Read Online Vicious Cycle by Terri Blackstock - Free Book Online Page A

she claim Lance did that?”
    “No. It was an observation the officer made.”
    Lance’s ears burned. “Her mother did that!” he cried. “She’s crazy and violent. She’s a meth addict too.”
    “So you felt it was the right thing to do to remove the baby from that environment?”
    “No! I didn’t remove it!”
    Barbara slammed her hand on the table. “That’s enough! I know enough about the law to know that you can’t keep questioning him once he requests an attorney.”
    Detective Dathan didn’t like that. Rubbing the stubble under his chin, he said, “When they re-engage us, lady, we’re allowed to continue. And that’s what he did.”
    Lance looked at his mother. “What does that mean?”
    Barbara pointed at him. “It means, don’t say another word until the lawyer gets here, Lance!”
    The detective got up and jerked Lance to his feet. “Then let’s go.”
    Lance stared up into his face. “Go where?”
    “To booking, and then to the holding cell.”
    “No! You’re gonna lock me up? Mom!”
    Barbara tried to block the door. “Please, just let him sit here until the attorney comes. It won’t be long.”
    “No, lady. We don’t let our perps hang out with their mommies. Either we’re questioning him, or he goes in the cell.”
    Lance could see that there was nothing his mom could do to change this, so he straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin. “It’s okay, Mom. I can go.”
    She started to cry, that same frustrated, helpless weeping he’d seen so many times when Emily was making them crazy. He would have given anything to make her feel better.
    Barbara followed the detective and Lance out of the room, and she looked across the desks to the door. Where was Gus? He’d promised to hurry.
    On the other side of the room, she saw Judge Hathaway walking through. Though Barbara didn’t know much about the law, she had learned some things from Emily’s arrests and from the arrests of the children of the moms in her support group. Judge Hathaway had been the one who’d heard Emily’s first case of DUI. He was probably the one who would decide whether they would set bail for Lance tonight. She crossed the room and caught him in the hallway. “Judge, can I talk to you for a minute?”
    The judge turned. He had a golf tan, and the crinkles at the corners of his eyes suggested he spent a lot of time smiling … or squinting. She hoped he was a reasonable man.
    “Sure. What’s up?”
    “I’m Barbara Covington. My daughter Emily came through your court a couple of years ago.”
    “I remember Emily Covington,” he said. “She’s the girl who disappeared last year.”
    “Yes,” she said. “She’s doing great now. But this isn’t about her. It’s my son. He was arrested for kidnapping today. But he didn’t do it. The teenaged mother is a friend of his, and she gave him the baby to protect it from her abusive family, and he was keeping it until — ”
    “Ma’am, this is inappropriate. This is what court is for.”
    Desperate, she grabbed his arm. “Please—it’s Saturday. Can’t you set bail tonight, and then I guarantee I’ll have him in court Monday morning? He’s fifteen. He’s not a flight risk, and he’s never been in any legal trouble, ever. He’s a good kid. This whole thing is absurd!”
    The judge didn’t seem moved. “Kidnapping is a serious charge, ma’am. I don’t know if that’s prudent here. I’ll have to take this under advisement.”
    She knew what that meant. Lance was going to wind up spending at least a couple of nights in jail. “He only went there to try to talk his friend into going back to treatment. The girl is a mess, and so is her family.”
    “Look, I understand your concern. But I have people to answer to.”
    The judge wouldn’t want people saying he’d let a kidnapper back out on the streets the very day they caught him with a baby. Besides, he probably had distraught parents arguing for their children every day. “This is all