the blanks. “Why do they need a police report?”
“Uh…” I can’t tell him that I need a search warrant to look at the bank records so…“I’m going to report my assault. Can you believe I didn’t do that earlier?”
He smacks himself in the forehead. “I guess I just assumed you had.”
Max is the only thing I have going for me. I can’t lose him. It’s just a little lie. Or two or three little lies. I’ll straighten it all out as soon as I file that police report. I’ll have money and everything will be fine.
Still, I can’t believe I just threw a bag of cash on the ground. God hates me.
34Or maybe I just have issues with money?
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
The closest police station is downtown in a big, official building, right across from the courthouse and a Starbucks. We park two blocks away. It looks nice but it smells like pee and the smell of weed is looouuud. As we approach the courthouse, there are more people who are obviously lawyers and fewer people who obviously peed on the side of a building in the last twenty-four hours.
I need some way to get rid of Max while I file this report. He doesn’t need to know I’m broke. Maybe his first paycheck will be a little delayed, but I’ll figure something out. Which means I need an errand…
“Max, while I’m filing this report, will you run an errand for me?”
I scramble for ideas. He’s very thoughtful so I bet he’d be happy to pop on down to the drug store to get some headachemedicine. The coffee shop is too close so it would only take a minute.
“Sure. Let’s divide and conquer,” he says.
Not sure where I’m going with it, I say, “We passed a library a few blocks back…”
“Genius. I bet a librarian will have some great ideas for how to research some of these issues.”
Not. But Max is really cute so I’m like, “Great, you talk to a librarian and I’ll talk to the cops. We’ll compare notes after.”
Librarian versus cop—he doesn’t even notice that sounds funny. I wave and watch him walk down the street toward the library.
