40.
Crow came into the Paradise police station with Amber.
“Where the hell did you get her?” Molly said.
“She called me,” Crow said. “From the shopping center.”
“Paradise Mall?” Molly said.
Crow nodded.
“How’d she have your number?” Molly said.
“I gave it to her,” Crow said. “When you cut her loose.”
Molly looked at him for a moment and shook her head, and then looked at Amber.
Amber’s eye makeup was ruined again by crying. She wore lace-up black boots, and black jeans that had been cut off very short, and a tank top with some kind of heavy-metal logo that Molly didn’t recognize.
“How ya doing, Amber?”
Amber shook her head, looking down at the floor.
“He was going to make me go back to my father,” she said.
“Who was?”
“My boyfriend,” Amber said.
“And your boyfriend is?” Molly said.
Amber shook her head.
“Where is your father?” Molly said.
“Florida.”
“Why was your boyfriend going to make you go back?” Molly said.
“My father paid him,” Amber said.
“And what are you doing here?” Molly said.
“I ran away.”
“And you called Crow,” Molly said.
“He said he wouldn’t make me go back,” Amber said.
Molly looked at Crow again. Crow shrugged.
“So,” Molly said to both of them, “what do you need from me?”
Amber continued to look at the floor. She shook her head and didn’t speak.
“Stone around?” Crow said.
“He’s not here at the moment,” Molly said. “You’re welcome to wait.”
“Can I talk with you while I’m waiting?” Crow said.
“Sure.”
“What about her?” Crow said.
“We can put her in a cell,” Molly said.
“I don’t want to be in jail,” Amber said softly to the floor.
“Just a guest,” Molly said. “Cell won’t be locked. You can lie down, take a nap, if you wish.”
Amber didn’t say anything.
“You’ll be safe there,” Molly said. “Until we figure out a better arrangement.”
Amber nodded faintly.
“We’re going to keep you safe,” Molly said. “I promise you.”
“Take the cell,” Crow said to Amber.
Amber said, “Okay.”
Molly walked her back to the little cell block in the back of the station. There were four cells, all empty. The last one had a curtain made from a blanket that could be pulled across the door.
“This is where we usually put women,” Molly said. “Give you a little privacy.”
Amber went in and sat on the cot. There was a sink and a toilet.
“I’ll leave the door open,” Molly said, “and close the curtain. You need anything, come see me.”
Amber nodded. Molly went back to the front desk.
“She jumps pretty quick when you speak,” Molly said.
“She knows I mean it,” Crow said.
Molly nodded. Crow was wearing a faded tan safari shirt with short sleeves. Molly was fascinated with the play of intricate muscles in his arms.
“So what do you think we’re going to do with her?” Molly said.
“Her mother’s dead,” Crow said. “She doesn’t want to go back to her father. She’s on the run from her boyfriend.”
“So you don’t want to look out for her?”
“That’s what I’m doing now,” Crow said.
“We can’t keep her here until she’s like twenty-one,” Molly said. “I mean, she can’t live in the jail.”
“Maybe we can figure something out,” he said.
Molly nodded. They were quiet. Crow seemed comfortable with quiet. He’s all angles and planes, Molly thought, like some kind of really good machine, where everything works perfectly. His eyes were black and seemed to penetrate everything. Molly felt as if he could see through her clothes. It was almost embarrassing.
“Why do you care?” Molly said to Crow.
“I feel like it,” Crow said.
“You care because you feel like caring?”
“Yes.”
“What if you didn’t feel like it?”
“Then I wouldn’t,” Crow said.
He smiled at her.
“I know who you are,” Molly said. “And I know what you do. Actually, you probably do worse than what I know.”
“Much,” Crow said.
“But there seems to be this streak of—What? Chivalry?—running through it.”
“Maybe,” Crow said.
“You like women.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Crow’s eyes held on her. She felt herself blushing. Crow smiled.
“Besides that,” Molly said.
“That’s plenty,” Crow said.
“But is that all?” Molly said.
“Trying to figure me out is a waste of time,” he said.
“Have you figured you out?” Molly said.
“I know what I feel like doing,” Crow said. “And what I don’t.”
“Is that enough?” Molly said.
“Yes,” Crow said. “It is.”
Again, Molly had the odd feeling that she was naked under his gaze. It was a puzzling feeling. It’s even more puzzling, she thought, that maybe I like it.