It wasn’t until he was done that Audra realized she had been holding her breath. Now she released it in one long, quivering exhalation.
Then she heard the crying coming from her car, higher and higher, nearing hysterical. ‘My children,’ she said.
‘Don’t worry about them,’ Whiteside said, and he guided her to the back of his cruiser. He opened the passenger-side door. ‘Watch your head.’
He placed a hand on top of her scalp, pressed down, guided her inside.
‘Feet,’ he said.
Audra wondered what he meant for a moment before she understood, then she lifted her feet into the cruiser. He slammed the door shut, and the world seemed suddenly hushed.
‘Oh God,’ she said, and she could hold back the tears no longer. ‘Oh God.’
Panic rattled inside her mind, inside her chest, promising to drive out all reason if she did not get it under control. She forced herself to breathe in deep through her nose, hold it, breathe out through her mouth, the tip of her tongue pressed to the back of her teeth. The relaxation exercise she’d learned when she was getting clean. Focus on the now, find something with your eyes, concentrate on that until the world levels off.
Through the cage that separated the cruiser’s backseat from the front, she saw a two-inch tear in the seam of the leather-upholstered headrest. She stared at that, breathing, in, hold, out, in, hold, out.
In her peripheral vision, she saw Whiteside move to the back of the cruiser, then heard the trunk open and close again. He went to the front, lifted the baggie full of marijuana from the hood, dropped it into a brown envelope, did the same with the scraps of tissue and change she’d taken from her pockets. She returned her gaze to the tear in the headrest, refocused on her breathing. The passenger door opened, and Whiteside tossed the two envelopes onto the seat before bending down to peer in at her.
‘You got family nearby?’
‘No,’ Audra said.
‘Anyone can come pick up the kids for you?’
‘I have a friend,’ she said. ‘In California. San Diego.’
‘Well, that don’t help us much right now, does it? What about their father? Where’s he at?’
‘New York. We’re not together anymore.’
Whiteside exhaled through pursed lips, disappeared in thought for a few moments, and then nodded, a decision made. He reached for the radio handset on the dashboard.
‘Collins, you out there?’ He remained still for a moment, his head cocked, listening. ‘Collins, where are you?’
A crackle, then a woman’s voice. ‘I’m out on the Gisela Road, sir. What do you need?’
‘I’m on the County Road, right by the Silver Water turnoff,’ he said. ‘I just made an arrest for possession. I got two kids in the suspect’s car, so I’m going to need you to take care of them, all right? And see if you can get a hold of Emmet. I need a tow out here.’
Silence for a few seconds before Whiteside spoke again.
‘Collins?’
‘Yeah.’
‘You think you can get hold of Emmet for me?’
Another pause, and Whiteside moistened his lips.
‘Collins? Yes or no?’
‘Will do,’ the woman said. ‘Give me five, ten minutes.’
Whiteside thanked her and put the handset back into its cradle. He looked back to Audra and said, ‘All right. Now we just sit tight and wait awhile.’
Through the open door, Audra heard Louise’s wailing, cutting through the simmering panic in her mind.
‘Listen,’ she said. ‘My children are crying. I can’t leave them there.’
He sighed, then said, ‘All right. I’ll go see to them.’
‘Wait, can I—’
The door slammed closed, rocking the car on its suspension. As she watched him stroll toward her station wagon, Audra said a silent prayer.
4
SEAN WATCHED THROUGH the open trunk hatch as the big man approached. Louise squealed, clutching Gogo tight. The bundle of stuffing and pink rag that had once been a rabbit still had two eyes, but barely.
‘Shut up,’ Sean said. ‘Mom said everything’s going to be all right. So just be quiet, okay?’
No good. She kept crying, even louder when the big policeman slammed the trunk closed. He came around to Sean’s door and opened it, hunkered down there so he was eye level with both of them.
‘You kids doing all right here?’
‘What’s happening?’ Sean asked.
The policeman wiped a hand across his mouth. ‘Well, I can’t lie to you, son. Your mom’s in a little bit of trouble.’
‘But she didn’t do anything.’
Sheriff Whiteside – Sean read his nametag – took off his mirrored sunglasses, showing his gray eyes. And something there frightened Sean to the very core of him, scared him so bad it made his bladder ache and itch for release.
‘Well, see, that’s the thing,’ Whiteside said. ‘She had something in the trunk there that she shouldn’t have. Something illegal. Now I have to take her into town, so we can have a talk about it. But I promise you, everything’s going to be all right.’
‘What did she have?’ Sean asked.
The sheriff gave a weak smile. ‘Something she shouldn’t. That’s all. Everything’s going to be all right.’
Now Whiteside let his gaze travel around the car, crawling over Sean and Louise, and Sean could almost feel the eyes on him, picking over his skin. The sheriff raised himself a little so he could get a better look at Louise, studied the length of her from her head all the way down her body, her legs, to her feet. He nodded, and his tongue appeared between his lips, wet them, and retreated.
‘Everything’s going to be all right,’ he said again. ‘Now here’s what’s going to happen. Like I said, I need to take your mom into town and have a talk with her, but I can’t leave you out here all alone. So my colleague, Deputy Collins, is going to come out here and take you somewhere safe to look after you.’
Louise gave a high whine. ‘Are we going to jail?’
Whiteside smiled, but the look that frightened Sean lingered in his eyes. ‘No, sweetheart. You’re not going to jail. Deputy Collins is going to take you to a safe place.’
‘Where?’ Sean asked.
‘A safe place. You don’t need to worry about it. Everything’s going to be all right.’
‘Can I take Gogo?’ Louise asked.
‘Sure you can, sweetheart. Deputy Collins will be here in just a minute, and everything will be all right.’
‘You keep saying that.’
Whiteside looked at Sean, his smile fading. ‘What?’
Then Sean realized what bothered him about the sheriff’s eyes.
‘You keep saying everything’s going to be all right. But you look scared.’
Whiteside blinked, and his smile hardened. ‘I’m not scared, son. I just want both of you to know you’re safe. Deputy Collins is going to take good care of you. Your mom and me, we’ll have this figured out in no time, and you can all go home. Hey, you didn’t tell me your names.’
Sean closed his mouth.
Whiteside looked to Louise, whose wailing had subsided to hitches and sniffles. ‘What’s your name, sweetheart?’
‘Louise.’
‘And what’s your brother’s name?’
‘Sean.’
‘Good names,’ Whiteside said, smiling big enough to show his teeth. ‘Where you from?’
‘New York,’ Louise said.
‘New York,’ he echoed. ‘That right? Well, you’re a long way from home.’
‘We’re moving to California,’ Louise said.
‘Shut up,’ Sean said. ‘We don’t have to tell him anything.’
Whiteside gave a single laugh. ‘The young lady can talk to me if she wants to.’
Sean turned to him, gave him a hard stare. ‘I saw it on TV. We don’t have to tell you anything at all.’
The sheriff turned back to Louise. ‘Your big brother’s a smart boy. I think he’s going to be a lawyer some day, what do you think?’
Louise hugged Gogo tight. ‘Don’t know.’
‘Well, we’re just talking, passing the time, right? Like people do. And I just wanted to make sure you kids were all right. You both got water there?’
Louise lifted her bottle, showed him. Sean stared straight ahead.
‘Well, drink up. It’s hot out here. Don’t want you getting dehydrated.’
Louise took a long swallow. Sean did not.
A rumble from somewhere outside, and the sheriff looked along the road.