Page 70 of Benjamin and the Thief

“Oh yeah? I got bad news. Catalina was picked up by the police and arrested.”

“Fuck! Where are they holding her?”

“The San Francisco Jail on 7th Street.”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Don’t! There’s nothing you can do right now. She’ll have to wait to be arraigned by a judge tomorrow when the court opens. Before that, you can’t get her out. Since she has no priors, she’ll get bail. Once I know more, I’ll let you know, and then you can come down and bail her out.”

“I can’t let her stay in jail overnight,” he protested.

“You have no choice. I’ll arrange for her to be in a single cell rather than in a holding cell with other inmates,” Anita promised.

He sighed. This wouldn’t have happened if he’d told her earlier that he was a vampire. Then she wouldn’t have freaked out and run off in the middle of the night. Now he knew why her blood trail had gone cold: the police had picked her up and put her in a patrol car.

“Alright,” he finally relented.

30

When she regained consciousness, Catalina found herself in a sterile-looking room that wasn’t larger than ten by five. Her injured arm was bandaged, which meant that a medical professional had treated her.

She sat up. There was no furniture to speak of in the room. She sat on a concrete bench that seemed to function as a bed, and in one corner was a steel contraption that looked like a toilet and sink in one piece. She shuddered. This was a jail cell, not a hospital room. Why had the police brought her here, when clearly, she was a victim?

Every second of the horrifying incident at Delilah’s house replayed in her mind. Ross had bitten her with his sharp fangs and drunk her blood, and there’d been no help from Benjamin, because as it turned out, he too was a vampire. The only choice she’d had was to flee. But before she could tell the police officers that she’d encountered what had happened, she’d passed out from blood loss or shock. She had to tell them now.

She got up and walked to the steel door: a solid steel plate on the lower half and steel bars on the upper part. Through the bars, she could see into an area leading to other, similar cells.

“Hello? Guards? Please, help me! Please! I need to speak to you,” she called out.

When nobody appeared immediately, she banged against the steel plate. Suddenly the residents of other cells also banged on their doors. The resulting noise was deafening, but finally a guard appeared. A loud, shrill sound of a whistle silenced everybody.

This was her chance to make herself heard.

“Officer? Guard? Please, help me!”

A moment later, a large, heavy-set male guard stopped in front of her cell and looked at her.

“What?”

The word was more a challenge than a question, but she had to speak to him even though he looked like he wasn’t in the mood to listen to her.

“I’m sorry, Officer, but there’s been a mistake. I don’t belong here. I’m the victim of a crime. I was attacked.”

She lifted her bandaged arm as proof of her injury.

“Nice try. Give it a rest,” he snapped.

“But I’m not supposed to be in here. I haven’t done anything. I was attacked. Please, you have to speak to somebody. There are terrible people out there. They hurt innocents. Please.” She lowered her voice, not wanting the other prisoners to hear her. “A vampire bit me. Please, help me.”

“Oh, of course,” he now said, nodding. “You’re the crazy one they just picked up, mumbling about vampires and shit.” He shook his head. “Nice try getting a head start on an insanity defense, lady.”

“What?” Why would she need an insanity defense?

“Don’t play the idiot. The judge isn’t gonna like it when he arraigns you tomorrow morning.”

“Arraigns me? What for?”

“Attempted burglary,” he said with a shrug. He leaned toward the bars. “Listen, you seem like a nice kid. Be smart. Admit to it right away, be respectful, and the judge will be lenient. And if you have no priors and you’re lucky, he’s gonna let you go on your own recognizance. Or at least, he’ll set the bail low.”