Chapter 2

“Hold up.” Elvira stepped in front of the cop, blocking his path. “I know for a fact Mercedes Garlucci was in the restroom, which means there’s no way she could’ve tossed the beer bottle at you.”

“You need to get your eyesight checked. When I turned around, she was holding a bottle and looking right at me.”

“Because it whizzed past my head. I ducked. You got hit. End of story,” Mercedes said.

“Did you see her throw the bottle?”

“I didn’t have to.” The cop’s eyes flashed with anger. “Step aside.”

Elvira pretended not to hear. “You should take a look at the bar’s surveillance recordings. I’m sure you’ll find you have the wrong person.”

The cop pushed Elvira aside. “I plan to. In the meantime, Ms. Garlucci can have a seat in the back of my patrol car.”

Elvira trailed behind them. “You better be one hundred percent sure because she can sue you for false arrest.”

“Elvira.” Mercedes shook her head. Something told her the veiled threat wouldn’t help the situation. “As soon as he sees the video cameras, he’ll know it wasn’t me.”

“I suggest you beat it before I find a reason to arrest you too,” he warned.

“Arrest me?” Elvira squared her shoulders. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You’re harassing me and impeding an investigation.”

“That’s a crock.” Elvira placed her hands on her hips. “I’m the one who suggested you view the surveillance cameras, a reasonable suggestion you should have thought of yourself.”

Mercedes knew the exact moment her neighbor’s snarky comment crossed the line by the look on the cop’s face. Without saying another word, he placed her in the back of his patrol car.

He grabbed another set of handcuffs from his glove box and cuffed Elvira.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting a blabbermouth nuisance out of my hair.”

“Y-you can’t arrest me,” Elvira stammered. “I wasn’t anywhere near the incident. I was on the other side of the bar.”

“Which is where you should have stayed.” Mr. Aggravated Officer read both women their rights before shoving Elvira down on the seat and slamming the door.

Through the side window, Mercedes watched him walk over to another cop. He motioned in their direction before heading back inside.

“Great. Here I was trying to help you out and now I’m in the same boat,” Elvira grumbled.

“It was a no-win situation, I’m afraid.” Mercedes shifted to a slightly more comfortable position. “I wonder what happened to Cool Bones.”

“The cops swarmed the place like they were taking down a terrorist.” Elvira winced. “The jerk put the cuffs on too tight. They’re pinching my skin.”

“I’m sorry you got involved,” Mercedes apologized. “This is all a huge misunderstanding. As soon as he finds out I wasn’t the person who threw the bottle, he’ll let us go.”

“The bar has crappy lighting. There was a lot of action, which means there’s a chance the cameras didn’t catch the person who clunked him in the head.”

“If not, I’ll have to give Tony a call to bail me out.”

“Ack.” Elvira made a honking sound. “Not gonna happen.”

“Why not?”

“It’s the weekend. The cops can hold you for up to 72 hours. You’ll be sitting in a cell until you can go before a judge. Based on my past experience, this won’t happen until Monday. Assaulting an officer is a serious offense.”

Mercedes’ eyes widened. “Locked up all weekend?”

“I’ve been in the holding area of the downtown jail. It ain’t pretty and it smells disgusting.”

“Unfortunately, so have I. I don’t remember it being awful, but then it passed by in a blur.” Mercedes bit her lower lip. “Maybe Sam can pull some strings.”

“On-again, off-again boyfriend Sam?” Elvira asked. “I thought you two were off again.”

“We’re kinda back on. I’m sure he can help.” Mercedes grew quiet, mulling over their predicament. If Elvira claimed the jail was rough, it was probably ten times worse.

Long moments passed. One by one, the officers returned to their vehicles and drove off. Luigi, Dernice and Autumn appeared. Luigi was the first to notice them. He glanced over his shoulder and strolled to the back of the cop car.

Dernice joined him and began motioning with her hands.

Elvira struggled to read their lips. “What are they saying?”

“I don’t know,” Mercedes said. “I can’t hear. These cop car windows are airtight.”

“Consisting of ballistic glass or bulletproof windows in layman’s terms. They’re well sealed, by design, making it hard to hear,” Elvira said.

“Where’s the door handle?” Mercedes twisted to the side, fumbling for the door handle.

Elvira snorted. “There aren’t any door handles in the back of a cop car.”

The officer who had arrested them reappeared. He strolled over and had a word with their friends, who were still standing nearby.

Luigi motioned to them and then toward the building. All the while, the cop shook his head. Finally, reluctantly, they left.

“Uh-oh,” Mercedes said. “They’re leaving. Not a good sign.”

“Nope.”

The cop opened the driver’s side door and climbed in.

“Well?” Elvira asked. “You’re gonna let us go, right?”

“The video cameras show the beer bottle coming from the direction Ms. Garlucci was standing. It’s my determination she assaulted me and needs to be punished for it.”

“This is all a big mistake,” Mercedes insisted. “Sam Ivey, my boyfriend, can vouch for me.”

“Who is Sam Ivey?”

“Must be a newbie,” Elvira whispered under her breath.

The cop’s head whipped around. “Did you call me a name?”

“I would never call an upstanding law enforcement official a derogatory name.”

“I think you did. I was going to let you go, but I’m fed up with you running your mouth. A little time behind bars will give you time to think before you speak.”

Elvira muttered something unintelligible under her breath and made some unhappy sounds.

Their trip to the police station was uneventful. The next hour passed by in a blur. The body search. The fingerprinting. The mugshot. During the booking process, Mercedes’ purse and phone were confiscated.

She could hear Elvira down the hall whining and complaining, and she almost felt sorry for whoever was booking her.

Swapping out her clothes for a jail uniform was the last straw. Mercedes gritted her teeth, fighting back angry tears. Would she have a permanent record? Surely, striking an officer wasn’t a felony—or was it? But then, she wasn’t the person who hit him.

She thought about the time she and Autumn had been arrested after the death of a local news reporter. Being locked up was no picnic, but she didn’t remember it smelling horrible.

What if the judge didn’t believe her? What if he charged her with a crime she didn’t commit? As far as Mercedes knew, she didn’t have a record. Although she had been involved in a few questionable incidents, most recently involving the death of Sam’s ex.

No matter how hard they tried, it seemed the Garlucci family was never far from criminal activity.

Mercedes went through the motions, walking alongside the guard to the end of the long hall, through the metal door, into another hall lined with jail cells.

It was all coming back to her. Elvira was right. It smelled bad. Like urine mingled with body odor. The guard opened the door on the right and motioned Mercedes into the holding cell.

She cast a furtive glance around the room. Old. Young. Bored. Agitated. Tired. The female occupants covered the spectrum of humanity. Most barely looked her way, all dealing with their own misery.

Mercedes found an empty bunk near the hall and perched on the edge.

A woman sporting cropped brown locks, in her late thirties, if she had to guess, sauntered over. She plopped down next to Mercedes, a little too close for comfort.

Mercedes moved away.

“What are you in for?”

“Assault. What about you?”

“Drug trafficking. You got any connections?”

“For what?”

“Drugs.”

“Nope.” Mercedes rested her elbows on her legs.

“Who did you assault? Your old man?”

“No.”

“Not very chatty, are you?”

“This isn’t my idea of a good time. So, yeah. Maybe I’m not feeling too talkative.”

“You assault a kid? Cuz we don’t take kindly to abusing kids around here,” Cropped said.

“It was a cop.”

“A cop?” Cropped burst out laughing. “Good luck with that one.”

“I didn’t do it.”

“Yeah, and I’m Mother Teresa.”

“Seriously. Anyway, I’m not in the mood for company.”

“Suit yourself.” Cropped slowly stood and walked away. She huddled with a couple of other women. They looked Mercedes way and started laughing.

She slumped on the bed, slid her hands behind her head, and closed her eyes. Two days in jail. Maybe not two, but if Elvira’s statement was true, it would be a day and a half.

There was no sense in calling anyone. Dernice, Luigi, and Autumn would let Pete and Carlita know what had happened. Maybe Sam could pull some strings and get her out. Either way, it was shaping up to be a long night.

“Mercedes!”

Mercedes bolted upright at the familiar voice. It was Elvira. Elvira was nearby.

“Over here.”

Swinging her legs over the side of the bunk, she peered into the adjacent cell.

Elvira stood in the corner, crooking her finger.

Mercedes trudged over. “Hey, Elvira.”

“Did you make your allotted call?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because Dernice, Luigi, and Autumn will let everyone know what happened. If they can’t get me out of here, there’s no sense in bothering them this late at night.”

“I called Dernice. She wanted to know if we’d seen Cool Bones. You see him?”

Mercedes shook her head. “No. Did you?”

“Nope. And I doubt we’re going to. He’s being held in another area. You’re never gonna guess what they arrested him for.”