Page 34 of Little Stolen Memories

“You need to go down to the police station and tell them what you just told me.”

“What are they going to do when they find out I lied?”

Good question.

I supposed it depended on what they thought when he gave them a new statement, and whether they chose to believe it.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I’ll go to the department with you and talk with Chief Foley. I’ll go over the conversation we had today, and I won’t mention the part about you pepper-spraying me in the face.”

Not yet, anyway.

“Why would you leave it out?” Danny asked. “You don’t even know me.”

“I gave you my word. I need to ask … is there anything more, anything you haven’t said?”

“No, you know everything now.”

“Good.”

I rose from my seat, blinking a few times to relubricate my eyes, which hadn’t stopped stinging all the way yet.

“Wait,” Danny said, and I turned back to him.

“What is it?”

“What if I tell them everything I just told you and they don’t believe me? What if they think I lied then and I’m lying now?”

“I know it’s hard, Danny,” I said. “But have a little faith in the justice system, and believe me when I say they’re not interested in catching the wrong guy. They’re interested in catching the right guy, and if the right guy isn’t you, there’s no need to worry. Now, I’m done here.”

And with that, I walked out the door.

CHAPTER 16

I was sitting in Foley’s office, waiting for Whitlock to finish questioning Danny. Foley was sitting across from me, his brow raised as he said, “What’s going on with your eyes? They’re all red.”

“I’ve been rubbing them—a lot,” I said.

It was the truth.

I had been rubbing them a lot.

It just wasn’t the whole truth.

“I don’t know if you’ve looked in the mirror much today, but it looks like you’re developing some sort of infection,” he said. “Might want to think about getting it looked at.”

“If the redness doesn’t go away, I will.”

Foley looked past me at Giovanni, who was sitting out in the hall, chatting with Dorothy. She’d insisted on coming along as a show of support for her brother.

“You … ehh, decide you want a little company today?” Foley asked.

Until now, I hadn’t given any thought to how I would explain Giovanni’s presence.

“He … ahh, didn’t have anything going on today, so I thought I’d bring him along.”

Foley stared at me for a moment.

It was obvious he didn’t believe me, but I wouldn’t be offering any further explanation.

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