Page 2 of Whispers of Redemption

“Do you mind?” Cassie said, holding up one hand to block the beam of light. In response, he lowered the flashlight, and Cassie tried to see his face. But in the darkness, it was nothing but a portrait of shadowed angles.

The area of Lakeshore Drive on which they stood, ran alongside an expansive section of beach near the state park, and there were no streetlights. That was one reason why it was so popular with the area’s street racing crowd. Not that the small town of Whispering Pines had the sort of racing community that larger cities had.

“I don’t know about street racing, but my sister and I were just out for a drive,” Ani said, “and we...uh, decided to stop and take a sunset walk on the beach. But then I twisted my ankle.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, miss,” said Officer Garcia. “Would you like us to call an ambulance? They’ll take you to the Whispering Pines Hospital to get it checked out.”

“No!” Cassie and Ani responded in unison.

Cassie could see the two officers exchange a look, and her lips compressed. “We’re fine,” she said tightly. “I just need to make sure Ani gets home safe.”

“All right, well before you go, we’ll need to see your license and registration,” said Officer Riley.

“What for?” Cassie said. “We were just taking a walk on the beach! There’s no law against that, is there?” The last part came out in a sarcastic drawl. She knew she was pushing it, but she couldn’t help herself.

“Cassie, it’s no big deal,” Ani said, sounding embarrassed. She pulled away from Cassie’s support and hobbled toward her car; the two officers and Cassie followed in her wake. Opening the passenger door, she reached inside the glove box and pulled out her paperwork. Annoyed, Cassie fished her license out of the back pocket of her jeans and thrust it toward Officer Riley.

He took the documents without a word and headed back to the patrol car.

“Since you don’t want an ambulance,” said Officer Garcia, “why don’t you sit down and let me take a quick look at your ankle? I was a medic in the army years ago.”

Ani obliged, easing herself into the passenger seat and rolling up the right leg of her jeans. Officer Garcia pulled out his own flashlight and trained the light on her ankle.

“I don’t see any swelling, ““ he commented. “Tell me when it hurts.” He moved it experimentally up and down. Ani sat quietly until he moved it from side to side.

“Ouch!”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I think it could be a light sprain, or maybe just a strain. Are you sure you don’t want to go to the emergency room?”

“Yes,” Ani said. “I really need to get home soon, or my foster parents will be angry.”

“Oh,” Officer Garcia sounded surprised. “You’re in the foster system?”

Ani nodded.

“You know, I was too when I was younger. Would you like us to accompany you home to explain what happened?”

“No,” Cassie said, wishing that he and Officer Riley would just go away. “Ani is my sister, and I’ll take care of her. I’ll explain everything. It’ll be fine.”

Officer Riley returned, handing the paperwork back to Ani and Cassie. “Thank you, Ms. Sherwin, Ms. Bolivar,” he said formally, nodding to each of them in turn. “Everything checks out all right,” he said to his partner. Then his voice grew stern as he addressed Cassie and Ani again. “I know you both claim you weren’t involved in the noise disturbance. But I must emphasize that if you see or hear anything with regard to street racing, you report it immediately. It’s dangerous and deadly. And Whispering Pines has a zero-tolerance policy with regard to it. Violators will be severely prosecuted. Is that understood?”

“Whatever,” Cassie muttered under her breath. The dude sounds like he’s reading a script out of a flippin’ rule book.

“Yes, sir,” Ani said, loud enough to cover Cassie’s response.

Officer Garcia stood. “Well, take care of that ankle. You should probably put ice on it when you get home,” he said to Ani. “And you ladies drive safe tonight.” The two officers turned to go.

“Thank you,” Ani called after them.

“Stop kissing up to them,” Cassie hissed in annoyance as she climbed behind the wheel. “And buckle up.”

“I’m not kissing up,” Ani sounded hurt. “That Officer Garcia was really nice.”

“There’s no such thing as a nice cop,” Cassie said, starting the engine. Then she looked over at Ani. “So, is your ankle really sprained then?”

“Weeelll, okay. The truth is, it wasn’t before,” Ani admitted, fastening her seat belt. “But now, I’m not so sure.”

Cassie shook her head in disgust. “I can’t believe you faked it just so that I’d race for you.”

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