Theo’s face flashed in my mind, and I turned my head. I didn’t want to see him. Of all the times Mark and Cleo’s phones would be off, it had to be today. I had no one else.
“Miss?”
The only other person I knew to call was Rosemary, so I give them her number before going to sleep.
12:05 a.m.
“Ms. Ford, your boyfriend is here to pick you up,” the guard said, opening the door. As I sat up, I ran my hands through my hair, trying to adjust my eyes to the light.
Wait.
“Boyfriend?”
“Yes. Come, let’s go.” She linked arms with me, helping me up.
My body felt heavy, but I followed her, limping because my legs were so sore. When we got to the front of the station, a few police officers shook their heads at me as I went by. I saw Theo, his face hard, devoid of all emotion, signing his name. I hated how he looked up at me with so much sadness in his eyes.
“I asked for Rosemary,” I murmured.
“She’s in Hawaii. So she called me.”
One of the officers handed me back a bag. In it were my earrings, the shirt around my waist that must have fallen off, and a watch.
“Is that all?” Theo asked the older man behind the corner.
The man nodded. “Yeah. Just go. And lady, please get some help. You can’t come into a police station and start yelling.”
“Sorry,” I said in shame, hugging the bag to my chest.
Theo tried to reach for my hand, but I pulled away. He led me out the double doors and into the waiting car. Nolan gave me a polite nod in the rearview mirror.
I rested my head against the window, seeing his reflect in the glass. He didn’t try to touch me. He didn’t say anything at all. Instead, he stayed on his side, pulling off his tie, leaning back in his seat.
I couldn’t take the silence, though. God only knew what he thought of me. “Thank you for coming. If you had to pay bail, I’ll work to pay you—”
“Why did you go to the police station?” He cut me off, finally turning to look at me.
“I figured they would able to pull up juvie records.”
He sighed softly. “But you never went to juvie, Felicity.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that!” I yelled. “I went to Nidorf Juvenile Detention Center when I was sixteen. I met Cleo Owens there the following year. When she was released, her cousin Mark took us in.”
Nolan up front. “Nolan, when you came to pick me up the first time, I was on the balcony. Mark was the man who called down to you and said I’d be ready in a few minutes. You said ‘Yes sir!’ You saw him, don’t you remember?”
His eyes met Theo’s in the rearview mirror before looking at me.
“Ma’am, the only person I saw that night was you. You asked for twenty minutes then changed your mind and asked for half an hour. I said, ‘Yes, certainly,’ not ‘Yes, sir.’”
I backed into my seat, shaking my head. “You said you knew I worked at the diner because of Facebook. My profile picture is of me and Cleo.”
He pulled out his smartphone and held it up. There we were, Cleo and me. Her hair had been purple when that photo was taken.
“See!” I pointed to her arms wrapped around my neck with the camera in our faces. “That’s us! She has purple hair! It’s Cleo.”
“Felicity, I want you to close your eyes and take a deep breath. I’m going to show you another photo.” He took the phone and swiped it before giving it back to me. “Is Cleo in this one?”
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and looked. “I took this before Cleo jumped into the frame—”