Page 30 of Sweet Like a Psycho (Secrets of Suburbi 2)

“So you got it without my permission?”

“No?”

“Zeke.”

He didn’t answer.

“If all the kids in your class decided to run into oncoming traffic would you join them?”

“No. But that’s stupid. Hulu isn’t stupid. It has all the shows in the whole world on it.”

His statement was truly and utterly false. There was no way that it had every show in the world on it. I think. Honestly I didn’t know enough about it to be sure. “We’ll talk about this when we get home.” I could only think of one thing at a time if I wasn’t going to lose my nerve. I opened up the door of the precinct and we both walked in.

Unlike the air outside, the air inside the police station was stifling. Every instinct in my body was telling me to run. But the little hand pulling me up to the front desk made me focus.

“Hi,” I said to a very disgruntled looking man. “I’m here to see Detective Reed.”

The man looked up at me. “Is he expecting you?”

“We’re friends,” Zeke said. “I’m Zeke and this is my mommy and we’re looking for our lizard.”

The man at the desk leaned forward so he could see my son. “A lizard, huh?”

Zeke nodded. “Mr. Reed was at our house earlier and my Mommy thinks my lizard accidentally went with him. He doesn’t know any better…he’s a lizard.”

“Well then,” the man said with a smile. He seemed much happier to be talking to my son than me. “I’ll let him know that you’re here, young man.” He lifted up the phone on his desk and held it to his ear. A few seconds later he said, “There’s a Zeke at the front desk here to talk to you.” He paused and lifted his gaze back to me. “Yes, his mother as well. They say they’re friends of yours.” He hung up the phone. “He’ll be right out. You two can take a seat over there.”

“Thank you very much,” Zeke said and walked over to the chairs against the wall.

“Cute kid,” the officer said. “He looks just like you.”

I smiled, even though it felt forced. Zeke had my eyes. And hair color. And almost everything else. But every now and then I saw his father in a facial expression. Those fleeting moments gutted me. “Thanks. Do you know about how long it will be till he comes to…” my voice trailed off when Detective Reed came pushing through a door behind the front desk.

His eyes landed on Zeke and then drifted to me. “Is everything okay?”

There was something about being away from my house that made me focus on him more than my surroundings. I could hear the concern in his voice. I could see it on his face. He actually cared about me and my son. And I felt a little like an ass. But only a little. Because he had been way out of line.

I cleared my throat, but before I could say anything, Zeke ran over to him.

“Lizardopolous is missing and Mommy thinks maybe you accidentally took him?”

“Lizardopolous?” He raised both eyebrows.

I was relieved to see that he was confused. That probably meant that my son’s lizard was still safely in his jacket pocket.

“My pet lizard. I know he’s really fun but I need him back. He’s hungry. But you can come over and play with him later.” Zeke stuck out his hand, waiting for Detective Reed to deposit the lizard in it.

He opened his mouth and then closed it again. Now I was worried that he didn’t look surprised enough to hear about the lizard. Although, he did seem to be at a loss for words.

“Can I speak to you privately?” I asked. “Please?” God, if anything happened to that lizard I didn’t know what I was going to do.

“Yeah…just…” he looked over his shoulder. “You can both come with me. How would you like to see where I work, Zeke?”

“Yes!”

“Great. Right this way.” He opened up the door he had just come through.

I made my way around the front desk. I barely looked at Detective Reed as I walked through the door he was holding open for me. What was I supposed to say? Sorry for acting like an ass, but you deserved it. Now give me my son’s lizard? But again, as I walked past him, I got the sense that he truly did care. I just wasn’t sure how that made me feel.

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