Page 58 of Unexpected Trouble

“We’ll get you something soon.”

“It needs to be sooner than later; I’m serious that I’m going to pass out. I’m already dizzy and feeling sick to my stomach.”

There was a knock at the door, and then it opened. The cop outside ticked his head to the side as if he wanted the detective to join him. “Excuse me for a moment.”

“Find me some food while you are out there,” I told him, and he glanced back and closed the door without a word. A minute later, he came back with a bag and set it down on the table.

“Here you go.”

“Holy crap,” I said as I dumped out the contents of the bag. The bottle of water began to roll away, and the detective stopped it as I went straight for the orange juice and cracked it open with shaking hands. I guzzled half of it before I snatched the cookie. My hands were still shaking, and I had spots on the edge of my vision as my brow broke out in a sweat.

The detective took the cookie out of my shaking hands and tore open the package. I shoved the cookie into my mouth, scarfing it down as quickly as I could. I groaned as I swallowed and took another mouthful.

“I’m going to give you a few minutes to eat, and then I’ll be back in.”

I nodded to him, too focused on the food to care what he did. After he left, I finished my cookie, then unrolled the sandwich, and almost cried when I saw that it was turkey with swiss on a Kaiser roll with mayo and tomato. I flipped the bag of chips over and saw they were sour cream and onion. I laughed to myself because I knew who had brought me this meal.

The cops hadn’t bought this for me, Greg had. Gregory knew that I loved turkey and swiss. He knew that my favorite bread was a Kaiser roll. He also knew that I would have needed a sugar fix and that I detested sour cream and onion chips—but he didn’t. That’s why he got them to let me know that he was here.

But if he was here, who was with my mother? That thought set my nerves on edge, but I knew that Greg would never leave my mother to fend for herself. She had to be safe. Maybe Trevor was with her. Hopefully, Trevor was with her, and she wasn’t out in the lobby of the police station.

I was just finishing my sandwich and rolling up the deli paper when the door opened and Det. Highmore returned. “Are you feeling better now?”

“Yes, thank you so much. I was about to hit the floor, and it would not have been pretty.”

He gave me a casual smile and nodded. “Alright, Maggie, I need to ask you how you were involved with Jefferson Lenard Bunker and Chuck Wiggis.”

“I wasn’t involved with them, Detective. I have never seen them before that day.” Why did they think otherwise?

“Did you hire them to do the robbery for you?”

“What? No! I had nothing to do with the jewelry store robbery. Why would you even think that?”

“If you had nothing to do with it, can you please tell me how your fingerprints came to be on the car door, the handle, and the interior of the vehicle that those two men were driving?”

Suddenly it dawned on me. “Oh, shit!”

“Yes, oh, shit. Now would you like to explain?”

I winced as I cocked my head to the side. “There is a simple explanation, Detective.”

“And I’m waiting.”

“That day, I was walking to the coffee shop, and remember I told you that I had seen Len walking into the jewelry store. We crossed paths on the sidewalk.”

“Yes, you helped build a composite sketch of him.”

“Yes.” I slapped my hand on the table. “After he walked past me, I looked to the curb to see their vehicle, and it was still running, but there was no one at the wheel. So I went over to the car and looked inside. When I didn’t see anyone in the back seat either, I went around the car, opened the door, and removed the keys. I bet you found the keys in the back cargo area, right?” I waited for a reaction from him but didn’t get one. “I threw the keys back there. I almost threw them in the street, but I tossed them into the back instead.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because the guy gave me a nasty look, and I hate people that leave their cars running. It’s against the law.”

He laughed; he actually laughed as he shifted in his seat. “You really want me to believe that your prints were on the car because you were pissed off that the guy gave you a dirty look?”

“Well, yeah, but he left his car running! Isn’t that against the law? It is against the law, isn’t it?”

“So is entering another person’s vehicle without permission. It could be construed as theft.”

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