Cages Read Online Free Page A

nothing that resembled a camera.
    Kit felt hot. She swallowed and started for the exit. She needed to get out of the mall. Get outside and breathe some fresh air. She didn’t want to call attention to herself by running but she walked quickly, as if she were late for an appointment.
    As she stepped out into the main corridor of the mall, someone touched her elbow.
    Turning, Kit saw one of the women who had been trying to decide which purse to buy.
    The woman held a small black folder toward Kit. She flipped the folder open.
    There was a badge inside.
    “I’m with store security,” the woman said softly. “I’d like you to come to the office with me to discuss some missing merchandise.”
    Kit stood stone still. She thought security guards wore uniforms. This woman wore a black miniskirt and a pink print shirt and open-toed shoes with high heels. But the badge was authentic and the look in the woman’s eyes told Kit that she was authentic, too.
    Kit wished that the floor of the mall would suddenly open and let her drop out of sight. She wished the piano player would strike a mighty chord that would send her magically up the escalator and out through the ceiling. She wished a firewould break out and everyone would have to run outside and the smoke would be so thick, she could slip away unseen.
    “This way,” the woman said.
    Perspiration trickled down Kit’s arms. The chocolate stars which had melted so gently on her tongue now threatened to erupt violently from her stomach.
    How could I have been such a fool? she thought. I don’t need a gold bracelet and I sure don’t need to get picked up for shoplifting. What would her mother say? And Wayne. Wayne would never let her forget it.
    Maybe the store would let her go with only a warning. It was her first time, after all. She had no record; she’d never been in any trouble. Maybe the store would go easy on her and her mother would never find out.
    She remembered seeing signs in the past that said, “Shoplifters Will Be Prosecuted.” Had she seen such a sign in Pierre’s? She couldn’t remember.
    The woman said nothing more. As they walked, Kit felt conspicuous, like a giant spotlight was on her. When they went through the jewelry section, the clerk who had waited on Mr. Homer and Marcia looked over at Kit and smiled. Then she saw who Kit was with. She frowned and quickly checked the boxes of gold jewelry which had been out on the counter. The next time she looked at Kit, she didn’t smile. Kit’s cheeks burned and she walked faster, staring at the floor. She would never be able to come into Pierre’s again.
    Her coat felt invisible; the bracelet, deep in her pocket, must be obvious to anyone who looked.
    Why had she thought she could get away with it? How could she have been so stupid? She could just hear Marcia, tellingeveryone how Kit had been so envious of her new gold choker that she stole some jewelry for herself. Marcia would embellish the story to make herself the only reason Kit had taken the bracelet.
    She wished a bolt of lightning would strike her dead before they got to the office.
    “Here we are,” the woman said, as she held a door open.
    Kit took a deep breath and went in.

D O you know why you’re here?”
    The security officer put her arms on her desk and leaned toward Kit, watching her intently.
    Kit stared down at her lap. Maybe she could still bluff her way out of this. “No,” she said. Her voice sounded shaky and she pressed her lips together, trying to get control of herself.
    “You are here,” the woman said, “because you were seen shoplifting.”
    Kit’s head jerked up.
    “You can either tell the truth and we’ll do this the easy way,” the woman said, “or you can refuse to cooperate, deny everything, and we’ll do it the hard way.” She paused a moment. “Now, I’d like you to give me the merchandise you took.”
    Kit hesitated. What did the woman mean when she said they could do it the hard way? She decided not to