Runaways (Orphans 5)

can straighten all this out to where it makes some

sense."

He opened the door for Crystal, Butterfly and

Raven and the four of us walked with him toward the

front of the building.

"It's all right," Crystal said. "It's just like we

discussed."

Raven looked at her as if she had gone mad and

then gazed at me as if I had betrayed her, betrayed

them all.

They put us in a large conference room. There

was a glass window across from us and I had seen

enough television shows and movies to imagine that it was a one-way window with people observing us on the other side. A police receptionist came in first and offered us soft drinks. Crystal asked for some tea and

the rest of us had Sprites.

"What's going to happen to us now?" Butterfly

asked in a tiny voice as she sipped her drink. "We could go to jail," Raven replied, fear raw

in her voice.

Butterfly looked at Crystal and then at me.

"Let's not rush to any conclusions," Crystal said.

"Let's see what they ask and say first."

Just then the door opened and a woman in her

late forties entered, wearing a deputy policeman's

uniform.

She didn't wear a pistol, but she had a pair of

handcuffs dangling off her belt. She carried a

clipboard and walked with a stiff, military posture. "My name's Lieutenant Mathews," she said,

pointing to a name tag that read MATHEWS above

her left breast. She sat across from us and just studied

our faces for a moment before looking down at her

sheets. "Who's Brooke Okun?"