And Then She Was Gone(75)
“Actually, I didn’t know hookers did that, Jack. But you seem to know all about it.” Vargas muttered under his breath, “Like a pimp.”
“No. I gave her money, but she was panhandling. She wanted a burger so I dropped a couple of bucks on a bench.”
“Ha!” Vargas laughed. “You’ve got a smooth answer for everything, and it always has a ‘Saint Jack’ feel to it. ‘I wasn’t stealing. I was really rescuing a little old lady’s purse.’ ‘Why, no, Officer, I did give the hooker money, but just so she could get something to eat, and I got no sexual favors in return. My only reward was her happiness.’ Ha!”
Vargas laughed, and even the other cop chuckled.
Jack felt the anger rising in him. He tried to push it down. “Detective Vargas, I can explain. I—”
“Save it, Stratton. I’m done hearing your lies and fairy tales. I’ve seen your type before. You’re nothing but trash that needs to be locked away.” He walked over and yanked open the door. To the policeman he said, “Bring him out to the holding bench and stay with him. I’ve got to go check a few things.” Then he glared at Jack. “Better get used to incarceration, Stratton. You’ll be joining your friend in the Bay soon enough.”
22
Aunt Haddie to the Rescue
Jack sat on a wooden bench in the police station, waiting to be charged. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Police officers went about their day.
The sound of Aunt Haddie’s voice made Jack sit up straight.
Oh no.
Aunt Haddie was standing at the front desk. Luckily she hadn’t seen Jack yet, as he was seated off to one side.
Behind the desk was the old police sergeant, Brian Gibson. Brian had a weathered, dark-brown face, cocoa-brown eyes with a friendly sparkle, and a small smile set permanently beneath his white mustache. And beside Brian stood a poised, trim woman in a dark-blue suit. She stood with her shoulders squared and her arms relaxed and folded in front of her. A small American flag was pinned to her lapel.
“He tackled an undercover officer,” the woman was saying. Jack recognized the woman by her voice: Superintendent Finney. She seemed unaware that Jack was within earshot. Either that, or she didn’t care.
“Who he thought was attacking a woman,” Aunt Haddie explained. “Michelle saw the whole thing. If this Detective Vargas insists on going down that path, I want to file a formal complaint against the police department for putting Michelle and Jack in harm’s way.”
Brian’s bushy white eyebrows arched high as he looked down at Aunt Haddie. “Haddie, don’t you think that’s going a little far?”
Aunt Haddie bristled. “The police obviously did not properly identify themselves, or Jack would never have confused the policeman for a threat. And I would think that someone would have kept children away from that situation.”
The superintendent gave the slightest nod, conceding the point.
Aunt Haddie continued. “What if something had gone wrong? Weren’t there other policemen there to keep these kids safe?”
Brian smoothed the corners of his mustache and glanced over at Superintendent Finney. “Several.”
“If this made the papers,” Haddie said, “wouldn’t this be a black eye on the Fairfield Police Department?”
“Mrs. Williams.” The superintendent’s voice was calm and even. “I do appreciate your concern and bringing this information to light.” She turned to Brian. “Please wait with Mrs. Williams, Sergeant.” Her carefully crafted neutral expression remained in place, but as the superintendent turned around, Jack saw her blue eyes blaze like pilot lights. She headed straight to Detective Vargas’s office and closed the door.
“I’m the one who involved Jack in this whole situation,” Aunt Haddie said, laying a hand on Brian’s arm. “Blame me. But please don’t take it out on Jack. Do you know tomorrow marks eleven years ago that they brought him here?”
“I remember. When the kid figured out he couldn’t go back to his mom, he went ballistic and tried to escape. It was like someone let a rabid raccoon loose. He almost made it out the door.” Brian grinned crookedly. “I think half the cops wanted to open the door and let him go.”
“But you managed to calm him down.”
“Me?” Brian chuckled. “I managed to lure him into an office with a sandwich, that’s all. You’re the only one who could calm him down.”
Superintendent Finney stepped back out of Vargas’s office and beckoned Brian over to her. Although Jack couldn’t hear what was said, it was obvious that what followed was a one-way conversation: the superintendent spoke and Brian listened. When Finney was done, she abruptly turned back into Vargas’s office.