Page 40 of Made For Me

“Because she’s my responsibility,” I state, and I have never been surer of anything in my whole life.

“You haven’t even been on a date with her.” Michael folds his arms over his chest. “How can she be yours?”

I look down and then up at them. “She became mine when I had to hold her in my bathtub while she cried in my arms.” All three of them look at me with open mouths. “She was probably mine before then, I was just too stupid to see it.”

“I’ll agree with that,” my father says. “Now I need to know that you are not going to go nuts in there.” He motions with his chin toward a door that Stuart just went into. “You are going to see her standing in front of a judge in handcuffs.” The thought alone makes my body feel like someone set me on fire. “So I’m going to need you to chill the fuck out. The last thing she needs is seeing you lose it.”

I look down and take a deep breath in and exhale. “I’ll be fine,” I lie. They all know I’m lying because each of them would be the same as me right now. “I just need to get her out of here.”

“Well, we will come back tomorrow and take her home,” my father declares and I shake my head furiously.

“I’m not leaving.” My voice comes out in a whisper and I look at the three of them. There are no words I can say except the ones that come out. “If she’s here, so am I.”

CHAPTER23

Julia

I follow the officer into the police station, never been brought in from the back. The officer, who I’ve never met before, holds my arm a bit too tight but the last thing I’m going to do is say something to him. The minute he lets go of my arm, it throbs. Did he really think I was going to try to run?

When we walk into the station, I see Wayne and Derrick, two officers I usually work with on cases. “Sit here.” The officer points at a plastic chair beside a desk. I sit down, not saying a word, he turns and walks away.

“Julia, we are so fucking sorry.” Derrick comes over to me and I just shake my head.

“Rudy,” Wayne yells to the officer who brought me in, “uncuff her!”

“That’s not procedure,” Rudy replies, coming back and looking at the both of them.

“She’s not going anywhere,” Derrick says to him, “just uncuff her.”

Rudy huffs out, slipping the key into the lock and uncuffing me. My hands rub where the metal was. “You better make sure she doesn’t run.”

“Run where?” I ask him and he doesn’t bother answering. “I think I’m going to throw up,” I mumble under my breath.

“I’ll get you some water,” Derrick says and I look down at my hands.

“We are going to get everything moving quickly so we don’t have to drag it out,” Wayne assures me, and I’m done.

“I want a lawyer,” is the only thing I say to him. “I want a number to a lawyer.”

He nods at me and smiles sadly. “We’ll get you someone.”

My legs start to bounce up and down with nerves. I can feel a panic attack coming, my chest gets tight and my breaths come out in pants. Derrick comes back and hands me the bottle of water. I reach for it and take a sip, my mouth feeling dry. “We are so sorry, Julia, we tried.” His voice trails off.

“You have a job to do,” is the only thing I can say. It’s not his fault I’m in this mess, it’s my own.

“Her lawyer is here!” a man yells into the room. “And it’s Stuart.”

Derrick and Wayne both look at me at the same time. “Big guns,” they say in unison. “Good.”

“I want to meet with my client in private.” The man walks in wearing dress pants and a button-down shirt. “Nice to meet you.” He smiles at me. “I’m Stuart.”

“Um,” is the only thing I can say.

“You can meet her in room one,” Derrick says.

“Thank you.” He nods at him. “And where is Phillip?”

“Around here somewhere,” Wayne says. “But I can call him.”

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