The Wright One

MIA

When I walked into the police station, I knew that my life was over. They all looked at me like I was a criminal. As soon as I gave the front desk my name, I was ushered into this room where I feel like I am going to be left for dead. There is a guard outside the door. The room is sterile. The only window is barred. The floor concrete, the table one of those solid gray ones that it bolted to the floor. My chair is the only thing that can move in this room and it is too heavy for me to lift.

I can still feel the vomit in my mouth. I feel gross. I haven’t showered. I am still wearing my clothes from last night. Worst I can still feel Brock’s hands on me. The very thought makes me want to vomit again. I can’t imagine spending days with that man. Or longer. I don’t know his plan. Or doing anything with him. He is vile sludge.

When the door opens the most attractive man I have ever seen in my life stands there. He has a badge strapped to his belt, so I know he is going to see what the rest of them see. His black shirt hugs his muscles. He’s wearing jeans, which is different from what I expected. I wonder if they just called this guy in, or if he is just not one for uniforms.

He smiles at me. “We have been looking all over for you, Mia. You look like you have had quite a bit of a night. Care to tell me about it?” He takes a seat across from me.

I take a deep breath, because I don’t want to lie, but the truth will separate me from Joseph. I have to do this for him. “I was involved in a robbery.”

“Care to explain?” He puts on a little recorder. “I am recording this for the record. I am here with Mia Ashbluff. She is telling me about the night’s events that happened on August twenty-fifth.”

I nod, swallow and try to stick to the story that Brock wants me to. “I was locking up, on my own. For some reason the security guard Gus never showed up for his shift. As soon as I reached the door to lock it, the door was pushed open and slammed into me. Two men in masks came in with guns.”

“How could you tell they were men?”

“They had gruff voices and no chest.”

He shrugs. “So they could have been gruff women with no chests?”

I shake my head confused. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Go on.”

I have to remember where I was in this story that I was telling. “Um, so they had guns. One guy held me while the other started collecting money. The tills weren’t cashed out yet, and the safe was unlocked because I was going to put the deposits in there after I locked the doors. They grabbed up all the money and then pulled me out with the bags of money. They put me in the trunk of their car and drove. I don’t know what their plan was at first. I was really scared. Then they stopped the car after a while and pulled me out of the trunk. They put a gun to my head and made me close my eyes. Said I needed to count to fifty, but after about twenty I heard the car pull away. I never saw who they were. I don’t know much about where they went. They dropped me off on the outside of the west side of town. I had to walk back in and all the way here. I am exhausted.”

“So you were out all night?”Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

“Yes.”

“Have you ever seen these men before?”

“I could have and not know it. They were covered. I only saw that they both had brown eyes and were white.”

“How could you tell?”

“There was white around their eyes, like their eyelids.” I rehearsed this story on the way here. I figured most of the town was white and brown eyes was really common. I wanted my story to be as believable as possible. Because the more they believed it, the more likely they were to let me go.

“Were they big men or short men?”

“Um, bigger than me.” I am rather short so I guess that doesn’t really mean much.

“What kind of car was it?”

“A black one?” I think that came out more as a question than a statement.

“Who is Brock?”

I can’t answer, I wasn’t expecting that question. “Um, who?”

“Brock.” He states plainly.

“You mean Brock Danford?”

“What can you tell me about him?”

Are they on to him already? Or does he know something else? “Well, he’s from our neighborhood. He’s kind of a big man. He knows a lot of people. He honestly doesn’t seem like someone that should still be in our neighborhood. He has a bit more money than the rest of us.”

“How do you know?”

“His house is better kept up. He has a new SUV. Flashy.”

“Do you talk with him? How well do you know him?”

“Um, not that well. I mean we have talked a few times, being in the same place does that. You know mundane stuff.”

He nods. “So, you didn’t chew him out for talking to your brother?”

Shit, who the hell told him that? “It was a misunderstanding. I thought he was trying to get my brother to ditch school. But he was just asking him if he needed a ride. I told him that my brother doesn’t need rides, because we don’t like handouts. That’s all.”

“But money is tight?”

“Well, sure, but isn’t it for everybody?”

He chuckles a little. “I suppose for some. I don’t usually have that problem, but that isn’t my fault.”

I have no idea what that means. I think he can tell by the way I am blinking at him. “My name is Detective William Wright.”

Oh, that makes a lot more sense. The Wrights are one of the richest families in the city. If not the richest. “Makes sense. I understand that I am in trouble, that you guys think I robbed the bank. But I’m telling you that I didn’t. What do we need to do next?”

“Well, I have a few more questions, then we are going to take your prints. We are going to want to eliminate your prints from the others in the building. Did anyone see you walking back into town?”

“No one that I know, but I keep to myself, I don’t know many people. No one talked to me though.”

“Ok, so is it usual for the security guard to report for duty at six?”

I have no idea what he is talking about. “Um, no. We are usually closing up at nine, but we wouldn’t have the guard come that late. We have another firm that watches the outside of the bank after closing. The evening is supposed to report around noon, then we have two guards until about three.”

“How well do you know Gus?”

“Not very. I mean he is new and he keeps to his side of the desk. He has asked me out a few times, but I’m not really interested in dating right now, so I always say no.”

“Well, I think that is all my questions right now. We are going to fingerprint you and then you can see your brother. I am going to talk to my lieutenant about getting you released.”

I look up at him with eyes blurry with tears. I was so sure that they were going to lock me up. “Really?”

“I don’t recommend leaving town, because unfortunately you are our top suspect, but we don’t have enough to hold you at that moment.”

I feel the disappointment returning. I want this over with. But then the thought returns, if I am still a suspect then I don’t have to return to Brock. “My brother is here?”

“Yeah, he was brought in a little while ago. He’s a good kid.”

I can’t hold back the tears anymore. “He’s ok?”

“Yeah, you’ll see him soon.”

He gives me a smile that melts my heart a little. Leaving me alone in the room to contemplate my next moves.