Double Bind (7 page)

           
She gulped hard, letting her hands drop down to her lap.
 
“I might say the same of you.”

           
He shrugged, his eyes traveling over the complex computer hub before him.
 
“We placed a tracer on your accounts, just in case you tried to make a run for it.” He glanced at David across the room.
 
“Someone here triggered that trace earlier today.”

           
“I can explain!” Sarah said, rising from her chair.
 
“I’ve got an alibi, I just had to -”

           
“Sarah!” David yelled, his eyebrows raising.
 
“What are you doing?
 
Don’t say anything!”

           
Sarah suddenly blushed.
 
Angela was going to be so angry.
  
Detective Snyder raised an eyebrow.
 
“You’re accomplice is right.
 
Anything you say, can and will be used against you in a court of law.”

           
Sarah paled and looked at her brother in a panic.
 
“He’s not my accomplice!
 
He’s just my brother, he’s just -”
 
Her voice drifted off when she saw David’s expression, and she turned back to the detective, who looked like he was gritting his teeth.

           
“Sarah Gaul, I’m going to have to ask you to come down to the station for questioning.”
 
He glared back at one of the other officers in the room, who moved toward David.
 
“As is your brother.”

           
For once Sarah was able to hold her tongue.
 
She grimaced as she watched them grab her brother’s shoulder.
 
She couldn’t believe that she had dragged him into this.
 
The worst was the expression on his face when the detective spoke into his
walkie
talkie.

           
“Marge, we’re going to need forensics up here.
 
We’ve got some fancy computer gear you’re going to need to analyze.”

           
David paled, struggling a little.
 
“Don’t hurt my baby, please.” he begged.
 
The detective looked blankly at him, before turning back to Sarah.

           
“Ms. Gaul, please come with us.”

           
Sarah wanted to cry.
 
She was so close.
 
They had to listen to her this time.
 
She had an alibi.
 
She had to prove that she was innocent.
 
The detective’s hands were gentle on her as he guided her and her brother out of the loft.
 
She only hoped that he would be willing to listen when they got to the precinct.
 
Surely he was coming around.
 
He had to.

Chapter 6

           
This time they didn’t waste any time before sending in Detective Snyder to interrogate her.
 
She knew that they were trying to beat Angela to the punch.
 
Sarah knew that she should wait until Angela arrived, but she was worried that they would tear apart David’s system before they looked at what she had found.

           
Detective Snyder was still closing the door when Sarah couldn’t wait any longer.
 
“Look, we were just proving my alibi, that’s all.”

           
He blinked, moving slowly into the room.
 
“Pardon?”

           
She shifted in the chair.
 
“I have an alibi.
 
I needed his help to prove it, that’s all.”

           
He tilted his head.
 
“This is new.
 
I thought you were home alone.
 
Now you claim that your brother can testify to that.”

           
“Yes,” Sarah said, getting excited, “and so can
Ebay
!
 
I was home alone, but I bought shoes.
 
You can check my account.
 
My home IP address was used to buy shoes on my account!
 
It’s all on David’s computer, if you haven’t taken it apart yet?”

           
“Take it apart?” The detective said, seeming amused.
 
“We haven’t found a hacking lair like that in ages.
 
Our computer guys will be analyzing it for weeks to come.”

           
“Then it’s there.
 
And then you can know, I’m innocent.
 
I couldn’t have been stealing the chemicals and buying shoes at the same time.”

           
The detective raised a single eyebrow.
 
“And no one else could have used your computer to buy shoes while you were gone?”

           
“Of course not! No one uses my computer but me!”

           
He nodded slowly.
 
“Because of all the security hack modifications you’ve done.”

           
“Exactly!” She said.
 
Then she realized how bad this sounded.
 
“Wait, that’s not what it looks like.”

           
He pulled up the chair across from her, still grinning.
 
“Tell me, what does it look like?”

           
“I think I should wait for Angela.” Sarah said, her voice getting soft again.

           
“Probably.” The detective said.
 
“After all, we were only baffled by this case because it demanded someone have some pretty sophisticated hacking skills.
 
We thought that you had an accomplice.”
 
He waved at the wall behind her.
 
“Like possibly your hacker brother.
 
Of course, all things considered, we have to wonder if it is possible that you were the hacker as well.”

           
Sarah laid her head down on the table, feeling lightheaded.
 
This was bad.
 
This was very bad.
 
The detective leaned close, but she wanted to slap him.
 
“Look, Sarah, we need your help.
 
I can’t imagine you would do this alone.
 
Was it really your brother’s idea?
 
We can help you both.
 
You just have to help us.”

           
Sarah shook her head on the table.
 
“I can’t say anything ‘til Angela gets here.
 
She’s going to kill me already.”

           
“You don’t mean that literally, do you?” The detective said.

           
Sarah looked up at him incredulously.
 
“What? no!”

           
That was when she saw the soft smile on his face.
 
She scowled.
 
He was making fun of her.
 
He mock shrugged.
 
“I’m afraid I had to ask.”

           
She put her face back down on the table.
 
“Go away!
 
I don’t want to talk to you.
 
I want to talk to someone who wants to try to put the right person away behind bars.”

           
He looked hurt, the smile falling from his face.
 
He swallowed hard, looking away.
 
He took in a long deep breath and then looked back at Sarah.
 
She wondered for a moment if there was more going on than she had originally thought.

           
“I have told you already, Ms. Gaul,” he said, his voice cold.
 
All thoughts of him being kind vanished.
 
“I am here to help you.
 
If you cooperate, we can protect you.”

           
She scowled.
 
“I think I’ll go without your help, thank you.”

           
He sighed, pushing up to a stand.
 
“Thank you for your cooperation, Ms. Gaul.
 
You are free to go.
 
We’ll be getting in touch soon.”

           
Relieved, Sarah stood, feeling like she had missed something important.
 
“Thank you!
 
I’ll get David and -”

           
“I’m afraid David has to stay here.”

           
“What?”
 
She said, panic flooding through her.
 
“He’s innocent.
 
He hasn’t done anything!”

           
The detective shrugged, heading out of the room.
 
“He might be innocent of this current crisis, but his computer might be the one used in a number of different crimes.
 
We would be willing to overlook those other crimes if we could only get some help in this current issue -” he paused meaningfully, looking back at Sarah.
 
“Until then, unfortunately we have no other choice.”

           
Sarah gaped after him as he strode from the room, her heart sinking.
 
She should have just left well enough alone.
 
David was going to go to jail, and it was all her fault.
 
Doing her best not to cry, she gathered up her jacket and headed out to the main area to meet Angela.
 
She really had done it now.

           
Angela had been furious at first. But the moment that she had found out about David, she had quieted.
 
She understood how close Sarah and David were.
 
She knew that Sarah felt dumb enough already.
 
She offered to drive Sarah home, but that was the last place that Sarah wanted to go.
 
She needed to forget herself.
 
She needed to find somewhere dark where she could really let go and cry.

           
It was only 6 in the evening on a Monday, but Sarah didn’t care.
 
She made her way to the nearest bar, where she proceeded to drink herself silly.
 
She hadn’t drunk that much since she was very young, but she just didn’t care.
 
She had broken everything, and the only way for her to fix it was to stop being herself for a night.

           
She knew that she had gotten carried away when the cops showed up.
 
She giggled and laughed.
 
“Boys!
 
Come to take me back to the precinct? Awesome!”
 
She stumbled toward them, laughing.
 
They picked her up, and popped her back into the back of the squad car.
 
She laid herself out across the seat, giggling.
 
“Home sweet home!”

           
She was still giggling when the cops helped her out of the car at the precinct.
 
She had to lean on them, completely unable to stand or walk on her own.
 
For a moment at the door they struggled as she nearly tipped over, stumbling over her own feet.
 
They heaved, trying to get her upright, grunting a little.
 
She was diagonal, one officer holding her up by the waist while the other worked the door when she spotted the detective coming out of a far door.

           
“Robbie!” She called out, waving.
 
He turned to look at her, surprise washing across his face.
  
“Look guys, it’s the worlds dumbest detective.
 
Robbie!”
 
She struggled to move toward the detective, even as he headed over toward the three of them.
 
Then, she broke down in giggles, unable to even speak.

           
“Detective,” one of the officers said, grunting as Sarah shifted.
 
“Evening.”

           
Detective Snyder nodded.
 
“Sanders, Morrison, good to see you.”
 
He glanced at Sarah.
 
“Ms. Gaul.”

           
Sarah giggled and tried to wave, accidentally smacking one of the officers in the face.
 
“
Whazzup
?”

           
“You know this woman?” One of the officers said, shifting his grip.

           
The detective nodded.
 
“She’s a key witness in the Water Terrorism case.”

           
The two officers turned to look at each other in surprise.
 
“Seriously?”

           
“Yeah,” the detective said.
 
“Though I’ve never seen her like this before.
 
Her brother is in trouble, that might be why.”

           
The two officers nodded. “Sure.”

           
“Hey,” Detective Snyder said, looking nonchalantly at Sarah.
 
“Why don’t you let me take her home?
 
We don’t want her to get in trouble.”

           
Sarah took that moment to vomit all over one of the officer’s shoes.
 
They both leapt back, leaving her swaying in the middle of the sidewalk.
 
“That’s fine with me,” the one said, eyeing her disgustedly.
 
“What do you think Morrison?”

           
Morrison, who’s shoes were now coated with puke, nodded eagerly.
 
“Hell yeah.
 
She’s all yours detective.”

           
Detective Snyder nodded, smiling at the guys as he maneuvered an arm around Sarah’s shoulders, steadying her.
 
She grinned up at him, completely unaware of how gross she looked.
 
He grimaced a little, pulling her after him.

           
She wrapped her arms around him, letting him guide her to his car.
 
He loaded her in, prying her arms off of him, and then heading around the car to get in himself.
 
She leaned over the armrest to grin up at him.

           
“You know what?” She said, waving a hand vaguely.

           
“What?” he asked, turning on the car and heading out.

           
“You are so wrong about me.
 
You don’t even know me.”

           
He chuckled a little.
 
“Okay, what don’t I know?”

           
“I’m a good person.” She said.
 
“I give to charity.
 
I do cancer walks.
 
I let people borrow my clothes.”
 
She nodded, certain that she had given him enough proof.
 
“I’m the last person you should be looking at.
 
I’m totally innocent.”