Page 16 of Pied Sniper

Garrett clenched his fists. “I’m going to use them for target practice,” he muttered under his breath. “I’m going to make them… Did you bring the scissors?” he finished as two officers hurried towards us. Grabbing the proffered scissors, he stepped around me. The moment my wrists were freed was a huge relief. I wriggled my shoulders, checked the red rings circling my wrists, and finally extracted the dog, allowing him to snuggle in my arms. Thankfully, he stopped shaking and his eyes were bright and alert.

“I’ll have medical take a look at your wrists,” said Garrett, examining Lily’s outstretched arms. “These were way too tight. Someone’s about to get severely reprimanded.”

“I think that’s just dried blood from where I slipped,” said Lily, as he turned her wrists over.

“Just in case,” said Garrett as he waved to the pair of officers watching us. He snapped his fingers when they didn’t move. “Get the duty doctor,” he told them. When they moved, he sighed again and rolled his eyes skyward. “This is a hot mess. Who arrested you two?”

“I don’t know. A big guy, maybe six-two, dirty blonde hair. The other guy was a couple inches shorter and a redhead. Both wore blue suits.”

“They sound familiar. Not in my squad, but I think I know who they are. Did they read you your rights?”

“Definitely,” said Lily. “It was very comforting. Just like on TV.”

“And did you speak to them after that?”

“Only to try to explain until they told me to shut up.”

“And after that?”

“No,” I said.

“Me neither,” said Lily. “And they didn’t allow us a phone call either.”

“I asked them to call you,” I said, “and they told me to shut up again.”

“You told them who you were?” asked Garrett.

“I did, and I said my license was in my wallet, but they scoffed and said it didn’t matter if I were Cleopatra since they caught us red-handed,” I said.

“I literally was,” said Lily, holding up her blood-stained hands, cutting in before I could ask about the puzzling Cleopatra analogy.

Garrett sucked in a breath. “Don’t say that again!”

“Can I at least wash my hands?”

“Stop right there!” came an angry voice. “What are you doing? Who took the cuffs off my perps?”

Garrett spun around, meeting the angry, pointing finger attached to a red-faced man. “Who the hell are you two?” he yelled back.

“Detective Hertford—” started the red-haired man.

Then the angry detective snapped, “Detective Crump. You?”

“Lieutenant Graves,” said Garrett, sounding each syllable like he was pulling teeth. While Detective Crump continued to square up, his partner winced. “You’ve damn well arrested my sister and my sister-in-law, who just happens to be married to Detective Graves! My sister said she told you to call me as soon as you read them their rights.”

“I… I…” puffed Detective Crump as he struggled to regain his breath. “I thought she was making it up! Perps say that kinda shit all the time.”

“That they’re related to me?”

“Not you, per se, but sure, plenty of them say ‘I know him’ and ‘I know her’ and what am I supposed to believe when responding to a home invasion with a potentially armed intruder! ‘Excuse me, while I check’?” snorted Detective Crump.

“Yes, asshole!” yelled Garrett.

“She didn’t even have a courtesy card!”

“Why the hell would she? She’s my sister,” yelled Garrett even louder. “She’s got my phone number! She’s got my desk phone number! My wife’s number! My kids’ numbers! Hell, she’s got the numbers of half the officers in this building.”

“Dated a lot of them too,” Lily added.

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