Ugh, Max’s laptop camera was on.
“He’s coming at you pretty strong,” the cop says to Trevor. “Accusing you of being a danger to society and a bunch of other stuff we won’t go into now. I’m afraid we don’t have a choice but to bring you down to the station.”
Trevor’s face drops and he looks completely defeated. Everything had been going so well. We were finally enjoying some peace together.
“But Max is lying!” I say as I shake the papers in my hand. “The guy that is pressing charges is a liar. Half of the stuff he is accusing on this paperwork isn’t even true. “
“That may be so, but until it gets sorted out, Trevor still needs to come with us.”
“It’s okay, Ava,” Trevor says as he tries to reassure me. “I’ll be okay, and it’ll all get straightened out.”
He leans over and gives me a kiss on the cheek before turning back to the police officers and putting his wrists out.
“Nah,” one of them says. “We don’t need to do that. You can just come in the car with us on your own.”
At least it helps that the cops already know him.
“I’m coming too,” I say.
“No,” Trevor says abruptly. “You stay here. There’s nothing you can do and I’d rather you be at home than sitting in the police station.”
“He’s right,” the officer says. “We can’t allow you to just wait there anyway. Trevor will be able to give you a call a little later on tonight. Once he’s booked, you can come visit.”
I nod my head in compliance, but I hate everything that is happening. I watch as Trevor gets into the back of the police cruiser and they pull away. As soon as they are out of sight, I go back inside the house and call Max. I amfurious.
“Hello?” Max’s voice says in a smooth and maniacal manner.
“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?” I say vehemently.
“Hi Ava,” he says as if he didn’t already have caller ID and just now realized that it was me on the other end of the phone. “I assume the police have already been there and that’s what I owe this phone call to?”
“Drop the charges, Max,” I hiss. “Half the stuff you said in that paperwork didn’t even happen.”
“Yes, but the other half of it did,” he says. “I’ll drop the charges, Ava, as soon as you return to Manhattan and to work. Same deal applies.”
“Not a chance in hell,” I spit into the phone receiver. I am not going to give into Max again. It obviously only makes things worse. This time I’m not backing down, and I sure as hell am not going back to working for him in the city.
“Then I guess we’re done here,” he says “Oh, but Ava, your career is going to be next.”
Max hangs up the phone before I can start to scream profanities at him. I don’t care what he tries to do to my career. I don’t even know if I want that career path anymore. I should have stood up for myself a long time ago, and no threat against my job is going to prevent me from doing it now. Max is even crazier than I thought he was—a super control freak with some serious issues of misguided power. None of it matters to me anymore, and I’m glad I don’t have to see his face again. The only thing that matters to me now is getting Trevor out of jail. Surely, since he knows the police here, and since he hasn’t really done anythingthatwrong (aside from giving Max a beating that he clearly deserved), he won’t have to stay at the precinct too long.
I don’t want to wait for Trevor to call or for visiting hours at the jail. I need to go see him and figure out what is going on. I grab a few necessities that I think he might need if he ends up having to stay the night, or even worse,multiplenights in jail. And I grab the paperwork that the cops had dropped off too. Then I head for the car and drive down to the jail.At least we were both here together,I tell myself. Everything will be fine.
8
Trevor
When Ava shows up at the jail, my first instinct is to tell her to turn right back around and go home. I don’t want her exposed to all the crap here at the police station, and it’s only going to make her more upset to be at the jail instead of at home. But when I see her walk in and hand some farm-fresh pies to the cops on duty, and even a few single-shot bottles of whiskey, I laugh.
She walks over to me after they let her on in.
“What’s up with the bribery of homemade pies and booze?” I tease. “Better be careful or you’ll start turning into a less-sophisticated country girl.”
She laughs and it is nice to see her smiling again.
“I think you’ve forgotten that Ididgrow up here too,” she says. “How are you holding up?”
“I haven’t been here that long at all yet,” I say. “So far, so good.”
