Beautiful Bounty(7)

She felt as if the weight of all that concrete was pressing down upon her, that and the thoughts of facing jail time, long jail time, if her court appointed attorney’s comments were accurate. He told her she could be looking at ten to twenty years for the amount of drugs hidden in her scuba gear.

Ugh, her thoughts returned to Gary. What had Gary been thinking? Drugs. She had no idea. She, who was usually so perceptive. A lot of drugs! What the hell could he have wanted with all those drugs?

And she knew it was him too. He had given himself away when the cops at the Tampa Bay Port Authority had come for her. Their friends, who accompanied them on this trip, had disembarked earlier from the cruise ship. They were leaving directly for the airport, while she and Gary had been going to stay with her mom for a few days, and then drive to Maine together for her graduation.

They had been in a large room, waiting for their luggage, when the police approached. Several of the passengers remarked on such a great number of officers all together and she heard the crowd begin to speculate. When she turned to look for Gary, she didn’t see him immediately. When she turned back to the police they were already upon her.

“Veronica Louise Sears?” one officer inquired.

“Yes,” she answered tremulously. She looked around for Gary again and saw him off in the distance, approaching the exit doors with his suitcase. He looked at her and shook his head, his eyes boring into her. She turned back to the police “My boyfriend . . .” she pointed.

“Is not our concern,” the officer stated and turned her away from him. “You are under arrest for smuggling drugs into the United States of America.” And that’s when she knew it was Gary, and he left her holding the proverbial bag. But why had he done that, her mind screamed.

“Won’t be much longer,” the deputy muttered looking at her watch. Ronnie was brought out of her thoughts. “These things are pretty quick,” she added.

Informative, wasn’t she, Ronnie thought sarcastically. The long walk had been done in complete silence and now she wanted to be chatty. Stoic. Polite. The note tight in her hand, damp from perspiration. Ronnie wondered why the deputy gave her that information and gave her a perplexed look. She hadn’t expressed any signs of sympathy before.

“I could tell you’re a first timer; you look nervous, and you keep looking at everything like it’s the first time you’ve seen it.” Hmm, she might be light duty, but the cop had good instinct and was on her toes. Ronnie nodded, letting the cop know her assumption was correct, smiled demurely and swallowed the lump in her throat at the first sign of empathy she had been given be anyone other than her mother since this nightmare started.

Her hand fisted the note. God, she was nervous. She had no idea what to expect next. The internal clock was ticking. Her mom’s last words to her yesterday replayed in her head. “Just a hearing, baby. We’ll figure everything out once you’re home.” Ronnie shook her head. Her poor mother, what she must be going through. She never wanted to disappoint her, ever again. Her mother sacrificed so much for her, and now this.

She looked up at the deputy who was still watching her. “How much longer do you think?” Ronnie asked nervously.

“Maybe five minutes. Hearings don’t take long.” Just as she finished saying that, the door opened and Wanda was back.

“No bail?” asked Deputy Morrison.

“Not today,” the other deputy replied while Wanda remained silent. “Judge Hitchcock seems a bit grumpy today; Wanda ain’t got that kind of money. Ain’t that right, Wanda?” she stated as she pulled her along.

“10 G’s for car theft. He’s crazy!” Wanda responded. “It was my boyfriend; I didn’t even steal the damn car.”

“Well, it was your second time around,” her guard chastised.

“Yeah, I know, but I ain’t no drug smuggler for god sakes,” she laughed, smirking at Ronnie. Ronnie clamped her mouth shut. Her breakfast almost came up. “Let’s get you back to your cell now. They’ll be coming around for showers soon.”

Ronnie’s eyes widened in shock at Wanda’s remark. Had she heard something in the Courtroom?

As if reading her mind when the guard and Wanda began to pass, she threw out over her shoulder, “Courtroom’s pretty full, Blondie, and I heard the newsies talking. Big story, lots of press, college graduate, drug smuggler. Good luck.”

And with her words fading, echoing down the corridor, the metal box squawked. “The State of Florida vs. Veronica Louise Sears.” She was up. The nightmare was almost over, or had it just begun?