Page 29 of Bred Mate
“You’re going to need to know her last name to post bail for her.”
“Just tell me what Ellie you’ve got in there, and I’ll take her.”
I want to punch him in the face, but instead I slide a crisp hundred-dollar bill across the counter. “Please.”
What the fuck is happening to me? I barely recognize myself.
“Alright,” he says. “Looks like we’ve got an Ellie back here. Bail’s set at three grand. You want to pay that now? Can’t get her out if not.”
Three grand seems fairly reasonable all things considered, so I pay it.
He goes away, and I wait. I hate that I let my mate be arrested, that someone was able to sneak up on me and take her. I should have prevented all of this. But hopefully a night in jail won’t have been too rough on her.
“Here she is.”
He comes back with a woman wearing bright pink leg warmers, an oversized shrug sweater, and dirty sneakers. She looks at me, confused. I look at her, even more confused.
“Who is this?”
“Ellie,” the cop says.
“Ellie? Who the fuck is Ellie?” The woman looks confused. “I’m Aline.”
“Thought you’d spelled Ellie wrong,” the cop says. “Guess I’d better take you back.”
“Wait. No. I was out. I got bail. You told me I got bail!”
“Sorry, Aline. They’re looking for someone else,” the cop says.
“Are you sure? They paid my bail. You already told me. You can’t take it back. No take backs. That’s the rules.”
“You’re coming back with me!”
“What did she do?” Gray cuts in.
“What did you do, Aline?”
“Nothin’,” she says, sulky.
“Did you see a girl in there?”
She shrugs. “Pay my bail and maybe I did.”
She might not be a shifter, but she’s got animal wiles.
“What did she do?” Gray asks the question again.
The cop sighs and goes back to the computer. “What was your name?”
“Aline Cooper.” She twists a lock of hair nervously.
“Says domestic disturbance.”
“And she got arrested?” Gray asks the question with a slight sense of confusion.
“I was the disturbance,” Aline says, a note of pride in her voice.
“I’ll bail her out,” Gray says. “It’s only money.”
