If the cops have body cams on, we're screwed. There'll be pictures of us hung up everywhere. Ransom. After I finish making sure Athena isn't taken and locked up, she whispers to me.
"You see that cop over there? That's the same guy I shot on the shoulder back in the tree alley. His name's Cole. He's the one that took down Conner. You wanted a chance to kill him, take it."
She isn’t daring me. Her hatred is directed towards him. She wants me to do it. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do it myself,” she adds.
My finger freezes on the trigger. Before I can do anything, a man tackles me from behind. I see everyone racing out of the fight, but I'm surrounded. They turn around to try to rescue me. That is, until Jedrek races forward and gets handcuffed too. Hugo pulls Athena and they run to Apollo and Zac. Two guns are fired in their direction, but they’re more focused on keeping Jedrek and me captured.
I focus on the cop, reciting an overly rehearsed speech of my rights. Jedrek looks towards me and tries to mouth something, but I can't understand what he's saying. I space out again and try to understand his words. No luck.
I snap back to reality by the cop clearing his throat. "Your name, ma'am?"
I can't lie about my name. The cop will figure out my scheme soon enough. I try to move my hands near my jeans, but they’re behind my back. "Donatella Orman,” I mumble.
"Excuse me?"
This time, I bark. "Donatella Abbot Orman." I eye him up and down and scowl.
"Watch your tone, young lady," he says. “I hate you”, I think to myself.
I watch everyone make distance as Jedrek and I get slammed into two separate cop cars. My hands are handcuffed behind me and the cop shoves my head down to tell me to crouch when entering. The seats are leather and surprisingly nice, or they would be if they weren't covered in unrecognizable stains.
In front of me, two officers begin talking into the radio. "We believe we caught two of the fugitives with Conner Findlay. Lopi’s with me and one of the fugitives who claims to be Donatella Abbot Orman… but we might have to look into some files."
"I'm not a dangerous criminal. And I'm not a liar," I mumble under my breath.
"Honeybunch," 'Lopi' says with a western accent. "You need to sit quiet and still, all right?" She speaks slowly. Her high-pitched, nasal voice scrapes into my brain.
“We are cops and you have been caught, all right? You assaulted a cop, all right?”
What are the chances I make it out alive if I jump out through the window right now?
“And you look like one of them, ‘Yuma Rebels’. We ain't gonna let you go so soon, honey, so get used to it." Although she used to just sound annoying, now she’s deliberately being rude.
"Yuma Rebels?"
"Well, we have adapted to the use of old-style body cams on uniforms," she replies dreamily. The other shoots her a look to tell her to be quiet.
"Well, point is, we have all of y'all's pictures. People have been looking everywhere for you! Dangerous group, and we caught the two of y'all." She whips her hair from a low ponytail around to strike my face. It’s unnervingly red, dry, and frizzy.
"You have beautiful hair," I smile. "What color dye is that?" I mean it as an insult, but she takes the question literally.
"Bright cherry red, sweet pea."
The rest of the ride is pure silence. I arrive at the police station and it's already dark out. Jedrek is sat next to me, and we each have two guards supervising us. "This security level is insane. We're teenagers!" he complains.
"Yeah, you're just wasting your resources," I add on.
They just ignore us, and a man with a clipboard approaches, whispering something to the cop next to him.
"Donatella Orman, please come with me."
I’m taken into a room where I am handcuffed to a metal ring in the middle of a table. It's dark and a bit eerie, with a large mirror on the wall facing me. There are noticeable beige and black cameras on every upper corner of the room. "I've checked your files, and you are who you say you are."
He looks at me, waiting for a response, but I just stare at him. I told you so.
“Well, you seem to have had a very difficult life, so I am about to make it easier."
"I doubt it," I say without thinking.
His eyes tell me to watch it. "I'm about to make you an offer. An offer you can't refuse, really," he says with a grin. For a second, I feel a sliver of hope. "Tell me where your friends are right now, and their names, and you go off into a Witness Protection Program. Nice house in Florida, with immunity from all of your previous offenses."
"I don't have any previous offenses. And I don't know where they are. They sometimes move fast, slow, or not at all."
"Well, you must know their names. How often they usually travel, and which way they're heading."
I stand up out of my chair and slam my hands on the table, leaning forward into him. "I don’t know where they are," I reiterate.
I do know where they are. They were heading to a small village somewhere. I got stuck reading Hugo’s map while we moved to the gas station. He had to help Emma with Apollo.
He takes a deep breath and sighs. "All right, this is your last chance. Do you want to be freed or not? You'll go to trial if you don't tell me what I want to know right now."
I sit down. A trial against TTSICA is basically just a death sentence. But I can't let the team down. The cop smirks, as if he's positive he’s already won. I tilt my head to the side, interlock my fingers, and whisper, "You're the big man here. Figure it out yourself."
"I'm taking you to trial, missy!" He yanks me up from the table and unlocks me out. He drags me back to the waiting room, where Jedrek immediately shoots him. I can't help but contain a laugh as I watch Jedrek, holding two guns up to two helpless cops, with a pair of guns stuffed in his pockets as well. My face turns into a huge grin as he clicks his tongue and winks at me, throwing me one.
Three cops come rushing into the room, gun in hand. Jedrek puts his back against mine to "I'm behind you! Go!" We stand back to back, both our guns cocked and loaded, him watching out while I lead the way.
Outside, I yell, while hopping up and down in panic, "Jedrek, we need to find the others."
"Don't just stand here; run!"
"What if we run the wrong way?" He dazes off. "Jedrek!" I snap to get his attention.
"The cars. The cop cars. Let's take the cop cars."
A troop starts running out of the building. It’s our best shot. The cars are parked on the far end of the station, so we don’t bother going back to back. There’s no way we’ll outrun them on a rushed walk. I get there before Jedrek and try hopelessly to tug on the handle. Turning the safety on, I knock the back of the gun against the window, making an alarm blare. The glass shards fall on the seat and on my hand, but I reach through the window to unlock the car from the inside. I just manage to brush off the glass and get the other door open as Jedrek pants in.
"What are you doing, Donna? Drive!" He scolds.
"The key," I say between huffs. "The key... I need the key..." Shifting through what seems like a million drawers, my vision looks blurry and I taste blood. I groan.
"Wait," he's breathing heavily as well. "Do you still have Hugo's exact-o knife? Try that."
"You’ll break it."
"They're catching up! Just give it to me." Jedrek jams the knife into the slot. Hard. He twists it, and the car lights up.
"I can't believe that worked!" I stare down in amazement at the lit shift gear, the knobs and buttons in the front seat of the expensive car I never thought I'd be in.
Jedrek turns around in his seat. "They're getting into the cars. Go. Now." I slam on what I think is the accelerator, but it's really the brakes. The car shifts forward then stops. "It's the other one, Donna! Don't you know how to drive?"
I kick Jedrek in the shin. "I'm learning!" I step on the real accelerator and watch as the bright white on red mileage count rises. Jedrek presses a button that makes loud, annoying sirens go off. The sound pounds against my head as the cops behind us have their sirens on too.
One of them comes over through a speaker in the car near the steering wheel. "What you're doing is illegal. Surrender immediately.”
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