“I’ll talk to him.” Slipping her hand between the bars, she took the radio Mason offered her. She pressed down on the button the same way she saw him do it. “Honey?”
Crackle. “Tessie?”
“Yeah. It’s me. Hi. Sorry about all this… but, trust me, Jack, the deputy seems like a very nice man. We’ll have to invite him to breakfast tomorrow.”
Another pause. “If you say so, Tessie.” His flat tone made it clear that he wasn’t so sure. “But we’ll talk about all this later. I’m not quite sure I get what’s going on—” His words were slurred, the tail end of a yawn coming through the radio before he added, “—and I’m too tired to figure it out. It’s too late to argue about it. Okay?”
She nodded her head, then seemed to realize that he couldn’t hear her. She pressed the button again, the ridges biting into the soft flesh of her thumb. “Okay. Love you.”
“Love you, too. Night.”
/> Mason moved forward to take the radio back. A curious expression flashed across his face, there and gone again in the time it took her to blink and focus. His genial grin back in place, he twisted a few knobs on his radio and clipped it back on his belt.
Shrugging, he said, “If I’m being honest, I don’t really know what’s going on either, miss. But your husband was right. It’s late and I’ve got to get back on patrol. Sylvester will be in shortly to check on you. Sleep it off. I’ll be back in the morning.”
“Thank you.” The words didn’t seem adequate, and it was weird for her to be grateful when the man had kind of, sort of, maybe arrested her. Tess was tired, she’d been drinking, and she was so far out of her element, she felt like she was floating. But he had helped her when he didn't have to, and she was grateful. “I mean it.”
“Rest. We’ll talk tomorrow.” He winked, a gesture so very at odds with what had happened that evening that Tess just stared at him. “I’m very much looking forward to breakfast.”
Mason never made it back to the station house.
About ten minutes after he left, a tall black man wearing the same uniform came in to sit with her. He introduced himself as Sylvester Collins, and assured her that what Mason did was local procedure.
With as little crime as Hamlet saw, he told her, if it wasn’t for the occasional drunk and disorderly, the jail cell would never have any occupants. Tess almost wanted to argue the disorderly part then decided that doing so would just prove the deputy’s point so she kept her mouth shut.
After offering her a wool blanket and telling her the night would pass much faster if she got some sleep, Collins sat at one of the two desks in the wide room. Tess watched him pore over a pile of paperwork—no crime certainly didn’t mean that their paperwork was any less—before taking his advice and finally catching a few hours.
Before she knew it, she heard the rustling of keys and the sliding of her cell door. Collins, looking as fresh as he did all those hours ago, stood in front of her with a muffin in his hand.
“Hungry?” he asked. He had a pleasant voice, deep and resonant. Too bad he looked like any sort of smile might cause a crack in his cheeks. As pleasant as he was, Tess thought of him as a glass empty sort in contrast to Mason Walsh’s glass full demeanor.
Her stomach flip-flopped at the sight of the muffin. It smelled delicious but Tess felt like something had taken residence in her mouth the night before and quite possibly died in there. She swallowed. Her throat was so dry, she didn’t see how she could get that muffin down even if her stomach wanted it.
“No, thank you,” she croaked. Wincing, she rubbed her throat. “You wouldn’t have any water, would you?”
“Sure thing.” He left the room without another word.
Tess wasn’t sure what to do. He’d unlocked the cell door for her. Did that mean she was free to go? Or was she supposed to wait for him? Come to think of it, she didn’t even know if she’d actually been arrested or even detained last night. Mason had told her to sleep it off and she guessed she had.
It was time to get back to the hotel, get Jack and get out.
Deciding the best spot to wait would be outside of the cell in case Deputy Collins got the idea to shut the gate again, Tess tried in vain to smooth some of the wrinkles out of her blouse before giving up. A finger through her wavy, tangled hair was the best she could hope for.
When he returned with a cup of ice water, she thanked him before gulping it down greedily.
He stared but, unsurprisingly, didn’t say anything.
Tess felt her cheeks heat up, certain the deputy was judging her. “Am I allowed to go?”
Collins nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Mase buzzed earlier and said to let you out as soon as you were awake. He got held up, but mentioned you might need a ride.”
That’s right. It dawned on Tess that she hadn’t driven to the station in her own car. Mason drove her over in his cruiser which left her car abandoned on the side of the road somewhere in Hamlet. She closed her eyes, exhaling softly. Great. How was she supposed to explain that?
First things first. Before she started to worry about how she was going to retrieve the car without Jack finding out, it might be a good idea to return to the hotel. After a shower and a fresh change of clothes, she’d certainly feel more human.
With that to look forward to, she shook her head. “Thanks, but don’t worry about me. I’ll find my way back to the hotel myself.”
Collins narrowed his beetle-black eyes on her. “This your first stay in Hamlet?”