“Damn it, this kid just puked on me!” Bill called out loudly. “Someone get me a damn cloth.”
Savannah's eyes were watering and her throat burned. Carly came running to her side as soon as she'd seen her double over. “She must have caught Chad's stomach bug!” She said sympathetically. “Let's get you to the bathroom quick. You're so pale!”
A female officer held Carly back. “You still need to do a statement and do your fingerprints. I'll take her.”
“You take that one to the bathroom.” Bill said to the officer. “I'll take this one's statement while you're gone. Sit down Miss Wright. No not here. Clean desk over there.”
The female officer lead Savannah out of the hall and to the teacher's bathroom, where she quickly closed and locked the door behind her, careful to make groans and retching noises every few seconds as she furiously typed out a text message to her mom. 'DO NOT CALL BACK. Get an attorney and Chad and get to school NOW. Savannah.' She sent the message and quickly deleted it from his sent items before hiding the phone in her pocket again. She flushed the toilet and groaned as she stood. She went straight to the sink and washed out her mouth.
“Feeling better?” The officer asked.
“Yeah. Don't know what came over me.” She responded lamely. “Let's get back so I can finish off my statement and go home. I think I need to lie down.”
When they reentered the hall, Savannah could tell that Bill had not given Carly the same courtesy information. She looked calm as she spoke, and was even tapping her fingers. However within a few minutes Bill's face became stern and the finger tapping stopped. Anyone paying attention would see that he spoke to her in whispered tones. She was nodding as he was writing. She signed the statement and stood, and was guided to the desk with the ink pad on it, where her prints were taken like every other student. When she turned around her face was pale. She was told to sit back down away from other students again to stop communication.
“Striker?” Called out Bill. “Let's finish of your statement before you throw up on me again.” She made her way down and sat in front of him. “So you were saying that you, Miss Wright and Mr Denver were all in the room together, drying off and getting dressed again.” He spoke much louder than he had previously and he put emphasis on the word 'together.' She understood what he was doing: He was giving all three of them an alibi. “And you say you and Miss Wright searched through the drawers and cupboards for a hairdryer and a brush?” He asked, looking at her intensely and giving her an almost imperceptible nod of his head.
“Yes that's right.”
“And then the three of you left, together.” He emphasized the word again. “And Miss Wright's father drove the three of you home, at about 00h30.”
“Yes that's right.”
“No one was carrying anything suspicious or extra that you noticed?”
“I had my small bag. Carly had hers and Chad had his underwear.”
Bill scribbled some notes and turned the page around for her to sign at the bottom. He then assisted her out of the chair and made as though he was half carrying her to the fingerprinting desk. She tried to slip him his phone as he took her prints. “Keep it. Text Kat again and make sure she tells Chad that all three of you were together. At. All. Times. I've already told Carly and she understands.” He escorted her back to her seat and took her signed statement to the desk where a stern much older officer was seated. On his desk, the statements had been placed in different piles. As Savannah's was the last statement to be completed, hers went on top. The older officer read through it with a grim face, placing it on the far right hand pile. He passed the far left hand pile of papers back to Richardson, as the end of day bell sounded.
“The following students are permitted to leave and we apologize for any inconvenience.” He read the names out slowly and most of the students left, leaving only a handful behind. “You guys, unfortunately, need to be here a while longer. Again, no one is in any trouble.” He said people started asking questions. “But I do need you to make contact with your parents and ask them to meet us here as soon as possible.”
Bill placed the statements back on the desk and came over to Savannah, purposefully making a show on checking for a fever. “Did you text?”
“Yes. I've deleted it already.”
“How sick is he?”
“He's not sick.” Savannah said sheepishly. “He and his brother got into a fist fight.”
Bill rolled his eyes. “And your mom is trying to protect him by keeping it quiet.”
Savannah nodded. “He got out, got drunk and picked a fight. But it's all sorted now. She was kind of doing some reverse psycho-therapy on him. I think it worked.”
“Damn that woman, her hard head and her soft heart.” He growled. “She always thinks it's going to work, and then gets her spirit crushed when it doesn't.” He took his phone back from her discreetly and told her to call her mom from her own phone, which Savannah did quickly. The sound of her mom's voice was a soothing balm despite the panicked tone.
“Honey, what's going on? Are you OK?” Kat asked.
“I'm OK. There was apparently some stuff stolen at that party on Friday night. All the kids who were there were called in and questioned. They took statements and sent some of them home but Carly and I need to stay and call our parents in. Chad too.”
“I've got him with me. We're about ten minutes away. You say nothing until I get there!” She said sternly. “If you say the wrong thing it can be twisted against you...”
“No Mom it's OK.” She lowered her voice. “Bill's helping me. Telling me what to say.”
Kat sighed audibly. “Oh thank God.”
“Just get here Mom. I'm scared.”
It felt like hours before Kat and Chad arrived, but when they did Savannah felt relief flood through and tears that she hadn't realized were there, flowed freely. Chad stood quietly to the side, pale despite the faded bruising on his face. When her mom released her, Savannah turned to Chad, who immediately wrapped his arms around her.
“Ain't nothing to worry about Princess.” He whispered in her ears. “They've got nothing on you.”
“Except my fingerprints all over the room from when Carly and I were looking for a hairdryer and a hairbrush.” She murmured into his chest. “Bill says it's bad. He said I need an attorney, and a good one.”
Chad's heart turned to ice within his chest. He'd used a cloth. He'd not touched a single thing in that bedroom with his hands. Not even the door handle when he came in or when he left. He knew what he was doing and made sure he'd covered his tracks.
And Savannah, innocent and unaware had come in afterwards and opened that damned cupboard with her bare hands. The one where only minutes before, he'd stolen the jewelery out of and hidden in his wet clothes. Her prints were on the handle and not his. He played the different scenarios out in his mind and all came to the same conclusion: she was going to come out with a black mark against her name. Worst case scenario was that she'd serve hard time for theft. Best case scenario was that the black mark stayed put for life.
He looked down at Savannah, who had her arms still wrapped around his body, her body shuddering slightly from suppressing her tears. Realization crept through him slowly: She looked to him for comfort. For protection. She looked to him to calm her fears, the same way she looked to her mom.
She truly did care about him. When he was broken, she'd wrapped her arms around him and comforted him, and now here he was doing the exact same thing for her. He cared for her too. Damn it, he cursed to himself. More than cared for her. Some how this ivory towered princess had entirely wrapped herself around his heart and smothered it. He loved her.
And there was no way in hell he was letting her go to jail for him.
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and unwrapped her arms from around him. “Let go Princess. I gotta go do something.” He walked up to Kat and proceeded to hug her. Kat, shocked, barely moved.
“I'm not gonna make your pretty little file.” He said quietly. “But I want you to know, that I wanted to make it in there. You made me want to.” He released her with a grin and turned back to Savannah, cupped her face in his hands and kissed her softly.
“Ahem!” Called Kat with a scowl on her face, but amusement in her eyes. “That's my baby you're pawing all over. You got a death wish?”
“Come on, Striker” He said with a grin. “She's worth it.” He stepped back and took off through the auditorium, calling for Inspector Bill Richardson as he did. “Hey Richardson! You got a minute?”