Trouble (2 page)

“
So you had no idea you were there
to rob a bank?” Constable Heron asked as he took down notes. I
hoped he wasn’t writing what a loser I was.

“
None at all. I swear, all he told
me was that he needed to go to the bank. I had no idea what he was
planning.”

They seemed to be thinking it over for an
interminably long amount of time. I wanted to scream with the
absurdity of it all.

Finally, Sergeant Stone spoke. “How long have
known Mr. Barnett?”

“
About a year.”

“
And he’s never done anything like
this before?”

“
Never.” Which was technically a
lie. I knew Ryan stole a car once, but that was a bit different
from the contents of an entire bank. “I didn’t even know he needed
money that badly.”

“
Your licenses have the same
address. You live with Mr. Barnett?” I nodded and she leaned
forward. “Do you really expect me to believe you live with a guy
and don’t have any idea what his finances are? Or that he’s
planning on committing a felony offense?”

“
No idea. I guess I had my love
blinkers on.” They were real things, right? The stupid things that
made you overlook every annoying detail about someone because of
that horrible fluttering you got in your stomach? They had to be
real.

They both stared at me, I tried to look
innocent. It wasn’t exactly difficult considering I
was
innocent and all.

Constable Heron leaned forward, addressing me.
“A few of the eye witnesses said you waved a gun at them. Do you
want to explain that?”

“
I didn’t wave a gun at them. The
damn thing was heavy so I put my arm down. There was no waving of
any kind.”

Sergeant Stone seemed to be warming slightly
to me. “Your record shows you’ve never been in trouble with the
police before. You don’t even have an outstanding parking ticket.
So, tell me, how does a seemingly normal woman with a steady job,
get involved with a criminal?”

“
He hasn’t done anything like this
before, I didn’t know he was capable of it.”

“
You don’t know of his history?”
She seemed somewhat surprised. She wasn’t the only one.

“
I have no idea what you’re
talking about,” I said honestly. Was she implying Ryan had a past I
didn’t know about? Knowing my luck, I shouldn’t have been
shocked.

She pulled open a thick file on the table
between us. “Assault, robbery, grand theft, larceny, public
intoxication, and my favourite, public urination. Quite a rap sheet
for a good guy.”

Who the hell had I been dating? “I didn’t know
about any of those.”

“
You’re in luck, I believe you.
But it still doesn’t change the fact you were involved in an armed
robbery and you held a gun. You’re still going to be charged,”
Sergeant Stone finished.

I just nodded my head, accepting whatever was
going to come at me. Perhaps it would be a good story to tell my
grandchildren one day. Not so much of a good story to tell my
parents that day, however.

CHAPTER 2

“
D
o
you understand these conditions?”

“
Yes, I do,” I replied and took
the sheet of bail conditions. I folded the papers and shoved them
in my handbag. At least I was going home. I may have had to hand
over my life savings to do so, but it beat staring at the four
walls of the cell any longer.

“
You okay, honey?” Shayla patted
me on the back as we left.

“
I think I’m going to break up
with Ryan,” I sighed. She laughed nervously, not sure whether I was
joking or not. Of course I was going to break up with the loser. I
think all the mystery from a relationship goes when you know their
criminal history.

“
You
think
? Tess, I seriously worry about you. Maybe
you should take a leaf out of your-” I cut her off before she could
compare me to my perfect sister – again. Lily could do no wrong,
I’ve been reminded of that fact for my entire
life.

“
Don’t say it,” I warned. “If Lily
lived more, maybe she wouldn’t be so stuck up. Besides, I thought
you were on my side.”

“
I am, honey, I am.”

I didn’t argue as we drove to Shayla’s house.
I was exhausted, completely over my whole jail experience. I guess
I could tick that off the bucket list: get arrested,
check.

The only way I slept that night was being able
to imagine Ryan sleeping in his cell. I hoped nobody went to bail
him out like Shayla had done for me. He deserved to have some
thinking time. He needed it.

When morning came around, I realized I needed
to get moving. If I got to our apartment early enough, I might have
been able to clear out my stuff before Ryan got there. There was no
point in sticking around for a big break up scene, I couldn’t be
bothered to deal with it.

Shayla drove me around with some boxes and we
got to packing. I generally tried not to have much stuff. Things
and possessions got in the way of a speedy exit. They weighed you
down. So it didn’t take long to pack my clothes and the items I
considered mine. I’d paid for almost everything in the apartment,
but I didn’t need reminders of Ryan. The criminal record would be
enough to commemorate our time together.

“
Got everything?” Shayla asked as
we closed the last box with tape.

I looked around. I had barely made a dent in
the place. Ryan probably wouldn’t even notice I had left. But there
was one thing missing that I really wanted to take. “My jewelry
isn’t here.”

“
Have you checked
everywhere?”

I nodded and opened my jewelry box again. It
was still empty. I had looked everywhere, the bathroom, dresser
drawers, behind the lounge cushions, everywhere. “They’re not
here.”

Coming to the same realization, we both said
one word: “Ryan.”

Shayla had to get to work so I was on my own
for the rest of the day. My next stop was the county jail. Being
set up for armed robbery was one thing, but
stealing
from me? That was in a whole new
ballgame. Especially when they were my grandmother’s pieces. Their
value was more sentimental than dollar, I had to get them
back.

“
Weren’t you released?” Constable
Lucas Heron smiled as he greeted me. He had the deepest dimples in
his cheeks I had ever seen.

“
I need to see Ryan
Barnett.”

“
Your co-accused?”

“
My ex-boyfriend,” I wasn’t going
to be tricked into incriminating myself. Was that even legal? “Can
I see him, please?”

Those dimples made another appearance. “Sure,
come on through.”

Constable Heron led me through to a visiting
area. A few tables were bolted to the floor, along with their
seats. It wasn’t exactly a romantic rendezvous point.

I waited for prisoner one-nine-three-four to
join me. I found some satisfaction in hearing him referred to as a
number. I knew I shouldn’t. Weren’t we in bed together less than
forty-eight hours ago? I should have felt ashamed but I couldn’t
conjure the emotion.

Finally, Ryan sat across from me. He was
wearing prison-issued orange with his hands cuffed together. Good.
He needed to be taught a lesson.

“
Have you come to bail me
out?”

I wasn’t sure if I had heard right.
“What?”

“
I need someone to bail me out of
here. Have you got the money?”

If the guard wasn’t standing less than three
feet away, I would have slapped him right across the face. It took
all my resolve not to.

“
I’m not here to bail you out,
Ryan. You deserve to rot in here forever for what you did to me.
Did you even tell the police I was innocent?”

At least he had the sense to look guilty, he
started fiddling with his cuffs. “My lawyer told me to blame
you.”

“
Well I hope you told him that you
wouldn’t?”

His eye started twitching, I knew what that
meant. So Ryan was going to use me as his scapegoat. Oh my God, I
could pick them. Only the most upstanding gentlemen for
me.

“
Ryan! Tell them the truth, I had
nothing to do with the damn robbery.”

“
I told my lawyer that,” he said
earnestly. His eyes flicked to mine. They were still gorgeous, and
now he had that whole bad boy thing going for him. I needed to get
out of there.

“
Look, whatever, I’m sure my
lawyer will have something to say about that.” Note to self: hire a
lawyer. “I came to find my jewelry. It wasn’t in the apartment,
what did you do with it?”

“
What makes you think I did
anything with your stupid jewelry?”

“
Look around, Ryan, you’re in
jail. You tried to rob a bank, don’t pretend you’re
innocent.”

He put his hands in his lap and I knew I had
him. I expected a full confession at any moment. He glanced at the
guard, was he worried about being overheard or hopeful he would
come to his defense if I got violent? I guess I’ll never
know.

“
I pawned them.”

I refused to lunge across the table like I was
on a reality show. I just nodded, like a lady. “Where?”

“
Siegfried’s over on Twelfth
Street.”

I didn’t say another word, just stood and
stared him down. Perhaps a nunnery would be a good place for me.
Jesus couldn’t hurt me, right?

Ryan seemed to panic as I was leaving. He
yelled after me. “So are you going to bail me out or
what?”

I kept walking.

CHAPTER 3

I
got the dreaded
phone call while I was standing in line at Siegfried’s Pawn Shop.
“Calm down, Mom. I know you’re upset but I didn’t realize I was
robbing a bank. Ryan left that piece of information out of our
plans for the day.”

“
You’ve disgraced our entire
family. All the ladies at my charity league keep looking at me like
I’ve raised a serial killer,” Mom’s voice was getting more
high-pitched the longer she went on. “You were on the
news
.”

I rolled my eyes, grateful I didn’t have a
video phone. “I’m sorry, Mom. I don’t have a time machine so I
can’t go back and fix it. All I can do is apologize.”

I couldn’t hear it, but I knew she was
sighing. Really, she should have expected something like this one
day. I was no Lily. I was always making mistakes, this was just
another one in a long line. She should have been immune to my
embarrassment-inducing incidents by now.

She ranted for another five minutes while I
stood in line. Finally, I had to interrupt her. “I’ve got to do,
I’m being served.”

“
Served with what? Court
papers?”

I cut her off before she could start a whole
new wave of lecturing. “No, at the store, I’m being served. I’ll
call you later.” I wouldn’t, but she didn’t have to know
that.

“
Can I help you?” The counter
assistance asked me. He had one of those horribly thin and creepy
moustaches. The kind reserved for pimps and silent movie actors. I
didn’t want to guess which one he was.

I explained about my jewelry. “Can I get them
back? I’ll pay whatever is owed on them.”

“
Do you have the ticket?” He
leaned on the counter with just one elbow. It was kind of sleazy, I
think I knew which moustache guy he was.

“
No, I don’t.”

“
No ticket, no items. Next.” He
looked behind me, calling up the woman standing too close to my
back for comfort. She stepped up, nudging me as she did.

“
No,” I protested. “I need my
jewelry. Please, I can tell you exactly what they look like. They
were stolen from me.”

“
Then get the police report,” his
moustache twitched at me. “And then come back. Next.”

He moved onto the pushy woman. I left the
pawnshop, empty handed. I tried to recall if I saw a ticket at the
apartment. I didn’t even know what it was supposed to look like.
Knowing Ryan, he probably lost it. I’m sure he had no intention of
actually getting my jewelry back. Especially not when he had to rob
a bank for cash.

Perhaps the cash was to get my jewelry back?
Nah, he wouldn’t be that thoughtful. I doubt he ever gave them a
second thought once he had the cash in his grimy hands.

As I walked the block to my car, I heard
someone calling my name. At first I thought it might just be
echoing in my head like a conscience to torture me but I recognized
the voice so I knew it couldn’t be that.

I turned around and was face to face with
Rueben. I think he was mistake number four. “Hey, Rueben, how’re
you doing? It’s been a while.”

“
It has been. I saw you on the
news this morning, you’re really making headlines. Nice mug shot,”
his voice was joking but I’m sure it was just an act. Reuben spent
his entire life enjoying the misery of others so he could tell
himself he wasn’t the weasel he really was. It took me five months
to figure that out.