Trouble Read Free

the items I
considered mine. I’d paid for almost everything in the apartment,
but I didn’t need reminders of Ryan. The criminal record would be
enough to commemorate our time together.
    “ Got everything?” Shayla asked as
we closed the last box with tape.
    I looked around. I had barely made a dent in
the place. Ryan probably wouldn’t even notice I had left. But there
was one thing missing that I really wanted to take. “My jewelry
isn’t here.”
    “ Have you checked
everywhere?”
    I nodded and opened my jewelry box again. It
was still empty. I had looked everywhere, the bathroom, dresser
drawers, behind the lounge cushions, everywhere. “They’re not
here.”
    Coming to the same realization, we both said
one word: “Ryan.”
    Shayla had to get to work so I was on my own
for the rest of the day. My next stop was the county jail. Being
set up for armed robbery was one thing, but stealing from me? That was in a whole new
ballgame. Especially when they were my grandmother’s pieces. Their
value was more sentimental than dollar, I had to get them
back.
    “ Weren’t you released?” Constable
Lucas Heron smiled as he greeted me. He had the deepest dimples in
his cheeks I had ever seen.
    “ I need to see Ryan
Barnett.”
    “ Your co-accused?”
    “ My ex-boyfriend,” I wasn’t going
to be tricked into incriminating myself. Was that even legal? “Can
I see him, please?”
    Those dimples made another appearance. “Sure,
come on through.”
    Constable Heron led me through to a visiting
area. A few tables were bolted to the floor, along with their
seats. It wasn’t exactly a romantic rendezvous point.
    I waited for prisoner one-nine-three-four to
join me. I found some satisfaction in hearing him referred to as a
number. I knew I shouldn’t. Weren’t we in bed together less than
forty-eight hours ago? I should have felt ashamed but I couldn’t
conjure the emotion.
    Finally, Ryan sat across from me. He was
wearing prison-issued orange with his hands cuffed together. Good.
He needed to be taught a lesson.
    “ Have you come to bail me
out?”
    I wasn’t sure if I had heard right.
“What?”
    “ I need someone to bail me out of
here. Have you got the money?”
    If the guard wasn’t standing less than three
feet away, I would have slapped him right across the face. It took
all my resolve not to.
    “ I’m not here to bail you out,
Ryan. You deserve to rot in here forever for what you did to me.
Did you even tell the police I was innocent?”
    At least he had the sense to look guilty, he
started fiddling with his cuffs. “My lawyer told me to blame
you.”
    “ Well I hope you told him that you
wouldn’t?”
    His eye started twitching, I knew what that
meant. So Ryan was going to use me as his scapegoat. Oh my God, I
could pick them. Only the most upstanding gentlemen for
me.
    “ Ryan! Tell them the truth, I had
nothing to do with the damn robbery.”
    “ I told my lawyer that,” he said
earnestly. His eyes flicked to mine. They were still gorgeous, and
now he had that whole bad boy thing going for him. I needed to get
out of there.
    “ Look, whatever, I’m sure my
lawyer will have something to say about that.” Note to self: hire a
lawyer. “I came to find my jewelry. It wasn’t in the apartment,
what did you do with it?”
    “ What makes you think I did
anything with your stupid jewelry?”
    “ Look around, Ryan, you’re in
jail. You tried to rob a bank, don’t pretend you’re
innocent.”
    He put his hands in his lap and I knew I had
him. I expected a full confession at any moment. He glanced at the
guard, was he worried about being overheard or hopeful he would
come to his defense if I got violent? I guess I’ll never
know.
    “ I pawned them.”
    I refused to lunge across the table like I was
on a reality show. I just nodded, like a lady. “Where?”
    “ Siegfried’s over on Twelfth
Street.”
    I didn’t say another word, just stood and
stared him down. Perhaps a nunnery would be a