Page 3 of Dream Girl
Much better.
“Can I get your thumbprint?” He held out a little box about the size of a cell phone.
I pressed my finger to the pad on the bottom half of the box. While I didn’t know what it did, I didn’t see any reason not to.The box beeped, and something flashed up on the screen at the top.
“Huh.” The officer frowned at the box.
A cute little mini-ambulance drove up, and someone got out. The officer motioned her over.
“Can you give her a look-over? She’s disoriented,” the officer said to her, then turned to me. “Let the medic check you out, I’ll be right back.”
The medic took me to the little ambulance and looked me over, asking me questions, and running some tests using some unfamiliar instruments. I must be in a fancy county. Finally, the officer came back over to us.
The medic looked over at the officer when he came back. “The toxicology insta-screen came back negative, but that doesn’t mean someone didn’t slip her something harder than a recreational. Eazy-E, maybe? Pretty sure she’s got a concussion, but she’ll be okay until she can get to a doctor. No signs of exposure either. Thank goodness.”
I had no idea what Eazy-E was, but I was hardly up on the latest street drugs.
“We’re going to take her in and see if we can’t figure out who she is,” the officer said.
“Okay.” No one could get me if I was in a police station. Right?
He helped me into the backseat, and he and his partner got into the front. Their cologne was overpowering, but I couldn’t open the window.
I gazed out the window as we drove. None of the streets looked familiar. In the sunrise, I could see the outline of a city, and some mountains. It was quite beautiful here.
Mountains? Did I live near mountains?
Besides being unfamiliar, everything was a smidge different from what I was used to. Even the air felt different, clean and crisp, maybe a little thinner.Eastside Station,the sign said.Theeastside of what?But I didn’t want to ask too many questions until I knew what was going on.
Maybe one of my colleagues was playing a prank? They got me drunk, drove me into the next state, and left me there? Ihaddone something… messed up their research, maybe? Why couldn’t I remember?
Think, think.
That feeling of being chased, of heart-stoppingfear, lingered. Also, I had bruises.My colleagues wouldn’t hurt me. While the dress was pretty, it was itchy and had no pockets.
“Let’s get you some tea,” the first officer said as we entered the station. “Or would you rather have some coffee?”
“I’d like coffee, please.” That sounded about right.
He led me down the hall and into a small room that looked more like a little living room than an interrogation room, but seemed to have a two-way mirror. The other officer brought me a coffee and a breakfast sandwich. I still had the blanket, which was fluffy and soft.
“Would you like another officer to sit in with us?” the first asked as the second left, leaving the door open.
I shook my head. “I’m okay.”
“Let’s go over everything you remember about your ending up on the bench, and the betas who tried to assault you,” the first officer said, taking out a tablet.
Betas? I frowned.
I told him everything that I could remember as I gobbled the breakfast sandwich. While hot and filling, it didn’t quite taste right; neither did the coffee.
The second officer came in with a little box again, and they had me put my thumb on it. Again.
Like before, it beeped, and he frowned. “That’s odd. Let me try this.”
We tried a different box that took a picture of my face.
It also beeped and flashed. The second officer’s brow furrowed. “Huh.”
