surprised as Will felt.
“Bill Black is a material witness to a crime who is also on parole and who also has a history of armed robbery.” Amanda’s voice turned into a low hiss. “Seventy-five thousand dollars, Will. That’s how much it cost to put you undercover. And that doesn’t include the thirty grand we’re going to owe Fulton County for the motorcycle. You are officially costing me more than you’re worth.”
“I’m sorry,” Will said, trying hard not to make it sound like a question.
“You’d better just be damn glad no one was close enough to get your face in those videos.” She nodded to Faith. “Cuff him.”
Faith mumbled something that was just loud enough for Will to hear. Still, she took out her handcuffs. “Turn around.”
“My shoulder kind of hurts.”
Faith gave a heavy sigh. “Hands out front.”
Will held out his hands, mindful that cops from at least five agencies were watching his arrest. Amanda probably had a point about his cover. He still had an undercover case to work in Macon, which was about an hour from where they stood. Cops talked to each other all the time. They would share the story of the con who ran his bike into a guy standing in the middle of the interstate.
Will wondered if it looked as cool as he remembered.
Amanda said, “Read him his rights before you bring him into the store.” She slid her sunglasses back on. Her high heels made a snapping sound as she walked across the parking lot. Probably from her cloven hooves rubbing together.
Faith ratcheted down the handcuffs. “You stopped for an Icee, didn’t you?”
Will exercised his right to remain silent.
“Did you lose consciousness?”
“No,” he lied.
“Are you going to tell Sara about this?”
“Of course,” he lied again. In order to tell Sara what had happened, he would have to tell her why he was on his way to Macon.
“So,” Will said. “There’s video?”
“Amanda’s right. From what we’ve seen, nobody got a good shot of your face.”
He tried, “How about that motorcycle trick? Cool, right?”
“It reminds me of Evel Kneivel.” She made sure the handcuffs were tight. “You know, when he tried to jump over the Snake River Canyon on his bike.”
He gently corrected, “The X-2 Skycycle was a steam-powered rocket, not a motorbike.”
“Whatever, Will. How’d it go for him?”
Will didn’t answer her. There was a reason Knievel still held the world record for most broken bones in a lifetime. “You look nice today.”
Faith jerked him toward the store. Will wasn’t certain whether it was kindness or forgetfulness that made her drag him by his uninjured arm.
They found Amanda standing in front of an old tube television set behind the counter. She was surrounded by beefy, tall cops, but her presence was such that the men seemed reduced around her. Amanda had spent her life in law enforcement. Her father had been a cop. She’d come up when the only thing the Atlanta Police Department couldagree on was that women didn’t belong in uniform. To say there was a chip on her shoulder was to say that Chuck Norris was kind of a badass.
She didn’t look up when Faith dragged Will inside, but obviously she knew he was there. “Mr. Black, would that be you hiding behind the Yodels?”
Will leaned in, squinting at the paused image. The camera was mounted over the front counter, but instead of capturing the front doors, the lens was pointed toward the back of the convenience store. There Will was – curled into a ball, hands over his head.
He said, “I believe those are Little Debbies.”
The laughter died down as quickly as it started. A pointed look from Amanda cleared the front of the building. She waited until just Will and Faith were left in the store with her.
“Run it down for me,” she told Will, though history told him that she likely had more information than he did.
Still, he gave her the highlights, substituting the Icee quest for a gas run. “I guess he