Page 7 of Promise and Punishment

I knew now I was capable of being more, of being someone just like her—patient, kind, worthy of love. If she could see that in herself, then maybe she could see it in me too, making me less scared to open up, to show her who I was and who she was meant to be; my redemption for those who I should’ve been there for, but couldn’t, people like my brother… people like Natalie.

“Gemma’s safe,” I replied, less for Sergeant Fields and more for myself.

“Just like that poor girl at The Pierre?” He brought up the topic to crawl under my skin. “You can’t be trusted with anyone, Rivers… First, the girl at the hotel, now this bitch on the roof of an abandoned building? You have a knack for getting girls killed, don't you?”

I slammed my wrist along the table, freeing myself from the cheap cuffs with a loud bang. Sergeant Fields scooted back, screeching his chair as he placed his hand on the holster of his gun. His eyes popped, as if air filled them from the other end of their beady existence.

Carefully I leaned forward, testing the limits of how courageous—or rather—foolish he’d be. I lifted the pack of cigarettes, pulling one out, unable to deny at least the butt of its cherry taste to touch my lips.

“Don’t ever threaten me with a gun…” I bit through the muffled guard of my cigarette. “You ever pull that shit on me, and I’ll shove it down your fucking throat. And as for Gemma… you say her name again, and I’ll kill you.”

Whatever cat and mouse game we played seemed far too real for even Sergeant Fields, who was smart enough to decipher a good actor from an actual pissed off man. What did he see to make him believe the words I just said? Confidence? Desperation? Everything that Gemma bore in me was like the thirst evoked by a Jalisco sun. I’d do anything to capture that feeling, to savor it, because now with Gemma, I had a purpose, rather than a distraction. I wouldn’t sink or fall… I’d float.

“Threatening an officer?” He finally spoke, almost as if he forgot the authority he held. “Believe whatever you want, but don’t think for a second that you’re anything but a horrible person. That girl out there, she doesn’t know you, she doesn’t care for you. How could she? Tell her who you are, then you’ll really know what she thinks of you.” Sergeant Fields’s cheeks rose with gratification, finally succeeding in making me avert my eyes. I looked down at my hand, at the black rose and ink that reminded me how scared I was about admitting my past.

“That’s enough.” A sturdy female voice appeared casually by the steel door. “My client has already requested a lawyer, you know better than to be here, Mr. Fields.” Sergeant Fields sighed as Lina Castillo entered the room. Her normally black, wavy hair was pinned back, probably to tame the unkempt frizz of an overnight flight; yet somehow, her dark eyes and red lips seemed fresh, as if she got the best sleep of her life. She was, in fact, a greater actor than I could ever be.

“You have your fucking work cut out for you,” Fields snipped.

“Your charges won’t hold up.” She diverted her attention to her phone, “I already read the police report, and we can agree on one thing. There’s certainly some reckless endangerment here.”

“Good, you can join him at the arraignment. The judge is ready to notify him on the charges.”

“Careful,” she smirked. “You’re in over your head.”

“Hardly. I’m good at my job, just as good as you are at bullshitting.” Fields began to pull his paperwork out, but Lina raised a finger.

“The reckless endangerment is not with my client, it’s with the city of New York. I drove by the abandoned building: the one being demolished to make way for a state-funded institution. There’s just one problem… it’s in direct violation of local law.”

“Bullshit.” Fields crossed his arms.

“Bullshit is right, just like these charges. All construction zones must be in compliance of local safety regulations, which requires a fence of eight feet minimum in height to be placed on the inside edge of a walkway.” She glanced over at me, before looking back at Fields, giving a shit-eating grin that cost me over eight-hundred dollars an hour. “You could imagine my disappointment at the city when I drove by and no such fence existed.” She frowned, “So unsafe…”

“You’re a bitch,” Fields sneered, slamming his folder shut.

“That’s me alright, and unless you want the commissioner to know that their sergeant is the reason for a colossal fucking lawsuit, I suggest you drop the charges,” she smiled again. “Now tuck your tail between your legs and go home and kiss your wife. Tell her how your career as an inadequate leader was saved by abitch.”

Fields said nothing, and, in reality, what was there to say? He walked past her, slamming the door, his otherwise noticeable height almost minuscule compared to Lina’s poise.

“He’s afraid of you,” I said, my first real greeting to her.

“He should be. Also, I should charge you double for how good I am,” she unplugged the security camera, avoiding any recordings.

“It would be worth every penny,” I replied as she made her way over, sitting in the chair where Sergeant Fields just sat, remaining unusually quiet. A silent Lina was a concerning Lina, and considering what I sent her back to California to do, it had me slightly on edge. “How was L.A.?”

She leaned forward, fiddling with the coffee cup on the table. “Challenging. But I think Miguel got the message.”

Ihatedthat she even said his name.

“Suing him isn’t enough… the man has nothing,” I sat back into my chair as Lina pulled a lighter out from her suit jacket. She didn’t smoke but always carried one for me. I still held the cigarette in my lips, and thank god Gemma wasn’t here, because the flint wheel sounded particularly sharp as I rolled my thumb for a flame.

“Suing is all we have. It’s all I’m legally able to do.”

“It may not be good enough, especially if he’s eager to talk.”

“All this attention from The Pierre Hotel has him motivated. He seemed pretty upset, but also very vague.”

“What did he tell you?” I inhaled a full drag of my cigarette, enjoying it like it was my last, though I knew it wasn’t.

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